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BERWYN – Whether your idea of zombies comes from the "Night of the Living Dead" movies, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" music video or "The Walking Dead" television series, you can dress up as your favorite undead being during the seventh annual Roosevelt Road Zombie Walk and Pub Crawl on Oct. 28.
Asked how best to dress as a zombie, Berwyn Development Corporation Director of Chamber Services Amy Crowther said, “There’s a lot of zombie movies to come off from. It’s up to your taste.”
The usual dress is disheveled, ripped-up clothes, she said.
“It’s a good time,” Crowther said about the event that will go from 6 to 11 p.m. that day. “The zombie culture is really big. It’s a fun, well-organized event.”
The walk is organized by the Roosevelt Road Special Events Commission of the BDC, and 13 locations are participating.
Tickets cost $20 paid by credit card until 5 p.m. Oct. 26 at whyberwyn.com/event/roosevelt-road-zombie-walk-pub.crawl or $25 paid in cash at the door at Culver's, 6943 Roosevelt Road. Wristbands will be available at Culver's all evening.
The price includes admission, drink specials, free food at three locations, no door charge for music, zombie makeup if needed and a free shuttle for participants who do not want to walk between the 6300 and 7100 blocks of Roosevelt Road. It also includes a free Taste of Roosevelt Road feeding frenzy at 9:30 p.m. at FitzGerald's, 6615 Roosevelt Road. Bands will play at four locations.
The first 100 to buy tickets get a special-edition commemorative T-shirt.
New this year will be a hearse from the Hard Core Hearse Club parked in front of each location, Crowther said.
Also, previously the Grim Reaper asked zombies to walk as a horde with him, but this year the visitors will be spread out, she said.
Zombies can use their own makeup such as blood, fake skin hanging off their face or whitened skin. They also can get free makeup and costume staging from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Culver’s, sponsored by Horrorbles, the horror and science fiction collectible store that was on Roosevelt Road before moving to Stanley Avenue in Berwyn.
Because the event is a pub crawl selling beer, shots and other alcohol, it is limited to ages 21 and older, Crowther said.
"It’s open to anyone who enjoys a pub crawl and wants to get dressed up,” she said.
Last year, 300 tickets were sold for the zombie walk.
“Each year, it grows a little bit,” Crowther said.
The costume winner will be announced at FitzGerald's during the feeding frenzy, and photos with the Grim Reaper can be taken at Krew Rock Lounge, 6319 Roosevelt Road.
Once the crawl is over, organizers are encouraging zombies to “resume their search for brains at their favorite Berwyn haunts until the late hours of the evening.”
The Zombie Walk was started by John Aranza of Horrorbles, who was looking to develop a destination event on Roosevelt Road, Crowther said.
“I think it just makes sense,” she said, adding there is no other Halloween event in Berwyn catering to adults.
“I think it’s going to be a fantastic event,” Crowther said.
A portion of proceeds will support the Veltway Music Collective. Each year, the Roosevelt Road commission selects a different nonprofit to benefit from the Zombie Walk, she said.
The collective hopes to raise at least $500 to $1,000 toward providing instruments or instruction to individual students, an organization that provides music instructional support, or a nonprofit that gives music instruction for disadvantaged children, said Loren Middleton, president of The Veltway Corporation, the collective’s parent company.
Food will be donated by Autre Monde Café & Spirits, Big Guys Sausage Stand, Buona Restaurant, Capri Ristorante, Culver’s, Di Nico’s Pizza & Gelato, Nonna D’s, Turano's Mamma Susi Bakeshop, Vesecky’s Bakery and Wing Boss.
The event also is sponsored by Eighth Ward Alderwoman Nora Laureto, Horrorbles, Krew Rock Lounge and The Veltway Corporation.
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If you go
What: Roosevelt Road Zombie Walk and Pub Crawl
When: 6 to 11 p.m. Oct. 28
Where: the 6300 and 7100 blocks of Roosevelt Road in Berwyn
Cost: Tickets cost $20 paid by credit card until 5 p.m. Oct. 26 at whyberwyn.com/event/roosevelt-road-zombie-walk-pub.crawl or $25 paid in cash at the door at Culver's, 6943 Roosevelt Road. Wristbands will be available at Culver's all evening.
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Entertainment
• Friendly Tap, 6733 Roosevelt Road: Jon Gram, Sails and Moist Guitars
• FitzGerald's, 6615 Roosevelt Road: New Orleans Suspects and Cannonball
• Krew Rock Lounge, 6319 Roosevelt Road: DJ XXX Hollywood XXX
• Wire, 6815 Roosevelt Road: Distant Brothers, Moonrise Nation and Mike Flood and Co.
• Lucky's, 7123 Roosevelt Road: karaoke
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Food and drink specials
• Commodore Barry American Legion Post, 6919-23 Roosevelt Road
• Big Guys Sausage Stand, tent in the cul-de-sac next to the post
• 12th Street Rag, 7023 Roosevelt Road
• Friendly Tap, 6733 Roosevelt Road
• Kinslahger Brewing Company, 6806 Roosevelt Road
• Krew Rock Lounge, 6319 Roosevelt Road
• Lucky's, 7123 Roosevelt Road
• Nonna D's Pizzeria & Sports Bar, 7109 Roosevelt Road
• Pat's Pub, 6907 Roosevelt Road
• Winning Circle, 6909 Roosevelt Road
• Wire, 6815 Roosevelt Road