No Mere Mortal Can Resist - WV Living Magazine

It’s a killer, thriller night when Parkersburg’s zombies hit the dance floor.

thrill the world is an annual — ^{photographed by DANNY CARPENTER}

For over a decade, zombies have been descending upon Parkersburg on the last Saturday before Halloween to celebrate the season through dance and community. Thrill the World is an annual gathering of ghoulish behavior started by Ines Markeljevic, a dance instructor in Toronto, Canada. In 2006, Markeljevic and her group of dancing zombies set a Guinness World Record for the largest Thriller dance in one location. So, in 2007, she took her mission—to connect people through dance—global as she encouraged groups around the world to join in, dancing simultaneously in different locations around the world to Michael Jackson’s spooky fan-favorite.

Although a group in Parkersburg joined the thrill in 2011, low numbers brought it to a short-lived stop in 2013. But a crew came back together in 2014. “We started with 24 participants, and now our local record is 70. We’re always trying to break our own record,” says Toni Holbrook, event manager for the Parkersburg group.

Participants rehearse throughout the month of September to learn the official choreography for the entire six-minute performance—choreography that groups perform at the very same time globally. This year, the free global event takes place on October 26, and you can catch the local performance at Parkersburg’s YMCA. Be punctual—these zombies come to life at 6 p.m. sharp in order to groove in time with the performances happening around the world.

But that’s not the only place you can catch this crew shaking a limb—the Parkersburg group performs at events throughout the fall, starting as early as mid-September. For many years, Holbrook attributed the large crowds at the official Thrill the World performance to the fact that it took place in association with another popular event. That perception changed last year when there was no other event on the same day as the global performance. “We just did it at the local park, and there were like 600 people who showed up to watch us dance,” she says. “Evidently, people really love it!”

Aside from building community and breaking barriers through dance—as the official Thrill the World mission states—the project also seeks to give back to local communities by collecting donations for nearby charities. In 2023, Parkersburg’s Thrill the World participants collected and donated 1,000 pounds of pet food to a local pet pantry.

Anyone and everyone is invited to join, Holbrook says. In past years, they’ve had people of all ages and abilities. And you don’t have to be a good dancer to participate. “These are zombies,” she points out. “Zombies don’t always know what’s going on.” Costumes, while not required, are highly recommended.