Zombies get married in Hamilton

The dead shambled through the streets of downtown Hamilton Saturday — braving the rain for a heartfelt zombie wedding.

Aaron Allen and Tina Hall decided to tie the knot at Bayfront Park with close to 75 of their undead friends in full zombie regalia.

"We're big zombie fans and big horror fans so I just thought why not combine the two?" Allen said. "Something I love with the woman I love — it couldn't be any better."

The two were legally married on Oct. 23, but consider this their "heartfelt wedding."

The celebration was all part of the sixth annual Hamilton Zombie Walk, organized by Horror in the Hammer. Allen is the incoming director for the group of horror aficionados.

Walkers were asked to bring non-perishable food items for the Hamilton Dream Centre, and organizers say they raised about 200 pounds of food.

The turnout was said to have been a little smaller than previous years, but still solid considering the downpour that hit Hamilton for most of Saturday.

"We have a pile of die-hard — no pun intended — hardcore zombie fans," Allen laughed.

There were ghouls of all kinds — from your traditional zombie to a "crazy cat lady zombie" to a little eight-bit zombie flanked by two Mexican wrestler zombies.

Then there was Penny Sanderson and her little daughter, Reina.

Reina attended her first zombie walk at six months old, and has been coming ever since.

"She just loves doing it," Sanderson said. "According to some of the people here they had never seen a baby dressed up before, and since then I've seen tons of babies dressed up. It seems we started a little trend there."

The wedding took place at the end of the walk, and followed a traditional format with some cheesy puns — and an exchange of severed limbs instead of rings.

The two exchanged some heartfelt vows, and Allen praised his new wife for accepting him for the "huge dork" he is.

"Even after we die and reanimate as flesh-eating ghouls, I will never, ever leave your side," he said.

For photos of the walk, visit the CBC Hamilton Facebook page here.