Paracons and Horror Fests: Observations and Fun Facts

As you might expect, there’s some kind of spooky gathering happening somewhere in the U.S. every weekend in October, including paracons and horror fests.

But they don’t just take place in October. Paracons and horror fests happen year-round. Some months, mainly the coldest, are slower than others. Typically, December through February. But something’s usually happening at least one or two weekends even during those months.

Then, on the other side of the spectrum, some weekends overflow with events. In 2024, March 22-24, May 17-18, August 2-4, and August 23-25 are shaping up to be the year’s busiest weekends. So far. Some cons haven’t announced their dates for this year yet, so that may change.

But as I started updating this year’s Paracons & Horror Fests listings, as they have in year’s past, these were some of the observations that jumped out at me. Here are some others.

Some cons celebrate real-life paranormal and UFO events.

Whether an alien spacecraft really crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947 or not is still hotly debated to this day. But millions believe it did, and every July, thousands flock to Roswell to partake in the UFO Festival that celebrates the “Roswell Incident.”

While Roswell considers itself the “UFO Capital of the World,” Pine Bush, New York, calls itself the “UFO Capital of the East Coast.” They hold their Pine Bush UFO Fair & Parade every year in June in honor of the many UFO sightings people have reported there since the early 1960s.

But as far as UFO cons go, the McMenamins UFO Fest in Oregon is “second in popularity only to Roswell.” It commemorates the Trent sighting in 1950.

In September, two cities memorialize the sudden, mysterious, and to-this-day unexplained appearances of winged creatures that spooked their residents. The Van Meter Visitor Festival in Iowa pays homage to an incident in 1903. The Mothman Festival does the same for the sightings that were reported in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in 1966 and 1967.

And let’s not forget about Bigfoot. The Fouke Monster Festival in Arkansas celebrates a 1971 report of an attack that inspired the 1972 horror movie The Legend of Boggy Creek.

Some states host more paracons than others.

Alaska rarely has any paracons scheduled. Hawaii hasn’t hosted one since 2019. States like Connecticut, Delaware, and North Dakota also rarely have any. (And don’t so far for 2024.)

On the other hand, Illinois, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas host some of the most paracons, horror fests, and Halloween cons.

Some horror cons happen more than once each year.

Pop culture horror cons like Days of the Dead, Mad Monster, and Monster-Mania Con not only each take place multiple times a year but also in different cities.

For instance, in 2024, Monster Mania will be in Cherry Hill, New Jersey twice (Mar 8-10 and Aug 2-4), but it will also be in Baltimore, Maryland (Oct 4-6) and Oaks, Pennsylvania (Nov 8-10).

Days of the Dead started 2024 in Atlanta (Jan 25-28), and will also set up shop in Las Vegas, Nevada (Mar 15-17), Chicago, Illinois (Mar 22-24), Phoenix, Arizona (Jun 28-30), Indianapolis, Indiana (Jul 5-7), Los Angeles, California (Aug 23-25), and Houston, Texas (Sep 6-8). They’ll also return to Chicago in November sometime but haven’t announced the date yet.

Mad Monster is also taking its party to a few cities this year, including Concord, North Carolina (Feb 16-18)and Phoenix, AZ (Jul 12-14). They’ve also got an Expo scheduled in North Carolina on Aug 23-25.

Multiple states host Bigfoot conventions.

I always used to think either Oregon or Washington had the most Bigfoot conventions, and maybe once upon a time, one of them did. However, you can find Bigfoot cons in other states popular with those searching for the legendary beast, including Arkansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and California, the state where the Patterson-Gimlin film hails from, a.k.a. the first known alleged Bigfoot caught on camera footage.

Pennsylvania hosts two cons inspired by horror movies.

The Living Dead Weekend in Monroeville is a must-attend horror con for zombie lovers, especially for those who first fell in love with the horror sub-genre thanks to George A. Romero’s films. His 1978 Dawn of the Dead was filmed in the Monroeville Mall, a tour of which is also available during the weekend.

Across the state, near Philadelphia, fans of another iconic horror movie can attend Blobfest Weekend in Phoenixville. The real-life Colonial Theatre where scenes of the movie were shot hosts the yearly event. In fact, one of the fun events is the “Run Out,” where they re-enact the famous scene from the movie. But other weekend festivities include a Blob 5k and 10k, a street fair, and the Blob Ball.

There’s even a con for skeptics.

I always say skeptics get a bad rap because most people feel they’re naysaying non-believers. But skeptics often make the best seekers. Where most people jump to conclusions with limited facts, skeptics dive deeper in a quest to understand what’s really going on.

Skeptical folks who investigate paranormal phenomena need fellowship, too. That’s where CSICon comes in. CSI stands for the “Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.” In addition to hosting a mostly annual convention (with the exception of the COVID years), CSI also publishes the Skeptical Inquirer.

Check-In

Which best describes you?

1. I’ve never been to a paracon or horror fest.
2. I’ve been to a paracon and/or horror fest before.
3. I regularly attend paracons and/or horror fests, often the same one(s) every year.
4. I have no interest in attending a paracon or horror fest.