By Mary Ann Bourbeau
ASBURY PARK – Hordes of the walking dead will invade Asbury Park Saturday, Oct. 4 with one thing on their minds – brains.
When the New Jersey Zombie Walk returns to the Jersey Shore town, its thousands of participants will be raising money and awareness for brain cancer.
The Grey Matters campaign was started this year because the Zombie Walk’s co-director, Mariel Alguacilco, lost her mother recently after a two-year battle with the disease. The campaign will benefit Camp Jinka, a free program for children and teenagers who have been impacted by brain cancer. The camp, which offers kids a chance to connect with others having a similar experience, is a collaboration between the David S. Zocchi Brain Tumor Center at Monmouth Medical Center, The Jinka Foundation, Middletown Arts Center and Poricy Park.
“It’s a respite for these kids, being around other people who know the struggle they are going through,” said Jason Meehan, organizer of the Zombie Walk. “We decided to make this year’s Zombie Walk a tribute to Mariel’s mom and use the walk for good. I hope the crowd has fun with it.”
The New Jersey Zombie Walk is the brainchild of Meehan, who works a day job as manager of the Brewer’s Apprentice in Freehold and is also a freelance photographer. Meehan said he was raised in a family that celebrated Halloween in a big way.
“It was our second biggest holiday next to Christmas,” he said. “I was always into classic zombie movies, but they were just a subculture of the horror culture. Zombies are mindless and silly, and now they’re becoming mainstream. Nobody expected them to be as popular as they are right now.”
Meehan started the first Zombie Walk in 2008 when he heard about these events in other cities and couldn’t find one in New Jersey.
What started as a gathering of a few hundred zombie friends turned into a massive event in 2013, when a Guinness World Record was set for the largest gathering of zombies – 9,592 of the undead on the Asbury Park boardwalk. It’s now an all-day event, organized in cooperation with the chamber of commerce. Many restaurants and bars participate, serving zombie-themed food and cocktails.
“It’s been a really big boost for local businesses,” Meehan said. “We have events from 10 a.m. to when the bars close. It brings people to the city that might not otherwise plan on visiting, other than a show at The Stone Pony or Convention Hall.”
The crowd really gets into it because the costume ideas are endless. Think zombie SpongeBob, Abraham Lincoln, brides and various cartoon characters. There was even a zombified Tillie, the iconic clown face that once graced Palace Amusements.
Grandparents in wheelchairs have participated, as have dogs and newborns, all dressed like the undead. Some people do their own makeup, but if they want a more elaborate job, they can have it done by professional makeup artists on the boardwalk for a nominal fee.
“It’s a very family-friendly event,” Meehan said. “There is a huge crowd of zombies in costume, but we get more than 5,000 people who just come to watch and check out the creativity.”
The event starts at 10 a.m. with professional makeup being done in the Carousel house and zombie merchandise being sold at the Undead Festival of Vendors in the Casino.
As in past years, the Zombie Blood Drive will be accepting donations in front of The Stone Pony, and participants are asked to bring canned goods for the Zombie Food Drive to help feed the living.
New this year is a Haunted Hall from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m. inside Convention Hall. Discount tickets are available for zombies.
There will also be various performances by the Thriller Dance Team outside the Carousel throughout the day.
The walk begins at 4 p.m. when zombies gather on the Boardwalk and lurch toward the Carousel before invading the downtown area.
From 6 to 8 p.m., there will be a Zombie Street Festival downtown with live music, followed by a blood red fireworks finale on the beach at 7:45 p.m. Though the formal events will end, there will be after-parties all over town.
“The fireworks are new this year,” Meehan said. “Every year, we try to make the event bigger and better than the last.”
Several hotels are offering discounts for zombies.
For those who want to make it a total undead weekend, there will be a bonfire on the beach Friday night, Oct. 3, where people will be telling ghost stories.
On Sunday, Oct. 5, The Wonder Bar will have its usual Yappy Hour, but this one will be open to zombie dogs as well.
“Asbury Park has such a unique culture, with its rock history and the variety of the arts scene, so it’s a great town to host the Zombie Walk,” Meehan said.
For more information, visit www.njzombiewalk.com.
Vibe writer Mary Ann Bourbeau can be reached at mbourbeau@tworivertimes.com.
