SPOOKY EMPIRE: Oct 27-29, 2023 in Orlando, FL
Celebrating its 20TH ANNIVERSARY – SPOOKY EMPIRE in Orlando, Florida at the Hyatt Regency! This is an event you’ll want to travel to no matter where you live in North America! Vendors, costume and cosplay contests, artists of creepy constructions, a tattoo festival with daily awards for the best tattoos, parties each night, and most of all… non-stop Question & Answer sessions and autograph signings with numerous television and horror celebrities where you can shake hands and take photographs and selfies all weekend long!
DARREN MARLAR returns to Spooky Empire in Orlando, FL on October 27-29, 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Orlando. Host of the Weird Darkness podcast and award-winning voice actor. DARREN MARLAR will be moderating several celebrity Q&A panels onstage during the weekend with some of your favorite horror celebs*, and will also have his own in-person Q&A where he’ll talk about voice acting, how he creates different character voices, and then he’ll narrate Edgar Alan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” LIVE onstage!
*Details about which celebrity Q&A sessions Darren will be moderating will be announced closer to the event.
How can we celebrate Halloween Weekend without the Mistress of the Dark? CASSANDRA PETERSON, aka ELVIRA, joins us at Spooky Empire this October, for 2 days only, to celebrate our 20thAnniversary! Meet CASSANDRA PETERSON, in person, October 28th and 29thONLY, at the Hyatt Regency in Orlando, FL. CASSANDRA has starred in countless films as the iconic “Elvira”, including “Elvira: Mistress of the Dark” and “Elvira’s Haunted Hills”, she’s one of the most recognized horror hosts on the long running syndicated “Elvira’s Movie Macabre”, and more recently has popped up with appearances in Rob Zombie’s “The Munsters”, “The Goldbergs”, and “RuPaul’s Drag Race”. Cassandra Peterson has spent over four decades solidifying the Elvira brand that has become synonymous with Halloween and the horror genre. Be on the look out for a very special exclusive item in collaboration with CASSANDRA, details coming soon! ***Cassandra is appearing as Cassandra Peterson only. Photo Op schedule and pre-sales coming soon!
Meet DAVID NAUGHTON live and in person at Spooky Empire this October 27-29, 2023 in Orlando, FL! DAVID NAUGHTON is best known for his lead role as “David” in “American Werewolf in London” plus “The Twilight Zone”, “Hot Dog…the Movie”, “My Sister Sam”, “Amityville: A New Generation”, “Holliston”, “American Horror Story”, “Midnight Madness”, “Sharknado 5” and many more. You may also remember his infamous Dr. Pepper commercials and…a hit disco single in the ’70s, “Makin’ It”, as well as the series he starred in of the same name.
ROBERT ENGLUND returns to Spooky Empire in Orlando, FL on October 27-29, 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Orlando. ROBERT ENGLUND aka “Freddy Krueger” is probably one of the most iconic movie monsters of our time. ROBERT ENGLUND has portrayed his alter ego in all films in the “Nightmare On Elm Street” series, including the TV series “Freddy’s Nightmares”. He’s also appeared in the film and series “V”, “The Mangler”, “Wishmaster”, “Urban Legend”, “Strangeland”, “2001 Maniacs”, “Hatchet” as well as “Stranger Things”. More recently you can catch the latest documentary focused on this legendary actor, “Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story”. There is only ONE “Freddy Krueger” and you can meet him in person all weekend long at SPOOKY EMPIRE at the Hyatt Regency Orlando!
HEATHER LANGENKAMP is known for her iconic role as “Nancy Thompson” in “A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET”, “A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS”, “Heather Langenkamp” in “WES CRAVEN’S A NEW NIGHTMARE”, and “Marie Lubbock” in the hit TV show “JUST THE TEN OF US”. As well as “THE BUTTERFLY ROOM”, “STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS”, TRUTH OR DARE”, the series “GROWING PAINS” and so many more!
