(Mookie Forcella |Almanac Weekly)
This Saturday, October 17, the Saugerties Zombie Crawl comes back from the grave (yet again) to plague downtown streets and businesses with the festive presence of ambulatory rotting corpses. Past Crawls have featured blood-spattered brides and grooms, dead clowns, dead princesses, dead biker babes and rednecks all whooping it up together. But this year, Munchkins, lions, scarecrows, tin men and pigtailed Kansans should also be encountered in abundance, in keeping with the theme of “We’re off to see the Zombies.”
The action in Undead SaugertOz will begin at 6 p.m. (though everyone there is arguably “late”) and run at least until 10, rain or moonshine. Live music will be provided by Big Money and the Americana Oak Band, plus a deejay will spin platters that encourage monsters to mash. Downtown eateries and watering holes will be offering themed specials, and makeup artists specializing in gory special effects will be available to enhance your state of personal putrefaction for a fee. There will of course be a costume contest, awarding prizes of $250 for Best Group or Best Couple, $75 for Best Kid and $250 for Best Costume.
Here, even revenants must play by certain rules of behavior, so all children under age 12 must be accompanied by an adult, and attendees are asked not to carry glass bottles on the streets or weapons of any kind. Admission is via wristband (no substitute for a photo ID as proof of age if you want to purchase alcohol), available at the Main Street Restaurant and costing $5 (cash only; the dead have very low credit scores). The Zombie Crawl is a fundraising event for Family of Woodstock’s Suicide Prevention Hotline and the Ulster County Patriots Project for transitional veterans’ housing, so donations at higher levels are cheerfully encouraged. For more info, visit www.szombiecrawl15.com or www.facebook.com/saugertieszombies.