One cool evening every October, the streets fill with monsters and it finally feels like fall to me.
Photo courtesy Hannah Wareham.
For a few years now, Northampton has celebrated Halloween with the annual Zombie Pubcrawl. On Saturday October 20th, hoards of bar-hoppers will descend upon Northampton dressed as flesh-hungry zombies move between seven participating venues. The costumes are impressive and the zombies remain in character as they walk between the bars. The purpose of this drinking based massive role-play is simply good fun and celebration. The zombie pub-crawl is a great way to celebrate Halloween as an adult. Who doesn’t miss trick-or-treating? Except now you can trick-or-treat for beer…
To compile a great costume, simply decide what type of human you were before you were infected with the zombie virus, and then dress it up in your grossest blood and guts. Zombies often bleed from their eyes and nose, and many have skin that peels back and exposes muscle and veins. The night begins at 6pm at Sam’s Pizza where you can get dinner if you haven’t already filled up on brains. You will follow the crowd of mindless beer-hungry monsters to the Toasted Owl, The Elevens, The Watering Hole, and then Hugo’s before you end the night dancing at Diva’s till before heading for the last call at the WWII Club. Expect big crowds, lots of tortured moaning, cries out for “Brains,” terrifying and hilarious costumes: lots of drunk zombies.
Photo courtesy Hannah Wareham.
Saturday October 20th
Pubcrawl schedule:
6 – 7: Sam’s Pizza
7 – 7:45: Toasted Owl
7:45 – 8:30: The Elevens
8:30 – 9:15: The Watering Hole
9:15 – 10:30: Hugo’s
10:30 – 11:45: Diva’s Nightclub
12:00 – 2: World War II Club
Costume make-up can get really expensive! Fortunately, real looking blood can be made easily with basic ingredients from your kitchen.
Recipe for Fake Blood
You will need: Water, corn syrup, food coloring, cornstarch, and chocolate syrup or maple syrup.
Mix 1 part water and 3 parts corn syrup together in a small bowl. Add a few drops of the red food coloring at a time until the mixture is a deep red. Add blue and green as needed to make a more realistic blood color. Add cornstarch, flour, and chocolate or maple syrup as desired to thicken the mixture. (If lumps form you can wait a few minutes until they rise to the surface before easily removing them with a spoon.) This requires experimentation. I like to make several different mixes at different consistencies so that I can have a nice range from gushing blood to thick and festering flesh wounds.
Photo courtesy KellBailey via Flickr. Used under creative commons license.
