Ghost Tours, Hunts, Paracons and More Become COVID-19 Casualties

The first paranormal event COVID-19 casualty I became aware of was last week when the Winchester Mystery House announced it was closing until April 1. With so many places closing and limiting business as usual due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, we can expect more such announcements.

Here are the paracons, horror fests, ghost tours and ghost hunts I know of right now that are either canceling altogether or are postponing and rescheduling. I’ll continue sharing them as I find them, and/or updating the Ghost Tour & Ghost Hunting Events, Halloween Cons & Haunted House Events and Paracons & Horror Fests pages.

Bigfoot Days Canceled

Estes Park News reported today that the Bigfoot Days Festival that was scheduled for Saturday, April 18, has been cancelled.

“This decision adheres to the COVID-19 recommendations put into place March 15, 2020 by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, which call for the cancellation of events for 50 people or more.”

Battleship North Carolina Ghost Hunt Postponed

Saw this post on Instagram from Chad Morin of Ghost Hunt Weekends about the Battleship North Carolina event getting postponed. It was originally scheduled for March 21 and TV celebs Chris and Mike from the Tennessee Wraith Chasers were going to be there too.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

We have been closely monitoring the situation with the coronavirus and its potential safety on GHW Celebrities, Staff and most importantly our fans. It is in the best interest to postpone the event until a future date. Your tickets will automatically roll-over to the new event date when announced. This is a very tough situation that is constantly evolving, we will keep everyone updated, we greatly appreciate your understanding and your continued support with Ghost Hunt Weekends. ~ Chad Morin, Ghost Hunt Weekends President

A post shared by Chad Morin (@chadmorin) on Mar 16, 2020 at 8:25pm PDT

All Ghost Hunt Weekend Events Postponed

The Battleship North Carolina isn’t the only Ghost Hunt Weekend event affected, however. They have a message on their site that all events are postponed until the quarantines are lifted. This includes:

• Missouri State Penitentiary on May 9
• St. Albans Sanitarium on July 18 and December 5
• Bobby Mackey’s on May 28, May 31, July 9 and July 12
• The Dinner and 4 Location Ghost Hunt on June 20
• The monthly signature event overnight ghost hunts at the Thomas House Hotel

Event tickets for current ticket holders will automatically transfer to the new dates when they’re set. I’m sure if you’re not able to attend, they’ll work with you on either a refund or maybe a rollover to another date that will, though? (Not sure about that, so double check with them on that if you have tickets.)

See https://www.ghosthuntweekends.com/ for more info.

ProNight at the Oliver House

This sold out lecture followed by an investigation of the Oliver House in Middleboro, Massachusetts, was scheduled for April 4, but has been postponed until further notice.

See https://www.facebook.com/pg/OliverHouseMA/events/?ref=page_internal for more info.

Days of the Dead: Las Vegas

This horror fest was originally scheduled for March 20-22, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Impossible to make it happen now with hotels and casinos shut down. It’s been rescheduled to June 19-21.

See https://www.daysofthedead.com/lasvegas/ for more info.

Horror Hound Weekend

Horror Hound was originally scheduled for March 20-22, but has been postponed until May 22-24.

See http://horrorhoundweekend.com/ for more info.

MidSouthCon 

Originally scheduled for March 20-22, it has been cancelled until 2021. They have a note that all refund requests must be received by April 30, 2020. If not, the money will roll over to next year.

See https://midsouthcon.org/ for more info.

Phenomenology (Phenom 2020)

This was supposed to take place March 26-29, but has been postponed until a later date. They’re not issuing refunds at all. Your ticket will be valid for whatever date they reschedule to, which sounds like a logistical nightmare because they’re trying to coordinate with both the venue and celebrities to give the lineup the same.

See https://phenom2020.com/ for more info.

Oregon Ghost Conference

This was to happen March 27-29, but they’ve decided to cancel it altogether and issue full refunds.

See http://www.oregonghostconference.com/ for more info.

Salt City Horror Fest

Rescheduled from April 18. The bad news is they decided to postpone it, but the good news is they added another day! It’s now scheduled for October 16-17.

See https://www.showclix.com/event/salt-city-horror-fest-2020 for more info.

Motor City Nightmare

Postponed from April 24-26 to July 25-26.

See https://www.motorcitynightmares.com/ for more info.

RaveCon 15

This was slated to happen to April 24-25, but has been cancelled. They’re trying to get the same lineup they had scheduled for this year to appear at next year’s conference. They’re also giving ticket holders the option to apply their money to next year’s con or receive a full refund.

See https://www.ravencon.com/ for more info.