Sticky blobs of fake blood coated the streets of downtown Nashville Saturday as citizens gathered to celebrate World Zombie Day.
Families, couples and friends stormed Riverfront Park at three in the afternoon to drop off food donations and slather each other in fake blood. The Nashville Zombie Walk held a food drive for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, and donation boxes were overflowing minutes into the event.
After an hour of zombie fellowship, the living dead swarmed six city blocks of downtown Nashville, screeching and moaning as they dragged their rotting bodies down the crowded sidewalks.
Bystanders flooded the doorways of downtown restaurants for zombie encounters and photo opportunities. Several zombie celebrities made an appearance at the walk, including Kesha, Jesus, Steve Jobs and even Santa Claus.
A bystander named Dave was surprised at the large turnout.
“When this event started three or four years ago, only about 100 people came, now it looks like there are probably close to 1,500,” he said.
Traffic came to a complete standstill for the entirety of the walk. Participants peered into trapped cars and smeared their red goop over windows, walls and bystanders.
“It seems like they could be from all around the country. There are so many of them!” said a female onlooker who saw what she called a practically endless supply of zombies.
The event dispersed when policemen appeared on the scene and claimed the zombies were infiltrating private property. They were politely asked to leave.
A young male participant had one last thing to say before he fled the scene
“Good luck to the world, we need more brains!”
-Lindsey Driver