Dead good fun was to be had on the streets of Gloucester today, when hordes of rotting zombies - young, old and canine - emerged from their dank shrines to embark on their annual walking tour of the city.
In a scene reminiscent of the classic zombie move, Dawn of the Dead, more than 300 walking corpses congregated outside Café René in Greyfriars, before shuffling en masse - some shedding limbs on the way - through Eastgate Shopping Centre, King's Walk, King's Square, St John's Lane, through the Cathedral grounds, along Westgate Street, then down Southgate Street and back to Café René for some Halloween fun and games.
Now in its third year, the Gloucester Zombie Walk saw the shuffling corpses of nurses, pilots, paramedics, cheerleaders - a myriad of undead who once enjoyed all manner of fulfilling professions and fun pastimes when still alive - take to the streets in aid of Sue Ryder Care.
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Event organiser and owner of Café René, Paul Soden, said: "This is the best day of the year for me. I love all the different events we put on here at Café René, but this is most definitely my favourite.
"It's great to dress up, walk the streets of Gloucester and make people smile. I love it, and so do the kids - it's an event that all the family enjoy taking part in.
He laughed: "I went into Barclay's bank and asked them to hand over the till - but they wouldn't.
"And Natalie, who's dressed as Edward Scissorhands, went into Toni & Guy and offered to give people in there a haircut - but nobody took her up on her offer.
"This event just gets better each year. We've raised so much money, and we've got plenty more fun planned for the rest of the day."
Before returning to their grizzly graves, the zombies were looking forward to a gloriously ghoulish evening of apple bobbing, Halloween games and live music, courtesy of Charlie Baxter and DJ Dr Tim, who would be providing the soundtrack for a party featuring the freshly-chopped delights of the The Family Butchers, the horrific Back Street Dentist and potions from The Farmacy.
