I have a soft spot in my bleeding, gooey heart for zombies. I’ll admit it. I’ll also admit that I’ve been waiting for an online project like this for years. EatBrains.com can loosely be described as kind of zombie collective in which those with a soft, fleshy spot for zombies can all dress up, gather together and invade any local target. One of the sites’ flesh eaters describes the whole event as a flashmob – as in the event just sort of organizes itself extremely quickly and then explodes onto the streets; much like a real zombie attack. The targets are random and numerous, but featured on the site is the invasion of a local San Francisco Starbucks, followed by an enormous Apple store to the bewilderment of frightened ipod buyers. With the renewed (long over-due!) interest of the zombie in pop culture, this type of bloody urban project is a dream come true.
The site, much like a zombie, is pretty basic. Included here are links to flickr picture feeds, first-hand zombie accounts and even short vids documenting the attacks. Not surprisingly, this phenomenon doesn’t seem to be limited to its recent San Fran origins. Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and even New York (www.zombiecon.com) hosted droves of the undead as they swarmed and consumed Gucci, Bloomingdales, Tiffany’s, and Grand Central Station. While these events just seem to be ridiculous fun, it’s also nice to see Romero’s social satire come alive on the streets to consume, as one zombie put it, “braaaaaaaaiiiiiiins and braaaaaaannnnndssss.” Could this finally be the year of the zombie? Could the invasion have finally begun? Either way, bleeding smiles will be dragging themselves through your city soon. Beware. (James King)
www.eatbrains.com