According to The Denver Post, organizers reported attendance of approximately 12,000 zombies and thousands more victims, gawkers and other sightseers at the 2011 Denver Zombie Crawl. Dressed to kill, or at least to shamble, the zombies invaded Denver’s 16th Street Mall to chase victims (those with the large Xs taped on their shirts) or generally just mill about being zombified on a gorgeous Indian summer day, Oct. 22, 2011.

Attendees start showing up around noon on the chosen Saturday at Skyline Park, where the 16th Street Mall crosses Arapahoe Street. Makeup table are available, and other vendors selling zombie- and halloween-themed products and food. A stage allows bands to play and along Arapahoe Street movie-car replicas, modified hearses and other eye-catching vehicles provide prime milling space.

The event officially starts at 2 p.m., and shortly after that one of the organizers leads a group of hundreds of zombies in their signature dance — the Thriller dance made famous by Michael Jackson almost 30 years ago. Then they amble, shamble, crawl, stumble or otherwise make their way past the organizers taking an official count and onto the mall. Moans of “Braaaaaains!” can be heard up and down the mall for hours afterward.

Technical details: These photos were taken with my Canon 30d digital camera using a combination of 50mm f/1.4 and 135mm f/2.0 lenses.