Zombie Night at Owens Campus

Groaning to a start in the Arts & Science building on the Owens Campus, the Performing Arts Club held Zombie Night on Feb. 27, beginning with a zombie themed costume contest followed by a showing of the “Night of the Living Dead”.

Organized by PAC advisor Kelli Dunt, the event was a way to show a zombie film that many people have heard of, but have never seen. With goodies available ranging from zombie necklaces to bite-sized moon pies, the event also gave students a chance to hang out and connect.

“We (the Performing Arts Club) actually came up with this idea back in the fall, and we were talking about different theme nights we could have that would get people out to watch a movie and Zombie Night was something that kept coming up,” said Dunt.

Dunt said the reasoning for selecting “Night of the Living Dead” was because many students in the club itself had never seen the film and that it might be good to do a throwback with the current presence of zombies in pop culture.

Anthony Rousak, a member of the Performing Arts Club, had different ideas for the purpose of selecting “Night of the Living Dead,” citing the film’s inclusion of a black male lead in as subtle connection to Black History Month.

“This a film of the 1960’s starring a black male lead, and that was very unusual at the time. There are some definite racial themes through the movie, some very metaphorical elements.”

Prior to the film, a costume contest was held, encouraging students to dress up as zombies. One unexpected choice of style though came from Laura Glaros, participating in the contest as Norman from the 2012 film “Paranorman,” an animated feature about a boy who can talk to ghosts.

While official prizes were not present at the time of the contest, stand in goodie bags were available courtesy of a club member.

Participants of the Zombie Night contest. From left to right, Laura Glaros, Anthony Rousak, Cory Stull, and Liz Brockmeyer.