Pedestrians on Mill Avenue stopped and looked twice Thursday when zombies attacked, ran and terrorized the street.
About 20 people dressed as the living dead walked around downtown Tempe Thursday night in the Third Annual Tempe Zombie Walk.
The event featured zombies of all ages — from children to college students to moms.
Participants met near the light rail stop on Mill Avenue and Third Street and walked toward University Drive and back.
Zombies over 21 ended the night with a celebration at Rula Bula Irish Pub on Mill.
Phil Alberton, dressed as Alex, a character from the movie “A Clockwork Orange,” is the head zombie of the Tempe Zombie Walk and organizer of the event.
“It was an idea that just popped into my head,” Alberton said.
Alberton, a fourth grade teacher at Fuller Elementary School in Tempe, was reading about zombie walks in other states and thought it’d be a lot of fun to bring to Tempe.
The first year only five people participated, and the following year 15 zombies rode the light rail, Alberton said.
“It gets a little bigger each year,” he said.
They walked through the Jack in the Box drive-thru and banged on the windows of P.F. Chang’s China Bistro. Confused spectators took photos with their cell phones.
Physics and mathematics freshman Aaron Neidiffer and political science freshman Steven Lee heard about the event through a Facebook invite.
“It’s a huge game of tag with zombies and getting ripped apart,” Neidiffer said. “It sounded fun.”
The two students showed up carrying bottles of fake blood and wearing plain white T-shirts with the letter “X” across their chests to mark them as targets. They asked to be chased down and turned into the living dead to join the group of zombies.
Zombie walks are held throughout Arizona and the nation.
Christine Heintz is the founder and organizer of Zombie Fest, an event that took place last weekend at the Rawhide Wild Western Town in Chandler.
Heintz found out about zombie walks through friends and searched it in Google.
“I found Phil and I messaged him,” Heintz said.
Both of them are talking about combining zombie walks next year to get more people involved.
Downtown Phoenix Ambassadors — people who help pedestrians and visitors to the downtown area — host their own zombie walk in downtown Phoenix.
“What I think would be a really neat idea is to get the Phoenix Ambassadors, Phil and I to get together and benefit for St. Mary’s [Food Bank],” Heintz said.
Heintz received money and food donations from Zombie Fest participants that went toward St. Mary’s and provided more than 6,000 meals to families in need.
She hopes by drawing together all three zombie walks they will be able to get more donations.
Reach the reporter at mpareval@asu.edu
