Chicago
Hauntings & the Chicago/Indiana Ghost Trackers P r e s e n t
t
h e
s e c o n d a n n u a l Chicago
Ghost
Conference
O
C
T O B E R
2 & 3, 2009
a
t t h e
h i
s t o r i c PortageTheater
f
e
a
t u r i n g :
Lorraine
Warren, Jeff
Belanger,
Eddie Brazil & Paul Adams, Joshua P. Warren Fred
Stonehouse, Deb and Tony Pickman, Bill Konkolesky
Dave Schrader, Ray Sawyer & Paul Von Eisengrein, Jeff Rezman Hosted
by
Ursula Bielski and Michael McDowell
W
I T H:
THE
INDIANA GHOST TRACKERS / CHICAGO HAUNTINGS / EDWARD SHANAHAN
DARK ANGEL
PARANORMAL / DAVE
SCHRADER / BEYOND
THE VEIL
/ DAN T. HALL
GRIMSTONE
PARANORMAL / JASON SULLIVAN, JACOB VENIBULE & MIDWEST HAUNTS
CHICAGO
PARANORMAL RESEARCH SOCIETY / LAKE CLAREMONT PRESS
CROSS
ROADS PARANORMAL / TALES FROM BEYOND
a v i s i t f r o m A&E "Parnormal Cops" team
S
C O T T J A C K S O N &
A N E X C
L U S I V E P R E V I E W O F:
a
n d a v e r y s p e c i a l
a p p e a r a n
c e
b y:
a n d w e
l c o
m i n g b
r o a d c a
s t
e r s :
A
B O U T
T H E C
H I C A G
O C O
N F E R E
N C E
"The dead say
nothing
And
the
dead know
much
And
the
dead hold
Under
their tongues
A
locked-up story." -Carl
Sandburg
One
of the city's most beloved poets, Carl Sandburg, knew a thing or two
about being haunted. Each October, we attempt to
unlock the "locked up stories" of the spirits of Chicago--and
beyond--at the Midwest's premier ghost hunting event of the season.
The
first Chicago Ghost Conference went down in history as the first
ghosthunters' convention ever held in the city of Chicago. For
the
first time, field investigators, authors, historians, folklorists,
artists, sensitives, and enthusiasts from every walk of life came
together in one of the world's most haunted cities for a
weekend of learning, discovery, and--of
course--ghosthunting. The
2009 conference promises to be even
bigger and even better. All
are welcome,
whether you have merely a ghost of an interest in the paranormal, are
looking to celebrate Halloween in a unique way, or whether you're a
seasoned ghosthunter actively
engaged in the science of paranormal
investigation. Registration
is
now open! Our
2009
Conference headquarters will be the historic and
storied Portage Theater on Chicago's Northwest side, just minutes from
O'Hare
airport and some of Chicago's greatest paranormal locations, including
Robinson Woods and the former site of the John Wayne Gacy home. Be
sure
to join our mailing list for early registration notice and to
receive a special discount during early registration. Special
evening events on Friday will sell out early, including a special
ghosthunters' tour
of Chicago and other supernatural events you won't want to miss!
Tickets
to
the
Chicago
Ghost Conference are just $50 per person ($30 for students),
and include
admission to the
Friday evening reception and panel discussion (cash bar) all Saturday
speakers and
admission to the evening party Saturday night (cash bar), plus
a door
prize ticket. Please note that admission at the door will
be CASH ONLY. Dinner tickets for Saturday night will be available
for $10 at the door.
If you are
from outside the Chicago area and would like overnight accomodations,
we recommend the Crown Plaza located at 5440 N. River Rd in Rosemont,
IL Phone # 847-671-6350. Please say you are with the Ghost
Conference to get the ridiculously low rate of $83.00 per night which
includes breakfast!
OR CONTACT THE CONFERENCE CHAIRPERSON,
WANDA SPUDIC, AT (219)508-5933 OR at wanspud@yahoo.com
S
C
H E D U L E
F
R
I D A Y
5PM-8PM Welcome
Reception, Speakers and Field Research Panel
We’ll
gather in the lobby of the Portage Theater for our official
reception this evening. Meet old and new
friends, enjoy a cocktail or two, get your
Chicago
bearings,
and hear intriguing stories about this historic Chicago movie
house. Live music by Red Bird! Chicago's own Svengoolie
(Chicago horror movie host extraordinaire, with Channel 26) will be
here to sign autographs and open the conference. At 6:00 we'll
begin our first round of speakers onstage and, a bit later, enjoy
a lively
panel discussion
in the lobby featuring
some of the nation's most active and accomplished field researchers.
