On October 26 – 28, 2018, Spooky Empire, hosted its coveted and much anticipated thriller convention in Orlando. This year was unparalleled as Spooky Empire celebrated their 16th anniversary. To begin the festivities, the annual weekend opened their doors earlier on Friday and invited guests to enter the ‘dark side of comic con’ with numerous panels, unique photo ops, special FX classes, and their largest tattoo festival yet featuring 100+ tattoo artists! The convention also featured an expanded film festival that included separate Q&A’s and Panels with Filmmakers, costume and cosplay contests, a huge exhibitor room, live music and performances, the return of Fantasy Super Cosplay Wrestling at Spooky Empire, Q & A’s with artists, authors, filmmakers and more.
Pete Mongelli, co-founder of Spooky Empire, remarked, “This was the best Spooky Empire yet! Having a new location helped us serve the loyal Spooky fans who have been with us all these years! We welcomed even more people into the family. We’re excited to take this momentum and make next year’s even bigger.”
The event was a celebration of their Sweet Sixteen alongside The X-Files’ 25th anniversary with appearances from stars David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Robert Patrick, Mitch Pileggi, William B. Davis, Annabeth Gish, and Nicholas Lea. At David and Gillian’s Q&A panel, attendees were surprised at the end with a special announcement from Gillian. She auctioned off the very shirt she had been wearing all day, having David sign it next to her signature, including a photo op and greeting backstage. She had another shirt as well that was auctioned. The two shirts raised almost $5,000 on the spot for her charity, South Africa Youth Education for Sustainability (SAYes).
In addition, it was Hocus Pocus’ 25th anniversary and Kathy Najimy attended in its honor. The Queen of Halloween, Elvira, was invited to celebrate the classic franchise’s 30th anniversary. Over a year ago, she decided she would no longer dress up as Elvira, and hasn’t since Friday at Spooky Empire, where she dressed up providing guests a unique photo opportunity with set design by Mucklebones and celebrity photographer Jeff Daly to capture photo ops with attendees.
Spooky Empire hosted All Hallows Eve, an immersive seasonal experience presented by Mucklebones LLC. Members of the Victorian Horror Troupe Phantasmagoria led guests through a guided Halloween Museum Tour in a world created for truly horrific tales with some of the finest work celebrating the “Halloweens” of nightmares.
Not only did guests have a once in a lifetime photo opportunity with Elvira, but “America’s most evil family” gathered for an ultimate photo op at Spooky Empire to celebrate Rob Zombie’s masterpiece, House of 1,000 Corpses. This cast photo op included Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Walter Phelan, Robert Mukes all in make-up and costume, plus Jen Jostyn! Another exclusive photo-op included “Chop Top” in full costume.
Legendary after-hours events took place all weekend, including a double feature of Spooky Empire’s popular “Shadowcast” of Repo: The Genetic Opera followed by Rocky Horror Picture Show. The festivities extended into the pool area with parties featuring DJ’s and live music from a variety of bands, including a celebration of KISS. On Saturday evening, Spooky Empire’s VIP’s enjoyed an “out-of-this-world” soiree complete with probing aliens and a multistory cake topped with a flying saucer created by Eric and Patty Woller from Food Network’s Cake Masters. VIPs in their best Halloween dress sipped on UFO-themed cocktails and enjoyed a variety of giveaways.
The weekend left attendees ready for Halloween day. What is next for the convention? Spooky Empire’s mid-season convention is scheduled to happen March 22 – 24, 2019 at the Wyndham Orlando Resort.
For more information about Spooky Empire and their mid-season convention, visitwww.spookyempire.com.Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@SpookyEmpire).
