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Spooky Empire Retro: A Retrospective

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This past spring Spooky Empire was filled with retro horror celebrity guests with many returning favorites, as well as some new ones!  Topping off the guest list was Clockwork Orange star Malcolm McDowell, Strangeland’s Dee Snider, Addam’s Family Values actress Joan Cusack, Hatchet trilogy star Kane Hodder, and and Rob Zombie’s Michael Myers Tyler Mane.

Despite the change in venue, moving from its usual autumn location at the Orange Convention Center to the beautiful and accommodating Wyndham Orlando Resort on International Drive, fans came out in droves to worship their favorite horror idols.  Many of them cosplayed as their favorite characters from the genre.  In addition to zombies, vampires, and ghouls there was an overwhelming amount of Disney characters zombified, as well as Disney villains represented in their true form.  Yet what else would you expect from a horror convention located just miles from the happiest place on earth?

 

The first panel to kick off the Saturday of Spooky Empire was by legendary Kane Hodder, star of Friday the 13th 7, 8, 9, and Jason X.  He officially announced the release date for the long awaited Friday the 13th video game by Gun Media on May 26, which happens to coincide with his oldest son’s birthday.  In the game you can choose to play either a camp counsellor trying to evade the infamous killer, or Jason himself.  Hodder, who is not one to be phased by violence and gore, was impressed by the level of brutality this game pushed on its viewers.

As the day continued each panel was packed with eager fans awaiting to hear from their heroes.  Perhaps the most anticipated panel of the day was by former front man of Twisted Sister, Dee Snider.  Always the entertainer, Dee captivated the crowd with stories from his career, which he joked relied heavily upon reality television as of lately.

As eager as the crowd may have been to hear news regarding the long awaited Strangeland 2, now nearly twenty years in the making, the rock star remained tight lipped.  His only comment was it finally felt like the right time for Captain Howdy’s return.

Another fun panel was the cast reunion of Rob Zombie’s Halloween.  Cast members Tyler Mane, Scout Taylor Compton, Kristina Kelebe, Daeg Faerch, and Hanna Hall were all in attendance.  Even though fan favorite Malcolm McDowell, aka Rob Zombie’s Dr. Loomis (originally made famous by the great and late Donald Pleasance,) was in attendance at the convention, he was not a member of the panel for unknown reasons.

The cast reminisced about their days of filming the cult classic, not knowing how its success would fare when compared to John Carpenter’s original.  Mane and Compton exchanged on set accidents that could have gone horribly wrong and ended production on day 1!  Be sure to watch our coverage of the panel to hear their accounts.

No Spooky Empire would be complete without spending your hard earned money, and believe me, there were many ways you could have done so this past weekend!  If autographs and pictures with the celebrities don’t float your boat, two ballrooms of vendors and tattoo artists clamored for your green.

Each vendor room was packed to the brim with talent!  Whether you were looking for new ink, artwork, gifts, toys, or movies you would find it here!

Closing out the spring convention of the hottest horror convention in town, Spooky announced its newest creation; Spooky Day in the Parks.  Based on the little bit of information that has been released, we gather this new event is a horror themed convention that is taking place at, believe it or not, Walt Disney World!

While this is not a Walt Disney World sponsored event, Spooky Empire has rented convention space at the Coranado resort, which will also serve as their host hotel.  Spooky will also be holding events around the park itself!  One of these events will be at the ever so fitting and infamous Tower of Terror!  Be sure to keep an eye on their webpage here, and we will be sure to bring you more news once more is available!

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‘Wednesday’ Season Two Drops New Teaser Video That Reveals Full Cast

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Christopher Lloyd Wednesday Season 2

Netflix announced this morning that Wednesday season 2 is finally entering production. Fans have been waiting a long time for more of the creepy icon. Season one of Wednesday premiered in November of 2022.

In our new world of streaming entertainment, it isn’t uncommon for shows to take years to release a new season. If they release another one at all. Even though we will likely have to wait quite a while to see the show, any news is good news.

Wednesday Cast

The new season of Wednesday looks to have an amazing cast. Jenna Ortega (Scream) will be reprising her iconic role as Wednesday. She will be joined by Billie Piper (Scoop), Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire), Evie Templeton (Return to Silent Hill), Owen Painter (The Handmaid’s Tale), and Noah Taylor (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).

