Rosendale Zombie festival lurches forward this Saturday

If you’re faint-hearted and living in Rosendale, this weekend is the time to close the shades, lock up the pets and hide in the closet to pray. The ravenous undead will be dragging their bloody, rotten body parts down Main Street this Saturday Sept. 17 at noon during the second annual Rosendale Zombie Crawl.
Lineup for parade in Willow Kiln Park (behind the Rosendale Theatre) will begin at noon when zombies and brave-hearted friends will commence lurching down Main Street with The Hudson Valley Horrors roller derby team rolling alongside. After the gruesome procession, zombies will feast on live music and DJ by Tigeriss, The High Five Revival, The Blind Ambassadors, Ratboy and DJ Slambo.
“I think we probably had at least 100 people in the parade last year, but judging from the response on Facebook, and from people I’ve been running into, I would expect double that this year! [I have got] bloody fingers crossed,” said event promoter Lara Hope. Hope added that the event has 260 Facebook RSVPs, and counting.
“For people who haven’t done the zombie dress up thing in the past and are unsure … you can transform any dull old outfit into a zombie wonderland with a bunch of fake splattered blood and a little creativity,” explained Hope, who suggests Columbia Costumes for all your zombie needs, and Captain Cruella of the Saugerties Zombie Crawl will be there to do zombie makeup for a few bloody George Washingtons. “Last year I saw everything from baby zombie, to Jesus zombie, priest zombie, zombie hunters, zombie bride & groom, and just plain old bloody corpse.” Add to that list: nerd zombie, animal zombie, rock star zombie, punk rock zombie.
How to? Hope said that in order for one to become the very best zombie one can be, one needs to be bitten by a zombie, “so it’s important to think about where you bite came from and either cut your clothes in that spot, or give yourself a puncture-looking wound,” she said.