Mike West may be the luckiest married man in West Virginia.

Not only does his wife, Tammy, love and support him, but she also doesn't mind that he chooses to feast on human flesh now and then. In fact, she thinks it's great.

You see, Mike West is one of a growing number of horror movie enthusiasts who take their gore-fetish to a new level by participating in large-scale zombie events, the biggest of which will come to life this weekend at the holy grail of zombie-ism: the Monroeville Mall, setting of George Romero's 1977 classic, "Dawn of the Dead."

As a human, West is a successful dentist, with his own practice in New Cumberland, W.Va. As a zombie, he's Dr. Pus, wearing blood-covered operating scrubs that "make me look like I've just finished munching on a patient," hobbling around like the horrific specimens from his favorite flick, "Night of the Living Dead," which he says he's seen 450 times.

And he'll take his hunger to Monroeville this weekend for The It's Alive! Zombie Fest, the biggest event of its kind in the world, where he'll be among thousands of kindred, undead spirits.

The Fest was founded by Mark Menold after his cable access show of the same name began to gain a serious following. Saturday nights at 10, on Pittsburgh's WBGN-TV, you'll find Menold and friends celebrating all things zombie.

"I'd been working in an office where I was sitting at a desk day after day, feeling like I was having my life sucked out of me. I was propped up like a corpse," said Menold. "But if you're a zombie, you're dead. You've got nothing to lose."

With that mentality, Menold, sans job, began filming. And lots of people, or zombies, as it were, tuned in. More fans meant more possibilities, and in 2006 Menold organized his first zombie walk. As in, a group of zombies doing what they do best -- walking slowly.

A year later came the first full Zombie Fest, including a swanky Zombie Ball, and the number of participating zombie faithful continued to grow.

But if you're not sure how to get involved, or if you've only seen "Night of the Living Dead," say, twice, don't fear. It's easier to be dead than you'd think, Menold stresses.

"You don't even need a costume. You can just stare into space and shuffle around. Or you can go crazy and be covered in blood and moss and be decomposing with your eyeball hanging out," he said.

For some, a loose eyeball, or costumes in general, is just the beginning.

Rebecca May, a Carnegie Mellon graduate student from Youngwood, sees zombie-hood as more than just gore and cannibalism. It's a metaphor for American culture.

"Zombies can be low culture, but they can be high culture, too. Zombies represent consumerism, xenophobia, rage," she said. "There's something about them that allow us to disconnect from the rational part of ourselves. There's something lawless and helpless about being a walking appetite."

For West, who also self-publishes zombie novels and writes a zombie blog, being undead allows him to anchor his love of horror in a group where he belongs.

"I was always in the fringe group; I was weird because I loved horror movies. But sitting in the mall that Saturday, I had this big grin on my face," he said about last year's Fest. "Suddenly, I stood up and screamed, 'I found my people! These are my people!' "

This year, Zombie Fest will benefit local food banks, said Menold. Walkers should bring a nonperishable food donation to the 9 a.m. registration because, hey, humans gotta eat, too.