Spooky Empire - Day 1
Updated: Jun 21
I arrived at the Doubletree in Orlando at around 2pm. Front desk staff was super nice. They upgraded me to a giant suite. The space was great, but the room could use a refresh.
I walked around a bit, reminding myself of the lay of the land. Ran into an old friend.
I ordered some Giordano's pizza, and then spent the rest of the day just hanging out in the lobby, watching the celebrities check in. Saw lots of my con friends. Ran into Connie and Shawn, two of my absolute favorite agent/handler types that I'm lucky to be able to call friends. Made some arrangements for Friday that would remove a lot of anxiety from what is usually a very stressful (but fun) first convention day.
Since the autograph room doesn't open early on Friday, I got to sleep in. That's a rarity for me at a convention lol. I ordered a late breakfast on Doordash, and just relaxed until around noon, when the vendor floor opened. I walked around, checking out the vendors. Chatted for a while with Rick (Selfie Guy!) and bought a mask from his 13X Studios booth. Saw lots of old con friends, and made a couple of new ones. People were lining up in multiple spots for Robert Englund. I wasn't worried about lining up (for the first time ever) due to the arrangements I'd made on Thursday. But I was helping to try to direct traffic so people wouldn't waste time lining up in the wrong spot.
At around 2:30pm, I went and got all of my stuff. At 3-ish, I went inside to set up my 15 items for Brad Dourif. Brad is my all-time favorite horror icon (right there with Tom Atkins). I've met him twice already, but still had lots of stuff that I wanted him to sign. While I was waiting for Brad to arrive, they gave me the opportunity to get my stuff signed by Robert Englund. Robert was his usual awesome self. He told me that it was the first time he'd ever written the "New Nightmare" quote that I asked for on my poster.
After getting Mr. Englund, I returned to my spot at Mr. Dourif's table. At 3:45 or so, they moved me into the Official Pix area to get my Brad Dourif stuff done with OPix and the big consignors.
While I was glad to not be holding up his autograph line, this was still a pretty stressful process. The little cubby hole that OPix had was tiny, and there were Brad Dourif autographs everywhere lol. As quickly as possible, I had him sign my 15 items. It was difficult finding spots to put my items once signed, but I made it work. Brad was great. When he got to my "Exorcist III" 16x20, I told him that I thought his performance in that movie was one of the greatest performances in horror history. Then I told him that that 16x20 would be framed in my office until the day I die. He thanked me, and he very obviously took great care to sign the item as nicely as possible. It looks fantastic, better than any Brad Dourif item I've ever seen, and is now one of my absolute favorite items in my collection.
One item didn't turn out very well, and it was completely my fault. Most of my items were signed with a white Molotow. After signing several items with it, he signed the Bride of Chucky 18x24. The pen clearly needed to be shaken again at this point, and the signature/quote/character aren't very bold. I handed him a new Molotow and the rest of the items turned out great.
After he was done signing, I was able to grab a selfie with him before they whisked him away to his autograph table. It was a whirlwind experience, and one I am very thankful for.
Once I finished with Brad, it was almost time for all of the various Child's Play photo ops. I had one with the Dourifs, so I put my stuff away and headed towards the photo op area. I don't do very many professional photo ops. There has to be a very good reason for me to do one, as I hate being tied to a schedule. It basically has to be a photo I can't get at somebody table. As I mentioned earlier, Brad Dourif is my all-time favorite horror icon. And Fiona Dourif is my favorite celebrity meet of all time. So it was a no-brainer to get a photo with them together. It was probably my favorite photo op experience yet (though it won't hold that title for long lol). They both greeted me, asked my name, shook my hand, etc. It wasn't nearly as rushed as usual. I'm so glad I sprung for the photo.
Back in the autograph room, I decided to focus on the rest of the Child’s Play cast first. My first target was Don Mancini. Other than the Dourifs, he was easily my biggest need of the entire event. I needed him on so many items, there was no way I could get everything done at once without smearing something. So I divided my items into three batches, and went through his line 3 times. His handler let me put my cart behind the autograph table, and helped me lean my items around the cart to dry. It was a major help, and much appreciated.
Don was an absolute delight. He asked for my honest opinion of the Chucky movies, and laughed loudly when I said something less than glowingly positive about one of them. Then we spent some time talking about Alfred Hitchcock movies, which was brought on by his Rebecca t-shirt.
I jumped in Fiona's line next. Her line moves very slowly because of how much time she spends with each person. I was probably 8th in the VIP line, but waited a good half hour, maybe more. Not complaining, though. Everybody deserves the full Fiona Dourif experience. When I got up to her, we talked for a while before I got anything signed. She laughed loudly (if you've met Fiona, you know the laugh) when I told her I was relieved that her success on "The Pitt" didn't turn her into an asshole. Then she laughed again when I slid our "prom photo" in front of her to sign. I was so distracted by our conversation, I forgot to ask her to change pens on one of my items. At the end of our meet, we made plans for our photo op the next day.
Christine Elise was next. She is always fun to meet. She's very witty and sarcastic. My kind of person!
And completing my tour of the main Chucky franchise cast, I met Alex Vincent next. I've obviously met Alex before, as he is a staple of Spooky Empire. When it came time for our selfie, I asked if he wanted to take it. He said something like "I'll take it. I'm the greatest taker of selfies of all-time. Well... there's Kim Kardashian, then there's me". Great stuff lol.
It was time to meet the "IT: Welcome to Derry" cast I hadn't met in Texas the week before. Unfortunately, Kimberly Guerrero canceled. I hope I get to meet her someday. Also, Taylour Paige left early, so I'd have to get her on Saturday.
I started with Chris Chalk. His Dick Hallorann might have been my favorite character on the show, so I was excited to meet him. He didn't disappoint. He was super friendly and animated. He did 4-5 slightly different poses in our selfies, but I'll just go with my two favorites.
I met Stephen Rider next. He was also awesome. He seemed genuinely excited to be there. I would end up running into him walking around a couple times throughout the weekend, and he greeted me like an old friend both times.
My final "IT: Welcome to Derry" castmember of the day was Emma-Leigh Cullum. I met her just in time. As soon as I was putting my stuff away, I heard her say "I'm ready to go" to the people she was with. Hopefully I didn't scare her off lol.
I finished the day meeting the Cecere family. I needed Tony on lots of items, so I only got a few done today, and I’ll do the rest tomorrow.
Tony was great. He talked a lot about other stunt performers he'd worked with. And Adri-Anne and Coy were as sweet as could be. As you can see in my photo with them, my Red Molotow had leaked in my pocket. Ugh!
After the con ended I hung out at the lobby bar with friends until we called it a night.
Many, MANY thanks to my friends Connie and Shawn for taking care of me today. It was completely unexpected, but it made my day. I owe you guys one.
Tomorrow is going to be the easiest Saturday ever. I got all of the big names out of the way today. We'll see if I can convince myself not to lineup early. I wouldn't count on it lol.
The stats!
CELEBS MET: 12
PRO PHOTOS: 1
ITEMS SIGNED: 29
TOTAL AUTOGRAPHS: 48
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