Performers are breathing fire like dragons. Vampires head over to the bar to quench their thirst for something other than blood. Herds of zombies are twerking. It’s just that time of the year for the Orlando Zombie Ball hosted by Orlando Weekly.
The party to die for took place Wednesday, Oct.22, at Venue 578, formerly known as Firestone Live, from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. The event for those 21 years old or older had a ticket price of $15 in advance or $20 at the door.
With mandatory costumes, the looks ranged from being sexy adult costumes to characters from movies and shows such as “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “The Walking Dead.”
Miles Bernam, a 2012 theater alumnus, went as a a borg from Star Trek. He wore a full Star Trek uniform with fake blood smeared on it and a piece he created to go over his eye, which appears as though it burned the same side of his face it was on.
“I made the eye out of latex, plastic and computer parts,” Berman said.
This year, Orlando Weekly had music by VH1’s celebrity DJ Brain Dawe, performances by Victorian steam punk circus troupe Phantasmagoria and aerial performances by AntiGravity Theater.
While the ghouls and girls danced down stairs, there was an even more haunting event taking place above on the second floor.
Legends: A Haunting at Old Town, had the second floor infested with the undead stalking the daring visitors as they go through the scare zone and try to make their out past the two zombies guarding the exit door.
Andreina Icaza, the marketing manager at Orlando Weekly, spoke about the planning process of this year’s Zombie Ball.
“It started in 2013 as Orlando Weekly was thinking of creating a one-of-a-king Halloween experience for Orlando residents by combining a scare zone, party, live performances and a costume contest, all in one event,” Icaza said.
The event brought out almost 600 attendees and Icaza said preparing for it is not easy.
“We hosted our first-ever Artlando Festival on September 27, which took a lot of time and effort, so we only had less than four weeks to promote Orlando Zombie Ball. We work in a fast-paced environment, so we’re used to shifting gears rapidly.”
Icaza said she couldn’t reveal about next year’s killer party, but she said it just gets better and better every year.
