The streets of downtown State College were dead during Saturday night's football game, but not nearly as dead as the mob of zombies that shuffled down its sidewalks.

In a spectacle that was equal parts Halloween parade and performance art piece, 17 Penn State students and State College residents dressed as zombies in Penn State apparel and stumbled around downtown State College for nearly an hour.

The march was organized by Sara Eve Rivera (senior-photography and philosophy), Jeff VanFossan (graduate-new media) and Grace Byrne, a student at the Delta Program, a local alternative high school.

The reasons for the event were manifold.

"We tried to keep the message open to whatever people wanted to express through it," Rivera said. "Some people are participating because they feel the administration is treating them like the living dead, while others want to parody the drinking culture."

Byrne said she often comes downtown at night, especially on the weekends after football games, and finds "people stumbling, barely capable of speech," not unlike something from a George A. Romero movie.

"It's good to have fun without having to get drunk," she said.

She added some students also participated because they wanted to "break the monotony" of stressful midterms and gray days with performance art, while VanFossan said he was just looking for "interaction with humans and to make them smile."

"Zombie walks are legit," he said.

The zombies convened on the Old Main lawn to plot out their route and apply zombie makeup before advancing on the downtown area at about 9 p.m. The mob, joined by Ghostmutt and Ghostmutt Jr., a couple of boxer dogs painted in Penn State colors, staggered around on Calder Way and College Avenue, pressing against windows, passing candy out to strangers and chanting in guttural zombie moans before ending the march at Chronic Town, 224 W. College Ave.

Throughout, the mob was accompanied by a zombie-theme mix CD VanFossan had made, which featured songs by the Zombies and White Zombie as well as The Cranberries' "Zombie," The Magnetic Fields' "Zombie Boy" and, of course, "Thriller."

"It's not a zombie walk without 'Thriller,' " participating zombie Justin Stomp said.

Though many locals had their eyes fixated on the Penn State football game on television, the mob encountered a few onlookers and not all of them were entirely receptive.

Though the mob drew a few heckles and jeers, the response was mostly positive, especially when the zombies offered free candy to passersby. While the zombies certainly surprised some people downtown, at least they didn't bite any of them.

"I figured we might get a few harassers, but instead people were very jovial and inquisitive," VanFossan said. "It was definitely better than anticipated."

Rivera said the event was originally planned for last weekend, but the frenzy of the home football game and Homecoming weekend forced a postponement. She also said this would not be the last performance art piece they organized.

World Zombie Day took place Sunday.

"'Tis zombie season," Knoppers said.