Here’s the press release about the Paranormal Day Paracon. I’m posting it here for posterity and to commemorate that time we all came together during a worldwide pandemic to socialize in a spirited way…
Nashville, TN – April 28, 2020: Many paranormal enthusiasts have been disappointed that events they’ve been looking forward to for months have been canceled and postponed because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. But what if they could social distance in a spirited way while staying safe-at-home with an online paracon? That’s the goal of the 100% free Paranormal Day Paracon being held on May 3 and hosted in a joint collaboration between the U.S.-based site Haunt Jaunts and the U.K.-based Haunted Magazine and the Haunted Antiques Paranormal Research Centre.
Paranormal Day is one of those quirky days that just about every date on the calendar now has one of. It falls on May 3 every year. No one really knows who started it, but according to Days of the Year, it was created in 2013.
Haunt Jaunts, a site for restless spirits, tracks weird holidays and observances like Paranormal Day on its site (in addition to a variety of events from ghost tours and ghost hunts to horror fests and paracons.)
Like everyone else used to traveling frequently and having all facets of their life uprooted by the pandemic, that’s the boat Courtney Mroch, Ambassador of Dark and Paranormal Tourism for Haunt Jaunts, found herself in. Hosting two podcasts, writing, and creating her Haunted Headlines videos each week, she doesn’t lack for things to do. However, she saw a chance to try to improve on something she’d tried in 2019 when she hosted a Pop-Up Paranormal Day Paracon on Haunt Jaunts’ Facebook page.
“It was an overwhelming flop,” Mroch admits. “I rushed into it only days ahead of time and wasn’t very organized in my approach. I’ve contemplated where I went wrong and what I’d do differently ever since. Watching a lot of the tour companies I follow embrace new ways of interacting during this coronavirus pandemic inspired me to try the Paranormal Day Paracon idea again. This time in a more systematic fashion, though.”
Mroch is no stranger to turning adversity to advantage. She’d been planning trips to haunted places her whole life, and had even planned to one day write a book called Haunt Jaunts: A Travel Guide for Restless Spirits. But she admits her procrastination got in the way.
“I used to be the Queen of Someday. To an extent I still am. But when I was diagnosed with cancer in 2008 and was given a 50/50 chance of survival, that was a rude awakening that I may not have many more days left to waste. I asked my oncologist for advice on how to sway my odds to the 50 percent side of living. He told me the patients that did the best were the ones who got off the couch. I physically wasn’t able to get off the couch some days, and I wasn’t sure I had time to write my Haunt Jaunts book. But I could start a blog. That’s how Haunt Jaunts became my ‘get off the couch’ project that’s since evolved into a podcast and more.”
And now she can add organizing a paracon to her cap. But she didn’t do it alone.
“Like I said, I learned where I went wrong my first time. I knew I needed help. I started asking everyone I knew.”
That’s how Paul Stevenson of Haunted Magazine came aboard.
“When we were asked to take part in Courtney’s great and ambitious idea, we knew we wanted to do more than say yes,” says Stevenson. “We have many contacts in the paranormal world who we knew would be interested in taking part, hopefully helping Courtney with the task of getting the names. Andy and I are big advocates of free paranormal stuff accessible to as many lovers of the paranormal as possible BUT the credit goes to Courtney, it’s easy enough to come up with an idea. What makes it work is passion and commitment. Two things Courtney has in abundance. We are more than happy to lend our help and support.”
One Stevenson’s many contacts was Neil Packer of the Haunted Paranormal Antiques Research Centre (HAPRC). Packer often does live feeds on Facebook and has also embraced the platform during this coronavirus crisis.
“I’m just very privileged to be asked to be a part of this project,” Packer says. “Seeing some of the well-known figures within the paranormal field that are taking part is amazing. For my name and centre to be alongside them is truly an honour for me. When I was invited I thought, ‘Wow what a fantastic idea. Well done to Courtney for having the inspiration and drive to make it happen.”
But Mroch is not comfortable taking the credit. She insists that together all three have teamed up to organize the Paranormal Day Quarantine-acon.
Or, as Mroch puts it, “A fab collab between U.S. and U.K. paranormal peeps the likes of which the internet has never seen before!”
Guest and speakers include TV personalities like Jayne Harris (“Help! My House Is Haunted”), Barri Ghai (“Help! My House Is Haunted”) and Richard Estep (Haunted Hospitals” and “Paranormal 911”); paranormal investigators with webseries and shows on Amazon Prime like Ben Goldman (Afterlife Road), Sara and Phil Whyman (“Are You Haunted…?”) and Kitsie Duncan (“Oddity Files”), paranormal authors like Alex Matsuo (“The Brave Mortal’s Guide to Ghost Hunting”), Troy Taylor (“Taking Up Serpents: American Cults, Messiahs and Madmen”), Mike Ricksecker (“Encounters ith the Paranormal: Volume 2”) and Penny Griffiths-Morgan (“A Haunted Experiment”, and Pamela K. Kinney (“Haunted Surry to Suffolk: Spooky Tales Along Routes 10 and 460”); paranormal investigators like Dr. Kristy Sumner (Soul Sisters Paranormal), Rick McCallum (Hollywood Ghost Hunters), and Steve Dill (Transcend Paranormal), paranormal podcasters Howie Odell and Cat Cagnon (The Orion Effect) and Deedee Jebrail, Sara Villani (A Haunt Mess), and Paranormal bloggers and travelers Amanda Woomer (Spook-Eats) and Maria Schmidt (Haunted Journeys).
There will also be a special guest interview with Kendall Whelpton and Steve Gonsalves about their new feature-length paranormal documentary, “The House in Between.”
The Paranormal Day Paracon takes place on May 3 on Facebook from 10 am CT / 4 pm GMT until 10 pm CT/ 4 am GMT.
It is 100% free with everyone involved generously donating both their time and passion.
It will take place via live feeds coordinated through the paracon’s event site as well as all three of the hosts’ Facebook pages: Haunt Jaunts, Haunted Magazine and the Haunted Antiques Paranormal Research Centre.
A schedule and more info about each guest can also be found on the Paranormal Day Paracon page on Haunt Jaunts.
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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It’s in two days! I hope it’s a rousing success!
It was great! But I had some hiccups which is why I’m’ behind on replies. Well, planning the con was all-consuming so that ate my time, but even during the con…SO here I am playing catch up!