When the doors closed on convention halls across the country, speakers and professionals in the world of the paranormal watched as their incomes dried up over night. As part of their Paranormal Quarantine Program, Greg and Dana Newkirk of the Traveling Museum of the Paranormal and the occult had a fantastic idea; what if top speakers in the field of paranormal and the occult came together digitally for a weekend? Designed to run from 5 pm to midnight from Friday May 1, to Sunday May 3, 2020, In short, it happened mostly “after” work if you were Central and East Coast. Speakers ranged from Hellier‘s Tyler Strand to Michelle Belanger to Allen Greenfield, to John E.L. Tenney. If those names sound familiar to you, chances are it’s because you’ve found yourself watching or reading as much as you can on the paranormal or powerwatching the show Hellier.
The convention was digital and entirely held online, making this an amazing chance for people who can’t traditionally spend the money or time to get out to a paranormal convention. Night one, Michelle Belanger blew the minds of attendees as she discussed demonology and the origins of exorcisms. Night two, Allen Greenfield blasted minds and sensibilities with his discussions on UFOs. The last day highlighted Amy Bruni from Kindred Spirits discussing how to research the history of a home for your investigations. However, it was all about John E.L. Tenney. His works on letting people grieve in this weird time brought an online room of over 600 people close to tears.
Greg and Dana Newkirk are amazing at picking out speakers. Over the weekend, they took in tips for presenters, but took none for themselves. Attendees volunteered thousands of dollars and ended up selling out book retailers of presenter-written books. I was amazed to see speakers, like Mat Auryn see his books sell out on Amazon before his presentation even started. Michelle Belanger’s updated version of The Dictionary of Demonology to first place in the occult section on Amazon, even though the book is only on pre-order. Timothy Renner sold out of his original art seemingly overnight.
In a time of so much anger and negativity, it was so cool to be part of a loving community working together to take care of speakers and authors they admire.
The Traveling Museum of the Paranormal and the Occult has created an amazing, generous, and delightful community that I’m so lucky to be a part of. Here’s hoping we do another one soon!
Here are some links to folks who spoke this weekend:
Tyler Strand:
Timothy Renner:
- BUY TIMOTHY’S ORIGINAL ART
- BUY BIGFOOT IN PENNSYLVANIA
- BUY BEYOND THE SEVENTH GATE
- BUY WEST COAST WILD MEN
- BUY MUSIC BY STONEBREATH (AS HEARD IN HELLIER)
- DOWNLOAD TIMOTHY’S PODCAST: STRANGE FAMILIARS
Michelle Belanger:
- PRE-ORDER DICTIONARY OF DEMONS: 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
- BUY THE PSYCHIC VAMPIRE CODEX
- BUY THE GHOST HUNTER’S SURVIVAL GUIDE
- JOIN MICHELLE’S PATREON
- FOLLOW MICHELLE ON TWITTER
Calvin Von Crush:
Connor J. Randall:
Aaron Gulyas:
- BUY EXTRATERRESTRIALS AND THE AMERICAN ZEITGEIST
- BUY CONSPIRACY THEORIES
- DOWNLOAD THE SAUCER LIFE PODCAST
- FOLLOW AARON ON TWITTER
Joshua Cutchin:
Allen H. Greenfield:
- BUY THE COMPLETE SECRET CIPHER OF THE UFONAUTS
- BUY GOD NEVER DOES THE SAME THING TWICE
- BUY WITCHCRAFT SECRET REVEALED
- FOLLOW ALLEN ON FACEBOOK
Mat Auryn:
- BUY PSYCHIC WITCH
- BOOK A TAROT READING
- JOIN MAT’S PATREON
- FOLLOW MAT ON INSTAGRAM
- FOLLOW MAT ON TWITTER
Amy Bruni:
- PRE-ORDER LIFE WITH THE AFTERLIFE
- SIGN UP FOR A STRANGE ESCAPE
- FOLLOW AMY ON TWITTER
- FOLLOW AMY ON INSTAGRAM
John E.L. Tenney:
- BUY THEORETICAL WEIRDO
- BUY ONE LAST THING
- BUY GNOMES, FAIRIES, AND GOBLINS: TWELVE TRADITIONAL TALES
- JOIN JOHN’S PATREON
- DOWNLOAD REALM OF THE WEIRD
- FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER
- FOLLOW HIM ON INSTRAGRAM