Admission included in price of conference ticket. Cash
bar.
Evening
is free to enjoy
as you like; make your
own plans in beautiful Chicago or join us for . . .
8PM The
Chicago Hauntings TourUrsula Bielski and
Michael McDowell
will host a whirlwind
tour of one of the world’s most haunted cities, visiting the
sites of the Great Chicago Fire and the Eastland river disaster,
the
Iroqouis Theater Fire, Jane Addams’ storied Hull House
(inspiration
for
Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby),
Wrigley
Field, the Lake
Michigan Triangle, the secrets of Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo
Studios, the Hancock
Center (birthplace of Anton LaVey and
inspiration for
the film Ghostbusters)
and, of course,
the site
of the St. Valentine‘s Day Massacre. The bus makes
several
stops throughout the course of this tour--at some of Chicago's most
haunted sites--, so bring your cameras, investigation equipment and an
open
mind! We'll also make a pub stop at the infamous Billy Goat
Tavern on lower Michigan Avenue, haunted by beloved Chicago reporter
Mike Royko. Note: When the tour ends at eleven pm, the tour
bus
will drop off conference
attendees at the Portage Theater (Please
note that this
is an optional
event and tickets must be purchased separately at the time of
registration. Tickets for this special conference tour are
just thirty-five dollars per person with conference admission. Order
tickets
at conference registration.)
S A
T
U R D A Y
8:30
AM: Conference
opens. Exhibitors
open. 8:45 AM: Welcome.
Hosts
Michael McDowell and Ursula Bielski 9:00 AM-6:00PM:Speakers
Ray
Sawyer
9:00-10:00
AM
Joshua P.
Warren
10:00-11:00 AM
The Pickmans
11:00-NOON
Lunch Break
NOON-1:00 PM
JasonSullivan
1:00-2:00 PM
Jacob Venible
2:00-2:30 PM
Dan Hall
2:30-3:00 PM
Frederick Stonehouse
3:00-4:00 PM
Jeff Belanger
4:00-5:00 PM
Lorraine Warren
5:00-6:00
PM 6:00PM:Final Raffle of
Special CDs, courtesy of Midnight Syndicate, and
Closing comments.
6:00-8:00 PM Dinner break (Onsite
catered dinner will
be available for a minimal price, and several informal restaurants are
nearby)
8:00PM- MIDNIGHTPost-conference
party featuring
Jeff Ugly
Shoes & the Cemetery Surfers and dance music by KrossRoadz!
H
O S T S
Ursula
Bielski Ursula
Bielski is a Chicago historian and author who has been
writing and lecturing about Chicago's supernatural folklore and the
paranormal for more than 20 years. Aleading authority
on the
Chicago region's ghostlore and
cemetery history, Ursula is also the founder and president of
Chicago Hauntings Tours, the city's most respected ghost tour company
and one of the most acclaimed tour companies in the nation. Ursula
has been involved in countless investigations of haunted sites in and
around Chicago, including such notorious locales as Wrigley Field, the
Congress Hotel, the Indiana Dunes, the Red Lion Pub, Hull
House, Bachelors Grove Cemetery, Rose Hill Cemetery, haunted
Archer Avenue, Chinatown, the Eastland disaster site, Death
Alley, Dillinger's Alley and the St. Valentine's Day Massacre
site. Her paranormal travels have also led her to investigate
sites as diverse and infamous as the Bell Witch Cave in Tennessee; the
Oshkosh, Wisconsin Opera House; New Orleans' House of the Rising
Sun; the City Cemetery in Key West, Florida; and the
Civil War Battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Aside from
her writing, Ursula has been featured on numerous television
documentaries, including productions by the A&E Network, The
History Channel, The Learning Channel, The Travel Channel, and
PBS. In addition to her books, Ursula is the author of
numerous scholarly articles exploring the links between history and the
paranormal, including articles published in the International Journal of
Parapsychology. Ursula is a
past editor of PA News,
the
quarterly newsletter of the Parapsychological Association, a past
president and board member of the Pi Gamma Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta,
the national history honor society, and holds membership in
the Society of Midland Authors. Ursula holds a B.A. degree in
history from Benedictine University and an M.A. in American cultural
and intellectual history from Northeastern Illinois University. Her
academic explorations include the Spiritualist movement of the 19th
century and its transformation into psychical research and
parapsychology, and the relationships among belief, experience,
science, and religion.
