Blue Box Zombies.

Posted on by Thor

Downtown Orlando has 27 blue boxes painted on sidewalks which are the only places where begging or panhandling is allowed. The blue boxes can only be occupied during day light hours. They tend to be at intersections where there is very little foot traffic. I have been documenting each of these blue boxes by sketching Orlando Performers using them as a stage. Some musicians who busk, or perform outside have been told that they can only perform in a blue box.

I am big fan of “The Walking Dead”. I have documented zombie walks on International drive and started to think, that zombies would be a perfect fit for a blue box.

Denna Beena, who helps at the annual Spooky Empire Zombie walks offered to gather some zombies for a blue box. This blue box is across from the new Amway Center.

The skull zombie holding the brains sign is actually a professional who works on International Drive. Zombies gathered gradually as the sketch progressed. Some were fresh, without much rotten flesh but others were rip, with loose flaps of flesh and plenty of dirt. One had a tin can for collecting donations. Several cars honked their approval but no coins dropped into the can. A car full of tourists stopped and shot some photos out their car window. They got a taste of a typical downtown Orlando scene.

There were yellow construction posts with yellow and white ribbons between them. The zombies presses up against the ribbons but didn’t leave the box. One ribbon snapped and we put it back in place once the sketch was done. One zombie had a bum leg and a very distinctive limp. Deena is the zombie with the bright pink hair. There were gallons of blood just in case a zombie wasn’t bloody enough. If there were zombies in every blue box in Orlando, then perhaps people would become aware of what they are, why they are there and how ridiculous they make our city seem.

Zombie March

Posted on by Thor

The Zombie March happens every year as part of Spooky Empire’s Ultimate Horror Weekend. This year the convention of horror was being held at the DoubleTree By Hilton at Universal (5780 Major Blvd. Orlando, FL). This is right across the street from Universal Studios which is perfect if people wanted to check out Halloween Horror Nights at Universal.

The Zombie March was scheduled for 4pm on Friday October 25th at Hooters which is about a quarter mile north.of the Double Tree on Kirkman.  I arrived about an hour early and zombies were milling around in the parking lot. Two zombies stood curb side moaning and flailing at passing buses. It was hot in the sun although temperatures are just starting to dip in Orlando. Make up artists were set up on the Porch of Hooters transforming people into zombies.

I sat at a table with a sheriff whose facial skin had been ripped off leaving red bloody pulp in its place. We talked for a bit. He has been coming to Spooky Empire for the past four years and he has seen the convention grow exponentially. He said that the money spent on alcohol probably has kept the convention growing. Attendees can rub shoulders with stars of horror. For instance he bragged that he got to chat with Shannen Doherty one year at poolside. He told me that the make up artist at the far end of the porch was doing the most detailed work, so I thanked him and moved closer to sketch the artist at work.

He was busy adding bruising to the cleavage of a woman who had on a Wonder Woman T-shirt. He had her tilt her head back and then poured blood down her cheeks and neck. Her skin was chalky white and there was a bite wound on her forehead and breast. Zombies don’t understand social boundaries when it comes to feeding. Jason stood rock still watching the make up artist work. Talk powder was added to her hair so she looked like she just rose from the grave.  Wonder Woman put on her red cape and vogued for photographers along with her friend who were all zombie super heroes.

I was still sketching as the make up artist packed away his supplies. I should have come earlier to get several sketches. Zombies got riled up at the sound of a chain saw and they all began to shuffle down Kirkman towards the hotel. Several make up artists remained on the porch painting Day of the Dead ornate flowery skull make up onto the faces of Hooters waitresses. When they all were painted, they posed for photos, being sure to lean forward to showcase their exposed v-necked supple slopes.

Zombie Apocalypse

Posted on by Thor


Lindsay arrived at her job as a waitress at Austin’s Coffee. She had been held up in traffic crawling down I-4 and her forehead was pounding with a migraine. Running late, she ran to the bathroom and quickly changed into her uniform. She slipped on her black blouse with its snappy white collar then worked the aqua crinoline skirt up over her hips. She had recently washed a coffee stain out of her white frilly apron. She checked herself in the mirror and brushed a bleached blonde curl away from her face.

No one paid attention to the local news playing in the kitchen. A perky newscaster announced, “Patient zero went viral at 6 p.m.” Lindsay clicked it off and turned the Radio Dial until she found Johnny Cash. Austin’s was packed. Young hipsters sat in booths mesmerized by their computer screens. She took an order for some ice cold coffees not b0thering to look up from her pad. Then out of the corner of her eye she saw someone enter who was different somehow. The girl wore a pair of cut up jeans and a black bra. She looked like a 60’s flower child but she was a bit rough around the edges. She limped in and stiffly sat at a round table in the front of the room. “Great.” Lindsay thought, “This one isn’t going to be a good tipper.” Lindsay approached and pulled the spiral bound note pad out of her waist. She pulled the pencil out from behind her ear, licked the lead and rested the sharp tip on the page. “Well, What’ll you have?” she said with bored contempt.

The customer had a musky dead rat smell. “Don’t hippies take showers anymore?” she thought. Lindsay tried to be polite but she raised her hand up to her nose. She suddenly realized the customer’s left cheek was missing. The teeth were clenched and exposed. Suddenly the customer lunged at Lindsay and quickly grabbed her wrist. She screamed and pulled violently back and she heard the bone in her forearm snap. She looked and saw the bone sticking out. Her shoe slipped off in the struggle. In horrific pain she continued to scream until her wind pipe was slit with a serrated knife. One customer looked up from his computer but lost interest in the struggle and returned to Facebook.

Her head dropped to the table. Blood gushed out ruining her uniform. Her eyes stared blankly forward as painful wet noises came from her open neck. A tear rolled from her terror stricken eye. The hippie zombie tried pulling strips of flesh from Lindsay’s throat using a fork. The strips of flesh just dangled, never staying on the fork, like so much stubborn spaghetti. Frustrated, she threw the utensils to the floor and sank her teeth into Lindsay’s open wound. She hunched over her prey like a lioness.

What she really wanted however was fresh and juicy brain. She smashed a plate on the table and used its sharp jagged edge to cut the curly blonde hair away from the top of her victim’s head. She peeled the scalp away from the skull and let it hang down, dripping blood on the floor. She violently smashed the skull with a plate and once she had chipped a small hole in the skull she pushed her index finger inside and starting pulling chips away like she was digging into a large hard boiled egg. She slipped both hands inside the skull gently squeezing the brain as she lifted it out in one piece. The brain made an audible slurping noise as it was yanked free. She severed the spinal cord with her teeth, then she bit deeply into the soft thought filled mess. Blood oozed all over her face dripping down between her breasts.She ate the whole thing in a few very messy wet bites.

The other customers rose from their seats. Moaning, they approached the limp body now crumpled on the floor. All their hands reached out, hungry for fresh meat. A bit of frontal lobe was lying in a pool of blood in front of Lindsay’s eyes. A customer lifted it up pinching it between his index finger and thumb with his pinkie raised. He slipped it to the back of his throat like a raw oyster. Dozens of hands searched and clawed ripping and tearing away the fresh pulsing flesh. Blood spurted and knees became soaked in the widening pool of blood.

The Sketchy Broads host a monthly sketching session at Austin’s every month. Happy Halloween.