AMANDA WYSS joins Robert Englund and Heather Langenkamp at Spooky Empire! Amanda Wass not only appeared as “Tina” in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, you may remember her starring many 80’s iconic movies including “Better Off Dead” as Beth alongside John Cusack, and “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” with Judge Reinhold and Sean Penn!
There will be no time to sleep at Spooky Empire, too many guests to meet including this dream team! Meet the cast of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master! Joining ROBERT ENGLUND will be LISA WILCOX “Alice”, TUESDAY KNIGHT “Kristen”, ANDRAS JONES “Rick”, DANNY HASSEL “Dan”, TOY NEWKIRK“Sheila”, BROOKE THEISS “Debbie” and BROOKE BUNDY “Elaine”!
Greetings Boils and Ghouls, don’t lose your heads, we have another killer guest announcement for you! JOHN KASSIR will be joining us at Spooky Empire this October 27th-29th, 2023! JOHN KASSIR is well known as the voice of the Crypt Keeper from “TALES FROM THE CRYPT”, but his never-ending list of credits includes acting and voice acting roles in “TINY TOON ADVENTURES” (Buster Bunny), “The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy”, “Pocahontas” (Meeko), “Pete’s Dragon”, “Jack the Giant Slayer”, “Hercules”, “Monster Mash: The Movie”, “Rocket Power”, “Reefer Madness”, and more! He’s reprised his ICONIC role of the “CryptKeeper” in “Bordello of Blood”, “Casper”, “Tales from the CryptKeeper”, and many others!
TONY TODD is best known to horror fans as the one and only “Candyman” in the film series of the same name, but he’s also starred in a lengthy series of films and TV shows including “Platoon”, “Lean on Me”, “Night of the Living Dead”, “Star Trek: TNG”, “The Crow”, “The Rock”, “Wishmaster”, “Final Destination” (I-III & V), “Angel”, “Charmed”, “Hatchet”, “Masters of Horror”, “24”, “Splatter”, “Hatchet II”, “Chuck”, “Holliston”, “Transformers Prime” (voice), “The Young and the Restless”, “Army of the Damned”, “Dead of Summer”, “Scream: The TV Series”, and more recently “The Flash” and “Devilreaux”…to name just a few!
Actress and Director, ROSE McGOWAN is best known for some of the most badass roles in film and TV including “Jawbreaker” (Courtney), “Planet Terror” (Cherry Darling), “Death Proof” (Pam), “Charmed” (Paige), “Scream” (Tatum), “The Doom Generation” (Amy), plus “Ready to Rumble”, “The Black Dahlia”, “Dead Awake”, “Once Upon A Time”, “Encino Man”, “Bio-Dome” and many more… at the Hyatt Regency for 2 DAYS ONLY, Saturday, October 28th and Sunday, October 29th.
JULIE BENZ has starred in a blockbuster list of films and TV series including “Jawbreaker”, “Dexter”, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Angel”, “The Boondock Saints II”, “Rambo”, “Roswell”, plus “Saw V”, “No Ordinary Family”, “On Becoming A God in Central FL”, and many more! Please welcome JULIE BENZ to Spooky Empire for 2 DAYS ONLY, Saturday, October 28th and Sunday, October 29th.
REBECCA GAYHEART is making a rare appearance this October, for 2 Days ONLY! REBECCA is best known for her roles in films like “Jawbreaker”, “Urban Legend”, “Scream 2”, “From Dusk Til Dawn 3”, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and TV Series including “Beverly Hills 90210”, “Sliders”, “Wasteland”, “Dead Like Me”, “Nip/Tuck”, “Vanished” and “Loving”. Don’t miss out on meeting REBECCA GAYHEART, Saturday, Oct 28th and Sunday, Oct 20th ONLY!
BRIAN KRAUSE is best known for his role as Whitelighter Leo on the TV series opposite Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, Holly Marie Combs and Shannen Doherty. He starred on the popular program for eight seasons and appeared in 150+ episodes. BRIAN has also appeared in numerous films and TV shows including Stephen King’s “Sleepwalkers”, “Return to the Blue Lagoon”, “Tales from the Crypt”, “Return to Cabin by the Lake”, “An American Summer”, “Ties That Bind”, “Devil’s Diary”, “Mad Men”, and so many more!!
