A Valiant Death

A tale of Zombie LARPing.

It was my last survivor run. Two teams of us had banded together for safety. Yeah, that just made us a more tempting target.

We were crossing the mall from one unit to the next when someone shouted 'White Knight!'* And there he was, running full tilt down the mall with an axe in his hand. Everyone scattered! I found myself separated from my group with a guy I didn't know. I had a spade and he was unarmed. Of course, the White Knight came after us.

We ran through the store, down the stairs to the cellar, not stopping to switch on our torches. It was dark. We waited with baited breath, hoping the White Knight wouldn't follow us down. It may have been my only bit of luck on that run...

Hearts pounding, we crept back upstairs. The White Knight had left! Better yet, we could see our groups at the Bioflex Recruitment Desk, just across the mall from us!

Reunited, I allowed myself to relax in the illusion that I was safe.

We forged ahead. I was at the front of our group, the only person with a melee weapon. That was fine. I was backed up by my allies, all armed to the teeth. They had my back, right?

Turning a corner, there was the second White Knight. I shouted a warning, backing up with my spade en-guard . Someone shouted, 'Don't run! Stand and fight!' So I did. I even got a hit in against the Knight! But then there was a terrible roar to my left...

Father Flexmas attacked without mercy; a dark-robed, imposing figure in a featureless white mask, twin blades slashing. I fell beneath his knives wondering where my team had got to. Out of, what, eleven of us? only two had stayed to fight.

I died, but at least it was dramatic. And I'll know better next time. Apparently 'stay and fight' actually means 'run like billy-o'. Who knew?

* A White Knight, for those who haven't attended Zombie LARP, is a fast, strong, intelligent undead monster. Although savage in combat, they are also capable of coming up with strategies (such as keeping poor, stupid survivors occupied while Father Flexmas sneaks up on 'em). They are very scary indeed.

A Very Zombie Xmas

I spent a fantastic day running around a deserted mall on Saturday, fend off the hoardes of the undead. No, really, I'm not making it up.

I had never been to Zombie LARP before (see their site here) and wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I had heard stories, read blogs, but nothing really prepared me for how awesome my day was going to be.

First of all let me tell you about the setting - Friar's Walk Mall in Reading, a derelict shopping centre. I would soon be running through the empty shop units, up and down escalators, through the darkness of the basement... A fantastic venue, really creepy!

We had weapons to defend ourselves against the zombies. Nerf guns of all shapes and sizes, LARP melee weapons, the works. Our favourite was the foam spade, quite satisfying for smacking zombies across the back...




























And fun as it was to play as a survivor, being a zombie was great! There is something empowering about lurching around after terrified survivors, getting knocked down but never for long, monsters at the top of the food chain!

Some friends of mine got into the festive spirit as Santa and Mrs Claws with their elves - disturbing :)



Myself and Stephanie were not as organised as all that, just going for creepy zombie make-up. I was particularly impressed with Stephanie's bleeding eyes...




























All in all a fantastic day - I would heartily recommend booking up for one of these events if you are able to get to Reading. They sometimes run events at different venues (Norwich and London I think) but Friar's Walk Mall is such a great venue it has to be seen to be believed.

Christmas...

Posted this on Facebook. Since I havn't posted anything on here recently I thought I'd share.

A few of my friends have been posting that they are "reclaiming Christmas". It's your faith, more power to you. But in the interest of balance...
Your christmas tree? A nordic pagan symbol of male fertility, just as the wreath represents feminine fertility.
Christmas presents? The giving of gifts is a holdover from Saturnalia, an Ancient Roman festival from around this time of year that predates Christ's birth by over 200 years.
25th December? The date of Christ's birth is never explicitly stated in the bible but historians have narrowed it down to sometime between the end of September and mid-February. Theoretically speaking. Maybe it was easier to hijack the pagan celebration of Yule than to compete with a much older festival?
(Interestingly enough early Christians didn't celebrate birthdays, not even the birth of Christ, considering it to be a pagan custom! Only the Jehovah's Witnesses have stuck to their guns on THAT one.)
So I do know how you feel, having your holy days renamed, plagiarised and subsumed. The same happened to us pagans, by some imported middle-eastern religion as I recall. I forget the name :)