In Las Vegas, you can shoot at zombies — or get married by one

By Julie Ann Formoso

Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Tonight, millions of viewers are expected to tune in to a new season of AMC’s hit zombie series “The Walking Dead.”

For Las Vegas, though, encounters with zombies can be much more personal and intense than simply screaming at them on a TV screen.

The city is home to several attractions that feature the grotesque undead, including a wedding experience and a store that sells supplies to help people survive a zombie takeover.

At Adventure Combat Ops, on Valley View Boulevard near the Palms, the Zombie Apocalypse Experience offers visitors a play-action chance to fend off walking corpses using rifle-like weapons that shoot plastic pellets — kind of like a paintball war with explosions, characters with sunken eyes and the smell of rotting flesh.

The premise of Combat Ops is this: Zombies have taken over thanks to terrorists, who have released a CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) device affecting most of the globe. To counter this growing threat, the U.S. government has built a secret underground base, but when it becomes clear the zombies have arrived in the country, the government calls on volunteers to help reclaim the nation from the undead.

That’s where you come in. The two-hour mission of four teams with about a dozen brave souls each is to help the team leaders defeat the undead.

What makes the experience realistic is that the employees in charge, who partake in the simulation, are retired special operatives who work for the federal government to create interactive environments for special ops war training.

The employees created Combat Ops to bring excitement to their occupation.

“Working for the government is a drag,” said Combat Ops leader Travis Krauss. “So we decided to have fun with it.”

But it’s more than just about having fun. Krauss said the interactive adventure gives veterans a chance to interact with the public.

“I want to hail the real heroes and let people have the honor of meeting these heroes,” he said.

Costs to participate in Combat Ops start at $199. Zombie fanatics can save the world at noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays.

“The Walking Dead,” one of television’s highest-rated shows, centers on a group of survivors struggling to stay alive after a zombie apocalypse. Last year’s Season Five premiere drew 17.3 million viewers, the largest audience ever for a series episode on cable TV.

The popularity of the program and others like it has helped support a number of zombie-themed businesses and a show in Las Vegas. Among them:

• In Zombie Burlesque, performing at 8:30 nightly in the V Theater at Planet Hollywood, the U.S. president enters into a deal with invading zombies to allow the living and dead to coexist.

The show is billed as the only zombie musical on the Strip, combining a live band and classic burlesque. Tickets are $64.99 for general admission, and the show is dark on Sundays.

• Want to get married by a zombie minister? Yes, we have that in Las Vegas. At the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel on Las Vegas Boulevard South, couples can pick the Las Vegas Zombie Wedding package out of the many themed wedding options.

The package includes theatrical lighting and fog, and zombie music and decor. There’s also a unity candle lighting during the ceremony. The package, which also includes flowers, a matching boutonniere and a courtesy limo, is $750.

• The Zombie Apocalypse Store, 3420 Spring Mountain Road, features products including weapons, military meals ready to eat (MREs) and zombie T-shirts.