Valentine’s Day, the holiday for love, lust and… zombies. That’s right, of all the days of the year, the undead of Eugene chose Valentine’s Day to once again roam the earth.
Whether the zombies were suffering from supernatural heartbreak, were beckoned back from the dead by lovelorn souls, or were just plain necrophiliacs, was not really clear. But nonetheless it was a very popular night to be dead.
8:00 p.m. – More than 80 zombies (or rather, the people who were dressed as zombies) in varied states of semi-animated life congregated at Pioneer Cemetery, their eyes sunken, overwhelmed by their lust for flesh.
A few jugs of whiskey were being passed around, and many of the walking dead pulled out pocket flasks and beer bottles from their torn, blood-ridden cloths.
Apparently, all are equal among the dead. Zombies of all flavor came out that night: prom queens, soldiers, pregnant housewives, cheerleaders, surfers, goths, clowns and punks, to name a few. Everyone was splattered with at least a couple pints of what appeared to be blood, and then all joined the chorus of the zombie anthem:
“Brains….. brains… ugghhhhh…”
8:30 – The zombies were on the move, limping haltingly out of the graveyard and back to the living world.
Passing by the Knight Library, members of the mob spotted fresh meat inside, and the whole mob rushed to the windows. Pounding on the windows with flailing limbs, they were rewarded with some raised eyebrows from a lone man diligently reading inside. Little smears of blood dripped down the window after they left.
8:40 – After attacking the Pi Beta Phi sorority house and being shooed away by three women standing on the lawn, the undead mob continued on, stumbling haltingly onto Kincaid Street in search of delicious brains.
Finding none around the University, they were to settle instead for beer.
8:50 – Hobbling over to Taylor’s Bar and Grille, the zombies entered, growling for booze. The bartender explained that it was still eight minutes until happy hour. All the zombies left immediately toward Max’s.
Apparently, the dead are both impatient and penny-conscious.
9:00 – The undead mob wandered down E. 13th Ave. and a splinter group decided to enter the corner Starbucks franchise. Limping through the line to the barista, one zombie moaned for a mocha cappuccino “and a bran muufff-innnn…..”
The manager approached zombie Courtney Anglin and asked her group to leave.
9:15 – A group of 12 zombies were drawn to the bright lights of Sacred Heart Medical Center’s emergency room. Covered in blood and with puss-filled wounds, they hobbled in the entrance and through the waiting room. Shuffling past the confused patients while making zombie groans, they then calmly walked out the exit.
Ed Ingersoll, a hospital security guard, saw the undead crowd pass by.
“See that?” he said. “That looks like fun. Not your typical Valentine’s Day crap.”
9:30 – At Max’s, only a handful of zombies could be found. Most, it seemed, went directly to Horsehead – the final destination on the zombie walk.
Recent University graduate Jody Trendler, who was dressed as a dead auto mechanic, sat drinking a beer at the bar while zombie prom queen Mira Horsky munched on her half-eaten hand.
The two women are bakers at Great Harvest Bread, and prepared a number of hands, arms, and other appendages shaped out of bread.
“I’ve done a Santa Claus pub crawl, but never anything like this,” Trendler said.
10:00 – Moving on to Horsehead, it was clear from the street that the zombies had taken over the pub. Shoulder to shoulder, undead patrons crowded the bar, clawing fiendishly for the overwhelmed bartenders’ attention.
At one of the tables sat Candee Cole, the director of Religious Education at Eugene’s Unitarian Universalist Church, dressed as a zombie cook, soup ladle in hand.
“I was bitten by one of the many zombies who feast at Hometown Buffet,” she said, squeezing a small rubber brain.
11:00 – Christopher Anglin, one of the organizers for the event, explained over not-his-first beer that there was no real significance to having a mass zombie rally on Valentine’s Day. It was all a coincidence, he said.
“We just picked Valentine’s day so we could have some fun.” he said. “It’s the last day you’d expect to see zombies.”
Anglin took a sip of his beer and a stream of blood from the side of his mouth dripped into his drink.
He said that friends of his organized a similar zombie walk last year, alongside a daytime zombie event on Easter.
“That was so that people could bring their families and kids,” said Anglin.
Additional info:
The local zombies who carved a swath of bloody, drunken carnage through town organized largely through the Internet and newspapers. MySpace and Craigslist provided a forum for area flesh-eating enthusiasts to meet and plan gatherings. Many zombies told the Emerald that they’d heard of the walk from a short piece in the Eugene Weekly newspaper.
For the living-dead, or their sympathizers who weren’t aware of Wednesday’s walk, the MySpace group “drunkenzombies” is a quick ticket to meeting like-minded folks.
Several became involved in the zombie walk through local kickball leagues. Players of the gym-class staple, organized locally through the NorthWest Association of Adult Competitive Kickball (NWAACK), can meet Sundays at 2 p.m. at a field at W. 20th Ave. and Washington St. The kickballers have an alliance with several of Eugene’s zombies, and, if contacted, may be able to provide contacts within the zombie community.