HOLLY MARIE COMBS joins ROSE McGOWAN and BRIAN KRAUSE at Spooky Empire, October 27-29 in Orlando, FL! HOLLY is best known for her role as “Piper” one of the enchanting Halliwell sisters in the long running hit series “Charmed”. She also appeared as “Ella” in “Pretty Little Liars”, “Picket Fences”, “Dr. Giggles”, “Tenement”, “Summer of Love’, “Born on the Fourth of July” and many more!
DOUG BRADLEY returns to Spooky Empire this October 27-29, 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Orlando! DOUG BRADLEY has starred as the iconic “Pinhead” the main Cenobite in Clive Barker’s “Hellraiser” series since the original film in 1987. He has since gone on to reprise the role from hell in “Hellbound: Hellraiser 2”, “Hellraiser 3”, “Hellraiser:Bloodline” and many more. DOUG BRADLEY has also starred in many other films including “Nightbreed”, “Proteus”, “Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes”, “Scream Park”, “Lore”, and many more. He’s currently narrating the series “The United States of Horror”.
The lovely CLARE HIGGINS is joining us and Doug Bradley at Spooky Empire this October! Clare’s roles include, most notably, “Julia” in “Hellraiser” and “Hellbound: Hellraiser II”, as well as “The Worst Witch”, “The Sandman”, “Ready Player One”, “Doctor Who”, “Eastenders”, “Shameless”, “A Fantastic Fear of Everything”, “Downton Abbey” and so many more! Meet Clare Higgins all weekend long at Spooky Empire, October 27-29th at the Hyatt Regency Orlando!
Meet ANDREW ROBINSON at Spooky Empire in Orlando, FL as well! Andrew Robinson of course portrayed “Larry” in “Hellraiser”, and has appeared in films including “Dirty Harry”, “The Puppet Masters”, “Child’s Play 3”, “Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings”, plus a long line of TV appearances including “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”, “The X-Files”, “The Twilight Zone”, “The Dukes of Hazzard”, “Ryan’s Hope”, and many more!
If you’re not familiar with the horror themed video game series “Five Nights at Freddy’s”, where have you been? This Fall, the film adaptation featuring animatronic Freddy FazBear , his friends Bonnie and Chica and a family pizza restaurant named “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza”, will be released. This October, you can meet KEVIN FOSTER “Freddy Fazbear”, JESS WEISS “Chica”, and JADE KINDAR-MARTIN “Bonnie” at Spooky Empire! Actor and stuntperson KEVIN FOSTER has also appeared in films such as “Iron Man”, “Jurassic World” and “Drag Me To Hell”. JESS WEISS is an actor and stuntperson who’s worked on “Mayfair Witches”. JADE KINDAR-MARTIN started as a circus performer at the age of 14, and went on to perform in Cirque du Soleil, he is also an actor and stunt performer with stunt credits in “Interview with the Vampire” (series), “Mayfair Witches”, “The Purge” and more.
SIMON BAMFORD “Butterball”, joins the rest of the “Hellraiser” cast in October! SIMON BAMFORD portrayed the portly and gluttenous cenobite in both “Hellraiser” and the sequel “Hellbound: Hellraiser II”. Simon has also starred in “Nightbreed”, “Book of Blood”, “Resurrection of Dracula”, “14 Ghosts”, and many more. We have such sights to show you…at Spooky Empire, this October 27-29, 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Orlando!
