Bring Out Your Dead Part 3 : Updates On An Outbreak
I was drowning, in way over my head with no clue what to do. Potential sponsors wouldn't talk to me because I was nobody to them and my crowd funding campaign was more a pipe dream than an actual plan. I was running down the options from creating some disorganized flash mob to taking out a personal loan just to make sure the zombie walk happened. Posting online from the Facebook page (the only media outlet I had access to for the event) things were floundering fast. And all I could think is "Here I am, trying to save the walk and I'm going to be the guy that kills it once and for all."
Needless to say, when I got an email from a local pop culture reporter and blogger about helping with the walk, I was excited. Lucas is a Nashville based advertiser and organizer who had ties to the previous organizers of the Nashville Zombie Walk and offered an illuminating history on the events leading up to the hiatus. Taking over from a local Goth DJ who had for years been leading the event but became too busy in career and other projects to devote the time to it he wanted, he passed the torch to Lucas and the group responsible for the Geek Media Expo. After a couple of years there was a political coup within that organization and members the group parted ways with Lucas, taking the zombie walk with them. It was a year later that the event vanished all together and my hunt for answers began.
Sitting in a midtown bar having some beers and talking about the history of the event two things became apparent to us. First, while I had a definite vision and plans for the resurrection of the Nashville Zombie Walk, I had neither resources, contacts, nor experience in bringing it all together. Secondly, -arguably more importantly- Lucas, who is the current creative director for Hypericon among other projects, had all three of those categories I lacked but was stuck on as an outsider to the event.
You ever just have one of those lightning strike moments? One of those pure, dumb, how the hell did that happen moments of luck? After some talking, some beer, some bouncing ideas off of one another, and sharing our stories of how the event had ended up where it was, we finally decided that the best way to bring the zombie walk back to Music City was to team up.
In the three months since this pairing occurred, things have moved at lightning speeds. Overhauls have been made to the look of the FB page (and are still being made as it is our main vessel for communicating at the moment), plans have been drawn up, and as of last week, and sponsorship seems all but guaranteed. I want to tell everyone about all of this cool stuff we've gotten together but, until we get a few things dotted and signed, it still has to be hush hush. Thanks to 52 Weeks of Horror and more recently Zombies In My Blog! we already have two incredible websites carrying news and information about the event to a wider audience than we'd have had through Facebook and word of mouth alone.
As for the politics and posturing that initially lead to the untimely (and ultimately temporary) demise of the walk, I’m staying out of it. I raked people across the coals until they were willing to open a dialogue with me. I got my answers and they turned the event over to folks that could revive it and, as far as I care, that’s the end of that. I was never a member of that GMX cabal so I won’t spread stories or involve myself other than to thank them for passing the torch on to me so that I (and now Lucas) could get things rolling again. I’m happy to finally be writing a piece introducing Lucas as my co-producer on this event and providing vague but encouraging news about things coming up soon. A date has been set and was announced at Walker Stalker Nashville but for those of you who haven’t seen me blowing it up on FB, it will be October 27, 2017. The actual location and times are still being determined but a calendar point is fixed.
Keep following us on Facebook at Nashville Zombie Walk -not to be confused with The Nashville Zombie Walk- as well as articles on ZIMB and especially here at 52 Weeks of Horror.
We’re #makingthatscary and we’re going to #makenashvillestrange while we’re at it. More updates coming soon.
Dan Lee is a horror fiend and freelance writer with a special place in his heart for monster movies and demonic possession stories.
