Zombie invasion takes over Cynthiana
Downtown Cynthiana looked like a scene straight out of The Walking Dead, with the streets filled with crashed cars, lifeless bodies, a wrecked plane and zombies that reached out to grab the living.
What started out as an idea to have a small dedication ceremony for a road sign to honor the creators of The Walking Dead, quickly turned into a full-fledged zombie invasion with more than 20,000 fans to show up.
Both Robert Kirkman, creator of the highly popular series and comic book artist, Tony Moore grew up in the small rural town and was on hand to meet and greet their fans.
A few Fleming County fans could be found dodging the walkers.
Becky Pyles and both of her children, Cody and Audrey are big fans of the show and took the opportunity to experience the day long festival.
“I haven’t been a fan from the beginning. A friend of mine told me about the show. I started watching probably around season 3. Then I had to go back and watch from the beginning and was completely hooked.
We heard from some of the coordinators of the event that the whole thing was planned in 6 weeks. It was really good for that short of a time.
We had a blast! I would love to see some sort of yearly celebration. We learned a lot from our tour guide about Cynthiana. I’ll be watching for schedules of their Haunted Walks in October.
The tour through town was neat. We went to the hospital; saw “Rick’s” house then our tour van got attacked by walkers. It was a hoot! One of our guides made it so much fun … he was screaming at the walkers to get away, telling the driver to move the van and get out of here!
We all enjoyed the costume contest. The people really put a lot of time, effort and imagination into their costume,” Becky said.
Also from Fleming County were sisters, Brides Flora Peck and Angie Flora Thacker along with Angie’s granddaughter Ashlee.
“I have been a Walking Dead fan pretty much from the beginning. I think it was the ‘post apocalyptic’ thing about it that caught my interest; you know some major life-altering event, changing life, as we know it kind of thing. Every single vendor we did business with was outstanding, and friendly. I know they were exhausted after a long day. Everything that was set up to be creepy for example the “wrecked vehicles” were done so that if someone just had to get close for pictures they could without getting hurt. The signs were cool and so many things were true to the series. The “zombies” we’re happy to have their pictures taken. My granddaughter was the next to last person in a long line to get an autograph from Tony Moore, he and his staff could not have been more gracious and kind and I know they were exhausted. Cynthiana did an outstanding job with this event and I hope they do this every year,” Angie said.
Ashlee said she loved how “amazing the scenery was” and “how awesome some of the fans costumes were.”
“I had an awesome time and took lots and lots of pictures and I even got Tony Moore’s autograph. I hope they make this a yearly event,” Ashlee added.
The Walking Dead Day was a free event that was presented by the Harrison County Chamber of Commerce.
Before the festival took place, a massive mural that features the main characters of Rick, Carl, Daryl and Michonne was unveiled.
The story begins in Cynthiana, where police officer Rick Grimes is faced with a world overrun by zombies and has become one of televisions most popular series.
A survivalist story at its core, the series explores how the living are changed by the overwhelming realization that those who survive can be far more dangerous than the mindless walkers roaming the earth.
For local fans and those who traveled hundreds of miles to the town where The Walking Dead got it’s start, the event was a fun way to experience a world over-run by zombies.