KANE HODDER joins us in Orlando this October 27-29 at Spooky Empire, where Monsters Rule! KANE HODDER, actor, stuntman, and author is most well-known for his portrayal of “Jason Voorhees” in “”FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD””, “”FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VIII: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN””, “”JASON GOES TO HELL: THE FINAL FRIDAY””, and “”JASON X””. As well as his role as serial killer “”Victor Crowley”” in “”HATCHET””, “”HATCHET II””, and “”HATCHET III””, “HOLLISTON”, “CHILLERAMA”, “2001 MANIACS”
We’re excited to announce MICHAEL ROSENBAUM is join us for the first time for 2 DAYS ONLY, October 28th & 29th in Orlando, FL! MICHAEL ROSENBAUM is best known for his role as the one and only “Lex Luthor” in the hit series “Smallville”. MICHAEL has also starred in films such as “Urban Legend”, “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”, “Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2 & 3” (Martinex), “The Neighbor”, “Sweet November”, “Sorority Boys”, “Hit and Run”, “Cursed” and series including “Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane”, “Batman Beyond”, “Justice League”, “Impastor”, and many more!and so many more!
TOM SAVINI is well known for his makeup and special effects work on many George Romero films including “Dawn of the Dead”, “Day of the Dead”, “Creepshow” and more. He also created the special effects and makeup for many cult classics like “Friday the 13th”, and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2”. As an actor you’ve seen in him cult favorites like “From Dusk Til Dawn” and “Grindhouse”, “Django Unchained”, “From Dusk Til Dawn:The Series”, “Machete Kills”, “Locke and Key”, and “NOS4A2”, plus so many more!
HARRY HAMLIN will be joining us at Spooky Empire in Orlando, FL, October 27-29 for our very special 20th Anniversary event! While he needs no introduction, HARRY HAMLIN is best known for his roles as “Perseus” in the 1981 Ray Harryhausen classic “Clash of the Titans”, “Cortland Mayfair” in the “Mayfair Witches”, “Jim Cutler” in the hit series “Mad Men”, “Aaron Echols” in “Veronica Mars”, and one of his longest running roles as “Michael Kuzak” in “L.A. Law”, plus films and appearances including “The Hunted”, “Silent Predator”, “Quarantine”, “Shameless” and so many more.
ALEX VINCENT is one of our favorite Spooky regulars, who you probably know best for his role as “Andy Barclay” in the Child’s Play film series including “Child’s Play”, “Child’s Play 2”, “Curse of Chucky”, and most recently “Cult of Chucky”. He’s also appeared in “House Guest”, “Dead Country” and “The Dark Military”. More recently ALEX reprised his role of “Andy” in the new series “Chucky”. We are thrilled to have ALEX VINCENT return to Spooky Empire this year and we hope you are too!
DANIELLE HARRIS is known for her role as “Jamie Lloyd” in the original “Halloween 4” and “Halloween 5”, and as “Annie” in Rob Zombie’s “Halloween” (’07) and “Halloween II” (’11). She’s also appeared in many other films and TV series including “Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead”, “Roseanne”, Urban Legend”, “The Wild Thornberry’s!
LEATHERFACE joins OUR family this October! Welcome BILL JOHNSON to Spooky Empire! He is best known for his role as “Leatherface” in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2”, the sequel to Tobe Hooper’s classic horror film. Bill has also appeared in “Future-Kill”, “D.O.A”, “The American Scream”, “Butcher Boys”, “Lucid”, “The Caretakers” and more!
BILL MOSELEY returns to Spooky Empire! From “Chop Top” to “Otis” and many in between, BILL MOSELEY has appeared in numerous films and cult classics including “The Texas Chainsaw Masscre 2”, “The Blob”, “Night of the Living Dead”, “Army of Darkness”, “Carnivale”, “ER”, “Repo! The Genetic Opera”, “The Devil’s Carnival”, “Texas Chainsaw 3D”, “Grindhouse”, “Holliston”, and of course Rob Zombie’s films “The Devil’s Rejects”, “House of 1,000 Corpses”, “Halloween”, “3 From Hell”, “The Haunted World of El Superbeasto” and so many more!
