TOKYO: It’s usually a serene two-and-a-half-hour ride on Japan’s famously efficient bullet train. But the journey quickly descended into a zombie apocalypse, with passengers screaming in terror.

Organisers of Saturday’s adrenaline-filled trip, less than two weeks before Halloween, touted it as the “world’s first haunted house experience on a running Shinkansen”.

On board one chartered car of the Shinkansen — the Japanese word for bullet train _ were around 40 thrill-seekers, ready to brave an encounter with the living dead between Tokyo and the western metropolis of Osaka. All seemed normal at first as the bullet train made a peaceful departure on Saturday evening, but it wasn’t long until the first gory attack.

The victims — actors planted in seats by the organisers _ jerked in agony and then underwent a terrifying transformation before starting a rampage against their fellow passengers.

`Like I was in the film’

Sitting next to one of the actors was Joshua Payne, one of many foreign tourists on board.

“I literally felt like I was in the film, just sitting here watching it take place in front of me,” the 31-year-old American said.

“The fact that we can physically go from Tokyo to Osaka right now and have this whole performance at the same time... I think is really cool and maybe a little bit groundbreaking,” he said.

Toy chainsaws and guns were used as props, but depictions of extreme violence and gore that could tarnish the Shinkansen’s squeaky-clean reputation were avoided.

To counterbalance the subdued horror, the two-and-a-half-hour tour was peppered with light-hearted performances by zombie cheerleaders, magicians and comedians, including a choreographed dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2024