Before we get to that, we do also want to address the few comments we’ve received from folks either disappointed that there wasn’t a full walk this year, unhappy with the 21+ portion of the night, or just wishing this year’s event was more like previous years. We were lucky to pull off what we did this year, and that was all due to our core group of volunteers doing a lot of work for you guys, for free. We will continue to put on as many amazing Zombie and Horror events for as long as we can, and we will always strive to make these all ages, very inclusive, and all about community. However, if you want to see the full Walk come back next year, we need you to donate. As mentioned in previous posts, we spend a lot of time, effort, and whole lot of money to make these things happen, and do not have any kind of corporate sponsorship helping out there. We’re committed to supporting Local Asheville, and keeping these events free for attendees, but that also means we have to rely on local sponsorship and donations to make it happen.  If you like what we’ve done in the past, and want us to continue providing you with family-friendly, spooky, fun events, please consider donating to help make that happen. If we got just $2 for every attendee at these events, we would literally never have a problem putting them on.  You can use this button:

Next, we’d like to thank the sponsors that helped make this year happen. First and foremost, Stuff Monsters Like who have donated countless hours in helping us plan, promote, organize, and manage all Zombie events we’ve put on in the past couple of years. We cannot thank them enough, and are very happy to have them on board.  Next, our venue sponsor, ZaPow, who generously donated their space, time, promotion, and even FREE BEER for the pre-party for the Pub Crawl. Also, our local festival resource, Festival Network Online for their monetary contribution.  We also want to thank Ben Wilson for the fantastic music you heard during the pre-party; Multiverse for their never-ending support, promotion efforts, and community out-reach; and WNC Ad Guild for their ad sponsorship efforts.

We’d also like to thank all of our raffle sponsors. The raffles we host at our events is one of our main ways to generate funds to put on these events. Without these contributors, we probably wouldn’t be able to continue.  First off, Man’s Ruin Tattoo (on Merrimon ave) for their very generous gift certificates.  The Halloween Superstore (by K-Mart on Tunnel Rd), who have been long-time supporters of the Zombie Walk, and are always willing to pitch in any way they can. Unification Tattoo (Merrimon ave), who are in their first year over there on Merrimon ave, and donated a gift certificate and shirt to our cause. And also Mellow Mushroom (on downtown Broadway) for their gift certificate.  The books in the raffle were also donated by us and Stuff Monsters Like.

Lastly, we’d like to thank the bars that participated in the pub crawl.  Especially One-Stop who streamed the Walking Dead season 3 Premiere live, as well as the premiere of Agent 23 Skidoo’s video, “Shambles.”  If you missed the music video, don’t worry, we’re about to show it to you. In addition, we’d like to thank the Yacht Club, Thirsty Monk, the Vault, the Southern, the LAB, and the Bier Garden.

 
If you’d like to sponsor upcoming zombie events in any way, please contact us at contact@ashtoberfest.com.  We depend on community support to keep going, and love to support and promote Local Asheville!

Now on to the fun stuff. Ready to see pictures of the event??  Our friend, Michael Tracey was there to capture the event. See the full album from the Pub Crawl here, and see his personal site here.

There are also plenty of pictures from folks who were there posted and tagged on our facebook page here. Feel free to find and tag yourself!

We also had WLOS show up and report about theevent. It made Top News stories – take a look, you may be in it! View the video here!

Were you at the Walk last year?? Well then, you may also see yourself in the wonderfully hilarious video for “Shambles” by Secret Agent 23 Skidoo.  We got to be the first ones to premiere it during the Pub Crawl, and couldn’t be happier about it! If you missed it, view it here:

And last, but certainly not least, we made an appearance in Brent Brown’s comic feature for the Mountain Xpress:

Again, thank you to everyone who attended, donated, or sponsored in any way. We love Asheville!

Be sure to stop on by. We’ll be at the Merrimon Ave Red Cross location on Thursday, October 4th between 2 and 7pm.

View Red Cross’ full press release below, or visit their site for more details.  See you there!

