This past Friday I partook in my annual tradition of dressing up as a Zombie and appearing on TV.

A bit of context here. I’m a committee member for the Zombie Run for Humanity. It’s a 5 KM obstacle run to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. You can either sign up as a runner, or a zombie. Runners get 3 flags around their waists that represents their life. Zombies, however, are throughout the course and will try to take those flag from you. One of the coolest parts of being a zombie is that you’ll get your makeup professionally done. The amazing talents over at On Scene FX take care of all our zombies, all they have to do is bring their own costume.

Each year CTV Morning Live invites us to talk about the run. Well, Susan talks. I more grunt, growl and snap at people. So pretty much what you’d expect out of me considering I have to be up at 4:30 in the morning.

This is the “life cast” process to make a mold of my face. This was done 2 weeks in advance so that Michel could make prosthetics custom made to fit me.

Here’s how the morning goes. I get up at 4:30, put in contacts, and head downtown to be in the makeup chair for 6 A.M. Overall it takes about 2 hours to do my makeup. It’s a combination of premade prosthetics, alcohol based paints, and some creative touches.

Here are the custom prosthetics. We didn’t end up using all of them.
3 guesses as to which one got the most comments when people saw it.

Prosthetic applied but not painted yet.

The finished product

It’d be a waste to spend 2 hours on makeup and take it off right after the TV spot, so Susan, Jasmine and I decided to hit the town. We went to Algonquin College, Bayshore Mall, Tanger Outlets and anywhere folks on Twitter and Facebook requested we show up.

I don’t think I’m exactly what Bayshore wants promoting their clothes.

Throughout the day, we made a few interesting observations.

1. If the Zombie Apocalypse happens, rush hour traffic will doom us all

You would not believe the sheer number of people who did not notice a zombie in the car next to them. I mean, it’s not like I was quietly minding my own business. I was clawing at the window, waving, the whole zombie shebang. Eventually I started keeping a tally. Most people laughed, no absolutely terrified people (which is nice, because I didn’t want to get run off the road), but most amusing were the people who saw me and actively ignored me. You would think they’d gotten into an intense staring contest with the traffic lights.

Best part: Of the two people who didn’t notice me because they were on their phones, one of them was an OPP officer.

2. Kids notice everything.

I was amazed by just how many people didn’t notice me at all. Walking around Bayshore Shopping Center some people laughed, some people ignored me, but some just honestly didn’t notice. They would look right through me and not notice at all. However, every single kid saw me. Some would tug on their completely spaced out parents until they finally turned to see what the kid was going on about. It reminded me of all those horror movie cliches where kids would keep trying to tell adults something was wrong, only to be dismissed.

3. My face causes accidents.

Last year some poor kid at Algonquin walked straight into a wall when he did a double take when he saw me. This year, some poor woman saw me while coming down the escalator from the food court. She ran so fast off the escalator that she tripped, scrambled to get up, and ran even faster down the hall. The group of teens behind her lost it. Sorry lady!

4. Dancing makes everything better.

One thing I would feel bad about is if I scared the kids. They’re not our target audience anyway (Zombie Run is 15+) so I’d feel bad if I gave some poor kid nightmares. I’d actively avoid them in the mall if I could, but in the cases I couldn’t, I’d dance. And you know what? It worked 99% of the time. The reaction of the scared kids was the same every single time.

• Stage 1: Stunned into silence. Usually mouth open, eyes always wide.
• Stage 2: Dancing begins
• Stage 3: A giant smile

5. Animals just don’t give a shit.

I was fully expecting animals to have an issue with me. I smelled like a combination of rubbing alcohol and death thanks to the makeup and stuff used to stain my dress. I’ve seen dogs freak out at people they knew in motorcycle armour. But dogs and cats alike kept running up and acting like I was their best friend.

He looks terrified, but I swear he wasn’t!

We wrapped up around 4pm, and I started the taking off the makeup. Removal was an interesting process. Fun fact, alcohol based paints don’t come off with water. But after some rubbing alcohol, peeling and scrubbing I eventually looked human. My shower however looked like a murder scene.

You know when women say they have to “put on their face”?

I’m looking a little patchwork

All done!

So there you go! A better insight to what happens when you’re the walking dead in the nation’s capital. I guess the only thing left to do is leave you with a video of a dancing zombie. Don’t forget to register for Zombie Run happening on October 3rd!