Doing the Zombie Shuffle

I’ve now learned the one thing that stops zombies (un)dead in their tracks: RAIN! The official start of the Annual Zombie Walk hosted by The Deadite Empire at Spooky Empire’s Ultimate Horror Weekend was only a little delayed due to an unexpected cloudburst which sent participants scurrying for cover under nearby trees, but in no way dampened the spirits of the enthusiastic crowd who had shown up specifically to feast on brains…errr…stumble down International Drive in Orlando.

Several hundred costumed people of all ages converged today on Uno’s Chicago Grill Restaurant just down the street from the Wyndham Orlando Resort convention hotel, where makeup artists had set up shop inside and were rapidly transforming as many folks as possible into marvelously horrible versions of themselves in preparation for the undead shuffle.

I was thrilled to be able to grab photos of the transformation of several people, and to watch so many of the artists at work close up, both inside the restaurant and outside in the parking lot, where a few overflow artists had set up camp. The whole area grew full to bursting as the walking dead poured in to show off their tattered and bloody outfits as well as ogle everyone’s else’s creative costuming choices.

Spooky Empire’s 3-Day Ultimate Horror Weekend is expected to attract more than 12,000 horror fans to Orlando this weekend, and this year’s convention floor offers horror and movie memorabilia vendors of all types (I’ve already bought a t-shirt!), a special room with several tattoo artists working on-site, screenings of gorgeously gruesome films, as well as more than 50 horror celebrities doing Q&A’s, panels, autographs and photos with their fans.

My full photo album of the Undead is HERE!