Salty Zombies! A community rises

In the last few months, there have been many horror-related events and announcements going on in the Salt Lake City area. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to go to one spot to see all of the horror-related events? Well, that is exactly what Zed Bailey is trying to do. He is the creator of SaltyZombies.com, a social network for horror events in Salt Lake City.

It just so happens that this weekend (Oct. 23-25), that Zed has organized “Salty Zombies Weekend” which will include zombie-related activities such as a Zombie Walk, screenings of George A. Romero zombie films, Zombie Kickball, and a Zombie Party at Club Vegas for the finale.

So, what motivates a person to organize such an event and compels them to create a social network with the sole intent to unite the horror community in Salt Lake City? Well, I was lucky enough to be able to ask the man himself. Zed was kind enough to answer this along with a few other questions:

Mike: Who are you and can you share some of your background?

Zed: My name is Zed Bailey; I grew up in Blackfoot, Idaho and have been living in Salt Lake City for about 7 years. I have been involved with Salt for quite some time first starting a makeshift rebel group known as Misfit Mormon and more currently a group known as SaltCycle which advocates for the cycling community.

Mike: What's your motivation to organize the Salty Zombies Weekend?

Zed: I organized Salty Zombie Weekends to bring more exposure to SaltyZombies.com(munity). I feel that zombie events had as a whole been centralized and I wanted to decentralize the entire process enabling not just myself but others to be able to organize and raise horror events in Salt Lake City. I feel that the hybrid model of user contribution is more conducive to the future of the Internet and our communities as a whole that being that the end user makes most of the contributions, not the creator of the network.

Mike: Why Zombies? Why not Salty Werewolves or Salty Vampires weekend?

Zed: As George Romero once said we are scared of zombies because they are us. I wanted this group to reflect those that use it, and I believe zombies to be the closest threat to our existence. Originally I wanted to just focus on zombies but have since broadened that focus to incorporate all monsters, creatures and horror because really I just want to enable an entire genre movement in the Salt.

Mike: What do you think that activities like these do for the community?

Zed: Activities like these bring the community closer together and allow people to embrace their creative side. I remember the first Salt Lake City Zombie Walk that I participated in August of 2008. There was a girl who had a dead bloody zombie baby attached to her by an 'umbilical cord' and I still remember her waddling with her plastic bloodied baby beneath her. It is people like this, people who push their creativity that I hope we can get out into the community. Salt Lake City is in dire need of a makeover, downtown is dead on the weekends more than ever - so why not really make it dead?

Mike: Will you be organizing other zombie-related activities? What can we expect from you in the future?

Zed: I really don't think I want to organize a lot of events for Salty Zombies. No, I believe the responsibilities for a while will lie on the shoulders of the community. Already someone else brought up the idea of a Zombie Bar Crawl. Brilliant! As mentioned prior, I want this to be decentralized. Not Zombie Zed organizing every event, but for each member of the group to bring their own events, their own ideas to the website. To that end, I only provide the model. The content the events are up to the participants.

Mike: Bonus Question: What are your top 5 favorite horror flicks?

Zed: I am into “thinking” horror films; films which challenge the status quo to some degree and cause you to think about them long after they are done. My favorite movie for me would have to be Day of the Dead. Bub is my hero. If I were a zombie I could only aspire to be as awesome as Bub. After that, my favorites would have to be the Cube, the Ring (Japanese Version), Dawn of the Dead and Nightmare on Elm Street.

For any and all updates make sure to visit http://www.saltyzombies.com.  Also, make sure to make it out this weekend to all of the Salty Zombie activities!