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Hello, my name is Michelle and I have an unhealthy fear of zombies.

It’s not just the scary, fast moving urban zombies like from Dawn of the Dead that get to me. Even the comedy parody zombies from Shaun of the Dead had me covering my eyes, trying to go to my happy place. I don’t know if it’s because of their disfigured bodies or their relentless quest for brains, delicious brains; all I know is zombies scare the bejesus out of me.

But despite my own anxiety when it comes to the undead, the rest of the world loves zombies. From San Francisco, to London, all the way over to Sydney, Australia, people willingly dress in zombie drag and gather together to lurch through the streets as an undead mob. Even Tokyo’s Roppongi is not immune to zombie fever, hosting the most recent zombie walk in Japan and a monthly zombie bar.

Zombiena, a self-titled “zombie performance unit” based in Tokyo hosts a zombie themed bar at the “Night Gallery Cafe CROW” in Roppongi on the last Sunday of each month. A 2,000 yen (US$20.12) entrance fee gets you inside to enjoy an array of bizarre food and drink:

Original Zombie Cocktails▲ Original Zombie Cocktails

Zombie Bile Cocktail▲ Zombie Bile Cocktail

Zombie Shot▲ Zombie Shot Zombie Brain▲ Zombie Brains Zombie Flesh▲ Zombie Flesh Eww▲ And… eww.

zombie bar2▲ This is what you can expect to find at the zombie bar.

Zombeina also hosts zombie walks in various locations around Tokyo throughout the year. The most recent one took place on March 31 in Roppongi and saw around 80 participants. The March 31 zombie walk marks the sixth time the event has taken place and more than 900 zombies are said to have participated to date. In the beginning, few women were spotted among the walkers, but recently female zombie populations have skyrocketed and currently comprise 60 to 70 percent of the walking dead.

Due to the increasing popularity of the walks, Zombeina has posted an outline of proper corpse behavior on their website. Here is a sample:

1. Don’t attack humans!
Don’t think you can get away with harassing girls as a zombie.

2. Keep Romero’s zombie spirit in your heart!
This is a walking event. Keep calm and don’t rush!

3. Take your trash home!
Humans like to separate their trash. Don’t fight their system, and please take your trash home with you.

4. Don’t join if you don’t want to get your photo taken.
We may shoot the event to post on our website. If you don’t want to be featured, please don’t join the event.

5. No photography!
The Zombie Walk event will be documented by the official photographer. No one else without permission may take photos.

If you’re wondering what you might find on one of these zombie walks, here’s a little taste:

Zombie Walk Roppongi

Zombie Walk Roppongi2

Zombie Walk Roppongi3

Zombie Walk Roppongi4

Zombie Walk Roppongi5

Why are these zombie walks so popular? Meimy, the resident Zombie Queen of Zombeina had this to say: “It’s a way to relieve stress. You’re free to go out and simply enjoy yourself, regardless of job title or gender. It’s also an experiment to see how far we can take what used to be child’s play and turn it into an adult prank.”

The next Zombeina-sponsored walk will take place on May 11 in Yoyogi Park (Tokyo) and participation is free. For those interested, a full schedule can be found on the Zombeina homepage.

With all of these zombie walks taking place, I feel isolated in my irrational fear of zombies and their accompanied apocalypses. Oh well. I just hope I’m never in Tokyo, faced with a hoard of walking corpses. My fear is likely to take over, hurling me into “fight or flight” mode, possibly causing the “undead zombies” to turn into dead “zombies.” I’ll be staying away from Yoyogi Park on the 11th of May.

Source: Yahoo! Trend News

Images: Zombiena