We’re excited to announce that this October, the one and only RIKI RACHTMAN, joins our moderating team, and our Spooky Empire Family, along with Kid Cadet and Jaimz! To millions RIKI RACHTMAN is known as the former host of MTV’s Headbangers Ball. He was also the founder of the notorious rock n roll club Cathouse, which helped define the heavy metal era of the 80’s and 90’s. Riki has spent decades on the radio and television, and it wasn’t always rock n roll. Riki spent a few years with World Championship Wrestling. For 20 years he was the host of the NASCAR show Racing Rocks. This year Riki embarked on his latest venture “One Foot in the Gutter” an intimate evening of stories, tales and true life fables from Riki himself…His one man show sold out venues across America and Australia.Today in addition to his story telling shows Riki hosts and produces the Cathouse Hollywood Podcast. You can also meet RIKI RACHTMAN all weekend in between panels, he will also have a booth!
Writer, Director and Actor ADAM GREEN makes a long awaited return to Spooky Empire this October! ADAM GREEN is known for killer films including the “Hatchet” and “Hatchet 2”, “Victor Crowley”, “Frozen”, “Chillerama”, and “Digging Up The Marrow” as well as multiple series including “Holliston”, “Horrified”, and more.
Special FX artist, producer, and director, GREG NICOTERO started out doing special effects makeup on the George A. Romero film “Day of the Dead”. He then formed KNB EFX Group, a special make-up effects studio which has gone on to work on over 400 film and television projects. KNB has won numerous awards, for their work on the miniseries “Dune” and for achievement in makeup for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He served as an executive producer, special make-up effects supervisor, and primary director on the AMCTV series The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. Nicotero has directed 37 episodes of The Walking Dead and is the creator of the web series The Walking Dead: Webisodes. He’s also acted in multiple episodes of “The Walking Dead”, “From Dusk Til Dawn”, and more. Other Film and TV projects he’s worked on include “The Hateful Eight”, “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood”, “The Book of Eli”, “The Mist”, “Water for Elephants”, “Grindhouse”, “Death Proof”, “The Hills Have Eyes”, “Kill Bill”, “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare”, “Evil Dead II”, “Pulp Fiction”, and so many more!
QUINN LORD joins us Halloween Weekend at Spooky Empire, October 27-29! While he’s well known for his role as “Sam” in the horror favorite “Trick ‘r Treat”, QUINN has also appeared in many other well known roles including “R.L. Stine’s the Haunting Hour”, “The 100”, “The Man in The High Castle”, “Imaginaerum”, “The Possession” “Once Upon A Time”, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”, “Smallville”, “White Noise 2: The Light”, “Supernatural”, “Blade the Series” and more recently he starred in a recurring role in the hit series “Firefly Lane”.
SCOUT TAYLOR-COMPTON joins us at Spooky Empire this Fall for Halloween weekend! SCOUT is best known for her roles in Rob Zombie’s “Halloween”, and “Halloween 2”, “Charmed”, “Ghosthouse”, “Nashville”, “Sleepover”, “247F”, “The Runaways”, “Captive”, “The Lurker” and many more!
THE CHIODO BROTHERS (Stephen, Charles and Edward) are a family of special effects artists specializing in puppetry, clay creation, stop animation, animatronics, creature creation and much more. They’re best known for their characters, and film, “Killer Klowns From Outer Space” but have also created creatures and puppets for films and TV show including “Critters”, “Team America: World Police”, “Elf”, “Ernest Scared Stupid”, “Monsters”, “The Thundermans”, “The Simpson”, and of course “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” (who can forget “Large Marge”!).
VE NEILL has been nominated for and has won more Academy Awards for make-up than any other woman. She’s best known for her Make-Up work on “Beetlejuice”, “Edward Scissorhands”, “Sweeney Todd”, “The Lost Boys”, “Big Top Pee-Wee”, “Batman Returns”, “Ed Wood”, “Mars Attacks”, “Galaxy Quest”, “Batman & Robin”, “Pirates of the Caribbean”, “The Hunger Games” and so many more. VE frequently works alongside the one and only Tim Burton! VE NEILL also served as a judge on the hit SyFy original series, “Face Off”.
