Mike Segar / Reuters

A demonstrator dressed as a "corporate zombie" takes part in an Occupy Wall Street protest Oct. 3 in New York City. It's just one of several zombie-themed events this month across the country.

Think zombies milling around Wall Street are a weird, one-time anomaly?

Think again: With World Zombie Day on Saturday, legions of the undead will moan, march and munch on brains in cities across the country.

The event was founded in 2008 by Mark Menold, who knows his way around the creepy side of life as Professor Emcee Square, the host (and producer) of “The It’s Alive! Show,” a horror-themed TV program on WGBN in Pittsburgh.

“Anybody can be a zombie,” said Menold. “The costume is easy; you can hang out with the living or the dead and, really, you have nothing to lose. You’re already dead.”

Or undead, depending on your definition of zombiedom. Either way, zombies resonate with people because they reflect current concerns over contagion and conformity, says Jacob McMurray, senior curator at Seattle’s EMP museum, which just opened a new exhibit called “Can’t Look Away: The Lure of Horror Film.”

“We control the planet but we have SARS, AIDS and other resistant viruses,” he told msnbc.com. “Zombies also represent the masses rising up — everyday people deciding they aren’t going to take it anymore.”

Then again, maybe zombies just provide an excuse to slather on the gray greasepaint and fake blood, display intestines and other interior body parts and lurch around moaning, “Braaains!”

If that sounds like fun, you’re in luck since there’s likely an undead event somewhere near you. In fact, World Zombie Day kicks off what could be considered World Zombie Month with flesh-eating festivities almost every weekend, most of which include some sort of charitable effort. If you want to get your shamble on, here’s where to go:

Pittsburgh Zombie Fest: Originally held in the nearby town of Monroeville, Pa., where George Romero filmed the zombie classic, “Dawn of the Dead,” this year’s event will be held at Market Square in Pittsburgh on Oct. 8.

Among the festivities: a brain-eating contest, Zombie Olympics — think severed-leg javelin toss — and an attempt to reclaim the Guinness World Record for largest gathering of zombies. It’s free, although the undead are asked to bring a nonperishable food item for the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank.

Zombicon: Now in its fifth year, this Oct. 15 event in Fort Myers, Fla., will feature the usual undead offerings — a zombie walk, live entertainment and an attempt at the largest-gathering world record — but wait, there’s more:

This year, the moldering masses can witness the festival’s first-ever zombie wedding, participate in zombie acting and makeup classes and donate blood to the local Lee Memorial Blood Center. (Hey, zombies may not have a pulse but they do have heart.)

Zombie Walk Dallas: The rancid and rotten are invited to Deep Ellum on Oct. 15 for a walk, costume contest and live entertainment. Participants would be advised to keep a glassy eye out for the Zombie Response Team — motto: To protect and sever — which will be on hand to provide assistance for the impending zombie apocalypse. (Good zombie deed: giving blood to Carter BloodCare.)

New Jersey Zombie Walk: Currently the holder of the Guinness World Record for largest gathering of zombies — 4,093 of the undead during last year’s walk — this event in Asbury Park will take place Oct. 21–23.

The walk itself (Oct. 22) is free, but has been rolled into a three-day Undead Festival at the Asbury Park Convention Hall (tickets: $10–$20), which will feature sneak-peek screenings of new zombie films and special appearances by actors from the movie that started the zombie craze, “Night of the Living Dead.”

Denver Zombie Crawl: What’s scarier than thousands of shuffling zombies? Zombies that can run! While this Oct. 22 event will also feature a traditional zombie walk, its highlight will likely be the Organ Trail, an "Amazing Race"/"Fear Factor"–style event in which teams of six ($30 per person) follow clues and undertake challenges in various scary venues around the city. (Good zombie deed: donations to the Food Bank of the Rockies.)

Zombies with both speed and smarts — now, that’s frightening. All we can do is hope they’ll be too busy to be interested in our brains.

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Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.