Chris Schultz/The Dominion Post photos
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Bring out your dead: Annual Zombie Walk doubles as Salvation Army donation drive

by Chris Schulz, The Dominion Post

Families and fun seekers came out to enjoyed games, charity and competition before marching down High Street at the 2019 Morgantown Zombie Walk.

University High School student Alizabeth Helmick-Johnson (right) holds a dissected sheep’s brain as Dr. Liz Engler-Chiurazzi of WVU’s Department of Neuroscience explains how a brain would be impacted by zombification.

Revelers convened Friday evening at the Market Place, 400 Spruce St., where they enjoyed pre-walk activities such as face painting, music by local acts Haggard Wülf and Mike Ghost and costume contests.

Jayden Pauley (bottom, left), Collin Dohman, Nathan Heaps, Madi Firn and Johnathan Pauley pose on Spruce Street at the end of the Zombie Walk. Firn took just an hour to complete the group’s gruesome getups.

West Virginia University’s Department of Neuroscience was also on hand with preserved sheep’s brains to help explain the effects zombification might have on a human brain.

Casey Osborn, one of the winners of the Zombie Walk’s costume contest, poses with his giant, homemade prop axe at the Market Place on Spruce Street.

Although attendance was down compared to prior years, spirits were still high among the zombie hoard.
The walk has served as a food drive for the local Salvation Army since its inception.

Raven Osborne was one of the winners of the Zombie Walk’s costume contest with his “Stranger Things” inspired getup. He shared the award with his dog/demagorgon Chewie.

Regardless, the annual walk has become a staple of the Halloween season in Morgantown.