Spooky Empire is an American multigenre convention focused primarily on horror and science fiction, held bi-annually in Florida. The convention, which is billed as "the dark side of Comic-Con",[2] features vendors, a film and tattoo festival, music, and celebrity guests.

Spooky Empire
StatusActive
GenreHorror, multi-genre
FrequencyBi-annual
Location(s)Florida
CountryUnited States
Inaugurated2003; 21 years ago (2003)
AttendanceAround 33,000 in October 2018[1]
Websitehttp://spookyempire.com/

History

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Co-founded by Peter Mongelli and Blaine Kimball, Spooky Empire has been held in Florida since 2003.[3] It is held twice a year, in the spring and in the autumn.[4] The first event, held in 2003, took place at a Holiday Inn in Broward County, Florida.[5][6] The convention was held in Orlando, Florida from 2006 to 2019, before moving to Tampa, Florida for its autumn 2019 event due to a lack of sufficient available venue space in Orlando.[3]

Celebrity guests at Spooky Empire have included Gillian Anderson,[5][7] Fairuza Balk,[1] Bruce Campbell,[8] Neve Campbell,[6] Alice Cooper,[2][8] David Duchovny,[5][7] Gunnar Hansen,[6] Kane Hodder,[9] Christopher Lloyd,[1] Malcolm McDowell,[6] Bill Moseley,[9] Cassandra Peterson,[9][8] Sam Raimi,[2][8] Burt Reynolds,[6] Christina Ricci,[1] George A. Romero,[6] Felissa Rose,[7] Lewis Teague,[1] Henry Thomas,[1] Danny Trejo,[6] Dee Wallace,[1] and Carl Weathers.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Connolly, Patrick (March 20, 2019). "Spooky Empire brings horror fans a 'scream break' convention this weekend". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Spata, Christopher (August 23, 2019). "Spooky Empire horror convention guest lineup includes Alice Cooper, Sam Raimi, Elvira". The Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Santana, Marco (May 2, 2019). "Spooky Empire horror-themed convention says it had no choice but to relocate from Orlando to Tampa". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  4. ^ "Spooky Empire – The Dark Side of Comic Con". Spooky Empire. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c Connolly, Patrick (October 27, 2018). "Frightening fans turn out for day one of Spooky Empire". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Tutten, James (October 30, 2015). "Spooky Empire in Orlando highlights horror". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d Wax, Alyse (September 20, 2018). "Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny, and the Entire Cast of The X-Files Reuniting at Spooky Empire". Syfy. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  8. ^ a b c d Brezina-Smith, Veronica (November 3, 2019). "Spooky Empire invades Tampa Bay for the first time (Photos)". Tampa Bay Business Journal. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  9. ^ a b c Nunez, Mike (November 30, 2016). "35 years later, Elvira's still spooky, sexy and funny". Florida Today. USA Today. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
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