He's got zombie fever, and the only cure is more brains.
"Brains, flesh, something fresh," Brian Whitecalf said, as he prepares for the coming pandemic.
As an emergency room admissions worker he's usually the one watching the bloodied and bruised walk in. But you won't catch him dressed like this at work.
"This is way out of dress code," he laughed.
Zombies take to the streets of Grand Island, with food, drink, and dance downtown.
Whitecalf said, "Grand Island can have a lot of different events downtown, be more open minded. Hopefully this even will show a young crowd wants to come and have some fun."
A young crowd is what Hornady Manufacturing is aiming for too, as a new line of Zombie Max ammunition inspires a new shooting competition at the Heartland Public Shooting Park in Grand Island.
Everett Deger said, "A lot of people who are older like target shooting but younger demographic who has grown up with Nintendo and Sony PlayStation finds this very, very appealing."
You can even take on zombies at close range with a National Guard Airsoft competition this weekend.
Hundreds of shooters are spending hundreds each to be zombie killers, where they're encouraged to aim for the head.
Deger said, "We've seen people who will come in dressed in zombie hero garb with machete lashed to the back and throwing stars in every position."
Vampires are cool, but Brian Whitecalf says there's just something zombies.
"I've always liked zombies, don't care for vampires or werewolves," he said, although he laments the fact a real zombie invasion won't happen.
The shooting events have a sold-out crowd, and that inspired the downtown events including a Michael Jackson Thriller dance Saturday evening.
Downtown events will be at Kaufmann Park, at Third and Wheeler near the Grand Theatre. Events there run from 2-6 on Saturday, June 30. There will be a zombie costume contest, and face painting. The Thriller dance is at 5pm. For more information, contact the Chocolate Bar at 308-675-0664.
The shooting competition is sold-out. 300 shooters from several states will be taking part at the Heartland Public Shooting Park, sponsored by Hornady. It is a competitive 3-gun shoot.
For more, visit http://www.zombiesintheheartland.com/
