zombie claus: what really happened?

8 Comments

1. danandkitty
   Posted December 18, 2005 at 1:05 am | Permalink

   Wow, that was more scary than the Blair Witch Project!
   Nice work Zombie Clauses…

   I liked the jingling bell zombie the best… And who was the wise-ass zombie in the easter bunny outfit? There’s a lways one zombie that doesn’t get the memo, I suppose.

2. muppster
   Posted December 18, 2005 at 11:30 am | Permalink

   It’s in New Zealand, too!

   I couldn’t believe it when, at 4 am, I was listening to the BBC on NPR, and there was a story about Santarchy in New Zealand, with a Zombie Claus-like attack reported!

3. schutzman
   Posted December 18, 2005 at 1:57 pm | Permalink

   Two days later, and my hands have finally stopped shaking enough to post the photographs I took:

   Zombie Claus 2005

4. mark
   Posted December 18, 2005 at 2:54 pm | Permalink

   Do you have a link to the BBC story? I knew it would be spreading. I had no idea how fast though.

5. j7uy5
   Posted December 19, 2005 at 1:29 am | Permalink

   Here is the New Zealand story:

   http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/12/17/santa.rampage.ap/index.html

6. mark
   Posted December 19, 2005 at 7:51 am | Permalink

   I didn’t know we were allowed to steal stuff!

   Here’s the article, for those of you who don’t know how to follow links:

   WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A group of 40 people dressed in Santa Claus outfits, many of them drunk, went on a rampage through Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, robbing stores, assaulting security guards and urinating from highway overpasses, police said Sunday.

   The rampage, dubbed “Santarchy,” began early Saturday afternoon when the men, wearing ill-fitting Santa costumes, threw beer bottles and urinated on cars from an overpass, said Auckland Central Police spokesman Noreen Hegarty.

   She said the men then rushed through a central city park, overturning garbage containers, throwing bottles at passing cars and spraying graffiti on office buildings.

   One man climbed the mooring line of a cruise ship before being ordered down by the captain. Other Santas, objecting when the man was arrested, attacked security staff, who were later treated by paramedics, Hegarty said.

   The remaining Santas entered another downtown convenience store and carried off beer and soft drinks.

   “They came in, said ‘Merry Christmas’ and then helped themselves,” store owner Changa Manakynda said.

   Two security guards were treated for cuts after being struck by beer bottles, Hegarty said. Three people, including the man who climbed on the cruise ship, were arrested and charged with drunkenness and disorderly behavior.

   Alex Dyer, a spokesman for the group, said Santarchy was a worldwide movement designed to protest the commercialization of Christmas.

   Thanks, j7uy5.

7. Tony Buttons Esq.
   Posted December 19, 2005 at 9:36 am | Permalink

   It looks as though the New Zealand thing might have been blown out of proportion.

   http://santarchy.com/2005/12/18/new-zealand-santarchy-follow-up/

8. be OH be
   Posted December 19, 2005 at 12:40 pm | Permalink

   It also didn’t seem to have anything to do with zombies and a lot to do with drunken revelers creating a half-baked excuse for lawlessness. Their carrying-on seems far less interesting than what occured in Ann Arbor.