Time for something a tad bit different… Question: how about another healthy dose of convention pics, chock full of folks in wacky costumes? But instead of names like Solid Snake or InuYasha, how does Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees sound?
My good pal Joe Simko just got back from Orlando, Florida, which was where the Spooky Empire’s Ultimate Horror Weekend took place. Joe was of its numerous guests, and even created the poster for the event…
… BTW, only 125 were produced, and by some small miracle, a few prints are still available for sale via Joe’s website! Anyhow, during those three days, he took a bunch of pics of “stuff” that’s totally up my alley, and we both thought it would be neat to share his findings here!
So for starters, a look at the show floor itself…
… Looks to be a fairly moderate sized shindig, on par with SPX. In fact, I initially thought it was! And here’s a shot of Joe’s booth, along with Sweet Rot himself…
Right next to Joe was noted rock poster artist Greg “Stainboy” Reinel whose work we’re both fans of…
And here’s Joe with Dana Snyder, the voice behind Master Shake from Aqua Teen Hunger Force!
… Dana even picked up one of Joe’s paintings, though the one he actually picked up is different than the one he’s holding (but still part of the same series)…
Another famous face at the show was Tippi Hedren from Alfred Hitchcock’s classic, The Birds…
… There was actually a ton of guests at the thing, spanning the world of horror, fantasy, comedy, and everything between, even wrestling! If I knew that was going to be the case before he went, I would have asked Joe to grab a pic of Jake The Snake Roberts! Oh well.
Joe’s booth was also next to Night Night Studios. Highlights of their table included handcrafted fairy and mermaid corpses along with a various “how-to” videos related to horror make-up FX…
… Here’s a close up of one of their incredibly crafted characters…
Joe asks: “Can you spot all 3 Linda Blair (a’ la Exorcist) illustrations in this pic?”
Just a random look at one seller’s table…
Alright, time to take a look as some of these folks in wacky attire. Again, it’s very much like an anime fest, except the characters portrayed are clearly from a different world, as are the folks who dress up as them. The latter of which I find to be the best part; it’s actually nice to know that animu dorks aren’t the only ones who love to play dress up. Anyhow, first up, the devil himself…
Some half-zombie Nazi dude…
Don’t know why, but I’m really impressed by this woman as the evil Queen in Snow White…
His and her Freddy Kruegers…
I wonder if that’s a Chuck Heston look-a-like he’s dragging along that we can?t see…
There were quite a few pics in which I have no idea what the hell is going on. And here’s one of them! From a movie where Santa is an evil dwarf that’s carried around by an over-sized helper via a backpack, right?
A Killer Clown!
A female Chucky…
Who here is being… again, no idea what’s happening…
Posing with your favorite characters is a thing everyone engages in at such shows. Though at a horror convention, I’m guessing the most popular pose is about to be murder, like here…
… I would love to know if the dude on the right looks at all like Donald Pleasence.
Some zombie shaman, type-fellow…
Where is this character from? I’ve seen variations of her all over the place; an album cover? A famous/popular tattoo?
Guy with a bucket on his head. Yup…
Some girl getting her flesh exposed…
A zombie road worker?
Quite the couple! I think the one on the right is the dude in the opening to Robot Chicken?
Just another random gothic chick in leather headgear…
Okay…
I can tolerate this kind of master/slave shtick far more than some pimply faced 14 year old dragging his 15 year old girlfriend dressed as Pikachu at your average animu fest any day…
Speaking of video games, it was actually represented as well! Michael Myers with Pyramid Head! Somewhat of a natural pairing, come to think of it…
There was actually a game room, though Joe said it was fairly desolate, and his pics prove this…
A blurry pic of the Joker playing Rock Band. Despite not being at all scary, EVERYONE plays Rock Band, so its presence makes sense at least…
Back to the show floor, it’s the Addams Family!
Just another heavy metal dude…
And some other guy on stilts…
As awesome as this fellow’s exposed brains was, if I had a table there, I’d be afraid of his brains dripping all over my wares…
That is one HUGE skull…
The animu set has gothic lolitas, and the horror set has their own basic equivalent, but I have no idea what it might be called. I’ve heard the term living dead dolls used a couple time, but am not sure if it’s apt here…
… CRAZY hair!
I’m personally not a fan of tattoos, but if you’re gonna dip in some ink, you gotta go all the way like this guy…
Just another couple, dealing with the end of civilization…
From the event’s costume or talent contest (again, ever con has to have one)….
… What the hell, a NON-zombified Michael Jackson? What a gyp.
Here are some snapshots from the after party by the pool. This particular one is once again fairly reminiscent of the just passed anime fest. Except everyone here, especially the regular dude in the middle, is all of age, have muscles, and can drink (as we can clearly see here). Seems like a real party that I’ll have to check out some day!
Joe with Stainboy Reinel and Brad Palkevich from Enemy Ink…
And finally, a semi-blurry Jake Busey…
I guess that’s it for the show? Thanks again to Joe for sharing the pics, and I’m gonna try my best to hit the next one, or any horror convention the next chance I get!
