Talk the Zombie Walk: Suzanne Carte in conversation with Thea Munster

Raising the dead is a difficult job. In 2003 Thea Munster took on the task of organizing a frightening undead posse to haunt the streets of Toronto and they have been staggering down Yonge Street ever since.

The Toronto Zombie Walk is a community-based organization with a dedicated committee of volunteers. The spectre behind the association is a force. Witty, smart, and savvy Munster has taken on the daunting task of leading the artistic direction and administering the financial (the 2013 walk has been generously supported by the Heart & Stroke Foundation!) and logistical aspects.

It is a year-round commitment ensuring the success of the walk and keeping the zombie alive in the hearts and minds of Torontonians. Creating an inclusive all-welcome event, Munster transforms the streets of Toronto into a scene from Thriller with thousands of dead followers. Suzanne Carte had the pleasure (and fright) of catching up with Munster as she invaded Sugar Beach this past July with a band of merry ghouls. Here is what she had to say about why she leads the way and lobbies for the undead to roam the city streets.

Suzanne Carte - Why did you begin the Zombie Walk in Toronto?

Thea Munster - As a film fan I was always inspired by horror movies and monsters. I always love the idea of the monster as outcast, a figure who has done nothing wrong, but is shunned from society. When I saw zombies for the first time I was thrilled; here were monsters that walked together, not as loner outcasts, but a group of individuals who worked together to feed on the flesh of the living. I loved the spirit of them. I wanted to recreate that feeling of rising up from the grave and as a union of outsiders. Unfortunately, none of my friends wanted to dress as a zombie and recreate this with me, so I put up posters everywhere around Toronto and six people came out.

SC - The zombie walk spread almost like a virus or contagion itself! Are you surprised by the growth of 6 people to 10,000 strong? Did you anticipate that thousands of people like you are intrigued by (or feel a kinship to) the zombie outcast?

TM - I am shocked and surprised that it has become so huge. I never would have imagined it. At the most I thought I may have made 20 new friends, but now I have a family of thousands.

SC - The zombie can be the perfect vessel for many different political and social associations, allegories and metaphors. The walk resembles that of a protest in its disruption and formation. Do you see your participation in the zombie walk as a politically-motivated action? If so what do you walk for or walk against?

TM - Of course I have always loved the idea of the consumer as zombie, as in George Romero films, but the first walk was an homage to the traditions of Sam- hain and Halloween, where the veil between the living and dead becomes thin and the living can witness these creatures from the underworld. That may sound innocent enough, but in truth I have always liked to shake things up a bit and in the beginning it was not funny or fun to see a group of zombies. It was very scary. People were shutting their blinds and running away, it was something unreal! Whether zombies are used as a satirical tool to critique society or as a way to shock they are something we can’t ignore, because they are us.

My ideas on zombies have changed over time. I am more interested in a sense of community within the nameless, speechless group of beings... now I wonder if zombies are our bodies wandering without consciousness, while our minds and our identities live through interfaces and media. I want to create experience, but I can’t help but see metaphor within it.

SC - So do you see it now as more of a parade than, say, a protest?

TM - I think the Zombie Walk is different for everyone, depending on how they are participating. It may be a parade for onlookers. But I tend to think that parades conjure up feelings of glee. This is more of a funeral dirge. As for protest, there are those who protest within it...we welcome the political. Then others just enjoy it, and we welcome them too.

SC - I can imagine that over time your thoughts have changed on the walks and what the zombie means to you. The public has expressed a ravenous hunger for zombie-related entertainment, paraphernalia, and experiences. Is any of that due to the recent popularity and proliferation of all things zombie? Are you excited about this renewed interest in the zombification of popular tropes or do you feel exhausted by them?

TM - I am not exhausted by zombies, nor their popu- larity. But I am frightened of the zombie survivalist aspect that has popped up. I find it strange that zombies would identify with their hunters, or vice versa. Can you imagine hunters dressing as deer? It’s strange to me. I am worried about the survivalist aspect within zombie culture.

SC - Where do you draw inspiration for your ghoulish costumes?

TM - I am inspired by the living. I wonder what they would be like dead, if they could be resurrected.

SC - Lastly, what are your top 5 favourite zombie films?

TM - Night of the Living Dead, Cemetery Man, Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things, Day of the Dead, and Return of the Living Dead.