Rob Sacchetto was born and raised in the northern mining community of Sudbury, Ontario. He has spent some 20 years dedicated to the visual arts and has worked in a variety of mediums, including illustrated film, television, comic book illustration and concept design. He also transforms people into genuine zombies, complete with gaping wounds and rotting skin.

A self-described horror fanatic and comic book geek, Sacchetto zombifies people from across the globe using ink and watercolour. He has drawn about one portrait a day since he launched his online business, zombieportraits.com, in November 2006.

"Literally overnight we were getting orders. It was quite a miraculous thing. I thought I had died and gone to heaven because I never had so much regular work after that."

Valentine's Day is especially busy, drawing couples portraits and affectionate greeting cards like "I Chew Chew Chews You."

Sacchetto remembers drawing zombies as a kid when he should have been listening to his Grade 7 teacher. After college, he worked as a freelance graphic artist and did any "art job" that came his way, but it was suffocating his creativity.

"My desire to draw and draw what I want drives me to do stuff like this," said Sacchetto, who also illustrates his own comic books.

The allure to be zombified is part vanity, part appreciation of the art and part influence of the growing zombie sub-culture.