Paracons and Horror Events Page Updated for 2016

We slacked at the end of last year and so far at the beginning of this one, but now we’re pleased to report the Paracons & Horror Fests page has been updated for 2016. In more ways than one.

1. Yes, it formally used to be known as the “Para Events and Horror Cons” page. We decided to changed the name to reflect that so many paranormal conferences now do commonly use “paracon” in their official event names.
2. We’ve now included more than just “paracons.” There are  paranormal events of all varieties, shapes and sizes. Whether it’s an ghost hunt/investigation event, a meet & greet event with a paranormal celebrity, a zombie event, a “creature” or cryptid-specific event (like Mothman or Bigfoot), or a “con” with panels, vendors and celebs galore, we’ve listed it.
3. We’ve also listed Halloween (of the haunted attraction/home haunter variety) events.
4. We even added a new graphic. (Same one as is pictured above.)

The only thing we’re not listing is horror film fests. We recommend Goblinhaus Horror & Haunted Attraction Convention Calendar. They list many of the same events we do in addition to horror movie-focused screenings and such.

Who knows? We may end up adding a page for that too, since we do like horror movies and writing about them for Movie Monday. If you’d like to see that added at some point, leave a comment and let us know.

Biggest Months for Paracons & Horror Events

The thing that always jumps out at us when we update this calendar of para and horror events is how some months are absolutely brimming with them.

Take this month, March, for example. YOWSER! January and February everyone seems to hibernate, but once Spring hits? Watch out! People are ready to get their spook on apparently.

April gets even busier.

It stays steady May and June.

July gets a little quieter. Still some stuff happening, but not like March-June.

August and September pick up, and October, as you might expect, has a pretty good spike.

Things die off again come November and December.

The Most Popular Days/Weekends

Another thing we noticed was how some days or weekends had more than one event happening. Here’s the most popular:

1. First weekend of March, March 4-6
2. Third weekend of March, March 18-20
3. First weekend of April, April 1-3
4. Second weekend of April, April 8-10
5. Fourth weekend of April, April 22-24
6. Last weekend of April/First weekend of May, April 29-May 1
7. Second (full) weekend of May, May 13-15
8. First weekend of June, June 3-5
9. Last weekend of June, June 24-26
10. Fourth weekend of July, July 22-24
11. First weekend of August, August 5-7
12. Last weekend of August, August 26-28
13. First weekend of September, September 2-4
14. Last weekend of September/First weekend of October, September 30-October 2
15. Third weekend of October, October 14-17
16. And, naturally, the last weekend of October, October 28-30

Most Popular States

Hands down, out of the 115+ events we listed, Pennsylvania leads the way with paracons, cryptid cons, zombie cons, ghost hunt events, etc. They dominate with 17 different events happening all across the state in 2016.

The next most popular states are:

• Michigan
• Missouri
• Ohio
• Virginia
• Washington

The above all have six conferences of one manner or another taking place in them this year.

Tips

Here’s a couple of things we noticed as we visited the Facebook pages and websites for each of the events:

1. Some have limited tickets available.
2. Some sell out fast. Because of Tip #1 above and also because of the star power behind them. Such as the Strange Escapes or the Ideal Event Management events .  (Strange Escapes was founded by Ami Bruni of Syfy’s Ghost Hunters. IEM represents a lot of paranormal reality TV celebs, many of whom are familiar from Syfy shows. In fact, three of Strange Escapes events are already sold out: 1. Ghosts of the Stanley Hotel April 8-11, 2. Strange Escapes at Sea: New Orleans and the Western Caribbean April 30-May 8, 3. A Strange Escapes Weekend on Haunted Mackinac Island October 14-17.)
3. Sometimes you can save money attending these events by taking advantage of early bird specials. Prices sometimes increase the nearer to an event it gets.

Hope you find this information useful!