Zombie’s Night Out: A Party Planning Guide

By Lisa Fary

It’s easy to find ideas for the average party online or at the bookstore. But, if you’re looking for help with your zombie themed party, Martha Stewart, Real Simple and Rachael Ray are not going to help you (Rachael might- she’s looking more and more zombified with each issue of Everyday). So, here are Pink Raygun’s ideas and tips for food, drinks, and zombifying yourself for your zombie themed party.

You’ll need to entertain your guests in the early hours of the party before more people start showing up, and also in the later hours after they’ve been drinking for a while.

Pin the Pancreas on the Zombie: Just like “Pin the Tail on the Donkey”, but there are endless variations. Pin the Liver on the Zombie. Pin the Gallbladder on the Zombie.

Zombie Darts: This is as simple as tacking a zombie’s picture to a dart board. Make sure the dart board is hung in an area where there’s not a lot of party traffic.

People Pinata: I’m 31, but I still love beating the stuffing out of a pinata. You can get inexpensive people shaped pinatas that are pre-made, and can be stuffed with anything you want. I like the idea of dismembered doll parts raining down on the guests.

Spin the Arm: Like “Spin the Bottle”, but with a mannequin’s arm (you’ll be surprised what you can find at a thrift store).

Feeding Your Undead Guests

Guests expect to be fed and you should keep your food options in the undead spirit. The food groups for your zombie party are Stinky (because the undead stink), Slimy (because the undead get slimy), Runny/ Oozy (because the undead ooze), and Meat (zombies like meat).

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Stinky Food

• Pickled garlic – it stinks and it looks like giant maggots sitting in a bowl. You can get this online at Garlic Festival (go for spicy herb and dill mustard).
• Blue cheese stuffed olives – Also tasty as a martini garnish.

Slimy Food

• Roasted red peppers – tasty, but looks like raw flesh. Available at most grocery stores.
• Goat cheese balls – these are easy to make. Roll a tablespoon of the goat cheese into a ball and roll it around in a bowl of Herbs de Provence. Done.
• Other options: avodcado dip and oysters

Runny/Oozy Food

• Gazpacho tomato cups (you can also do this with cucumber cups) – you can do these with roma tomatoes, but it will be less messy for guests if you use cherry tomatoes. Cut off the top of the tomato and scoop out the pulp (your pinky finger works). You may need to take a small slice off the bottom to make it sit level. Fill with gazpacho. Sometimes we can find it at grocery stores in Arizona, but it’s really easy to make green gazpacho or red gazpacho yourself.

Meat
To cut down on prep time, most of these can be bought already prepared (via take out, the deli counter, or the frozen food section).

• Sushi (it’s also slimy!)
• Meatballs
• Chicken fingers
• Steak fingers

If you’re really ambitious and want an authentic, raw meat chomping, zombie party experience, try making steak tartare.

Zombie Thirst

In addition to the usual beer and soda drink options, have some zombie themed drinks planned.

Bloody Mary
This keeps in the spirit of your zombie theme. More Bloody Mary variations than you’ll ever need can be found online at DrinksMix.

The Zombie
1/2 oz. Creme de Almond
1 oz. Rum, light
1/2 oz. Rum, overproof/151 proof
1/2 oz. Triple Sec
1 1/2 oz. Orange Juice
1 1/2 oz. Sour Mix
1 whole Cherries/Maraschinos

Blood Orange Martini
4 ounces vodka
1/2 ounce triple sec or flavored orange liqueur
2 ounces blood orange juice
2 blood orange slices

In a martini shaker combine all ingredients except the orange slices with a generous amount of ice. Shake vigorously for a few seconds. Strain the libation from the ice into a martini glass. Garnish with the orange slices.

Eyeball Sangria
2 bottles Rioja or Merlot red wine
15oz Cranberry juice
4oz rum
1 cup peeled green grapes
Mix together the wine, juice and rum until well mixed. Add in the peeled grapes, and refrigerate overnight.

If you’re anything like me, it’s super easy to get a natural zombie look. Stop using your night cream, eye serum, and lip balm. You’ll have dead, dried out zombie face in about three days.

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Giving up girl creams isn’t really an option, so Zombie Maker and Zombie Pub Crawl have great tips for making up your zombie face. Zombie Pub Crawl is good for novices – Zombie Maker is for the ambitious.

If fiddling with latex and oatmeal and greasepaint is beyond your reach, you can create a newly dead zombie look with drugstore makeup. There are no gaping wounds or compound fractures (tell people you died of natural causes), but it’s easy enough to do.

You’ll need your usual liquid or cream foundation (it should also work with moisturizer), black eye shadow, creamy black or brown eye pencil, green eye shadow, and creamy dark green eye pencil (darker skin tones use plums, eggplant, or deep red instead of green). Cream shadows are easiest to work with, but I was able to get the same effect by mixing cake shadow with my regular foundation. Try it on the inside of your arm before putting it on your face to check the color and also to see how hard it will be to wash off. I still have grayish streaks on my arm a day later.

Mix a dollop of your foundation with the green shadow and spread on your entire face. I used Wet n’ Wild Mega Eyes Shadow Pot in Sensual Sage with Neutrogena Glow Sheers, which gave me a nice greenish-yellow glow. (This kind of makeup tends to be shimmery, so in some lights you’ll look more glamazombie than zombie.)

Next, work on the eyes. You’ll want to color the entire area around your eye socket, but not evenly – the area nearest your eyeball should de darkest. I put a heavy line of black around my entire eye and smudged it, then worked in green, filling in the lid entirely up to the crease and then smudging out with my fingers. For that, I used Maybelline Cool Effect Shadow/ Liner pencil in Cold Cash, then dusted over it with black shadow. Next, smudge black eye shadow into every crease in your face: around the sides of your nose, laugh lines around your mouth, crinkle lines in your forehead, and under your bottom lip. I also covered my circus nose in a light layer of black. Last, blend the green and black eye pencils on your lips.

It’s easy to get lingering zombie guests out of your house: ask them to help you clean up.

Have a fun, undead time!

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Lisa Fary is a graduate of the creative writing program at Florida State University and holds an advanced degree in Special Education. Her early exposure to classic Battlestar Galactica in 1979 is largely responsible for her lifelong interest in science fiction and her childhood ambition of being an intergalactic space cowgirl.

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