Michael
McDowell Michael
McDowell is
the founder, president and CEO of the Indiana Ghost Trackers, Inc., the
largest regional ghost hunting organization in the nation. One of
the Great Lakes'
foremost experts on the paranormal, he is a research specialist,
investigator and journalist, with specialized concentrations
in the fields of ghost and poltergeist phenomena.
Utilizing
a combination of cognitive investigative skills and the latest
technological monitoring and detection equipment, Michael has conducted
numerous haunted house investigations throughout the United States,
including cases referred to him by individuals, universities, the news
media, and various parapsychological research organizations. A
main contributor to the education of paranormal enthusiasts throughout
the Great Lakes area, Michael has taught paranormal investigation
techniques to thousands of students. He gives lectures along similar
lines of study, covering such topics as psychic protection, Electronic
Voice Phenomena (EVP) and advanced investigation topics. In
developing a large, non-profit ghost hunting organization, Michael has
built the Indiana Ghost Trackers into one of the strongest and most
well-respected ghost investigation societies in the country,
consisting of 16 chapters and more than 400 members. Michael
has been featured in countless news articles and programs, and on talk
shows and television networks around the country, including
A&E, the Sci-Fi Channel and PBS. He is currently writing his
first book and is the owner of Chaos Haunted and Historical Tours.
S
P E A K E R
S
Lorraine
Warren Forty
years of Research
Along
with her late husband, Ed, Lorraine Warren has been one of the nations'
most famous paranormal researchers for over 3 decades.
Lorraine--with Ed and now solo--has lectured extensively at colleges
and universities through out the country, and provided invaluable
comfort and help to countless families and individuals suffering from
severe paranormal events. In
1952, the
Warrens founded the New England Society for Psychic Research, and later
opened the Occult Museum. The
Warrens were two of only a handful of investigators ever
allowed
inside the infamous "Amityville Horror" home on Long Island
and
have the only pictures ever taken inside the house.
Lorraine's
career has brought her to investigate more than 10,000 paranormal
cases; she and Ed's work on some of the nation's most famous paranormal
cases has been documented in nine books that the couple has published
over many busy years, including Deliver
Us From Evil ,
The Demonologist, The
Devil In Connecticut, The
Haunted, Werewolf, Satan's
Harvest ,The
Ghosthunters, In
A Dark Place and Graveyard.
The
Warrens were also responsible for
training several of today's most sought-after investigating
demonologists, including Dave Considine, Lou Gentile, and their nephew,
John Zaffis.
Jeff Belanger
The Ghost Files:
A Multimedia Haunted Tour of History, Paranormal Investigation and the
Ghost Experience
History,
ghosts, UFOs, folklore and magic -- the concepts are a part of our
collective consciousness, and though no one can explain exactly how it
all works, few can match Jeff Belanger's ability to bring the
unexplained out of the fringe and into living rooms and near our office
water coolers. Jeff
has been writing for publication
since 1992. He's written for newspapers, magazines, television, the
Web, and has authored numerous books on the paranormal, including The World's Most Haunted
Places,
Communicating with th Dead, The Encyclopedia of Haunted
Places, The
Ghost Files and Weird
Massachussetts. Jeff's
books have been published in six
different languages (so far). He's also the founder
of GhostVillage.com
-- the Web's largest and most popular supernatural community according
to Google.com and Alexa.com. He's lectured around the United States to
audiences big and small, and he's become a recognized media personality
-- appearing on over 100 radio and television programs worldwide
including: The History Channel, The Travel Channel, Living TV (UK), The
Maury Show, The CBS News Early
Show, National Public Radio,
The BBC, Australian Radio Network, Coast
to Coast AM, and The
'X' Zone. He has been interviewed by Reader's
Digest, The
Sun,
Reuters,
CNET,
Forbes.com, USA
Today, Newsday, The
Boston Globe, The
Boston
Herald,
the
Chicago Tribune, Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review, Spirit
(the in-flight
magazine for Southwest Airlines), Metrowest Daily News, Danbury
News-Times, Poughkeepsie
Journal, The
Augusta Chronicle, York
Daily Record, The
Providence Journal, Haunted
Times Magazine,
and Ghost!
Magazine. Belanger's
books
have even made it to pop-culture. In the Halloween 2006 episode his Encyclopedia
of Haunted Places was
shown to be a favored volume
on the bookshelf of one of E! Network's Girls Next Door! (www.ghostvillage.com)
Joshua P. Warren
Phantoms
and the Mind-Body Connection
Born
in Asheville, North Carolina, Joshua P. Warren has lived in the
Blue Ridge Mountains his entire life. At the age of 13, he saw his
first book published.. Since then, he has had eight more books
published, including the regional best-seller, Haunted Asheville,
and How
to Hunt Ghosts.
