Sunday, April 25, 2010 Zombies in Chicago

While out and about yesterday, I spotted a young couple in grey face paint who were obviously intended to be zombies. Luckily for them, their half-hearted attempt at make-up wasn't particularly effective and I was not compelled to pull the car over and club them with a tire iron.

I figured they had to be part of a local zombie walk or summtin, and sure enough a little poking around uncovered this bit from the Sun-Times:

Zombie Pub Crawl returns from the dead

April 13, 2010 11:49 AM

Get excited, sots...it's pub crawl season!

Now that the weather's warming up, the progressive parties are coming out in full force, beginning with last weekend's second annual Snuggie Pub Crawl. If you're looking for something a little less, um, fuzzy, how 'bout the Zombie Pub Crawl, which returns from the dead on Saturday, April 24?

For $20, you'll enjoy drinks specials at bars throughout Andersonville, including Simon's, Mary's Attic, @mosphere, In Fine Spirits and more from 2:30-8 p.m., all while dressed as an extra from "Thriller." Folks got pretty into it last year, so don't skimp on the makeup.

Despite my love of Halloween, I am not one for dressing up in costume (outside of that holy season, of course). I particularly don't go for zombie walks or pub crawls or the like. I have a lingering suspicion that the day I hang out with a crowd of revelers in zombie get-up will be the exact moment when the dead actually rise. It would be the only time the bastards could possibly take me by surprise. Forest for the trees and all that.

However, you might be into that sort of thing, you fool, in which case you would be well served to check out Chicago Zombie. It's a blog covering zombie marches and similar events throughout the Windy City. Glancing at the front page, there's two different necrotic dance events being held the week of May 17th (you'll have to find something else to do with Mom on the 9th). And it looks like there's going to be a second attempt to premiere [REC] 2 at the Portage Theater that Friday (I downloaded a DVD rip after they canceled the first screening, so nertz to them).

Most interesting to those of us who are fond of both lounge aesthetic and carnivorous ghouls is the Retro Zombie Night being held at a tiki bar in Des Plaines on May 30th. A group called Zombie Pin-Ups are involved and they'll be running a beauty pageant later in the evening. Tiki drinks, hula girls, scantily-dressed hipster chicks - that's a combo that may actually convince me to mingle with sweaty horror fans covered in latex and stage blood.