A new breed of horror convention called ‘Sunshine City Scare‘ comes to St. Petersburg, which is the first such convention for the fourth largest city in the state also known as The Sunshine City. The event is May 13-14 at the Coliseum and surrounding area located in beautiful downtown.
Sunshine City Scare features four horror subgenres: Anime horror and video game horror as well as horror in movies and TV and a very special guest. The new con is the first in Florida to feature anime horror as a main focus, which includes anime voice actors, an evil maid cafe, a frightening idol group, and lots of panels by guests and fans. And the focus on video game horror that includes voice actors, a gaming section, and a competition further adds to the distinction of the event.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This blog has been updated to reflect the cancellation/rescheduling of voice actor Austin Tindle and the addition of voice actor Landon McDonald. (in other words, Ken Kaneki from Tokyo Ghoul is being rescheduled to an upcoming con in St. Petersburg, while Enmo from Demon Slayer and Future Devil from Chainsaw Man are being added to Sunshine City Scare).
subgenre #1: anime horror
Sunshine City Scare’s anime horror subgenre that is jam-packed with anime voice actors who portray major characters from the most popular shows such as Chainsaw Man, Tokyo Ghoul, Attack on Titan, Demon Slayer, Dangonropa: The Animation, Parasyte, and more.
Anime horror characters at Sunshine City Scare
4 voice actors who portray the following characters will be at Sunshine City Scare:
- Denji from Chainsaw Man
- Pochita from Chainsaw Man
- Future Devil from Chainsaw Man
- Enmu from Demon Slayer
- Kuki Urie from Tokyo Ghoul:Re
- Gabi Braun from Attack on Titan
- Furlan Church from Attack on Titan: No Regrets
- Jazz from Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun
- Celestia Ludenburg from Dangonronpa: the Animation
- Shinichi Izumi from Parasyte
Anime Horror maid cafe
How will a cute and adorable maid cafe transform into scary and creepy? Miria Maid Cafe, Orlando’s only stand-along maid cafe, will add horror to everything they do at Sunshine City Scare from desserts and games to dancing and performances. And the group, which will be at the con both days, will also be performing on the main stage.
subgenre # 2: video game horror
The video game horror subgenre brings big-time characters from big video games through big-name voice actors. It’s gonna be big! Characters from video games and shows based on video games include:
- Claire Redfield from Resident Evil 2
- Alessa from Silent Hill
- Little Sister from Bio Shock 2
- Celestia Ludenburg from Dangonronpa: the Animation
subgenre #3: horror in movies & tv
Sunshine City Scare celebrates horror in movies & TV with 2 live-action actors who have played roles in major horror movies.
First is actor Jodelle Ferland who is most known for her portrayals of children in horror movies like Alessa in Silent Hill, Patience Buckner from Cabin in the Woods, Emily from Dark Matter, and Aggie from ParaNorman (and some may remember her as the innocent child turned vampire Bree from Twilight).
Second is Casper Van Dien who is widely known for his roles is cult classics like Tim Burton’s horror flick Sleepy Hollow and the sci-fi/action/horror movie Starship Troopers as well as several vampire movies including Modern Vampires and Vampire 3000.
and #4 is a very special guest
Monster High creator Garrett Sander is making his first convention trip to Florida at Sunshine City Scare 2023!
And in a huge announcement, Sander will be signing Monster High dolls FOR FREE at Sunshine City Scare both days. Attendees can bring their own Monster High dolls, or purchase the dolls from a choice of several vendors that will be stocked up.
Contests and programming
This first-of-its-kind horror con will also feature five contests with a total of $1,500 in cash prizes. There will be two cosplay contests (Craftsmanship on Saturday and Runway on Sunday), as well as a lip sync contest, a fan art competition, and a Tiktok film festival. In all, Sunshine City Scare will feature more than 25 hours of panels and programming.
sponsors
Sunshine City Scare 2023 is sponsored by Florida Comic Cons, a news site that covers comic, anime, sci-fi, horror, and pop culture conventions; and Florida Cosplay Digital Magazine, a free monthly magazine that spotlights cosplay throughout the state from features and interviews to photos from recent conventions; and Anime St. Pete, which is on Sept. 30-Oct. 1 at the historic Coliseum in beautiful St. Petersburg.
