Horror fans invade Orlando for the Ultimate Horror Weekend

Thousands of horror fans from all over the country gathered this past weekend at the Orlando Wyndham Resort for Florida's largest horror convention — Spooky Empire's Ultimate Horror Weekend.

Featuring dozens of celebrity guests, the event is an annual three-day festival of music, movies, and just about anything horror-related.

This was the convention's seventh year, and by far the largest yet. The gathering's size and notoriety has grown immensely in the past few years. Starting as a relatively small horror gathering in Ft. Lauderdale, the convention (formerly dubbed Screamfest) has since relocated to the Wyndham Orlando Resort on International Drive. Once filling a lone ballroom, the Ultimate Horror Weekend has now taken over the Wyndham's massive convention center.

Filmmakers such as John Landis (American Werewolf in London, The Blues Brothers) and Hershell Gordon Lewis (Blood Feast, 2000 Maniacs) joined horror legends, including Linda Blair (The Exorcist), Tippi Hedren (The Birds), and Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog), as guests for the event.