We will also get to see some of the amazing cast from season one making a return. Wednesday season 2 will feature Catherine-Zeta Jones (Side Effects), Luis Guzman (Genie), Issac Ordonez (A Wrinkle in Time), and Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo (Devs).

If all of that star power wasn’t enough, the legendary Tim Burton (The Nightmare Before Christmas) will be directing the series. As a cheeky nod from Netflix, this season of Wednesday will be titled Here We Woe Again.

Jenna Ortega Wednesday
Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams

We don’t know much about much about what Wednesday season two will entail. However, Ortega has stated that this season will be more horror focused. “We’re definitely leaning into a little bit more horror. It’s really, really exciting because, all throughout the show, while Wednesday does need a little bit of an arc, she never really changes and that’s the wonderful thing about her.”

That’s all the information that we have. Make sure to check back here for more news and updates.

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A24 Reportedly “Pulls Plug” On Peacock’s ‘Crystal Lake’ Series

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Crystal

Film studio A24 might not be going forward with its planned Peacock Friday the 13th spinoff called Crystal Lake according to Fridaythe13thfranchise.com. The website quotes entertainment blogger Jeff Sneider who made a statement on his webpage through a subscription paywall. 

“I’m hearing that A24 has pulled the plug on Crystal Lake, its planned Peacock series based on the Friday the 13th franchise featuring masked killer Jason Voorhees. Bryan Fuller was due to executive produce the horror series.

It’s unclear whether this is a permanent decision or a temporary one, as A24 had no comment. Perhaps Peacock will help the trades shed more light on this project, which was announced back in 2022.”

Back in January 2023, we reported that some big names were behind this streaming project including Bryan Fuller, Kevin Williamson, and Friday the 13th Part 2 final girl Adrienne King.

Fan Made Crystal Lake Poster

“‘Crystal Lake info from Bryan Fuller! They officially start writing in 2 weeks (writers are here in the audience).” tweeted social media writer Eric Goldman who tweeted the info while attending a Friday the 13th 3D screening event in January 2023. “It will have two scores to choose from – a modern one and a classic Harry Manfredini one. Kevin Williamson is writing an episode. Adrienne King will have a recurring role. Yay! Fuller has pitched four seasons for Crystal Lake. Only one officially ordered so far though he notes Peacock would have to pay a pretty hefty penalty if they didn’t order a Season 2. Asked if he can confirm Pamela’s role in the Crystal Lake series, Fuller replied ‘We’re honestly going to be covering it all. The series is covering the life and times of these two characters’ (presumably he’s referring to Pamela and Jason there!)'”

Whether or not Peacock is moving forward with the project is unclear and since this news is secondhand information, it still has to be verified which will require Peacock and/or A24 to make an official statement which they have yet to do.

But keep checking back to iHorror for the latest updates to this developing story.

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New Images for MaXXXine Show A Bloody Kevin Bacon and Mia Goth in all Her Glory

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Kevin Bacon in MaXXXine

Ti West (X) has been knocking it out of the park with his sexy horror trilogy as of late. While we still have some time to kill before MaXXXine releases, Entertainment Weekly has dropped some images to wet our appetite while we wait.

It feels like just yesterday X was shocking audiences with its granny horror porno shoot. Now, we are just months ways from Maxxxine shocking the world once again. Fans can check out Maxine’s new 80s inspired adventure in theatres on July 5th, 2024.

MaXXXine

West is known for taking horror in new directions. And it looks as though he plans to do the same with MaXXXine. In his interview with Entertainment Weekly, he had the following to say.

“If you’re expecting it to be part of this X movie and people will be killed, yeah, I’m going to deliver on all those things. But it’s going to zig instead of zag in a lot of places that people aren’t expecting. It’s a very decadent world that she lives in, and it’s a very aggressive world that she lives in, but the threat shows up in an unexpected way.”

MaXXXine

We can also expect MaXXXine to be the biggest movie in the franchise. West isn’t holding anything back for the third installment. “The thing that the other two movies don’t have is that sort of scope. To try to do a big, sprawling Los Angeles ensemble movie is what the movie was, and that’s just a big undertaking. There’s a kind of noir-ish mystery vibe to the movie that’s very fun.”

However, it looks as though MaXXXine will be the end of this saga. Although West has some other ideas for our beloved killer, he believes this will be the end of her story.

That’s all the information we have at this time. Make sure to check back here for more news and updates.

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