Zombie-fied Celebrities Urge: Use Your Brain, Give Blood

AMC’s “The Walking Dead” and the American Red Cross partner to raise awareness about the need for blood

Asheville, NC (September 24, 2012) – AMC and the American Red Cross have joined forces for “The American Red Cross Zombie Blood Drive” – a campaign that kicks off September 24 and runs through October 22.

Designed to put the spotlight on the constant need for blood, an impressive line-up of celebrities like Peter Jackson, The Black Keys, EXTRA’s Maria Menounos, Joel Madden, Mena Suvari, Aisha Tyler, Jimmy Smits, NASCAR’s Kurt Busch and more will be “zombie-fied” through digital portraits created by “The Walking Dead’s” own special effects make-up guru Greg Nicotero.

“We’re honored to team up with AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’ and all of the zombie-fied celebrities to highlight this important cause,” said Delisa English, CEO of the Red Cross Carolinas Region. “Someone in the U.S. needs blood every two seconds and that need could skyrocket in the event of a zombie apocalypse.”

The zombie-fied celebrity pictures will appear in a Public Zombie Announcement (PZA) on AMC and online at the network’s dedicated campaign micro-site, amcgiveblood.com. The PZA reminds viewers to use their brains and give blood. AMC is also organizing a special sweepstakes to thank those who support blood donation through the Red Cross. The grand prize is a visit to the set of “The Walking Dead” in Atlanta, Georgia. Details are available at amcgiveblood.com.

Upcoming Red Cross Zombie Blood Drives
Asheville Blood Donation Center (100 Edgewood Rd, Asheville NC 28804)
Monday September 24 & October 1, 8, 15 & 22              12:30pm-5:30pm
Tuesday September 25 & October 2, 9 &16                     2:00pm-7:00pm
Wednesday September 26 & October 3, 10 & 17             7:30am-12:30pm
Thursday September 27 & October 4, 11 & 18                 2:00pm-7:00pm
Friday October 5 & 12                                                           9:00am-1:30pm
Saturday October 6                                                               7:30am-12:30pm
Saturday October 20                                                            9:00am-1:30pm

Use your brain and give blood. Call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or visit redcrossblood.org to make an appointment or for more information. Then watch the Season Three premiere of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” on October 14.

How to Donate Blood
All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or driver’s license, or two other forms of identification are required at check-in.  Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental permission in some states), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.

About the American Red Cross
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies more than 40 percent of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or join our blog at blog.redcross.org.

Watch “The Walking Dead” on AMC
AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” the number one drama series in basic cable history for Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54, returns for its third season Sunday, October 14 at 9pm. Based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman, “The Walking Dead” tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse. It follows a group of survivors who travel in search of a safe and secure home. The series, which garnered a 2010 Golden Globe® nomination for Best Television Series – Drama and won the 2011 Emmy® Award for Outstanding Prosthetic Make-Up, stars Andrew Andrew Lincoln, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Scott Wilson, Lauren Cohan, Danai Gurira and David Morrissey.  Season three of “The Walking Dead” is executive produced by showrunner Glen Mazzara, Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert.

About AMC
AMC reigns as the only cable network in history to ever win the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Drama Series four years in a row, as well as the Golden Globe® Award for Best Television Series – Drama for three consecutive years.  Whether commemorating favorite films from every genre and decade or creating acclaimed original programming, the AMC experience is an uncompromising celebration of great stories.  AMC’s original stories include “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad,” “The Walking Dead “and “Hell on Wheels.”  AMC further demonstrates its commitment to the art of storytelling with its slate of unscripted original series, as well as curated movie franchises like AMC’s Can’t Get Enough and AMC’s Crazy About. AMC is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc. and its sister networks include IFC, Sundance Channel and WE tv.  AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile.  AMC: Story Matters HereSM.

