Pale, red-eyed zombies moaned and limped around East Lansing Saturday as the city played host to the undead.
About 20 people gathered at 7:30 p.m. Saturday to participate in Replay Entertainment Exchange’s Zombie Walk before taking to the streets.
E.L. hosts second zombie walk
Laingsburg resident Jacob Younglove, left, and Owosso resident Carly Hartson, right, pretend to be zombies on the streets of East Lansing during the East Lansing Zombie Walk on Saturday. The walk was the second arranged by Replay Entertainment Exchange, 319 E. Grand River Ave. People walked in a big circle around downtown pretending to be zombies.
“Everyone got into it,” said Ted Wilson, owner of Replay Entertainment Exchange. “Seeing people’s reactions is always worth it.”
In May, Replay Entertainment Exchange, 319 E. Grand River Ave., held its first Zombie Walk where about 120 people walked the streets of East Lansing dressed as zombies, Wilson said. He attributed the lower turnout at Saturday’s event to the cold, other Halloween activities and a similar zombie walk event in Grand Rapids. Despite the reasons, Wilson said he was not disappointed in the turnout.
“We weren’t expecting a record-breaking turnout,” Wilson said.
In addition to donning zombie clothes and makeup, participants were asked to donate nonperishable food items. Wilson said about 170 food items were collected during the first Zombie Walk. Wilson said Saturday’s event brought about 30 items, which will be donated to the Greater Lansing Food Bank.
“It’s still nice that in this difficult economy, people are still thinking about other people,” Wilson said.
The decision to dress like a zombie and roam the streets wasn’t a hard choice to make for Battle Creek resident Jessica Bracy, who said she planned on participating in the event a month ago.
“It’s never a bad time to dress up as a zombie,” Bracy said. “I like being able to act like a lunatic and nobody minds.”
Owosso resident Carly Hearston said she was happy to participate in the event because she didn’t have the time to participate in the first walk.
“I like Halloween and dressing up,” Hearston said.
After watching zombie movies, Battle Creek resident Ashley Knapp said she found her inspiration to channel the zombie mindset.
“I thought it would be fun,” Knapp said. “I like zombie and horror movies and thought people dressed as zombies would be sweet.”
Wilson said one of the reasons for the Zombie Walk was to give people an opportunity to do something other than go to the bar.
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“This town needs more cool things,” Wilson said. “We need more happening around here.”
Although Bracy, who dressed as an elderly zombie, tried different costume ideas for the walk, she said she didn’t worry that her costume wouldn’t fit the theme.
“Everything is better when you add ‘zombie’ to the end of it,” Bracy said.
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