After taking a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New College time-honored Halloween tradition, Zombies, has been raised from the dead. It is being led and revitalized by third-year student, Jade Stryker. This year’s game began on the morning of Monday, Oct. 25 and will run to Friday, Oct. 29. 

For those unfamiliar with the student tradition, Zombies is a campus-wide game of tag, though sign-up is a voluntary feature of campus-life. A student-made tumblr page from two years ago briefly details the game. 

“Humans, who wear red wristbands on their right wrist, want to get to checkpoints and stay alive,” reads the blog description. “Zombies, who wear green wristbands on their right wrist, want to do whatever they can to turn all the Humans into Zombies by biting (tagging) them.”

“Most players will start out as Humans. While you are a Human, you must make it to every single checkpoint,” the description continues. “While doing so, you will undoubtedly cross paths with Zombies and should prepare as such. As a Human, you must prevent tags by spraying Zombies with a direct stream of water. As a Zombie, you must first tag Humans without being sprayed, then welcome them into the Horde with open arms.”

Notorious for being taken with serious spirit by the student population as one of New College’s few sports activities, Zombies legends include smoke bombs in third court, fire alarms being set off in Heiser and students sleeping in their cars for the duration of the game.