About Philly Zombie Crawl

What began as a vision from Philly bartender extraordinaire Melissa Torre to celebrate the world’s most ultimate zombie (Jesus H-Friggin’ Christ) on Easter Sunday, has developed into a larger crawl event once we stumbled upon the Minneapolis Zombie Pub Crawl.

Initially the creators of Philly Zombie Crawl (Torre, Dave Ghoul and Robert Drake) were going to have a simple celebration at Tattooed Mom, a neighborhood watering hole located on South Street in Philadelphia. But upon learning about the Minneapolis Zombie Pub Crawl, visions of zombies danced in their heads!

Seems the love of the undead thrived in Minneapolis and some time ago they held one of the first Zombie Bar Crawl events in America! As exciting as that is … the reality is that Philly is known as The City of Firsts! We have zombies that go back to the Revolutionary period!

So, it seemed fitting to produce a Philly Zombie Crawl, but in the spirit of the city, we became the first in the world to host it and honor the world’s most awesome zombie on His big day … Easter Sunday!!

In 2006, over one hundred and twenty zombies gathered at Tattooed Mom to start off the official Crawl. Prior to the crawl, make-up artists from Eastern State Penitentiary were on hand to help people get their zombie face on! The night was a perfect celebration the love of zombies and liquid libation!

Since our first Crawl in 2006 zombie gatherings have exploded across America and worldwide (check out our Top Friends!) and on Easter Sunday ’07 we had close to 300 zombies roam South Street in celebration of the undead!

Response was so strong that we decided to create the Philly Zombie Prom – a massive live concert/dance party event; complete with zombies in their best prom attire! Over 600 zombies came out to our first prom, September 2007!

There just seem to be no stopping the undead as Easter 2008 brought another amazing mass of undead flesh – followed by our 2nd annual Zombie Prom – September 28, 2008!

Now that the 4th Annual Philly Zombie Crawl event is over and back underground – we turned our attention to creating a THIRD yearly zombie event in Philly… the Philly Zombie Beach Party to officially kick-off Summer in Philadelphia! And face it, what says summer in the city than a bunch of drunken undead!

So, Sunday, June 21 @ The Trocadero zombies from all walks of undead came to celebrate summer! There was Zombie Volleyball, Zombie Limb(o), boozey snow cones, cotton candy and our very own Zombie Beach!

So, there you have it – we now have THREE Zombie events in Philadelphia each year: THE PHILLY ZOMBIE CRAWL on Easter Sunday; THE PHILLY ZOMBIE BEACH PARTY in June and THE PHILLY ZOMBIE PROM the last Sunday in September!

Zombie Crawl Hosts

DJ Robert Drake was born and raised on cheese steaks and scrapple … this makes him a perfect candidate for zombiehood! His craving of meat is second only to his demand for braaains! Thankfully he works during the day at the University of Pennsylvania, where there is a good supply of brains to be had! As producer of Sex Dwarf, Philly’s nonstop New Wave Dance Party – along with 20+ years of radio hosting/producing, Drake knows a thing or two about sleep-deprived zombiehood!

Dave Ghoul lives in the wilds of West Philly. He stalks the night looking to eat the brains of unsuspecting hippies. It is common knowledge that he is in fact not a zombie but actually a ghoul, but let’s not split hairs… he’s still the walking dead and would rather eat your flesh than have a political conversation on the state of affairs in regards to chipmunks. Yet he still seems to be very refined and cultured for a member of the living dead.

Melissa Torre knew she was on the road to zombiehood when she first developed a bizarre fascination with bacon as a child! Her carnivore cravings continued through her teenage years and led her to create K.O. Kitties – Philadelphia’s first girl-on-girl wrestling bouts … for the sole purpose of seeing blood! Now, behind the bars of Sugar Mom and Tattooed Mom, Melissa shares her love of zombies with all walks of life – but don’t try to stump her, since having bartended in Philly for years, she knows the undead!

Zombie Crawl Details

The 2010 Philly Zombie Crawl Itinerary!

6-8PM ZOMBIE PRE-GAME: Come to Tattooed Mom to get your zombie face on, thanks to the team of talented PZC make-up artists. Faces start at $10.00 and all the money goes to support the artist!

8PM: All zombies will leave Tattooed Mom for an orchestrated mini-crawl through the alleys of Philadelphia and around the block – once back to Tattooed Mom, the 2010 Philly Zombie Crawl is OFFICIALLY underway!

To spread the zombie love throughout the evening, we’ve developed four unique packs of zombies; each will have its own itinerary, spending one hour at each of the four participating watering holes on the street. This way, at the top of each hour – all zombies will head to the next spot on THEIR itinerary, creating a Zombie Infestation of South Street throughout the night. But feel free to crawl back and forth to whichever bar you fancy. It’s all part of the Zombie Love.

Swing by Tattooed Mom during the Philly Zombie Crawl Pre-game to pick up your zombie pack itinerary. If you need to join the zombie festivities later in the evening – pick one of the four zombie pack itineraries listed below and follow it through the night!

BLOOD PACK 8PM Tattooed Mom – 9PM Manny Browns – 10PM Lickety Split – 11PM Copbanana

GUTS PACK 8PM Copabanana – 9PM Lickety Split – 10PM Manny Browns – 11PM Tattooed Mom

GORE PACK 8PM Lickety Split – 9PM Copabanana – 10PM Tattooed Mom – 11PM Manny Browns

BRAINS PACK 8PM Manny Browns – 9PM Tattooed Mom – 10PM Copabanana – 11PM Lickety Split

Once again, Fluid Nightclub (613 South 4th Street) will cap off our Zombie Night with an undead edition of Fast, Cheap & Out of Control! Doors open an hour earlier – 9pm – and Zombies get in free until 11pm. (admission after 11pm is $5).

