The Journal

Zombie lovers are beginning to take over Webster University with a new student organization. A new on-campus club, Zombie Awareness and Survival (ZAS), allows students to discuss and learn the rules of surviving a zombie apocalypse.

"There's such a zombie interest at Webster," said Makayla Lynn, a senior media communications major and ZAS president. "We wanted to create a mixed-media group to give them an opportunity to network."

ZAS had their first meeting in the library conference room Tuesday, Nov. 10. About 25 WU students and newcomers to the club participated at the meeting, expressing their knowledge and passion of zombie history.

ZAS members talked about fundraising ideas like a zombie bake sale, a zombie barbecue and a blood drive for future activities. The night ended with a viewing of the zombie classic "Night of the Living Dead."

Twinkies and Hostess cakes were served as snacks in honor of the most recent zombie movie to be released, "Zombieland." In the film, one of the zombie hunters is not only searching for the walking cannibals, but also the world's last Twinkie to satisfy his sweet-tooth urge.

"I grew up on horror films," said Morgan Gaw, a sophomore video production major and ZAS secretary. "Being a video production major, I'm hoping to learn more about it."

Members got to know a little bit about each other as they were asked to introduce themselves and name their weapons of choice to use against a zombie.

ZAS will not only revolve around zombie movie genres and the zombie subculture, but club members will learn makeup techniques, have book discussions on zombie literature and learn about the zombie takeover in video games and even fashion. New members also mentioned an interest in learning some weapons training.

"People grew up with it and are interested in learning more about it," said Manuela Biener, a senior film studies major and ZAS events coordinator, about the zombie genre and background.

Founders of the club want ZAS to be a networking opportunity for current and future students. There's even talk of eventually making a zombie film.

"We wanted a meeting ground for students with different majors to come together," Lynn said.

The club hopes to host guest speakers from other related clubs in the area, such as the worldwide and St. Louis-based group ZombieSquad. The squad now has 17 chapters throughout the world, including the U.S., Western Europe and Canada.

Like a zombie apocalypse, the word about the club continues to spread. The ZAS Facebook page currently has 160 members.

Senior video production major and ZAS vice president Phil Diehl said, "It's a neat networking opportunity and interesting to see who you will run into in the future from the club."

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