Every October, innocent civilians watch as zombies rise from the depths and begin to walk among us. Chief among those were the myriads of zombies, lead by Michael Jackson, that took the world by storm.

Last October, Austin’s very own Alamo Drafthouse sponsored an event called Thriller Fest. The goal was to set a world record for the most people doing the thriller dance at one time and in one place. Austin took the record with 881 people.

After Jackson’s death this past June, Mexico City topped Austin in the same place record with 13,000 people.

There was no way we could take back the record in Austin alone. So the Alamo Drafthouse reached out to people all over the world for help.

Saturday, October 24th at 7:37 p.m., Austin led the entire world in a brief moment of Roar Turns and “he hes” from the abandoned Seaholm power plant on Cesar Chavez Street.

While this year’s attendance rate did fall short of the previous year, the event was still a success. A video of the performance and participant sign-in sheets will be turned in for consideration for the world record.

Henri Mazza, who is the Creative Director of the Alamo Drafthouse, ran the event while Tracy Brown, a choreographer from BodyBusiness (located on Anderson Lane), led the dancing.

So where did the idea come from?

“The lady who created this choreography is from Canada,” said Mazza. “People started wanting to do this dance at their weddings after seeing the scene in 13 Going on 30, so she started doing it and then realized that it would be cool to do it bigger and go for a world record.”

The international phenomenon began with only 62 people in Toronto. But videos were posted online, where the Alamo Drafthouse staff later found them.

Mazza suggested that they would continue the tradition next year, making the event even bigger.

Although the inspirational musician is no longer with us, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” still haunts us forever.