Every fall, somewhere in downtown Davis, an unsuspecting business owner looks up from the counter to find a small crew of zombies walking in, professional makeup and all. Nobody screams. Everyone already knows what is happening: it is time for the annual Zombie Photoshoot, and this year, it is their turn.
The ambush, explained
The tradition dates back to the very first festival, a September 8, 2019 shoot where committee members in makeup by Rina Fuller ("Mother of All Zombies," Colorful Creations by Rina) started visiting top sponsors for marketing photos. It has continued every year since. In 2025 the crew ambushed Taffach Ethiopian Restaurant, MAYA'S Authentic Mexican Food and Community Employment Services, whose Buttons 'n Bears program makes zombie memorabilia by hand.
The resulting photos become sponsor spotlight posts on the festival blog, each one built around a small pun and a real relationship. Davis Firefighters Local 3494, sponsors since year one, "have a new applicant pool: zombies," according to Matt Fix. First Northern Bank gets tied to its Oktoberfest and 115-year history. Zia's Delicatessen learned that "BRAINS! were off the menu." Upper Crust Baking, run by Mo, Trudy and Lorin Kalisky, hands out dozens of gift cards as costume prizes. Blue Pine Coffins, owned by Danielle and Dean Newberry, brings a literal coffin full of candy and a solar-powered coffin car. Woodstock's Pizza serves cinnabread at the route's halfway point. Ken's Bike-Ski-Board, run by Ken Bradford since 1988, and Davis Cards & Games, run by Melissa and Gretchen Showalter, both show up year after year. Apex Cycles, at Mace Ranch since 2022, keeps bikes running along the route.
Sponsor tiers, and who funds what
The festival's 2025 sponsorship packet, as summarized by a third-party listing, described tiers running from Zombie Zinger ($2,500 to $4,000) down through Alien Altruist ($1,500), Pirate Philanthropist ($500), Scarecrow Supporter ($250) and Goblin Granter ($150). Individual sponsors often fund specific pieces of the day directly: Kim Eichorn of Windermere Real Estate funds the BMX stunt show, Julia Whitmer, also of Windermere, funds the Zombie Kingdom Quest, and Lawson Youmans of Hallmark Properties is, by the festival's own description, "our biggest sponsor." Confirm current tiers on the Sponsor page, since packet details change year to year.
Partner counts have climbed steadily: about 35 in 2019, roughly 50 in 2020, about 70 in 2021, 139 in 2022, more than 150 in 2023, more than 130 in 2024, and around 200 in 2025.
The Quest, and the game the director wrote himself
The Zombie Kingdom Quest debuted in 2023 as a stamp-and-riddle scavenger hunt: visit at least six entertainment stations, earn a free board game and access to the castle bounce house. By 2025, sponsored by Julia Whitmer, the format simplified to picking up a sheet at Zombie Headquarters, visiting the majority of stations, and winning a free copy of Coffee Time plus expansion packs.
Coffee Time is a real, published strategy board game, and the prize at the end of the Quest is the festival director's own creation.
Coffee Time is a 2023 strategy board game for 2 to 6 players, ages 8 and up, created by Aaron Wedra and Stevie Price, with a first print run of 1,000 copies at $39.99 each. Five percent of proceeds go to the Purple Tree Café. It is a small, funny loop: the man who runs the whole festival also designed the prize you win for exploring it.
Downtown gets in on it too
The Downtown Davis Business Association runs its own parallel event, the Downtown Spooktacular Treat Trail, a free trick-or-treating route through dozens of participating businesses each Halloween. In 2025 it ran the Friday before the festival weekend, paired with a Davis Commons Halloween Festival featuring cornhole, giant Jenga and a skeleton-bones limbo. For 2026, the Treat Trail is scheduled for 3 to 5 pm on Saturday, October 31, straight after the skydiving finale, so the whole town moves downtown together. See it on the Treat Trail event page.
Since 2019, glow-in-the-dark T-shirts printed by Ink Monkey Graphics, with a logo by Christopher McCreary of Super Kraken, have funneled proceeds straight to NorCal Trykers, one more small business quietly carrying the festival's real purpose on its back.
Want your storefront ambushed next October? Become a sponsor, or if you would rather help plan the ambush, volunteer for the marketing committee.
