2.8 hours later - a zombie experience

Ok, I admit it. I am a zombiephile. I loved Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland and I'm addicted to AMC's show, The Walking Dead. Even my favourite Wii game was zombie-based, Resident Evil 4. But even better than that was taking part in 2.8 hours later.

What am I talking about, some of you may ask? Well, 2.8 hours later - the "city wide zombie chase game", as it's billed, is basically a massive game of tag, through the streets of the city, where you are chased by groaning/shrieking/shambling/sprinting zombies. More information here, or to view trailer, click here.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the closest thing you can get to a real zombie apocalypse without the occurence of a...well, a zombie apocalypse.

Aftermath of 2.8 hours later 2011

My first zombie experience was in 2011, which took place in the streets of Southwark - a tension filled evening, running away in terror from the undead lurking in multi-storey car parks (unbelievably creepy), pubs, and well, pretty much everywhere! I did quite well that year, only being caught in the kill zone (the last zone, filled with many, MANY zombies). It was intense, it was scary, it was thrilling, it was exhausting...and I loved it!

Would Halloween 2013 live up to the experience I had two years ago?

Well, to begin with, I was already walking around with a strained groin muscle (thanks to some overzealous stretching - I actually heard something pop/click...) so I knew I was going to be pretty useless running, but I was eager to see where the story would take us this year.

We started in an empty warehouse in Stratford, where we were checked for signs of infection, sprayed with decontaminant (mostly on my shoes??? come on, what help is that going to be?!) and told that we could enter the "safe city of London" - just go down the road to the Immigration office. Alas, when we got there we found out we didn't have the required documentation and so were meant to be ejected, but not before a helpful medic told us where we could find a friend of his that could organise fake IDs. Where? Wait for it...a multi-storey car park. Cue images of a dimly lit car park with flickering lights and narrow stairwells, and jumping down those stairs five steps at a time, chased by bloodthirsty zombies. Unfortunately, this time the car park was at mega shopping centre Westfields, and there were no zombies in the stairwell. Probably something to do with health and safety of players and the general public. Boo... We were sent to pick up medical supplies scattered across the car park - around which half a dozen zombies were shambling, of course. From there we were sent round the houses, encountering groups of zombies along the way, the most exhilirating section of which was running the gauntlet down the Greenway, where zombies were dotted all the way along this corridor. The final destination was the safe house, Asylum, where a zombie disco awaited us.

All in all, we had a good time, even though I was walking it by the end, thanks to my gammy leg (and needless to say got caught many times). However, I felt it was all so much less than 2011. Less scary, fewer zombies and zombie zones, the atmosphere less chilling and opressive too. There were too many busy places - the shopping mall, the busy roads and the long walks between zombie zones all detracted from the feel of it this year.

Zombie in the making

However, I did get another go at the game, this time as a volunteer zombie dressed in oversized overalls (apparently I used to be an employee of Alec Jarrett's meat processing plant), and it was so much more fun than I expected! It was immensely enjoyable chasing strangers round an industrial estate, jumping out from my hiding place in the bushes and shrieking at them before giving chase, in between ambling around with a floppy head and a pretend broken ankle. After being called "the chick from the Ring" a few times, I got pointed at by a slightly freaked out youth saying "Fuck! What is that?!" - highlight of my evening, I tell you. At the end of the night all us zombies managed to get a hold of the (actor) security guard and devour him in front of the last group of players. A great ending for a great night! I'd definitely do it again!

Giz a kiss!