The 2007 Richmond Zombie Walk

Okay, first we need to establish the mood and you can do that by clicking here and watching Commander USA sing "The Zombie Song" (it's a tad faint, so maximize your volume). I'll wait.

Done? Cool!

Today was significant for two reasons: (1) my friend Beth was pimping her new horror novel, Homeplace, at Creatures 'N' Crooks Bookshoppe in Carytown (she's even got a YouTube video for it done by illustrator Cortney Skinner!) and (2) the third Richmond, VA Zombie Walk was taking place... in Carytown, which meant I didn't have to forsake one for the other!

I hauled my lazy ass out of bed much earlier than I preferred for a Saturday morning (having stayed up way too late getting psyched by watching Saw III), whereupon I showered, shaved, dressed, grabbed my man purse, my Olympus digital camera, extra batteries, a bottle of Diet Pepsi (you know, the essentials!), and headed over to the parking lot of Benedictine High School where the zombies were receiving their last minute instructions (click the pics for a larger image).

"And if the mummies show up again this year let's try not to have any altercations. We'll do our thing and they can do theirs."

You couldn't have asked for a nicer day to take a Zombie Walk--deep blue sky, fluffy white clouds, temps in the low eighties. People were in a great mood, even the Zombie Pope!



Jesus drove up a little later (hey, He's one of the Living Dead, too!), but I didn't get a picture.



Having been briefed, the zombies then headed for the Krogers parking lot at the west end of Carytown while I scurried towards Creatures 'N' Crooks in the middle, but not before grabbing a shot of my future ex-wife loading a few things into her pick-up truck.




By this time Beth had been hanging out at the bookstore for about an hour with only Cortney and Hamilton the Cat for company...




...at which point I burst in announcing "Zombies a-comin!", which they were, but heading east on the other side of the street. This gave me a chance to purchase Homefront and Joe Lansdale's Lost Echoes (and yes, I apologized to Beth for being unfaithful) while catching up with Beth & Cortney and waiting for the crowd of... what? Fifty? A hundred? zombies to make the return circuit, eventually passing right in front of the bookstore.







I'll be linking to other, better pictures by those more skilled than I as they get posted, but in the meantime...