Paaaaaaaaaaaaabst.
May 27 marks the start of ghoul season in Brooklyn, and the horror-movie makeup artists of the NYC Zombie Crawl are gearing up to release hundreds of members of the undead legion on to the streets of Williamsburg — naturally, no Pabst Blue Ribbon will be safe.
For the most part, getting dead drunk is the first step in getting zombified,” said NYC Zombie Crawl founder Doug Sacmann.
The zombie themed pub crawl kicks off at 3:30 pm in the Trash Bar, where 15 to 20 professional — and, more than likely, already zombified — makeup-artist volunteers will situate themselves amongst buckets of blood-like substances and off-colored mascaras for a three hour zombification marathon, which could leave more than a thousand Brooklynites bound for an evening of undeath and heavy drinking.
“We put on a layer of color, either a gray, green, or jaundiced blue — there are different shades of zombies,” said Sacmann, who can be easily identified on the day of undead revelry by the fake-blood-filled super soaker that he’ll sporadically spray into the crowd of movie-monster merry makers. “Then there’s the liquid latex, if you wanted more elaborate wounds.”
If the Trash Bar gets too crowded, however, zombies are invited to shuffle across Grand Street to The Grand Victory, where the Misfits cover band, Skeletal Life, will play starting at 5 pm.
The zombie crawl proper starts at 6 pm, when hordes of undead rabble rousers will lurch up Bedford Avenue until they hit McCarren Park for raffles, giveaways, contests, and various other events that yield horror themed prizes.
After an hour of fun and games at McCarren Park, the horde will once again take to Bedford Avenue, this time heading south until it hits W. Seventh Street, where Spike Hill will host a free show featuring metal music, metal flesh hooks and human hanging — which to adequately describe would require an entirely different story — courtesy of the Nassau Chainsaw DisGraCeLand Demolition Committee.
At around 8:30 pm, the horde will migrate one last time to Public Assembly, where a whirlwind extravaganza of masochistic contests, horror-themed strip teases, smut-centric game shows, and, best of all, an open bar stocked with Pabst Blue Ribbon and Sailor Jerry brews will keep revenant revelers sufficiently inebriated and gleefully horrified, until their decomposing legs give out and they lurch their way home — likely, to terrify unsuspecting taxi drivers and subway strap hangers.
“There have definitely been some surprised people, but there haven’t been any negative incidents where people get into fights with zombies,” said Sacmann. “But there are definitely some looks of shock. It’s a comment on society, especially in New York, where people are so involved in what they’re doing. But when they see the zombie apocalypse, they always stop and look.”
Trash Bar [256 Grand St. between roebling Street and Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg, (718) 599–1000] May 27, 3:30 pm. $5 for cost of makeup (attendees can spend more, depending on desired level of gore) Visit www.nyczombiecrawl.com
Reach reporter Colin MIxson at cmixson@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4514.
