We were warned.

They’re the undead. Zombies. Terrifying reanimated corpses in search of living, human brains.

Zombies have pushed vampires back into the shadows as the horror icons, thanks to recent pop-culture hits such as the AMC series "The Walking Dead" and author Max Brooks’ best-selling books on the plague: "The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead" and "World War Z," the latter soon to be released as a movie starring Brad Pitt.

Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has gotten in on zombiemania, offering a graphic novel titled "Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic" on its website to raise awareness about emergency preparedness.

The undead and their fans will find no shortage of zombie-related events this Halloween, when you will want to look your best — or in this case, your worst — and makeup artist Katherine Tan can show you how.

Tan will offer zombie makeovers in connection with Saturday’s Hawaii Zombie Crawl in Chinatown (see info box). The makeup sessions will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. at theVenue, with prices set at $10 for "freshly dead," $20 for "slowly decomposing," $40 for "zombified" and $50 for "rotting corpse."

At our request, Tan zombified crawl co-organizer Bart Anderson to demonstrate some monster makeup techniques.

Tan prepped Anderson’s face by cleaning it first and then applying a white cream base and mixing it with a bit of blue and green for contour shading to create what she called "that rotty kind of color."

"I’m just opening up my canvas," she said.

After the initial dabbing and smearing, Tan said that while liquid latex is best to help create gory gashes and wound prosthetics, those who have sensitive skin or who are on a budget can utilize white glue and bits of toilet paper to do the trick. (One can also look for zombie makeup kits at sundry stores.)

To apply fake blood, Tan used the old reliable combination of corn syrup and food coloring. She smeared the "blood" on his chin and around his lips for that just-eaten look.

Tan applied glue and toilet paper above Anderson’s eyes and, after a bit of drying, ripped off the paper to apply the fake blood. Finally, she sponged on some black around the eyes and — voilà! — one freshly dead zombie on its way to decomposition and a fierce appetite for a bit o’ the brain.