I believe the Walt as a woman was Bill Mantlo.

The town-gone-crazy, iirc, was the result of editorial interference. This is one of my vague memories, but I remember hearing something about how Sandman was popular at the time, so editorial told Hudnall to make Alpha Flight more horror-oriented. And that's how we got that story.

John Calimee drew the arc. He's since come onto this site for an interview; his art has improved a lot since then, and he seems like an okay guy. Just for another side of that. (I don't like the art on that run, either, though.)