If you’ve been reading my stuff here on the site from the beginning, then you’ve no doubt heard me mention the name Spooky Empire once or twice, as well as read my report on their annual, smaller, Spring event. If not, then you can jump back in the past and check out my coverage here before proceeding with this report if you like. Also, as some guests have specific rules or ways they like to do things (they’re sooo Hollywood), I won’t be able to include some images from some events or panels. So let’s get in there, shall we?

The biggest change for this year’s event was most certainly a change of venue after being in Orlando practically every year in its fifteen plus run so far. Some attendees were skeptical right off the bat, myself included, as we’re mostly creatures of habit and moving the con ninety miles away and from the usual hotel setup to the colder, less intimate venue of a convention center was met with some early criticism.

Personally, I knew that if such a dramatic change were to be effective, Petey Mongelli, the man behind the long running event was going to have to pull out all the stops. Boy, did he ever! Imagine if you will, a guest list that included such legendary names in the genre as Clive Barker, Sam Raimi, Elvira, Tony Todd, Alice Cooper, and the incomparable Bruce Campbell all on the same bill. A veritable who’s who in the horror world, and that was just a sampling of the caliber of talent that would be assembled. Even Mia Farrow was an early guest announcement that had to cancel last minute due to a conflicting shooting schedule.

Now, if there’s one thing I know from having attended at least ten of the last sixteen years’ worth of Spooky’s, it’s that they are known for two things: booking the same guests over and over and a high number of guest cancellations. Some die-hards have even accused Spooky of booking guests that were never a possibility to begin with, just to increase ticket sales, only to announce “cancellations” last minute, knowing full well that they do not offer refunds based on guest cancellations. A bold claim to be sure, but a little unfounded, in this writer’s opinion, and rooted more in anger and conspiratorial theories than anything else. Although this year did feature multiple returning guests, ten I can think of off the bat, there was only the one guest cancellation in Farrow.

But even the repeat guest count is excusable considering a guest like Campbell hasn’t been to a Spooky event in almost ten years, long before the now fan favorite Ash vs. Evil Dead show. And a guest like Elvira/Cassandra Peterson, who has appeared at three of the last four years worth of shows, may just be a guest who enjoys attending every year and need not even be asked each year as a result. Who knows?

The always-entertaining Jonny Brugh as Deacon panel

Anyway, due to its proximity to the season’s raison d'être, we also got an extra day out of the event with Halloween falling on a Thursday this year. I can’t even remember the last time Spooky actually ran on actual Halloween. And with all that, the stage was set for this long running convention to experience its most successful showing to date. We couldn’t get down there on the first day because it fell on the same day as our wedding anniversary and we had other plans, but social media posts seemed to reveal a pretty triumphant opener with many guests and attendees dressing up to celebrate the festive occasion, including Joe Bob Briggs in Joker face and Darcy the mail girl in accompanying Harley Quinn costume.

The always-entertaining Joe Bob Briggs panel.

Friday came and we finally got a chance to get down there for just the day, experiencing the first of problems to come with the new location: traffic and parking. If you’re not from the Central Florida area, then you have no idea of the hell that is called Interstate 4 and how it turned a usual hour and ten minute trip into over two hours. Both ways! The Tampa convention center itself is located in the heart of downtown, blocks away from their picturesque waterfront, lined with various eateries and bars, the Amalie arena, home to the Tampa Bay Lightning NHL team, and blocks upon blocks of office buildings that, unbeknownst to most attendees, had registered use of all parking lots in the immediate vicinity on weekdays.

But upon entering the hall within the center that would be hosting the weekend’s festivities, we were immediately drawn in by the spacious layout of an event that was usually crammed into the tiny hallways and ballrooms of a hotel in the past. This was a refreshing change. Now, all the contents of the show were contained in one main hall that included the media guests, the vendors, Spooky’s trademark tattoo artists, and even a “kids zone.” Only the panels were now designated to the smaller ballrooms downstairs. Speaking of which, this led us to our main purpose of our first visit of the weekend: the Joe Bob Briggs panel. Since most panels run only an hour, this usually resigns it to turning into mostly a Q and A, but the host for this one was insightful and seemed to break up the usual tedium with some great revelations and on the spot quips. I’ll tell you this, ladies and gents, all that wealth of knowledge Joe Bob spews during each night of The Last Drive-In, is most definitely not scripted, at least not by some staffer, as in person Joe Bob spontaneously delivers fact after fascinating fact as if it’s come from a veritable database of decades of research and viewing.

