Spooky Empire is back and ready to cause “Mayhem” at the Doubletree near Universal Orlando. Mayhem is the younger evil twin of the Ultimate Horror Weekend that takes place in October. This year it’s bigger and better than ever before- with more celebrity guests, unique vendors and one of a kind artists. The celebrity guests this year are the most eclectic to date with stars of television, film and music all coming together. Plus, Mayhem will be the site of two legendary film reunions, as well as a huge Dia De Los Muertos Party.
The big draw of the event are the huge celebrity guests. This year Mayhem has even more celebrity guests than ever before, and from tons of different genres.
Once Upon a Time
From the popular ABC hit Once Upon a Time– the Evil Queen Lana Parrilla, The ‘Wicked’ Witch Rebecca Mader, Grumpy Lee Arenberg, and Robin Hood Sean Maguire will all be making their first convention appearance. The show hit new highs a few weeks back as Frozen morphed into the show. The series has been wildly popular since it’s first airing, and now you can meet the stars.
Horror Reunions
Staying true to their horror fan base there will be TWO huge reunions from two iconic horror films. John Carpenter, PJ Soles, Nick Castle, Charles Cyphers, Nancy Loomis, and Will Sandin will be appearing from the classic film Halloween. This isn’t the first time legendary director John Carpenter has been at a Spooky Empire event. The director will also be joined by his “They Live” star “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. Piper is best known for his wrestling persona, but has also been a huge fixture in horror as well.
Robert Englund, Heather Langekamp, Ronee Blakley and Amanda Wyss will be meeting fans to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of A Nightmare on Elm Street. Robert Englund is also no stranger to Spooky Empire, with many visits under his belt. his Freddy Kruger helped define a new era of horror in the 80’s, and he has been a horror legend ever since.
There will also be a reunion of the classic Godzilla film during its 60th anniversary with Akira Takarada and Haruo Nakajima. This comes at a great time as the all new big screen remake has just hit theaters. The original film shaped the monster movie for decades to come.
Fans of Disney films will not be disappointed this year back by popular demand the voice of Ursula in The Little Mermaid Pat Carroll will be in attendance as well as Martin Klebba from Pirates of the Caribbean. Carroll killed audiences in 2013 when she did a reading of Disney’s Haunted Mansion as the “Ghost Host” during a special panel.
Also in attendance from Scream Jaime Kennedy, Tommy Lee Wallace the writer and director of Halloween 3, Mark Patton from A Nightmare on Elm Street part 2, Alex Vincent from Child’s Play, and Mike Christopher from Dawn of the Dead.
One of the more unique aspects of Mayhem is its wide variety of celebrity guests who aren’t just from film and television also in attendance wrestling legend Roddy Piper ( also from They Live) and Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka (who plan to do a panel on Friday night)..and our personal favorite, Brutus the Barber Beefcake! In addition to all of this there will also be plenty of Rock Legends as Spooky Empire brings together Marky Ramone from The Ramones, Lita Ford and Cherie Currie of The Runaways, and Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein and Dr. Chud from the punk band “The Misfits”.
Besides meeting the celebrities, Mayhem has many other activities that make this a unique convention. During the con hours- you can peruse one of a kind art and vendors. One can also see the exclusive Muckclebones Museum- featuring a two part monster museum and a charity art sale. (with funds benefitting St. Judes Research Hospital) as well as a horror themed car show- with celebrity car guest the interactive “Christine”.
In addition, there are several events arranged throughout the weekend. Opening Mayhem on Friday May 30th, Spooky opens with a “Day of the Dead” themed party to kick off the weekend. While it’s been tradition to open up the weekend with a zombie walk, the good folks at Spooky Empire decided that zombies were…well…dead. The Dia De Los Muertos Party will kick off the festivities, and guests are encouraged to dress in their best attire, and rock their sugar skull face paint. If you don’t want to try your hand at your own make up, guests can have their make up done by artists such as J.D. Ellis, Mandi Schiff, Chris Davis, L-Rae Chismar, Dr. SkuLL and Nix Herrera of “FACE OFF”.
Other events include twisted humor in an all new Komedy Goreshow featuring scathing stand-up, evil improv with The Geeks of Comedy. Also on hand will be Humor Resources Improv as they present “Pick-A-Quest Improv Adventure” where the audience decides who lives (if anyone), who dies, and who gets thrown into a zombie pit after taking a golf club to the head.
Spooky Empire makes sure that after your exhibit hall hours are over, that the party is just beginning- Mayhem has a “geek” themed comedy shows and shadow casts of classic horror films. One can try their claws at the legendary celebrity poker night on Saturday evening. It has also been said that one has not really been to Spooky Empire if they have not gone to one of its infamous all night pool parties. Plus there will be live performances, a tattoo festival, and the first ever Spooky Empire Costume Contest, sponsored by our good friends at Legends: A Haunting at Old Town.
Stay tuned for even more Mayhem Madness, and be sure to get social with us on Facebook and follow along with us on Twitter @BehindThrills for the latest updates!
