All welcome at Zombie Walk

The 12th annual Zombie Walk will return to Massillon on Saturday, Oct. 12 from 5-9 p.m. The evening will feature dancing, performances, music and zombies.

“The Zombie Walk originally grew out of an art advocacy group which had a project called ‘Art Displaced,’” said Stacey Richardson, marketing coordinator for the Massillon Zombie Walk. “It was a pop-up art show around October, and when that stopped, someone who knew of a big zombie walk in Pennsylvania suggested it would be a cool thing to try here, using it to lead back to the arts locally. People just love the walk. It has become really great fun for people who are super into Halloween. The walk started right before ‘The Walking Dead’ series really got going, and that coincided nicely and helped get it going a lot.”

The first year, local dance studios handled performing the zombie dance from the 1983 Michael Jackson “Thriller” video. “The next year,” Richardson said, “anyone who wanted to learn the dance could participate, and that has continued that way since. They start rehearsing for the dance in August. It adds a lot to the charm of the evening and helps to make it a very community-oriented event.”

Zombies literally walk the streets of Massillon. “We go through the streets slowly,” Richardson said. “There are a lot of great people having fun, and it has grown larger every year.”

Richardson said Massillon businesses get involved, offering special deals for those in zombie garb and many offers to attract the night’s zombies and spectators.

Anyone is free to come and participate in the walk, in costume or not. The evening is presented by Masonic Temple Clinton Lodge #47.

There also are activities for children. Kids’ activities will be located on Erie Street North, beginning at 5 p.m.

New this year, the Zombie Walk will have Trick or Treat stations along the route immediately following the 6 p.m. “Thriller” performance with volunteers handing out candy.

A food drive benefiting the local Utopian Bizarre food pantry also is new for 2019. People are asked to bring nonperishable items for donations.

The first “Thriller” performance will be at 6 p.m. on Erie Street North in front of The Music Shoppe. The dance will be performed again at 7 p.m. at the Massillon Public Library and a final time back on Erie Street North at 8 p.m.

Sponsors for the Zombie Walk include the Masonic Temple Association, Massillon Public Library, FOP Henderson Lodge 105, Visit Canton, ArtsinStark, the Massillon Museum, the City of Massillon, Spring Hill Historic Home and The Music Shoppe.

Despite the roaming of zombies through town, Richardson was reassuring about safety. “There’s no eating brains, no killing of zombies,” she said. “We do have very specific rules, though: no biting or violence, no making messes. At the end of the evening, we leave the city as clean as when we start the walk. If any participant says ‘no thank you,’ that’s the magic word for everyone to back off.”

Richardson said the City of Massillon is always supportive of the walk, and everyone has a good time. “We have a lot of great volunteers, and it’s a perfect kickoff to Halloween. Families return to do this every year,” she said.