Thrilling the world

To be a legit child from the 80s there were two albums that you were required to own: Madonna's Like A Virgin and Michael Jackson's Thriller. The latter got more wear in my walkman. Although I was never a die hard fan of the late King of Pop, he did make unforgettable music and changed the way music videos were made with his epic zombie dance troop (for those unaware, MTV did actually show music videos, it isn't an urban myth!).

Early on in October, I was hanging out with zombies at the River City Zombie Walk where I got word about Thrill The World movement. I have seen many flash mobs and wedding dances where folks performed the Thriller dance, but I wasn't aware of this annual event where people around the world would dance simultaneously to the song. Oh the cool things humans do.

Curious whether the Edmonton group would allow public photographers on site, I emailed the head organizer Chels to get permission to take a few shots of the action. She gave me more than that: she named me the lead photographer of the event. Whoa.

Soon enough, last Saturday I found myself behind the scenes as people gathered to zombify themselves and take to the stage for the full 6 minute dance. This year there were 15 official dancers on the floor representing Edmonton's Thrill The World group (16 and 1/2 if you count a dedicated dad and his daughter on stage right). Chels blew everyone away with the level of organization of the event. It wasn't just a dance, but a charity event of Muscular Dystrophy Canada (the silent auction raised over $500) and a kids workshop to learn the Thriller dance. Everyone, zombie and human alike won that day. Mad Beaker Award to Chels and the zombie troop for thrilling our little part of the world. May you rise again in 2013!

The 2012 Edmonton Thrill the World dance group

After a month of being around so many zombies, I decided to indulge myself with the ways of the dead on All Hallow's Eve. When in Rome...

My eyeballs are normally this bloodshot.