Zombies have been in the news a lot lately, to say the least; with all the stories floating around about a “zombie apocalypse” and tales of the synthetic drug “bath salts” turning users into flesh-craving maniacs, it’s not hard to see why the Center for Disease Control has had to beef up their website with disclaimers that they are not aware of any disease that would make a person want to eat flesh and/or brains. They’ve also implemented a preparedness tutorial in the event of a national crisis or disaster which masquerades as a zombie-survival guide.

Now, Bangor, Maine has gotten in on the act with a “Zombie Apocalypse Day”, which prepares people for any sort of disaster and helps them learn to think on their feet in the event of an emergency. It just happened to be a zombie emergency this time, and it just happened to be in Stephen King’s hometown (oddly enough, he hasn’t written much about zombies, unless you count Pet Sematary; his 2006 novel Cell touched upon the phenomenon, but incorporated technology into the mythos).

Dozens of people participated, including members of the National Guard and health care workers from nearby hospitals. People got into zombie makeup and were set free to role-play after getting into character; the storyline involved a deadly outbreak originating in Jamaica which is spread through bites.

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Image credit: Kevin Bennet/Bangor Daily News

“The entire thing is very similar to any regular pandemic influenza planning,” said Kathy Knight, director of the Northeastern Mine Regional Resource Center. “So we can use what we learn here in the planning for that type of event.”

While Stephen King didn’t attend the event, all those zombies invading his town probably didn’t escape his attention.