Zombies invade Kirkwood in 7th annual parade

Chants of “brains,” blood-stained clothes and torn limbs were seen and heard Friday as a mob of zombies marched down Kirkwood Avenue.

The seventh-annual Zombie Parade, a loosely organized Bloomington tradition, attracted all kinds of students and residents.

Despite the cold and rain, zombies as well as those willing to risk being bitten came out to participate in the event.

“I missed out on it last year,” said sophomore and IDS illustrator Adam McFetridge, an Al Franken zombie look-a-like. “I watched a couple of zombie movies – ‘Shaun of the Dead,’ ‘28 Days Later’ – and spread some blood on me.”

Zombies of all shapes and sizes came to the feasting. Zombie werewolves, clowns, bananas and ninjas made up only a small portion of the characters.

“My costume is made of Halloween makeup and ‘rectal waste.’ I’m a Nazi zombie,” freshman Matt Lawler said.

While there were some who offered to “work for brains” and some who chanted “Oxy Clean” and “vegan brain,” others were new to the zombie lifestyle, craving human flesh and blood.

“This is my first year,” Bloomington resident Erin Stringer said. “I got dressed 10 minutes before we got here, so it’s nothing special. I’m really nervous.”

Though in previous years the zombies were allowed to march down the street, this year the police limited it to the sidewalks.

However, the restrictions did not stop humans in restaurants and stores from looking on with mock fear and amusement.

By the time the zombies reached the corner of Kirkwood Avenue and Walnut Street, men armed with Nerf guns attempted to stop the onslaught.

However, the zombies left handprints and fingerprints on store windows, and bloodstains on signs and buildings covered the block.

“I’m a run-of-the-mill, tattered zombie,” Bloomington resident Ross Martini said. “This is my first time lurching. The desire for brains helped me out.”  

As for a method to the madness, no one was quite sure.

“It just kind of happened,” McFetridge said.