Screen legend, Bruce Campbell, ladies and gents!

After the panel, we headed back up to the main hall and hit the media guest area to acquire our Sam Raimi autographs, a moment I was looking forward to most, only to be crushed after finding out that he wouldn’t be signing any Spider-Man memorabilia containing images of the World Trade Center. Minor complaint here: it would have been nice if Spooky Empire had made that announcement prior to the show as I happen to have posters from both the first and second films, but as it was the film that had started it all, only brought along the poster from the original. Having already purchased the autograph ticket and not wanting to miss my opportunity to get any signature at all, I quickly grabbed an 8 x 10 depicting both Sam and Bruce circa Evil Dead 2.

Look, I get it, the imagery of that fateful day in 2001 can be seen as offensive to some more sensitive people (as I would later find out Sam most definitely is), but as a native New Jersey-an whose dad worked thirty years just ten blocks north of the Twin Towers, can also see it as a tribute to those we lost. I’m guessing I wasn’t the only one who felt caught off guard by the demand as the next day there was a hand written sign conveniently posted next to the ticket seller stating Sam’s request. After, we offered a quick hello to What We Do in the Shadows’ Jonny Brugh; got a quick pic with Joe Bob and Darcy before snatching one of the rare Elvira Funko Pops that were going to be mysteriously sold at unannounced times throughout the course of the weekend and that we were luckily in the right place and right time for (if you’d like more on the Elvira exclusive Funko riots of Spooky Empire 2018, read the previously mentioned Spooky coverage or simply Google “Spooky Empire Elvira Funko 2018”)

Saturday came and this was our overnight stay day, so we checked into the hotel and headed over to the convention center to make the Sam Raimi panel and while we waited in our seats, entered an impromptu auction for a photo shoot in one of two Ash vs. Evil Dead production Delta 88’s: the classic and the Battle Delta used in the series finale’s final scene. Being the sci-fi, post apocalyptic fan that I am, of course I bid on the shoot with the Battle Delta and won! But before we could claim our prize, we had an exciting panel to sit through with the man himself.

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I have been a huge Sam Raimi fan ever since 1990’s Darkman. Yes, that means long after both Evil Dead films, but what can I say, I’ve always been a comic book nerd first and Darkman was kind of like the industry’s first comic book movie that wasn’t based on an already existing character. Kind of a tall order for Mr. Raimi to deliver on, not to mention it was a summer film to boot, but I enjoyed that film as a young teenager. Now that I’m older and educating the next generation of filmmakers (fingers crossed), I was super pumped and ready to absorb all that the veteran genre filmmaker was able to throw at us. He surely did not disappoint. The man is a wealth of industry knowledge and comes off as a real lover of all film (I’m looking at you, Scorsese!), but enjoys genre filmmaking the most it seems, even though he nails other genres as well, as proven with 98’s A Simple Plan.

He’s a soft-spoken guy and very modest in his long list of achievements, thanking every person that came up to the Q & A mic offering a compliment. He also stated he’s the same way on set or location as well, thanking every crewmember present that helps with getting the production done. Look, Sam knows where he comes from and comes off as very thankful and fortunate for the opportunity he’s been given to make movies, and I don’t see a dude like him changing that anytime soon, if ever. It was a super informative panel and I thoroughly enjoyed it, hanging on every word until it was done.

Afterwards, we claimed our photo op with the Battle Delta, and then headed off back to the hotel to freshen up before the VIP party at the host hotel connected to the Tampa convention center. We had been looking forward to the VIP party the most since we bought our tickets for this year’s shindig (unfortunately, second show in a row Spooky has denied me a press pass for the site). In year’s past, we had heard so much about the famous VIP parties and walked by them many a time, only to admire the madness from afar. So we were psyched to say the least. Emails released to VIP holders in advance of the convention disclosed the location and informed attendees that media guests would be in attendance and photos with them were allowed, but autographs were not.

