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Eerie days
Halloween is upon us and Calendar has your guide for where to find all the freakiest fests and paranormal parties. Get a look at some of the celebrity guests at this year’s Spooky Empire fan convention on Orlando’s International Drive. Plus, the scoop on PlayFest at Orlando Shakes, movie listings and more.
Spooky Empire bills itself as a “rock ‘n’ roll, horror, Halloween & tattoo convention.” So how does “Sixteen Candles,” a romantic comedy from director-writer John Hughes, fit in?
“Anthony Michael Hall has been a past guest at two of our events,” Spooky Empire owner Pete Mongelli said of the actor who played the Geek in the 1984 film. “He’s enjoyed Spooky Empire so much that he spread the word and wanted to bring in his friends Molly Ringwald, Joan Cusack and John Cusack. Individually, they all have credits that tie into Spooky Empire, but together it’s hard to dismiss that they were in some of the biggest ’80s films.”
So “Sixteen Candles” has become a focal point of the convention today through Sunday at Hyatt Regency Orlando. The film focuses on Saman-
tha (Ringwald) who suffers through a string of embarrassments on her 16th birthday. She reacts with horror as the Geek prances around her at a school dance, so “Sixteen Candles” offers scary moments.
“Spooky Empire has always branched out here and there with pop-culture guests that may or may not fit our theme,” Mongelli said. “We like to have a little something for everyone.”
So it is this year. Actor Richard Dreyfuss can talk about “Jaws” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” as well as “American Graffiti,” “The Goodbye Girl” (his Oscar winner) and “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” a beloved drama about a music teacher. Dreyfuss can discuss his many TV credits, including “Bewitched,” “The Big Valley,” “That Girl,” “Mod Squad” and “Gunsmoke.”
Actress Loni Anderson can tell fans about “WKRP in Cincinnati,” the 1978-82 sitcom that brought her nominations for two Emmys and three Golden Globes. She also can recall “Stroker Ace,” the 1983 comedy co-starring Burt Reynolds, her husband from 1988 to 1994.
Actress Daphne Zuniga can look back at a career that encompasses “Stone Pillow” (a 1985 TV movie with Lucille Ball as a homeless woman), “The Sure Thing” (a 1985 romantic comedy with John Cusack) and Mel Brooks’ “Spaceballs” (she was Princess Vespa in the 1987 comedy). Zuniga is fondly remembered for playing Jo on “Melrose Place” in the 1990s on Fox. She reprised the role in a 2009-10 update on The CW, and the actress was also Victoria Davis on “One Tree Hill.”
“We do try to have a good span of guests to reach out to fans of all ages and interests,” Mongelli said. “Horror movies like ‘It’ are bringing a new resurgence to the genre, and there is a whole new generation of horror-movie fans out there. They can enjoy Spooky Empire just as much as the fans of films from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.”
This year’s guests include Ricou Browning, who brought the Gill Man to life in the water in 1954’s “Creature from the Black Lagoon” and two other films.
“It,” the 2017 version of Stephen King’s novel, will be represented by actors Wyatt Oleff, Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis and Jeremy Ray Taylor.
Other Spooky Empire guests include veteran actor Joe Pantoliano (“The Matrix,” “The Fugitive”), Fairuza Balk (“The Craft”), Jennifer Carpenter (“Dexter”), Shannon Elizabeth (“American Pie”), Billy Wirth (“The Lost Boys”) and John Kassir (“Tales From the Crypt”).
This year, Spooky Empire is adding a charity casino night to go with a film festival, special FX makeup demo classes, a tattoo festival, a kids’ zone, a huge Halloween costume contest and Fantasy Super Cosplay Wrestling.
Also new this year: Spooky Empire will open earlier, at 1 p.m. today.
“We like to keep our event relevant and fresh every year, so it’s not the same old comic con and true to our slogan, ‘we’re not your ordinary comic con,’” Mongelli said. “There’s so much more to experience this year than in prior years.”