As I walked down Washington Avenue, congealed globs of blood streaked the pavement. Any other day
I would have run screaming for the police. But as a man with a terrible gash on his neck approached, he moaned “brains” and I knew everything was all right.

Zombie Pub Crawl IV was by far the highlight of this month. Forget the Halloween celebrations — this was it. Who would have thought so many people would enjoy having “blood” smeared all over their bodies?

The evening started out at Grumpy’s near downtown Minneapolis. Human flesh, brains, and fried potatoes seemed to be the specials for the night. As the zombies staggered into the bar the atmosphere became gruesome. Wounds of all shapes and sizes were thrust into my face and I was delighted to examine them. Computer chips in the head, swords in the side and flaking skin were only a few of the thousands of injuries. The parade of undead from all around the globe proved to be disturbingly wonderful. The Sombrero Zombie, the Drag Zombies, the 19th Century British Naval Zombie, zombie fetuses ripping their mother’s womb to shreds…all were in attendance. Even Jesus
Zombie performed many a creepy christening.

Then the crawl began. On their knees or dragging dismembered limbs, the zombies invaded Seven Corners. Along the way I tried to get an interview out of a few. How naive of me. An entire conversation consisted of the thing most important to a zombie: brains. “May I take a photo?” I asked. “Brains,” replied the military zombie, “BRAINS!” There were half-price fishbowls at Sgt. Preston’s, intestines at Bullwinkle’s, and an undead dance party that was just as abysmal as it was awesome. By this time my meager makeup was wearing off and I was hanging over the line of a “normal.” An enthusiastic emo zombie obligingly sunk his teeth into my head and fed on my brains. After giving me some of his blood I was turned again.

The last stop on my journey was the Acadia Cafe where zombies were packed wall to wall. A great band, Hunker.

Zombies Take Over the Minneapois Streets from The Wake Student Magazine on Vimeo.