Tim Gunn is a judge at the New York Public Library costume contest – see the exclusive photos

• Book lovers and library patrons attended the Rooftop Happy Hour: Halloween Edition with Tim Gunn and Costume Parade in New York City on October 25
• The event encourages guests to dress up in literary-themed costumes. Gunn and a panel of librarians from the New York Public Library will choose the best costume winner
• This year there were costumes on display inspired by books such as those by Maya Angelou I know why the caged bird sings, Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451

New Yorkers showed their love for literature this month in a spooky costume parade.

On October 25, the New York Public Library hosted their annual Halloween costume parade and Halloween-themed rooftop happy hour with Tim Gunn at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library Event Center in New York City. The event invites guests to dress up in literary-themed costumes inspired by their favorite books, poems, authors and fictional characters.

“It’s an absolute blast” Tim Gunnformer host of Project job, tells PEOPLE. Gunn has been judging the event’s costume contest since 2017. Working with a team of librarians from the New York Public Library, Gunn chooses the best outfits before narrowing down from a list to choose an eventual winner.

“It’s a lot of fun,” says Gunn. “It’s always a surprise to see what people do and how creative they are. And the people who attend this event couldn’t be nicer. They are just warm, open people with great stories.”

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“It’s a great escape, and we need an escape these days,” Gunn adds.

The event has been a longtime favorite tradition, the New York Public Library said in a statement shared with PEOPLE.

“The full restoration of funding for public libraries has allowed the New York Public Library to resume hiring and vital programming, as well as seven-day services at locations where they were previously offered,” the statement read. “Us Happy Hour on the Roof: Halloween Edition with Tim Gunn is one of the many much-loved events that audiences and our customers look forward to all year round.”

This year’s event featured a wide selection of creative costumes, with some of the judges’ top choices inspired by books such as Maya Angelou’s I know why the caged bird sings and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.

“My feeling was that this book, even though it is from a few decades ago, has become – unfortunately – a little more relevant recently,” said the participant, inspired by Bradbury, who wore a fiery headpiece and a red dress decorated with banned books like those by Toni Morrison The Bluest Eyee and that of George Orwell 1984.

Other costumes are inspired by characters from children’s books, such as Katniss Everdeen from Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Gamesand Maurice Sendak’s monsters Where the wild things are — the last group costume ultimately won first prize.

And while not everyone who attended the event took part in the parade, many attendees still showed up in costumes with special meaning. For friends Kendall Latimer and Amanda Steyer, who dressed as greasers from SE Hinton’s classic novel The outsidersit was a way to show off their love for a story that connected them.

“I read (The outsiders) in high school and it is one of my favorite books ever. So I let her read it,” Steyer tells PEOPLE. “And then we organized a book club together this summer.”

“We met, we read the book, we went for a walk to talk about it, we went out to dinner and really delved into the book.”

“It really made this book one of my favorite books,” Latimer adds. “I’m a pretty harsh critic when it comes to what makes this book special, and I think it was a lot of fun doing it with a friend and reading it in a week….”

For those thinking about joining the party next year, Gunn has some advice on how to make your costume shine.

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“Just take ownership of what you do, make sure it’s literature-related, appropriate and have fun,” says Gunn. “As far as the ‘don’ts’ are concerned, don’t be lame, but really do everything you can. It makes a difference.”