PARTICIPATING VENUES:

Tattooed Mom: 530 South Street

Manny Browns: 512 South Street

Lickety Split: 401 South Street, 2nd Floor

Copabanana: 344 South Street

Fluid Nightclub: 613 South 4th Street

other details

The Philly Zombie Crawl in of itself is a free event. But you will need to bring cash for any drinks and food you will want at the bars.

The Philly Zombie Crawl is a 21+ event so please be sure to bring your I.D. No I.D. means no bars or club – which means no crawl for you. Then you’ll be a very sad zombie indeed.

Come dressed as a zombie! Basic makeup may be available but it is suggested that you provide your own just to be sure you have some. For tips and ideas on how to look like a zombie go here.

There will be a costume contest with prizes to give out once we get to Fluid. So go all out with your outfit! You may go home with something other than another zombie!

We start the Philly Zombie Crawl at Tattooed Mom but if you are running late you can still meet up with the rest of your fellow zombies at any of the other stops at the designated times listed above.

making a weekend out of the philly zombie crawl

Do you plan on making a whole weekend out of the Philly Zombie Crawl? Well if so then here is some helpful information for you.

Philly Zombie Crawl suggests that you visit www.gophila.com to find good hotel deals, things to do and places to eat throughout Philadelphia.

Want to know what else there is to do on South Street? Visit www.southstreet.com for a list of stores, music, restaurants and more.

Some places you may want to visit while in Philadelphia – Mutter Museum, Eastern State Penitentiary, Edgar Allen Poe House, Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Historic Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Zombie Crawl FAQ

1. Who organizes these events?
Local Philly DJ icon Robert Drake, bartender extraordinaire Melissa Torre of Sugar Mom and Tattooed Mom, and Philly’s own horror king and Zombieologist Dave Ghoul (AKA – D.E. Christman of Grendel’s Den Design Studio fame).

2. Do you have any PhillyZombieCrawl.com T-shirts?
Yes we do as a matter of fact. You can buy T-shirts as well as other PhillyZombieCrawl.com products here.

3. How can my company/event/organization become a sponsor?
Please contact us for information on becoming a sponsor of a PhillyZombieCrawl.com event.

4. Am I allowed to take pictures or film a PhillyZombieCrawl.com event?
Yes, you can take pictures and film our events. If you do please let us know where we can find them so we can share with the rest of the zombies!

Philly Zombie Crawl FAQ

1. What should I wear?
Come dressed as a zombie! Basic makeup may be available but it is suggested that you provide your own just to be sure you have some. For tips and ideas on how to look like a zombie go here.

2. Is this legal?
Yes, yes it is.

3. Is there an age limit?
Yes, yes there is. The Philly Zombie Crawl is a 21+ event so please be sure to bring your I.D. No I.D. means no bars or club – which means no crawl for you. Then you’ll be a very sad zombie indeed.

4. Will we be doing a lot of walking?
The crawl itself changes a bit from year to year, but in general you’ll be going about a third of a mile. Easy work for a zombie.

5. How much is it?
The Philly Zombie Crawl in of itself is a free event. But you will need to bring cash for any drinks and food you will want at the bars.

6. How late does the Philly Zombie Crawl go?
Until 2am.

7. Will someone do my makeup for me?
That depends – are you willing to pay for it as well as wait in line to have it done? If so then yes, there is. In fact the Philly Zombie Crawl has a long history of having professional makeup artists setting up shop to provide their services. If you do decide to have one of them do your makeup for you we highly suggest that you get to the Crawl as early as possible since there is always a line for the makeup artists.

8. What bars will we go to?
Each year is a little different but the Crawl always begins at Tattooed Mom and ends at Fluid for Fast, Cheap & Out Of Control.

9. What’s with this zombie Jesus thing? You know you’re all going to hell for it, right?
A) He came back from the dead (Acts 2:24). B) He encourages zombie behavior (John 6:53). That makes Jesus the perfect mascot for an Easter Day zombie event, like say the Philly Zombie Crawl. And you’re going to hell for not believing in Zombie Jesus. Take that ya freak.

Philly Zombie Prom FAQ

1. What should I wear?
Come dressed as a zombie going to the prom! Basic makeup may be available but it is suggested that you provide your own just to be sure you have some. For tips and ideas on how to look like a zombie go here.

2. Is there an age limit?
Yes! The Philly Zombie Prom is a 21+ event so please be sure to bring your I.D. No I.D. means no entry into the Troc – which means no prom for you. Then you’ll be a very sad zombie indeed.

3. How much is it?
The Philly Zombie Prom will cost you a whopping $7.00.

4. Can my band play?
The depends. The Philly Zombie Prom features acts that perform punk, rockabilly, metal and similar types of music. If you think your band fits the bill simply contact us and we’ll see what comes of it.

5. Will someone do my makeup for me?
That depends – are you willing to pay for it as well as wait in line to have it done? If so then yes, there is. There will be designated stations at the Philly Zombie Prom where you can have a professional makeup artist do your zombie makeup for you. If you do decide to have one of them do your makeup for you we highly suggest that you get to the Prom as early as possible since there is always a line for the makeup artists.

To learn more about the Philly Zombie Crawl, and keep track of it’s upcoming Beach Party, check out the events website.