Zombie Baby Jesus Rises In The Midwest, To Neighbors' Dismay
By Mae Rice in News on Dec 7, 2015 6:30PM
A reason to be proud to live in the Midwest: An Ohio man is celebrating Christmas with a yard nativity scene starring Zombie Jesus, a bluish baby with blank eyes and either fangs or a need for zombie-orthodontia.
Ohio’s Sycamore Township is charging proprietor Jasen Dixen $500 a day for the setup, because he does not have the appropriate permit for his festive display, Fox 19 reports. (According to local officials, yard displays that take up “more than 35 percent of the yard” require a permit.) Baptists, just as miffed as local officials, have been leaving flyers at Dixen’s manger. “God Frowns Upon This Manger Scene,” one begins. Another clarifies in a parenthetical, “Jesus has supreme power over life and death; he is not a zombie.”
Dixen put up the same zombie nativity scene last year, and took it down amidst similar uproar. He almost took it down in 2015, too, but then—as if starring in the sixth and strangest Step Up movie—he decided to persevere. Creeping people out is his calling; his other job, running a haunted house called “13 Rooms of Dooms,” inspired this display. He was also buoyed by supporters. “My father hates it, [but] the other neighbors, they drive by and give me thumbs up,” he told Fox.
To keep his zombie tableau afloat, Dixen’s seeking crowd-funding through IndieGogo, Jezebel notes. So far, he has raised $110 of his $5,000 goal.