All Hallowed's Eve-PDX style

There was another quirky, charming but slightly menacing event here in PDX last weekend unlike anything that would have occurred in the other places I have lived. Sure, Vermont has heifer parades and llama festivals, Boston has the Marathon, Wethersfield has Ye Olde Wethersfield Days, Hartford has, um...drive-bys?

But along with the clowns jousting on 10' bicycles, people creating "parks" in a parking spots, naked bike rides (public nudity is legal in PDX as it is considered "artistic expression"), an adult soapbox derby race down a dormant volcano dubbed 'The Olympics of Drunk Driving', we 

just had the 3rd Annual Zombie Walk. There are Zombie Walks in other cities, but I like to think Portland's is exceptionally gruesome and fun.

There were Zombie families

with their Zombie dogs

and Zombie clowns, of course- because it's Portland.

There were Zombie business men. On unicycles- because it's Portland.

and Zombies clawing at restaurant and department store windows, leaving smears of blood.

Imagine 700+ blood-splattered, undead staggering around a city and gathering at a public square to perform the dance from Michael Jackson's video 'Thriller'. Can't picture it? Check out this video.

But my favorite part of all was a quote in an article written by Melissa Navas published in the Oregonian:

"He saw some zombies pound on Nordstrom's glass doors, leaving behind streaks of red. And blood somehow landed  on his violin case, though it'll eventually come off, he said.

He wasn't shocked by the scene because he's seen theme-parades before.

'The same thing happened last year when the army of Santas came around,' he said. 'Only they didn't have fake blood.' "