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At the end of the month, Spooky Empire’s Deadites return to Orlando for another weekend of fantastically frightful fun throughout their May-Hem convention. This year, it takes place May 30 – June 1 at the DoubleTree by Hilton across from Universal Orlando.
A new Day of the Dead Opening Celebration will kick off the weekend, starting at 12pm on Friday, with a poolside party including drinks, music, events, costumes and more. Makeup artists will be on hand including “Face Off” star Nix Herrera.
Also new to the May-Hem event this year is a costume contest, similar to their annual October Ultimate Horror Weekend event with cash prizes for the top three places.
But the biggest draw will be the celebrity appearances, many of which are part of the Disney universe.
Returning is Pat Carroll, voice of Ursula from “The Little Mermaid” whose appearance was a big hit at the event last year, reading lines from The Haunted Mansion in her sea witch voice:
Also in attendance will be “Once Upon a Time” stars Lana Parrilla, Rebecca Mader, Sean Maguire, Freya Tingley, and Jason Burkart as well as two actors from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film series.
Other notable names appearing include horror director John Carpenter, Robert Englund and Heather Langenkamp from “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” Laurie Holden from “The Walking Dead,” Jamie Kennedy from “Scream,” and many more. Celebrities will meet with guests, sign autographs, and pose for pictures, with some also appearing on panel discussions.
Also returning is the Mucklebones Museum, this time featuring a tribute to classic Halloween imagery, aptly called All Hallows Eve. It will feature devils, witches, scarecrows and more set in an environment that will give everyone a mid-year Halloween fix that will expand for a future set up in October.
Mucklebones owner Rob Cametti is also hosting a charity event, the Its Alive Project, raising money for St Judes Childrens Research Fund since 2011. This year’s art will feature busts of the Bride of Frankenstein, allowing contributing artists to completely re-imagine the character. “Blank resin copies were given out to artists all over the country to redesign in their own hand,” said Cametti. “Many of the artists are from the motion picture industry and have worked on such films as Iron Man, Predator, Avatar and the Walking Dead Series.” 80 heads and 10 life size statues will be finished and sold off for this project.
Tickets and more information can be found at SpookyEmpire.com.