Armed with our passes and wristbands we made our way over and the first words out of my mouth were something along the lines of, “Wow, this room is really small.” There were two of those mobile bar stations that hotels are kind of known for placing in ballrooms and banquet halls, you know the kind I’m talking about I’m sure, and the lines for each were so long, or the room so small, that they stretched to the opposite wall of the tiny locale. After grabbing a drink, we went over to inspect the wares that would be raffled off at the end of the night and a latex mask caught my eye. It was none other then the skull visage of Halloween III’s faux novelty company Silver Shamrock. I remarked, almost prophetically, “Well, I know what I’m grabbing if I win later.” There were other, more notable items on the table, including VIP passes to Spooky’s May 2020 show, an autographed guitar by all the members of the attending Twisted Sister, and a Spooky Empire poster signed by all the media guests in attendance.

The party cake was amazing and designed by Eric and Patty Woller of Food Network fame. We also got a chance to chat and take pictures with some of the guests, but always came back to the witty and always entertaining Jonny Brugh, discussing his twenty plus years as a stand-up comedian and his brief encounters with Sam Raimi during his many visits to New Zealand for Ash vs. Evil Dead business. Finally, the time came to call the raffle winners and wouldn’t you know it, your buddy here did indeed win that Silver Shamrock skeleton mask after all. Who knew? Sadly my wife wasn’t as lucky, although we crossed our fingers the whole time for more VIP tickets. After the conclusion of the party, it’s only scheduled for three hours, we called it a night and headed back to the hotel for some well-earned rest.

Darcy (as Alice) and Joe Bob in front of the Spooky VIP party cake.

Sunday came and the only real plan we had was to finally hit the dealers room and attend the Bruce Campbell panel, but not before getting our duo photo op with the man himself and his unlikely friend in all things Ash Williams, Mr. Sam Raimi. I say “unlikely” because after attending both panels, it seems these two have somewhat of a love/hate relationship that can only have been built over the forty-plus years of blood, sweat and torment they have shared with each other since college. After our photo op, we headed back upstairs to get our Bruce autographs and at long last, our Clive Barker signature. We did a casual walk around the dealer’s area and picked up just a few things before we had to head back down to the main ballroom for the Bruce Campbell panel.

Having a drink with Jonny Brugh at the VIP party.

If you’ve never been to a Bruce Campbell event anywhere, whether it be a Q and A before a book signing or screening or the convention circuit, it can really only be described as controlled chaos. Part stand-up comedy, part roasting of the fans, all hilarity, Bruce simply walks in, grabs the mic from the host, politely asks them to leave the stage and then goes off for an hour of ad lib, stream of consciousness, Q and A craziness! He’s even been known to hand out money to unsuspecting fans if he deems their question worthy enough. Although there were no exchanges of bills this time around, it was still quite a treat. Topics ran the gamut of subjects from Tobey Maguire’s gradual acceptance of Bruce’s appearance in all three Spider-Man films, Don Coscarelli’s decision not to show Elvis’s cancer ridden penis in Bubba Ho-Tep, and finally a few choice words for Martin Scorsese, who has come out in recent weeks dismissing the recent influx of super hero films as “cinema” (whatever the fuck that means, Marty).

After the fun filled panel and in anticipation of the long drive home, we headed back upstairs to bid a personal farewell to Jonny Brugh, who had become an acquaintance over the course of the three days, then hit the road back to the house and our crazy fur babies who were no doubt awaiting our return as well.

Pouring over the feedback across all social media outlets that came in the days that followed, it seemed that overall, this Spooky Empire was a success, although some attendees still preferred the freedom that previous shows exhibited in the realm of the parties, parking, food, and general guidelines that came with having the event in a hotel rather than an actual convention center.

Although everyone was in agreement that the extra space the new venue allowed for was a very welcome change. The smaller May show in 2020 is already confirmed to return from whence it birthed at the Wyndham in Orlando’s tourist district, but the early word is that 2020’s big October show will be set to bow once again in Tampa. Regardless of where it lands, if you’ve never been to what they bill as “Florida’s Premier Horror Convention,” and what I would argue is actually the entire East coast’s, then you should definitely make it a point to put it on your bucket list. As always, I know I’ll be there.

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Written by Dan

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