Recently, we had a fundraising event (the Zombie Prom), which was a ridiculous amount of fun. Throughout this, and the spreading rumors, we’ve been asked multiple times why an event like ours would need to raise funds. The fact is, we incur absurd amounts of costs by throwing the Zombie Walk, and have consistently kept this cost away from our thousands of fans and attendees – keeping it as a completely free event for you. We want to keep doing that for you guys. In the past we’ve tried to rely on the generosity of community supporters and business owners in town to help us cover some of the costs of the Walk. To be blunt: this has never been enough. We still cover thousands of dollars worth of costs out of our own pockets every year. In case you’re unaware of who runs the event you love year after year: we’re just normal people with a strong love of zombies.  We’ve intentionally stayed away from corporate sponsorships because we love Local Asheville, and we’re all very passionate about providing a fun, free, family-friendly event for our community. To answer the question of why we have to spend this money each year: throwing an event like this is not easy or cheap. We spend months setting up partnerships and trying to make deals, as well as work with the city council and police force to organize something that works for everyone. This means purchasing insurance, permits, police rentals, furniture rentals (tables and chairs), prizes for attendees, makeup costs, renting stages, renting audio equipment, website hosting, artists for poster and web design, promotional costs (fliers, posters, radio spots), and more.

We do not make money off of the Zombie Walk, we never have. In fact, we personally sink more time and money than we can afford into it each year.  Normally we keep this kind of information away from the public view and find a way to tackle these difficulties ourselves.   However, we’ve spent the better part of eight months this year attempting to pull together an event that will satisfy the city and our fans without completely bankrupting us, and it has not happened.  Why, you ask?  Because of a complete lack of community support. In order to gain this support, we feel like you, the fan and attendee, needs to know the challenges we face.  This is a call to action, and a request for your help. We have been turned down by venue after venue this year, or told that if we use a venue, we will not be given any way to make back the money we sink into the event.  Asheville has been showing us that they’re not that concerned with our plight, despite the fact that we had 3,000 attendees last year and get dozens of messages every week asking about this year’s event.  All is not lost, however, as a couple of wonderful local businesses (more on them in a moment) are actually helping to save the walk!

We want to keep going, and will fight to the end to keep giving you the quality event you’ve come to expect from us for almost a decade now, but right now we need your help. We need community support, we need your funding, we need your time, and frankly… we need your love. If you are a business owner and are willing to sponsor us in any way (including donating goods and services that we can raffle off or use directly), we want you. Please contact us. If you are an individual or group that wants to donate a dollar or two to our cause – literally, we would never have this problem if we received a dollar or two from each attendee every year – Just click this donate button:

Or if you have the same passion for events and zombies that we do and want to donate your time as a volunteer, please contact us here. We cannot keep the Zombie Walk going without your help. Be a part of an established and beloved community event that Keeps Asheville Weird.

Now let’s talk about the future. First of all, we are very happy to announce that we not only have an event for you guys this year, but are already working on a venue for next year.  As usual, our event is the second Sunday in October (the 14th this year), but it will be a little different for 2012.  We could not raise the support and funds in time for a full Walk this year, but still have an amazingly fun time planned for you. This year, we will be hosting a Zombie Pub Crawl in downtown Asheville. Before we go into the details of that, let’s go ahead and mention that the full Zombie Walk will return next year. Not only that, we have plans brewing (pun intended) to make this the biggest, most fun, and spookiest Zombie Walk yet!  With the support of Greenman Brewery, the Zombie Walk will have an outstanding venue to start from, a route very close to the heart of downtown – filled with spectators to scare, and we’ll even have room for awesome side events such as kids’ activities, and maybe even a spooky haunted brewery tour!

As for this year, let’s give you some details, shall we?

What: Zombie Pub Crawl and Pre-Party
When: Sunday, October 14th starting at 7pm
Where:  Starting at ZaPow Gallery, and continuing on to various bars around downtown (to be announced soon)
Details: The evening starts out with a Pre-Party courtesy of the amazing people at ZaPow from 7pm to 9pm. This party is all ages. However, it also involves beer – FREE beer. If you are considering bringing the kids, just keep in mind that there will be drinking, and that it’s also in an art gallery, so be sure you can be responsible and respectful with the space ZaPow has generously donated. If you are considering showing up as a minor and getting free booze: nope. We have real bartenders checking IDs. Sorry. But you can still have a wonderful time.  We’ll be having face painting, palm reading, live music, art viewing, zombie makeup, a raffle, and as much fun as we can fit into that space.

