Portland Zombie Walk 2009

So, it's about 4:30 on a Saturday afternoon when I decide to head downtown to see if I can sell a few used books at Cameron's Books -- the anti-Powell's of Portland.

I exit from the Morrison Bridge onto Southwest Second Avenue and as I head north, I can see a large crowd of people in the distance. They're about two blocks away and they seem to be pretty well behaved, all bunched up at the corner so they can cross the street together.

I hang a left onto Oak Street and as I roll up to the red light, I see what it's all about. Another large crowd of people, staggering across the intersection, stiff-armed and moaning, many of them white-faced and bleeding from all kinds of cuts and gashes. They're a hideous-looking bunch, really, but their smiles give them away. I realize I've come upon the annual Portland Zombie Walk.

Inspired by the original walk in Vancouver, British Columbia, this was the fifth year for the Portland version of the walk, billed on MySpace as nothing more than "a group of people getting together dressed as Zombies roaming Portland in a predetermined route...a sort of flash mob of zombies if you will."

Someone unfamiliar with Portland's vibe no doubt would have been alarmed, maybe even put off, by the sight of hundreds of ghouls taking over the downtown sidewalks. But here in the People's Republic of Portland -- where the courts have ruled that riding your bicycle in the nude is a protected form of self-expression under Oregon's Constitution -- it really doesn't raise an eyebrow. And how cool is it that the Zombie Walk sponsors also incorporated an online feature where participants could donate to the Oregon Food Bank?

Final words...Cameron's is located on a corner of a block whose other businesses include a tattoo parlor, a generic Chinese restaurant and a strip club. I had to laugh when customers of all three came outside and bumped into this scene.

Photo by Melissa Toledo. Click on her name to see more.
View 2008 photos from OregonLive.com here.