THE living dead could be walking the streets of Huddersfield next month – in a charity zombie walk.
The Huddersfield Halloween Zombie Slouch will be one of the first organised undead marches in the UK.
Relatively unknown in Britain, zombie marches – where participants dress and act like zombies – have enjoyed popularity in the USA and Canada.
Starting at Huddersfield Railway Station on October 27 at 1pm the walk, coordinated Huddersfield Town Centre Partnership, hopes to raise cash for environmental charity Friends of the Earth.
Prizes will be given to the most original zombie, cutest zombie couple and most terrifying zombie.
The walk will be followed by a zombie-themed party featuring horror films and live music at The Parish pub, next to Huddersfield Parish Church.
Simon Skelling, Slouch organiser and Kirklees education and outreach officer, said: “I’ve always loved zombie films since I was young. I thought it would be a great way to combine my job, which involves organising events for schools, with something I love.
“If it’s a success hopefully we can make it a regular event.”
Entry costs £2. For more information call: 07717 607044 or email: huddersfieldzombie@hotmail.co.uk
Stories of zombies originated in the Afro-Caribbean spiritual belief system of Voodoo – where a dead person could be revived by a sorcerer.
Zombies have existed in popular Western culture since the 17th century, but received particular publicity in the cult Living Dead film trilogy by George A Romero.
The largest zombie walk featured 893 participants in Monroeville Mall, Pittsburgh – the set for Romero’s Dawn of the Dead in October 2003.
