Zombies to share parade with princesses

Tori Giesbrecht was transformed into a zombie by Penticton make-up artist Sheila Killins, 21.

(SHANNON QUESNEL / iNFOnews.ca)

October 30, 2013 - 2:29 PM

PENTICTON - Don't mistake Thursday for Monday if you see zombies shuffling on downtown Main Street.

The Downtown Penticton Association is kicking off Halloween tomorrow with a zombie and costume event starting at 4:30 p.m. Everyone in costume or without is welcome to attend the free parade which starts on Nanaimo Avenue and ends on Front Street where there'll be live music, face painting and prizes for best costumes.

For those turning out for tomorrow's zombie walk and parade they should be prepared for unfriendly weather. There's a 30 per cent chance it will rain tomorrow afternoon and it will only be as warm as 11 C. This might turn a few lips blue with the cold but that'll work for people who come dressed as the dead.

Make-up artist Sheila Killins, 21, said Penticton stores have plenty of ingredients to turn people into zombies. Most of her materials are repurposed traditional make-up kits and liquid latex, used for fake scars and torn skin and can be found at several local stores during the Halloween season.

Killins has been turning her friends and herself into monsters and other fantastical creatures since she was a kid. She's turned her own face into a canvass and it's usually where most of her art is displayed. Some of her work can also be found on her Facebook page.

"I've always been interested how to make the monsters in the movies so I've started teaching myself and zombies were the easiest ones to start with," she said.

She's a fan of The Walking Dead television show and the shuffling corpses depicted in every episode and hopes to do similar make-up work in the future. The Penticton Secondary School graduate wants to attend the Blanche Macdonald Centre in Vancouver to advance her mad make-up skills.

She explained one zombification tip is to darken the cheekbones and hollows of the eyes to give a sunken look. Dark smudges around the eyes also helps plus dark blue or dark purple colours on the lips. Latex should be applied with shreds of tissue paper and then dried before picking at it with a tool to give it that torn look.

"And of course you need blood, lots of blood," she added. She means liberal use of red lipstick and vials of fake blood also sold at stores during the Halloween season.

To contact a reporter for this story, to send photos or videos, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065, send tweets to @shannonquesnel1 or @InfoNewsPentict. You can also check out Shannon Quesnel or Infotel News on Facebook.