Updated: Sat Aug. 15 2009 16:24:25

Police in downtown Vancouver watched helplessly from the sidelines Saturday afternoon as an army of the living dead gathered en mass to search for nourishing human brains.

Well, almost.

On the south side of the Vancouver Art Gallery at 750 Hornby Street, participants gathered for the Vancouver Zombie Walk -- a growing annual event that has become known as the New Years celebration of the Goth community.

"We are protesting human stupidity," parade marshal Ashton Green said Saturday. "We are protesting all the things that will lead to an apocalypse - zombie or otherwise."

In Pictures: The Vancouver Zombie Walk 2009

Green is the leader of the Gravediggers Union, a group of unofficial parade marshals - the closest thing to an organizer the zombie walk has.

"I showed up to the first one in 2005 dressed as a grave diver and became the unofficial marshal," he said. "You see a big guy with a loud voice who carries a shovel - people tend to follow."

But despite the lack of organization, thousands of Vancouverites of all stripes gather at the walk to revel in the macabre, complete with complicated costumes and professionally applied makeup.

As participants stumbled and moaned down Robson Street, a sea of prosthetic slit throats, severed limbs and dangling eyeballs baked in the afternoon sun.

Zombie gore as a fundraising tool

Much of the grotesque makeup came courtesy of Theta Effects, a local Vancouver film effects shop.

When project coordinator Rick Pederson heard about the zombie walk, he jumped at the opportunity to showcase the company's prosthetic artistry - and to make a few bucks for charity.

Using volunteers from three different effects schools in Vancouver, Theta spent 10 days working to prepare a number of gruesome wounds to be applied on the day of the parade.

"It was very, very spur of the moment," Pederson said. "Basically, everyone has worked tirelessly in the shop, sometimes for 14 or 15 hours per day."

Theta and company charge $20 per makeup application, $10 of which goes straight to the Variety Club. Pederson says though they were only able to serve about 75 customers on Saturday, Theta plans to return next year in full force.

"Variety is very excited about doing it again," Pederson said. "Only bigger."