It’s time to embrace your inner (or outer) Goth because we’re bringing you “The Crypt: Goth Dance Party” on Friday night! Prepare to dance the night away because this goth night features a very special DJ Set by the one and only Rogue of The Crüxshadows, along with DJ Frank Carino! DATE: Friday, October 27th TIME: 9pm LOCATION: Orlando Ballroom L-M FREE with Spooky Empire admission! The Crüxshadows is an American dark wave and dark synthpop band currently based in Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 1992 in Tallahassee, Florida by Rogue, the vocalist, lyricist, conceptual and songsmithing man behind the music.
The one and only, AURELIO VOLTAIRE, joins us for one day only appearance and performance at Spooky Empire, Saturday, October 28th! This performer, author, creator of comic books, films, animation, toys, home décor and more will be performing Saturday night and you don’t want to miss it! Been hiding with the bats in a cave and not familiar with this modern-day renaissance man? AURELIO VOLTAIRE’s live shows, whether solo or with his skeletal orchestra, are full of stories and games. Many describe his shows as sitting around a fire while an old friend regales you with tales, presuming that old friend drinks a liter of rum a night, dates zombies and wrestles Krakens.
GREGG GIBBS is an artist, documentary filmmaker, production designer, and actor who lives and works in his hometown of Los Angeles. GREGG was the production designer on Rob Zombie’s “House of 1000 Corpses” and also played “Dr. Wolfenstein” in the opening scene of the film. His artwork had been exhibited at numerous galleries and museums. In addition to creating paintings, sculptures, and installations, Gregg has worked in art direction for films, music videos and commercials. Gregg has directed multiple documentaries including the shorts “De Colores de Cheech,” starring Cheech Marin, and “Special Deluxe” with Neil Young, both of which were produced for Juxtapoz Magazine. He currently is working on a horror documentary entitled “The Haunted Painting.”
We’re thrilled to add director DARREN STEIN to our guest list this October at Spooky Empire! DARREN co-wrote and directed his first feature film, “Sparkler” (1997) which featured Park Overall, Freddie Prinze Jr, Veronica Cartwright and Grace Zabriskie. He then went on to write and direct the dark teen comedy “Jawbreaker” (1999), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and has gone on to become a cult classic. DARREN is currently rebooting Jawbreaker as a movie musical at Sony Pictures/Columbia. He has also produced the cult horror film “All About Evil” and directed the cult teen comedy feature “GBF”. Recently, Darren has worked in the reality space as a producer and guest judge on five seasons “The Boulet Brothers Dragula”.
CHUCK BILLY is best known as the lead vocalist for the thrash metal band TESTAMENT. Although Testament’s lineup has changed over the years, Billy is one of the two constant members of the band along with guitarist and founder Eric Peterson; they are the only two members of Testament to appear on all of the band’s studio albums. Billy has been a member of Testament since 1986, when he replaced original singer Steve “Zetro” Souza, who had left to join the band Exodus. Testament has been credited as one of the leaders of the second wave of thrash metal in the late 1980s, as well as one of the most influential Bay Area thrash metal acts. They have also been referred to as one of the “big eight” of thrash metal, along with Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Exodus, Overkill and Death Angel. You can still catch CHUCK BILLY and Testament as they are currently touring this year!
STEVE “ZETRO” SOUZA is best known as lead vocalist of thrash metal band EXODUS. Before singing for Exodus, he was the lead singer for the band Legacy (which became Testament after his departure), recording and writing most of The Legacy demo. At the time of his departure from Legacy, he introduced Chuck Billy to Legacy members and joined Exodus. SOUZA is best known for his stints in Exodus, for whom he sang between 1986 and 1994 after being brought in to replace Paul Baloff. Exodus was disbanded about two years after the release of Force of Habit in 1993 and reunited again in 1997. Since its formation, Exodus has released eleven studio albums, two live albums, one compilation album, and a re-recording of their first album. Exodus has sold over five million albums worldwide, and they are also considered to be one of the “big eight” of thrash metal, along with Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Testament, Overkill and Death Angel.
MORE HORROR CELEBRITIES TO BE ANNOUNCED IN THE WEEKS AND MONTHS TO COME AS WE GET CLOSER TO SPOOKY EMPIRE IN OCTOBER!
Hits: 766