Celebrities, oddities tantalize horror fans at May-Hem event
Shade Burnett dresses as "Deadly Nightshade" during the Spooky Empire horror convention in Orlando, Fla. Saturday, May 26, 2012. (Gary W. Green, Orlando Sentinel / May 27, 2012)
When she was a little girl, Dawn Gomez, 19, lulled herself to sleep watching horror films "Bride of Chucky" and "Friday the 13th."
So it's no wonder that Gomez, dressed as Batman's enemy Poison Ivy, on Saturday and joined thousands of fellow goblins and ghouls at Spooky Empire's May-Hem convention at the Wyndham Orlando Resort.
The show drew a stilt walker dressed as the devil, a man in a chicken costume holding a severed head, a "nurse" from the video game Silent Hill who had bloody, exposed brains and a man with entrails spilling out of his chest and belly.
Call it fun and fantasy with an edge.
"You can be a different person for a day and not worry about things," explained Gomez, a University of Central Florida psychology student.
The convention featured horror-film stars who, for a fee, signed photos and memorabilia (Freddy Kruger claw, anyone?) and posed for pictures with fans. They included Linda Hamilton of Terminator fame, "Mini-Me" Verne Troyer, the Lintz family from The Hunger Games, the Hall family from the TV reality series Monster Man and Marc Price, known for playing Skippy on the TV show Family Ties but who also played Ragman in the 1986 cult film Trick or Treat.
Caroline Williams, who appeared in some of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre films, said horror films ignited her career, so she loves traveling the country and meeting devotees.
"It's a great, fun way to make a living," said Williams, who was signing photos of herself, T-shirts and DVDs. "The fans are the most generous and loyal in show business. It's a culture and a world onto itself."
Apparently so. A panel featuring Addams Family TV stars John Astin (Gomez), Lisa Loring (Wednesday) and Felix Silla (Cousin Itt) was so popular that organizers had to turn away fans for lack of space.
In a second room, vendors sold horror-movie figurines, Jason masks, knives and swords, earrings that looked like skeleton hands, comics, buttons and DVDs, including some X-rated, others over-the-top (Vomit Gore Trilogy) and still others just plain offensive (fake snuff, suicide and necrophilia depictions).
"It's rough for the casual viewer, but for horror fans it's fun because it's fake and they know it's fake," said Stephen Biro, whose company distributes and makes the DVDs.
Some weekend zombies got tattooed at one of about a dozen booths, while others showed off their costumes — and, in several cases, more skin than in a Victoria's Secret catalog.
"It's like Halloween, but it's not just once a year," said Casey Walsh 17, a student at Daytona State College who wore white face paint punctuated by black "stitches" and red makeup around her eyes.
May-Hem continues today with talks by guitarist and singer Lita Ford, professional wrestler "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, James Marsters (Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley.
Details: spookyempire.com.
sjacobson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-540-5981
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