Blood-drenched zombies wreaked havoc on Mill Avenue Saturday night, alarming bystanders, confounding Oktoberfest attendees and bringing smiles to the rest.

The zombies started their onslaught at Casey Moore’s, working their way down University, crossing over the University Bridge, and staggering up and down Mill, accumulating dozens of victims in their wake.

The victims made themselves identifiable by marking their shirts with a large “X,” indicating that they were fine with having their clothes doused in (fake) blood, all in the name of fun.

Julie Robison, a public relations senior, witnessed the first Tempe Zombie Walk two years ago when she worked at Dragonfly.

Robison doesn’t consider herself to be a zombie fanatic, but she took off work because she didn’t want to miss out on the chance to take part in this year’s Zombie Walk.

“Anybody who’s into zombie movies would totally dig it, which I’m not, but this is awesome,” she said.

This year marked the second Zombie Walk. The first was in 2007.

Elise Leutwyler, a sculpture senior, coordinated the event in 2007 and this year, after seeing and hearing about Zombie Walk events held in other cities such as San Francisco, Minneapolis and Toronto.

“I’ve never been to one and I’ve always wanted to because they look like so much fun,” Leutwyler said.

Through word of mouth, Internet bulletins and flyers she organized the walk, and she said she hopes it becomes a yearly October event.

Other victims, Kevin Lee, a cybersecurity senior and Casper Sanchez, a biomedical sophomore, didn’t go to the same lengths as Robison to participate in the event but simply wanted to do something fun on a Saturday night.

Kristen Tucker, a business communications freshman, was standing outside Manzanita Hall when the zombies crossed over University Bridge.

“I was kind of freaked out at first,” Tucker said. “But it looked fun.”

David Bernal, a mechanical engineering freshman, was on Mill Avenue for Oktoberfest and couldn’t help but critique the speed of the zombies’ gait.

“They were moving kind of quick for zombies,” he said. “They should be ambling and not really knowing where they’re going.”

Regardless of Bernal’s preconceptions about zombies, he and his friends said they enjoyed seeing them because it was a different sight than the usual bar crowd.

Nico Ruiz, an employee at the Circle K on Ash Avenue and University Drive was taking his break when the zombies rounded the corner in front of his store back toward their final destination at Casey Moore’s.

“I wish I was with them,” Ruiz said. “They all look like they’re having so much fun.”

Unfortunately, Ruiz still had another five hours of work to go in his graveyard shift.

David Menn, a barista at Mill’s End Cafe & Creperie, said he was oblivious to the zombies that roamed passed the store.

“After working for several hours serving drunk people from Oktoberfest everybody looks the same,” Menn said, sweeping the floor and wiping counters. “I already feel dead.”