A zombie walk rivalry is escalating in Louisville and it may take more than an axe in the forehead to reach an outcome.

Louisville may have two zombie walks this year, one operated by a founding creator of the city's original walk, the Louisville Zombie Attack, and one operated by a newcomer who appears to be misrepresenting his Louisville Zombie Walk as a continuation of the original event.

An ongoing lawsuit has been partially settled, but the resolution of other key issues is lumbering along like an old-school undead: painfully slowly, with a trail of viscera in its wake.

For Louisville's zombie lovers, it may come down to this: Which zombie walk should get their time, attention and makeup?

For John King, the answer is easy.

King is one of three founders of the Louisville Zombie Attack, which began in 2005 and is among the world's longest-running zombie walks. King, Lyndi Curtis and Mike Welch began the event in 2005 as a birthday celebration and it quickly grew into one of the city's premier outsider events, annually drawing thousands of people dressed as zombies.

King and Curtis began to clash in 2015 when she changed the name to Louisville Zombie Walk, and Jason Besemann emerged as the organizer of the 2016 Louisville Zombie Walk, which drew a record 40,000 people even as King initiated a lawsuit naming both Curtis and Besemann.

The crux of the lawsuit, filed by King in August of 2016, is about ownership of the Louisville Zombie Attack. Curtis formed Louisville Zombie Walk LLC in 2015 while King was at school in Berea and less uninvolved, but everything remained identical other than the event's name. The lawsuit also charges that the Louisville Zombie Walk is guilty of trademark infringement, unfair competition, and fraud.

In a settlement reached in November of last year, it was agreed to by King and Curtis that Curtis would abandon all rights to the Louisville Zombie Attack and dissolve Louisville Zombie Walk LLC. Curtis declined to go on the record.

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Besemann, who did not respond to requests for an interview, did not agree to a settlement and has continued to promote Louisville Zombie Walk 2017, which is currently scheduled for Aug. 26, three days before the the Louisville Zombie Attack's traditional date of Aug. 29. Legal action against Besemann continues.

King has decided to make the turmoil public in an attempt to make it clear which zombie walk is the city's original.

While King acknowledges that anyone has the right to organize a zombie walk, the Louisville Zombie Walk, he said, has branded itself by using the Louisville Zombie Attack's history.

The implication for attendees and sponsors, King said, is that the Louisville Zombie Walk is the Louisville Zombie Attack with a new name. Since the event has rarely made any money, King said he's fighting on principle.

"It was a really fun thing for about a decade," King said, "and for the last few years all I've done is fight with people to keep them from taking it from me."

King contends that Besemann's version of the walk is remarkably similar to the Louisville Zombie Attack, creating confusion for sponsors and the zombie-loving public.

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Here are some of the details that King finds troubling:

The Louisville Zombie Attack has always started at 8:29 p.m. on Aug. 29, the birthday of King and Curtis, and begins near the corner of Bardstown Road and Eastern Parkway. The 2017 Louisville Zombie Walk is Aug. 26 and begins at 8:29 p.m. near the corner of Bardstown Road and Eastern Parkway.

The Louisville Zombie Walk also uses the Louisville Zombie Attack's catchphrase, "The End is Nigh," and the font used for the competing logos are similar. The Louisville Zombie Walk's Facebook page is apparently the former page for the Louisville Zombie Attack and has photos dating back to 2011, some of which were posted by King.



King said that his decision to go public came when the Louisville Zombie Walk started a fundraiser on gofundme.com asking for donations to cover expenses. He also knows that his event on Aug. 29, three days after the Louisville Zombie Walk, would fail.

"The reason I haven't really talked about this much is because I didn't really need to pull the whole city into this thing, I thought," King said. "I thought it was ridiculous.

"Now that I'm seeing he's taking money from people and that people are believing that this is the legitimate annual event, I now have to bring everyone into this ludicrous fight. It's frickin' bonkers."

John Dant, owner of Highlands bar The Back Door, has been a longtime sponsor of the event but was unaware that things had become so heated behind the scenes. He said he would wait it out, preferring to sponsor a Louisville Zombie Attack if it happens.

"Oh, heck yeah," Dant said. "John's a great guy."

Reporter Jeffrey Lee Puckett can be reached at 502-582-4160 and jpuckett@courier-journal.com.