After that, we’ll be hitting the town! We’re currently working on getting bus transportation around  town (and if you or someone you know can help, please contact us!). As soon as we have a full list of participating bars, we will release them to you.  We’re also working on getting a late-night afterparty going, as well as some possible hotel deals for those coming from out of town or just don’t have a sober ride home and want a place to crash.
**PLEASE BE AWARE: We expect all participating zombies to cooperate fully with the law in this event. This means no drunk and disorderly contact, no clogging up the streets, and NO. DRUNK. DRIVING. Seriously, secure a ride home before planning to attend. We want you all to be safe, sound, have a fantastic time and be able to do it again with us next year!**

Lastly, we’d like to announce to the minors and families that we realize the latter part of this evening being a 21+ event is kind of a bummer. We’ve always tried very hard to provide an environment that is inviting to all ages, and we absolutely adore the zombie families. However, do not fret! We will continue to organize and host fundraisers throughout the coming year, and we will strive to make these events “all-ages” when possible.

Speaking of fundraisers, we’d like to thank our partners Multiverse / GeekOut and Stuff Monsters Like for their support, never-ending contributions, and for making things like last year’s Walk, this year’s Prom, and this year’s Pub Crawl possible.

Keep an eye on this blog for more info to come, and thank you for your support!

-The Asheville Zombies

Asheville art gallery ZaPow! and SpellBound Children’s Bookshop are teaming up with the blog StuffMonstersLike.com to bring you a live Hug A Monster Day event.

Intergalactic Hug A Monster Day is the only holiday that reminds all of humanity to embrace the monsters in their lives – whatever they may be. Participants are encouraged to grab their best monster friend, evil lawn gnomes, and other minutia of the macabre and give them a big squeeze. Hug them in public, in private, or in front of cameras and share with the world. Your choice.

Spellbound invites the youngsters for monster fun from noon until 3:00 pm. Bring your spooky toys, dress as your favorite monster, or just come as you are. A photo booth will be available to capture the moments. Additional monster toys will be provided for hugging. Children can also enjoy monster crafts and story time.

From 7:00 to 9:00 pm, the grownup ghouls are invited to ZaPow! to co-mingle with the spirits. Bring Your Own Monsters (BYOM) as the festivities continue. Beer will be provided by French Broad Brewery. Monster folk musician Ben Wilson will play his collection of zany songs that will terrify you as you howl with laughter. Pose with your favorite beast or mutant in the photo booth. Prizes will be awarded.

Hug A Monster Day is sponsored every year by Stuff Monsters Like.com, the blog that reminds everyone that it’s okay to be afraid, as long as you are laughing. ZaPow is the only narrative and illustration art gallery in the Southeast. Spellbound is an independent bookstore just for kids (and kids at heart) which carries the best children’s and young adult books of yesterday and today.

The authors of Stuff Monsters Like.com, who just tried  to purchase the moon through Kickstarter, are available for interviews. Please contact them at stuffmonsterslike@gmail.com.

Amelia Earhart didn’t always fly alone. July 27, 1934.

We saw some pretty incredible makeup:

Did a whole lot of dancing:

Had a few beers:

And just generally had a great time:

We even had the Ghostbusters there and – no joke – when the Ghostbusters theme came on the completely random playlist, they knew just what to do:

All in all, we had a blast with everyone last night.  We has some fantastic prizes for the raffle, and owe a very big thanks to our sponsors: Chapeaux by Simone, Charlotte Street Computers, Asheville Brewing Company, Jason Liquori, Orbit DVD, Pastimes, the POP Project, One Fifty One, Diamond Thieves, Game Xcape, and Zapow.

A VERY special thank you to our hosting venue, the One-Stop, who provided a great atmosphere and some of the absolute friendliest service we have ever seen. A special thank you to Stuff Monsters Like, who really helped us pull this off. And of course a huge thank you to GeekOut, who made us their afterparty.

