Spooky Empire brought a terrifyingly creative legion of cosplayers to Orlando

Horror lovers and sexy-garment wearers flocked to Orlando’s Spooky Empire this weekend for a three-day convention featuring celebrities, vendors, panels and cosplay. So much cosplay.

We grabbed photos and talked to cosplayers about the careful artistry behind their looks.

For married couple Daniela Caceres and Zachary Sotomayer, @dizzyddaniaha on Tiktok, their cosplays didn’t have to be from the same story, but they were crafted in their shared art room.

For this year’s Spooky Empire, Caceres knew she wanted to be a zombie but with more of a story behind it.

“Unfortunately this hiker ran into some trouble,” she said. “I was enjoying the scenery and someone behind me took a big bite, and along the way nature took its course on me and yeah I’m never coming back home.”

Sotomayer dressed as the water cube trap from the fifth Saw movie, a look that took about two weeks to make.

“The helmet was the main production, it took the most time,” Sotomayer said. “It took like four to five days to get the mechanics to work and glue everything together so I could paint it, then I just thrifted the rest of the outfit and bloodied it all up.”

Cosplaying, for this couple, is a lifestyle. Caceres said that her mom would force her to dress up for Halloween every year as a child. That’s where her love for dressing up started.

Jefferey Loichle, dressed as Chop Top and Nubbins from Texas Chainsaw Massacre said he usually cosplays something with armor, but wanted to step out of his comfort zone to try something new.

Loichle said that he usually specializes in Star Wars characters like Boba Fett and Stormtroopers but found that while crafting this cosplay it was far different than his usual armor-making.

“I do a lot of foam-making, like with my Mandalorian, but this is the first time I’ve ever done any facial special effects,” Loichle said.

Longtime cosplayer Kyle Morey, dressed as Hiro Hamada from Big Hero 6, makes his outfits months ahead in the summer so they’re ready for the fall.

“My microbots are made using a transparent fabric from easter baskets for kids, I put metal inside of it so they look like tentacles,” Morey said.

Morey has quite the track record of making his own cosplays, including his latest made earlier this year: Roger Rabbit, oversized mallet included. He praised Hobby Lobby and thrift shops for all his crafting needs.

“These thrift shops I go to, I always find what I’m looking for, by fate.”

Casey Schmehl, dressed as a moth, has been costume designing since middle school, when she fell in love with wigs and all things cute.

Schmehl used a combination of store-bought items like punch lights for her eyes and black clothing like a turtle neck, tights and shorts.

“The wings itself are the bellydancer wings that they use, and I use two ostrich feathers.” Schmehl said. “I think the lunar moth is my favorite, they’re just so beautiful.”

Dimitri Riabovich and friend Daniel Daugherty, both in fur-suit heads and eclectic outfits, use their looks — or, their fursonae — to escape something.

“My name is Lufer Golone, the angel in disguise and I live to serve,” Riabovich said. “I sat down one day and said, ‘Lets do it.’ And by the end of the night this thing existed.”

A fursona is an original anthropomorphic character used by those a part of the furry fandom.

Using his artistic skills and a friend’s craftsmanship, Riabovich created the mask using a drawing and a little creative liberty.

Daugherty’s fursona, Chaos the Werewolf, was born from a place of pain and as a way to escape, he said.

“I created Chaos as a kid and it helped distract me from life at home,” Daugherty said.

Daugherty made his own mask and said he often alters the appearance to his liking as he grows up with the mask.

The two said their love for dressing up however and whenever they want shouldn’t be as taboo as it is.

“It’s all for fun,” Riabovich said. “I thought to myself, ‘Man, what doesn’t have to have eyes and blink, because that’s too much maintenance.’”

Credit: Houda Eletr