The inaugural Highlands Zombie Parade & Pub Crawl drew hundreds of walking dead and spectators to downtown Highlands on Saturday.
HIGHLANDS - When organizations decide to hold an event for the first time, they often don't know what kind of turnout to expect.
Fortunately for the Highlands Business Partnership, an inaugural event it held on Saturday was not dead at all. In fact, it was "undead."
The inaugural Highlands Zombie Parade & Pub Crawl drew hundreds of walking dead and spectators to the borough's downtown on Saturday.
The Grim Reaper - wearing a Leonardo Reapers jersey for good measure - lead the slow procession of zombies from Huddy Park down Bay Avenue to Veterans Memorial Park.
At the end of the parade, costume prizes were awarded in multiple categories, including Best Overall Zombie and Best Child Zombie, and members of the New Jersey Zombie Walk "Thriller" Dance Team performed for the crowd.
The inaugural Highlands Zombie Parade & Pub Crawl drew hundreds of walking dead and spectators to downtown Highlands on Oct. 24, 2015. (Rob Spahr | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) From there, the zombies dispersed with many heading off on a pub crawl that featured zombie-themed food and drink specials at several local establishments.
Jackson resident Doug McEntegart has taken part in every year of the World Record-setting New Jersey Zombie Walk in Asbury Park since its very first year, so he figured it would be fun to give the first Highlands zombie event a try.
McEntegart and fellow Jackson resident Doreen Lettice even recycled their costumes as zombies from the Centers for Disease Control from this year's Asbury Park Zombie Walk for use at the Highlands event.
"It was supposed to rain at the Asbury Park Zombie Walk, and we wanted to wear something appropriate for the weather," Lettice said. "So for this one, we took the CDC costume idea and built on it."
Even though the inaugural Highlands zombie gathering didn't have the kind of turnout that the more established Asbury Park event draws each year, McEntegart and Lettice said the Highlands event was still a lot of fun and had a good crowd for its first year.
The pub crawl feature was also a nice touch, they said.
"We love it," Lettice said. "We're always up for a pub crawl!"
"They always end up kind of as pub crawls anyway, so they might as well (add the pub crawl element)," McEntegart said.
The inaugural Highlands Zombie Parade & Pub Crawl drew hundreds of participants and spectators on Oct. 24, 2015. (Rob Spahr | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Toward the end of the parade route, characters from "Gilligan's Island" were snarling at spectators lining the road.
All of the characters were joining in the fun, except Gilligan.
"We ate Gilligan!" Mrs. Howell growled as "The Skipper" rubbed his belly in approval. "He deserved it, we didn't like him any way."
Atlantic Highlands resident Alison Evans-Fragale, who dressed as Mrs. Howell, in said this was the first time that the group of friends took part in zombie-themed event.
"We thought it would be fun. We play trivia here in Highlands every week and we also do the boat trips together, so the Gilligan's Island theme was a very appropriate choice for us," Evans-Fragale said. "I think this event is wonderful. I love Highlands, I think this are has so much to offer and wonderful bars and I think this is a great way to call attention to the town, because this event will bring a lot of people in."
After waiting for the results of the costume contest, the group was also looking forward to the pub crawl.
"I know we're going to have some zombies and some hurricanes, and then we'll probably go to some of our local watering holes to see some of our friends who are musicians perform."
"And to actually eat some food, not just people," said Ginger, who was played by Rumson resident Diane Vallis Schneider.
Rob Spahr may be reached at rspahr@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheRobSpahr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.