Omaha Zombie Walk 2008

Today Legend Comics sponsored the Omaha Zombie Walk as a benefit for the Omaha Food Bank. While they had a few people show up in zombie costume, a local makeup artist grabbed some pancake syrup, chocolate syrup, and red food coloring; and proceeded to create several more zombies from willing spectators.

Zombie Walks throughout the country are an outgrowth of World Zombie Day™. Like SF/F conventions, World Zombie Day™ is a chance for the fans of zombie culture to come together and share views, experiences, and tips on being a better (or should that be grosser) zombie. I got a chance to meet and talk with a lot of people in the few hours I huddled in the Legend Comics store to stay warm - it was a cold day outside.

Around 3PM those brave soul-less bas----- stumbled out onto the sidewalks and made their way down Leavenworth. Even some of the youngest zombies I had ever seen.

Adam Tibits, the organizer, promised that he will do a 2009 Zombie Walk in a time of the year when it was guarenteed to be warmer. So keep an eye on his MySpace page; www.myspace.com/adamswalkingdead

2 Halloween Events

With the approach of Halloween, two separate costuming events are happening in the Omaha SF/F community.

This Saturday, October 18th, Anime Hoshii is sponsoring a costume ball at the Bellevue University Student Center from 6PM until 10PM. The admission charge would be $5 if you don’t have a costume, it is free if you do. They will have “Music, dancing, food, costume contests, beverages, B&W horror films on a big screen, and lots-o-fun!” They list three award categories: Best Halloween Costume, Best Anime Costume, and Funniest Costume. With prizes available for each. So take some time to go down to Bellevue University and do a little cosplay.

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On Sunday October 26th, Legend Comics is sponsoring the 2008 Zombie Walk as a benefit for the Omaha Food Ban, it is being organized by Adam Mikael Tibbott & Revenant Media.

What is a "Zombie Walk"? It is a gathering of two or more people dressed and made up to look like the undead, limping or otherwise mimicing the gait of a zombie. These events also go by the names: a zombie mob, zombie march, zombie horde, zombie lurch, zombie shuffle or zombie pub crawl. This will be the first time Omaha has participated in WORLD ZOMBIE DAY.

The event begins at noon at Legend Comics 5131 Leavenworth St Omaha, NE 68106-1343 (402) 391-2377 and will run until 6PM. Non-perishable food donations for the Omaha Food Bank are encouraged and refreshments will be available as well as prizes for Best Costume, best "Zombie Shuffle" and Best Zombie Groan. So dress up in your most decayed outfit and come walk with other zombies for a ghoulish good time. If you need help putting together a zombie costume, head down to Mangelsen’s. I checked with them the other day and they have make-up and zombie make-up kits you can use to give your features the look of death warmed over.

A Fan Art Exhibit

Are you aware that the Omaha Public Library has an art gallery on the main floor of the W. Dale Clark Library (a.k.a. the downtown branch)? Well they do, and for the month of November they are planning a Fan.Art.Fusion exhibit. If you are a new artist, an established artist looking for new fans, or just someone who is a talented dabbler, bring your science fiction, fantasy, comic books, manga (yeah, I know that’s just the Japanese word for comic book and so I repeated myself), or anime art downtown and show it off. There will be no charge for participating. As an added incentive there will be an awards ceremony on Saturday, November 22nd at 2 PM. Prizes have been donated from OSFest, OtakuOmaha, Dragon’s Lair and Krypton Comics. So do you think you’re good enough?

For the general public, this will be a free display, open anytime the library is during the month of November. While they have festivities planned for November 22nd, anytime is a good time to view art. So plan a trip to the Michael Phipps Gallery on the main floor of the W. Dale Clark Library, 215 South 15th Street and escape into the imaginary worlds of fellow fans.

For more information contact either: Manya Shorr or Rachel Lee