At the second annual Zombie Walk in Salt Lake City a group of nearly 300 soulless corpses slogged along 500 South moaning their blood lust at onlookers. Costumed with fake blood and tattered clothes, the zombie parade was a somewhat ominous sight for unsuspecting residents.

"This is pretty crazy," said Jay Poulsem, a Salt Lake City resident who had stopped by a relative's house to watch the walk. "We thought we'd stop by and get the kids a little freaked out."

As the Poulsem family watched all manners of zombies walked by. Some had demolished their Sunday best with splatters of fake blood and stylized tears whereas others sported current fashion trends as their outstretched arms searched for living victims.

"I wanted to dress but (Jay) thought the kids would get scarred," Heidi Poulsem said. "I thought it would be cute to have some kid zombies."

Organizers encouraged all participants to respect private property and to only "attack" those that were friends or known to participants in the march. The walk began at the Mt. Olivet Cemetery and wound down 500 South to the parking lot at Trolley Square.

Bri Patmides, a participant in the event, took a brief break from her mindless march to speak with the Deseret News.

"This is fun and it's a good reason to get outside on a Sunday," Patmides said. "I just grabbed some makeup, threw it on us and applied some fake blood. Then we were zombies."

Participants hope that the Zombie Walk can continue to be an annual event in the valley and are excited for their numbers to grow in coming years.

e-mail: cnorlen@desnews.com