ZomBcon 2010

Seattle, the self-proclaimed zombie capital of the world, was host to ZomBcon, the first ever Zombie Culture Convention, over Halloween weekend at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. The three-day event was an opportunity for fans of the walking dead to gather together and celebrate all things zombie. 

"Vampires seem to be real popular right now," said convention attendee Mark Tanner. "So it's good to get together with others who think zombies still rule the undead."

ZomBcon was the creation of Ryan Reiter and his production company West North Entertainment. Reiter, who organized last 4th of July's Red, White & Dead Zombie Walk in Seattle, which broke the Guinness Book World Record for largest gathering of zombies with over 4200 participants, was excited to continue his vision with ZomBcon.

"We are very proud to welcome the world to the Northwest to share this inaugural year of ZomBcon celebrating the undead over Halloween," said Reiter in a press release.

The convention provided fans the opportunity to meet and interact with some of the genera's biggest entertainers. Godfather of zombie cinema, George Romero was on hand through out the weekend to sign autographs and participate in a number of panel discussions. Romero, who directed the 1968 cult-classic "Night of the Living Dead," is considered by many fans as one of the great horror directors of all time.

"Getting to meet him (Romero) was just awesome! His movies are one of the biggest reasons I'm dressed like this," exclaimed an excited Susan Sutton, who was costumed as a zombified orderly.

Also on hand for the event was cult-icon Bruce Campbell. "The Evil Dead" star officiated over perhaps the weekend's most unique event as roughly a dozen couples, dressed in their zombie finest, had their wedding vows renewed by Campbell.

The booths lining the Exhibition Hall provided fans the chance to take home a variety of zombie memorabilia including, books on surviving the Zombie Apocalypse, comics, prosthetic make-up, board and role-playing games, and even the opportunity to get a zombie tattoo.

Fans of Capcom's Dead Rising video game series had the opportunity to play the game's recently released sequel, Dead Rising 2, at the X-Box 360 game station. Players control hero Chuck Greene as he fights through hordes of the undead in a series of challenges set in post-apocalyptic Las Vegas.

Members of game studio Valve's team who created the first-person shooter series Left 4 Dead 1 & 2 for the X-Box 360 were on hand to answer questions about the best selling zombie title. While tight lipped about any information on a possible Left 4 Dead 3, the team answered questions about game design, character back-stories, and recently released downloadable content. When asked why Valve decided to do a zombie themed game writer Chet Faliszek responded, "Zombies are just great fodder for games."The convention concluded on Halloween with The Walking Dead Zombie Walk, which featured costumed participants taking to the streets of Seattle in a march that was held as a symbolic tribute to George Romero.