*Blog post by Danielle Paquette * Photos by David Hassell
Wearing a brand-new, white North Face to Kirkwood Thursday night was a faux-pas for two reasons:
1. I blatantly stood out and, quite frankly, looked silly amid a crowd of zombies.
2. Fake blood (splashed from brawling zombies) will likely be hard to wash out.
The annual, informal "Zombie Parade" resembled a scene from Dawn of the Dead. Over one hundred creepily dressed participants moaned and lurched down Kirkwood after a commencing chant at the Sample Gates: "What do we want? Brains! When do we want them? Now!"
Safely on the sidewalk, I followed alongside as a flood of zombies invaded the street, and consequently shut down traffic. A few drivers attempted to navigate through the undead crowd, resulting in what appeared to be myriad harassment lawsuits. Zombies pounded on windows, leaving bloody handprints, and jumped on car-roofs, leaving bloody dents.
Pseudo-fights were another hilariously frightening spectacle. Zombies tackled their friend-zombies in screaming, clawing free-for-alls; Many ended up in writhing piles similar to those seen on the field of Memorial Stadium.
With the exception of these chaos-happy radicals, the zombie population was generally harmless. My friends and I assimilated with street-walkers once we were rid of our initial fear, and found constant hilarity in non-zombie militia members waving fake pitchforks, and zombie advocates waving boom boxes blasting "Thriller."
Innocent fun took a turn for the worse as zombies continued to parade down Walnut. Blue and red lights glittered from every direction, and my friends and I estimated that every police car in Bloomington was contained to the one-way street. One zombie, a male with large, curly hair, was escorted into a cop car as the crowd roared in protest. "Zombies are people, too!" yelled one young woman. The group of policemen wielded pepper spray and (what appeared to be) paintball guns in seeming reply.
Overall, the Zombie Parade was a shockingly funny experience. I had never seen a group of civilians chase after a police vehicle, let alone one dressed in zombie attire. "Sticking it to the man" was epitomized with every fake knife sticking into participants, making it a bloody good time.