All of the photos you see here were made possible by the very talented Michael Tracey.  See the entire Zombie Prom 2012 set HERE.

Last, but certainly not least, we’d like to thank you, all of our zombie-loving supporters! Without you guys, we’d be nothing. We want to continue bringing you the fun, scary, gory, entertaining, and FREE Zombie Walk that we’ve been bringing you since 2006.  Stay tuned for more Zombie Walk news as well as more fun Zombie events!

AAARRRRGGGGHHHH BRRRAAAAAIIINNNNS (that’s zombie for ‘we love you’)  from Ashtoberfest: the Asheville Zombies:

We could not have put such great prizes together without the help of our generous donors. Ashtoberfest sends our thanks and gratitude to the following Asheville businesses (in alphabetical order):

Check it:

We’ll dance to music from Wick-It the Instigator, who will be playing live upstairs. We’ll have Zombie Prom photos available by local photographer, Bill Rhodes. Food and spirits will be available at the venue, and we’ll have a killer raffle including $100 worth of tattoo services, art prints supplied by local artists/galleries, limited edition Ashtoberfest shirts and stickers, and much more!

Cover is only $5, and all proceeds go to ensure that we have a Zombie Walk in Asheville this year!  The event is 21+, starts directly after the May 12th convention events at 10pm, and will go to the wee hours of the night, so leave the kids at home, designate a driver, throw on that dusty old prom dress complete with rips, tears, and bloody handprints, and party into the night with the Asheville zombies!

Need directions to the venue? We’ve got you covered:

Still have questions? Leave us a comment, or email us.

And don’t worry. We’ve been hard at work preparing the zombie hoard for the event. We’ve got something extra special planned, to be announced soon. So check in on Facebook for more details and continuing announcements.

For additional information, visit MULTIVERSE Asheville or StuffMonstersLike.com

Here’s the full press release:

GeekOut 2012 to Preserve Spirit of FANATICON in Downtown Asheville

Asheville, NC – Local businesses are partnering with Multiverse Asheville to organize a celebration of comic books, gaming, and fan culture which will take place downtown May 11-12, 2012

Multiverse Asheville officially announced plans yesterday for GeekOut 2012, a celebration of comic books, gaming, costumes, art, and fan culture to take place from the evening of May 11 through May 12. The de-centralized convention will take place among a walking radius of downtown venues and businesses hosting dozens of themed events.

Programming will be free of charge for attendees; both evenings will feature all-ages activities as well as afterparties geared towards an 18+ audience. Saturday morning and afternoon will focus on programming appropriate for children and families.  Participants are encouraged to attend in-costume.

The announcement comes in-response to FANATICON’s notice February 8 that the third installment of their popular superhero and science fiction convention (which was scheduled for the same weekend) would be canceled for logistical reasons and that there are no current plans for future years. The following day, the organizers of FANATICON updated their official website in support of Multiverse’s plans for the new event.

Organizers are attempting to keep as much FANATICON programming intact as possible, integrating previously-planned panels and events into the new format.  Whether space will be allotted for outside vendors has yet to be decided.

With the exception of select events, Multiverse will operate in a promotional and organizational capacity, coordinating event schedules and providing information and maps to attendees and participating venues.  Overall marketing for the event will be managed by 4^th Wall Promotions.

Multiverse Asheville was founded in August 2011 as a way to coordinate and support socialization among local fans of comics, games, and costuming, as well as to promote locally-operated businesses that support the subculture.  In six months, the group has grown to represent nearly 500 active fans and dozens of businesses.

The “Zombies and Lusty Ladies” party is scheduled for Saturday, February 13 from 7-9 pm. The party features Wee Heavier beer, music from the Mad Tea, and (our favorite) a zombie costume contest.

Come dressed to impress as your best fictional zombie, lusty zombie, or gruesome zombie.

But be warned, we plan to win the contest, or kill all our competition trying.

Click here for more info about ZaPow! and the “Zombies and Lusty Ladies” event.