Prepare to trade in elephant ears for human ears and hot dogs for… well, just regular dogs I suppose, as “Zombies Invade the Thrillway” at the Kentucky State Fair this Saturday, August 27th, for a literary/musical crossover event of brain-craving proportions.
Young adult novelist David Martin Stack’s newest, The Pretty Dead, follows the tale of several Louisville teens whose aspirations of winning the local ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition are put on hold by a mysterious virus that is turning their teachers and friends into mindless zombies. With a bit of uncanny synchronicity via the State Fair’s own 2nd Annual Battle of the Bands, which took place this past weekend, and the Fair’s Young Adult Project (YAP), Stack will be signing books and participating in various zombie-themed events in the YAP tent this Saturday.
“Zombies Invade the Thrillway” kicks off at 2:30pm with book signing and the first of several undead attractions including Walk Like a Zombie, Dance Like a Zombie, Best Zombie Costume/Make-Up, Best Zombie Sounds, and various team trivia competitions. With music also central to The Pretty Dead, (Ear-X-Tacy is one of a number of recognizable locales amidst its pages) student music ensembles from Kentucky’s newest GRAMMY Signature Schools—Iroquois High School and the J. Graham Brown School—will perform from 3:00-5:00 pm, with a line-up of youth bands booked by Mom’s Music rounding things out thereafter until the 2010 Kentucky State Fair Battle of the Bands champion band, The Dirty Grindstones, take the stage at 8pm. As one of several local musical acts alluded to in Stack’s novel, the event will culminate at 9:00pm with a tribute to the music of My Morning Jacket.
