Wednesday morning at Carrollton Elementary School was a festive showing of hundreds of costumed children and a Halloween soundtrack of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” playing on the intercom.

Parents packed into the building’s lobby to watch more than 600 students in grades pre-kindergarten through third grade celebrate Book Character Dress-up Day with a school-wide parade. Assistant Principal Kristy Buggs and Principal Robert Brennan, dressed as Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, respectively, led students and faculty on parade.

Brennan said the celebration is a more instructional and less spooky way for his students to celebrate Halloween. Each student got to dress up as a character from one of their favorite books, which they held in their hands as they walked around the school.

“It stresses reading, and it’s a nice opportunity to highlight books that kids might not have known about,” Brennan said while wearing his Big Bad Wolf costume, including a name tag that said “HUNGRY.”

Teachers dressed as Ms. Frizzle from “The Magic School Bus” and Piglet from “Winnie the Pooh” led more than 30 classes worth of characters on Wednesday morning, ranging from “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” to the barks and howls of “101 Dalmatians.”

“I did not realize how many kids went to this school,” said Eric Stover, who was there with his wife, Jennifer Stover, taking photos on their phones along with the rest of the parents.

Their daughter Adley, 6, was dressed like a magical unicorn, in pink and in character as she trotted with each step. Their son, Luke, is a Star Wars fan and participated inside his Kylo Ren suit and mask.

“Luke was really excited,” Jennifer Stover said.

Every child had a book in their hands, like “Harry Potter” or adaptations of their favorite movies and cartoons. Brennan said it was another successful showing for a tradition that predates his time at the school, even if things got a little congested as they moved their train of students around the school.

All in good fun, of course.

“Someone joked about throwing the parade to the wolves,” Brennan said.