The hills of the U were alive Wednesday evening with the sound and sights of the undead.
At 6:30 p.m. hundreds of students dressed in their best zombie attire descended on the Union lawn to take part in a campus wide game of zombie tag.
Arranged by the Union Programming Council, the third annual game of zombie tag cost approximately $3,500 to bring to campus. Jessica Larson, a program director with UPC, said she was optimistic about the turnout for the event, hoping it was “memorable” for the students who took part.
“We have everything from face painting to water guns to help maximize the experience,” she said.
Larson, dressed in a shirt depicting a blood thirsty zombie, was thrilled to mention that the winners of a raffle offered at the event would win tickets to B.o.B’s performance at Redfest. The Freshman Ambassador Board, as well as the U Women’s Soccer team, were also tabling at the ghoulish event and handing out prizes to those who visited their tables.
The rules for tag were simple. At the emcee’s announcement, participants who had signed waivers were to relocate to a designated starting place. Secret zombies were chosen by the UPC to run and begin the tagging. Once tagged, students were to give up their glow stick to the zombie. The tagged person was then considered “infected” and transformed into a zombie who, in turn, tagged others. At the end of the game the zombie with the most kills (glowsticks) won.
The setting sun casting shadows over campus paired with the fog enveloped air and the ashen painted faces of the participants transformed the U’s lively daytime campus into a scene straight out of a work of fiction. Professional makeup artists were on hand to make the zombie images come to life on student’s faces. The company Party Times, who have worked various U events for the past 16 years, was on hand to take the experience to the next level.
According to the professional makeup artists most of the aspiring zombies opted for authentic makeup, although some chose to glam up the experience and add sparkles and neon colors.
A vile of red “vampire blood” sat on the table next to Whitney Kratz, a freshman in biology, as she applied her own makeup.
“It’s Zombie tag,” Kratz said. “Need I explain more?”
Kelton George, a freshman in chemical engineering, said he was excited to participate in the experience, which was something he’d never done before. More than 200 hundred students came out and joined George to attempt to outrun the secret zombies lurking on campus.
Ying Tan, a sophomore in sociology and marketing, missed last year’s event, but said she was happy to come this year. As paint was being airbrushed on her face she was busy thinking about the best places on campus to hide.
“I think I would hide in OSH or the Linguistics building,” Tan said. “They are both so confusing. I don’t think a zombie could find me there.”
Before the emcee announced the beginning of the first 45 minute game, zombies already began staggering around campus. Unsuspecting students were taken off guard by feet-dragging, mouth-drooling zombies lurching toward them. Several students took advantage of the photo op moment, while others sidestepped their way in another direction.
As Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” played in the background students began to get in the mindset of a zombie.
Arissa Barrowes, a sophomore in nursing and sociology, said the scene looked real and it was overwhelming. Barrowes developed a strategic plan for “surviving” the event.
“I’m going to hide and wait. I’m not going to run around and be an obvious target,” Barrowes said. “I’m going to wait for them to come to me, and then I’m going to strike.”
The sights and sounds of the moment attracted students like Jenessa Davies, a freshman who intends to study veterinary medicine, from around campus. She was studying and started hearing music and seeing people walking around like zombies and wearing straight jackets. She said she had to find out what was going on. Although she couldn’t stay to participate in the event, she stopped to get her face painted before going back to her homework.
Standing next to piles of pizza boxes and Powerade for the participants, Larson and fellow UPC workers seemed pleased with the results.
“We are happy to be able to put an event like this together for the students,” Larson said.
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