By Trish Svoboda/Images courtesy of Zombie Expedition

A Halloween attraction in Assaria, Kansas, Zombie Expedition, gives visitors of all ages a unique experience combining a haunted ride with glow-in-the-dark paintball shooting at costumed zombies.

Owner Jake Dickson said Zombie Expedition started in 2015 when he bought the concept from a friend in Northwest Arkansas. “Basically, he’s like, hey, you should buy this. This would be a good way to expose more people to your paintball park,” said Dickson. “I went down there one night and watched them do it, and from there, I was like, OK, let’s do this. Then we bought it going into the 2015 Halloween season and we just got rolling from there.”

Zombies are often local students, or regulars at the paintball field. “Our first three years, I was part of being a zombie and helping out,” said Dickson. “And then what we would do is get a lot of our regular guys at the paintball field to go out and be zombies. After that, they kind of helped train newer zombies, high school kids, and college kids that wanted to come out. Once word got out that they could be zombies, we had them hitting us up and go, hey, can we be a zombie for next season?”

The zombies are trained and wear protective gear, including full-face goggles that also protect their heads, and can add coveralls and other layers. To ensure safety, the paintballs themselves are shot at a lower velocity than if you were playing paintball on a general day. Dickson says, “knock on wood,” there have been no injuries.

Each night, staff check and prep paintball guns, trailers, and safety gear. Guests arrive and are split into fast-pass and general admission groups. Dickson said one struggle they run into is weather conditions. Rain or runoff from nearby roads can cause problems, but tickets can be rescheduled or refunded. “We want them to have a good customer experience. If it’s a cold, wet, rainy, nasty night, we don’t want to be out it, the customers don’t want to be out it. So we give them the option to reschedule their tickets for another date, or if it’s just not going to work out, we definitely offer refunds. We go about it both ways.”

Next year, Dickson plans to add a carnival zone, extra shooting ranges, a whack-a-zombie game, axe-throwing lanes, and fire pits for s’mores.

Zombie Expedition has become a regular Halloween event, offering a hands-on experience for visitors each year. For more information, and to purchase fast-pass tickets, visit Zombie Expedition’s website.