By At 9 p.m., underneath a sign that read “The Off Boardwalk Theater,” a quintet of creepy clowns performed an ear-splitting punk rock set as the transfixed, half-zombie crowd banged their heads to the beat.
That’s how the night ended.
The annual Shoreline Village Zombie Walk began earlier that Saturday, Oct. 19.
Long Beach’s undead reunion once began as a free community Halloween party from an outside group that would pass through Shoreline Village, until it was adopted directly.
“Eventually we kind of took it over,” said Shoreline Village’s Event Coordinator Elaine Meyers. “Instead of just allowing it through the village, we actually plan everything from start to finish.”
The day’s festivities were split in two to accommodate time for kid-friendly activities while offering adult thrills and chills as the night wore on.
A trio of children dressed up as Kung-Fu Panda, Michael Keaton’s 1989 Batman and a silver jack-o-lantern man make their way past the crowded kids’ activity area on the Shoreline Village pier as an inflatable Garfield lumbers behind them on Oct. 19. Photo Credit: Delfino Camacho
Shoreline Village property manager, Claudia Ayala, values the community’s event as a Long Beach native and Long Beach State alumnus.
“I think it is important for the Long Beach natives to have somewhere where they can bring their kids and have a nice, safe setting to do some Halloween events– without having to pay an arm and a leg,” Ayala said.
From 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., crowds of costume-clad parents and children convened in the grassy area between East Shoreline Drive and The Yard House Restaurant.
Accompanied by a DJ, the kid-friendly activities included yard games, a crafting table, balloon twisters, a YMCA-sponsored Halloween photo booth and a face painter.
Mother of two Cindy Andrade, who heard about the event on Instagram, was a first time attendee.
Andrade said that she planned on taking photos, checking out the balloons and having her kids’ faces painted.
Her kids were dressed as Mario and Luigi, and she was the coveted star brick.
“It’s my weekend off,” Andrade said. “I work for LAUSD and when it’s my time off, I like to spend it with my kids.”
Artist Jen LaVita puts some finishing touches on a child’s snake face paint during the Oct. 19 Shoreline Village Zombie Walk. Photo Credit: Delfino Camacho
Andrade and her children awaited their face paints from artist Jen LaVita, who was working the event for the second year.
Running a popular attraction, LaVita was faced with a seemingly never-ending line of costumed kids.
“It’s super fun when it’s their first time getting one,” LaVita said. “Like the best part to me is when they look in the mirror and I see their excited faces.”
Starting at 7 p.m., three separate DJs began their sets in the Shoreline boardwalk.
Each neighboring boardwalk restaurant like The Yard House and Tequila Jack’s benefited from the crowds, with tables and bars filled to the brim.
Wearing a realistic evil clown costume, a professional “roaming scarer” lunges and hisses at guests during the Oct. 19 Shoreline Village Zombie Walk. Photo Credit: Delfino Camacho
Professional scarers roamed fog-covered areas, jump-scaring event attendees. Novelty acts like jugglers and stilt walkers also paraded throughout.
Other attractions included a 360-photo booth, a pie eating contest, a virtual haunted house, cosplayer photo ops and “arial” adult trick-or-treats thrown from balconies.
Many of the attendees came dressed up, with some visitor costumes garnering more attention than the established professionals.
Latrice King (center), 50, and her two sons Richard King (left), 25, and Rylan (right), 20, pose for a photo during the Oct. 19 event. Richard came dressed as his furry counterpart “Howler,” Rylan was an Umbrella Corporation hired gun from Resident Evil and Latrice was a dominatrix vampire. Photo Credit: Delfino Camacho
As encouraged by organizers, the most popular costume was zombies, leaving the boardwalk infested with walking dead of all incarnations.
For the titular “Zombie Walk,” which the event is centered around, participating zombies began gathering en masse at the Pelican Pier Pavilion Arcade at 8 p.m.
The zombies, many gnashing and shuffling in character, completed a short jaunt from the arcade to the “Birdcage” staircase and back to the arcade. The roughly 15-minute process commemorated another Halloween season.
A little kid removes his mask to get a closer look at someone dressed as Art the Killer Clown from The “Terrifier” horror movie series during the Oct. 19 Shoreline Village Zombie Walk event. Photo Credit: Delfino Camacho
Festivities continued with punk band The Clowns hosting a set in the small stage of the Off-Broadway Theater, located next to the Funnel House.
Billings themselves as the “World’s greatest clown band,” the five-clown group played a variety of originals and covers.
“This is a love song,” lead singer Simon Ferocious said. “It’s called Motorboat.”
Lead singer for punk band “The Clowns,” Simon Ferocious takes the show into the crowd closing out the Oct. 19 Zombie Walk event. Photo Credit: Delfino Camacho
With a final thanks towards all attendees, and a shave-and-a-haircut guitar lick, the band ended their set and concluded the day’s haunting celebration at 10 p.m.
Long Beach’s undead lovers are set to rise again next year at Shoreline Village, with future updates announced on their website.
