On Saturday October 17^th, Downtown Fort Wayne held their annual Fright Night. Throughout the day, Jefferson Blvd. became the scene of frightful fun. The Grand Wayne Convention Center held a small ShadowCon paranormal investigators and fans flocking together to discuss the hauntings of Fort Wayne and the region. The Embassy held of triple showing of Halloween themed movies, with “Scooby-doo meets Batman” in the afternoon, the Halloween favorite “Beetlejuice” in the evening, and late night showing of “The Shining.” The Botanical Conservatory held an outdoor showing of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show”, attracting a large crowd. In the Embassy’s lobby, Arch Inc. had crowds gathering for their haunted walking and bus tours all evening, focusing of supposed paranormal happenings and old spooky stories around Downtown for the walking tours and other parts of Fort Wayne for the bus tour. The Grand Wayne also held several family friendly costume galas though the early part of the evening. Parkview Field had opened their grounds for the day to allow people to walk through, counting pumpkin stickers as they went, and watch old Halloween themed episodes of the “Looney Tunes.” Lastly, the Marriott held a small bonfire out front, selling hot dogs and hot chocolate to everyone who came out.

The largest and most well-known event of the day was the Zombie Walk, one of Downtown’s most iconic and anticipated events of the year. From mid-afternoon through five, the Zombie Machine, by TAG Art, was creating zombies to take over the Downtown. Hundreds of zombies had arrived at the Allen County Public Library to get their scare on. The Zombies of all ages limped and dragged their undead bodies though a preplanned route. Zombies consisted of anywhere from Darth Vader to Ghost Busters to the Walking Dead. Some came in every day clothes while others were decked out in celebration. The Zombie walk ended behind the Grand Wayne and from there the crowd dispersed to enjoy the night’s other happenings.