Watch Out For Your Brains: Zombie Crawl Hits Brooklyn Sunday

By Lawrence Bonk

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- If the lack of horrific beasties on the streets of Brooklyn has been keeping you asleep at night, then you might consider heading to Williamsburg weekend's Zombie Crawl.

This annual scare-fest, now in its fourth year, turns the streets of Williamsburg into a relentless march of the undead. And the best part? You'll be the zombies doing the crawling.

The event kicks off at the Knitting Factory Sunday at 6:00 p.m., when a team of trained makeup professionals will turn you and your friends into the zombies of your nightmares. Then you take to the streets to take part in the filming of a forthcoming horror sequel, Punk Rock Holocaust 3.

"Part of Punk Rock Holocaust 3 is getting the fans involved both as victims in the movie as well as filmmakers shooting footage so we're using the NYC Zombie Crawl as a launch for that," said Doug Sakmann, director of the film and organizer of the event. "Everyone can shoot footage with their phones, cameras, whatever - and then upload it."

A slow traipse down Bedford is not all that will go on at this year's crawl. The newly undead will end up at McCarren Park and then Public Assembly bar, where the organizers have arranged a host of gruesomely fun activities. There will be a lively game of tug-o-war, a Misfits cover band, zombie burlesque dancers and even comedy by the one and only Zombie Dangerfield.

In short, this is the perfect event to tide you over until Halloween.

The Zombie Crawl originated when Sakmann was inspired by the success of a similar event held in Philadelphia.

"Our friends at the Philly Zombie Crawl have been bleeding all over Philly since 2005 and when I saw there was no real zombie organization in NYC, I knew it was my destiny," he said, noting how his event has grown through the years.

"The first crawl in May 2007, we had about 100 zombies but now we average between 700-1000 zombies per event."

If you needed any proof that zombies have clawed their way back to mainstream culture – not to worry. There are more movies, television shows and comics than you can shake a bloodthirsty stick at. Even the US Government is getting in on the act.

"The Center for Disease Control just released a new section on their Web site about what to do in the possibility a zombie apocalypse." Said Sakmann. "Obviously zombies are in the back of the public consciousness."