The goal of the Zombie Prom was to provide a safe and fun activity for teens around Halloween involving popular culture.
The program was promoted through the library newsletter, information sent to schools, teen e-newsletter, signs/fliers in the library, library website, word of mouth and advertised to teens in teen advisory board. We hoped for more attendees, but had a decent amount.
The money for the program was spent on refreshments and makeup and decorations. We were able to borrow Nerf guns for our zombie-slaying component.
We set up areas for zombie makeovers, learning how to do the dance moves from Thriller, refreshments and prom photos. Zombie-slaying took place throughout the library (with some areas designated off-limits).
We started with zombie makeovers and photos, and after some refreshments, we moved into zombie-slaying (with Nerf guns and some rules about how the warfare would play out). Learning the Thriller moves was last; we followed along with YouTube videos projected on a large screen. Twelve teens attended, which was a decent number for us, but we'd hoped and planned for about twice as many.
It might have been fun to include more traditional prom dancing/music as well as the zombie-themed/Thriller stuff that we did. Although we did a good sweep of the library after the zombie slaying, we still found Nerf darts for months afterwards.
Zombie Prom was an after-hours Halloween event for teens held on a Friday evening. Participants were encouraged to dress up in prom finery/as zombies. There were zombie makeup artists, dancing, refreshments and more.
Teens dressed as zombies in prom finery for this after-hours Halloween event.