As Halloween approaches and the ghouls, goblins and monsters run amok, one enemy approaches at a more lumbering pace: the zombie.

In keeping with the newfound American fascination with the undead, Stout Brothers Irish Pub and Restaurant is organizing the third annual Zombie Crawl 7 p.m. Oct. 24.

Participants in the crawl must be 21 and over, dressed in zombie makeup and bring a new toy, cash or canned food donation for charity. If zombie makeup isn’t your area of expertise, you can always show up a little early. Stout Brothers bartender and event organizer David Finklestein said regular participants bring makeup and are more than happy to help newcomers out. “People bring makeup and blood,” he said.

Finklestein said people come from as far away from San Francisco to attend the event, which about 70 people attended last year. “It gets the community together,” he said. “We move as a horde.”

Sean Beering attended briefly last year, but plans on going all out this year. “It’s fun. You walk by fine dining and they sort of stop mid-fork and stare,” Beering said.

Rachael Smith also plans to attend this year and loves the zombie aesthetic. “It creates a very cohesive but still incredibly diverse opportunity for costume,” Smith said.

Smith emphasized the importance of good makeup, including using yellows, greens and blacks around the eyes and mouth, “sometimes even a blue color, like rigor mortis blue,” she said.

The crawl begins at Stout Brothers at 7 p.m. and moves from the 4th Street pub to La Rosa, Sweet Spot, Mary’s Pizza Shack, Sprenger’s and Epic.