His articles have been published
internationally,
and he has been covered by such mainstream media as CNN, Fox News,
Southern Living,
Delta Sky,
FATE,
New Woman, The New York
Times, FHM
and
Something About the Author;
and made the cover of the science
journal, Electric
Space Craft.
A winner of the University of North
Carolina Thomas Wolfe Award for Fiction, he wrote columns for the
Asheville Citizen-Times
from
1992 to 1995.
Warren
was hired by the
famous Grove Park Inn Resort to be the first person to officially
investigate the Pink Lady apparition in 1995 (the same year he founded
L.E.M.U.R. paranormal investigations, of which he is president). His
work has been praised by the Rhine Research Center, The North Carolina
Center for the Advancement of Teaching and numerous scholars. Warren
has appeared on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, Travel Channel,
Sci-Fi, and numerous networks affiliates of NPR, ABC, NBC, and CBS. He
is frequently asked to be a guest on radio shows around the world,
especially Coast to Coast AM with George Noory/Art Bell. Warren is also
an international award-winning filmmaker. Since January, 2005, he has
hosted a weekly paranormal program, Speaking of Strange, airing
Saturday nights on News Radio 570 WWNC.(streaming live worldwide on the
internet) His one-man documentary "Alone in A Haunted House" became the
all-time best-selling documentary for its
distributor. Eachyear,
he leads a public expedition to amazing paranormal sites
around
the world.
Frederick Stonehouse Things
that go Splash! in the Night
Maritime
historian
Frederick
Stonehouse has authored over thirty books on maritime history,
many of
them focusing on the Great Lakes, and has contributed to several
others. The
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
is a regional best seller. Wreck
Ashore,
the U.S. Life-Saving Service on the Great Lakes,
won a national
publishing
award and is the predominant work on the subject. Another book, Haunted
Lakes: Great Lakes Maritime Ghost Stories, Superstitions and Sea
Serpents,
has opened an entirely new genre in Great Lakes study. Haunted
Lakes II, Haunted Lake Michigan and Haunted Lake
Huron continued the
collection. Haunted Lake Erie
is due for release in 2011 and Haunted
Lake Ontario in 2013.Stonehouse
has been a consultant for both the
U.S. National Park Service and Parks Canada and has been an "on-air"
expert for National Geographic,
History
Channel
and Fox
Family, as well as many regional
media productions. He is the
recipient
of the 2006 Association For Great Lakes Maritime History Award for
Historic
Interpretation. The Award is presented annually in recognition of
an
individual making a major contribution over many years to the
interpretation of
Great Lakes maritime history in furtherance of the goals of the
Association.
Fred recently was named Historian of the Year by the Marine Historical
Society of Detroit. The award is the result of election by
past
MHSD historians and reconizes persons who have actively contributed to
the study of Great Lakes history. Additinal awards
for contributions to Great Lakes maritime history have been received
from
Underwater Canada, Our World Underwater, Marquette Maritime Museum and
Marquette County Historical Society.
Fred has taught Great
Lakes maritime
history at Northern Michigan University and is an active consultant for
numerous Great Lakes oriented projects and programs. Major presentations
have been given
at: the National Maritime Conferences, Great Lakes Aquarium, Erie
Maritime
Museum, Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival, Michigan Lighthouse
Conference, Gales
of November, (Duluth), Ghost Ships Festival (Milwaukee),
Keeper of
the
Light Festival (Bayfield) Underwater Canada(Toronto),
Inward to the Sea (New York) and
Our World Underwater(Chicago)
among others. (www.frederickstonehouse.com)
Bill
Konkolesky U.F.Os and the
Paranormal
Bill
Konkolesky is State Director for the
hundred-plus member strong Michigan Chapter of the Mutual UFO Network
(MUFON) (www.mimufon.org) . His media exposure includes television
appearances on ABC’s Peter
Jennings: Seeing is Believing,
the
SCI-FI Channel’s Abuction
Diaries,
and working as a
consultant to the History Channel's UFO Hunters.
Konkolesky is
also a listed contributor to the books, Filer’s
Files:
Worldwide Reports of
UFO Sightings by George Filer
and David Twichell, as well
as Weird
Michigan. (www.mufon.com)
Deb
& Tony Pickman
Life in a
Haunted House
The
Sallie House haunting is in a
class by itself. There have been full-bodied apparitions and objects
flying through the air. Items have moved, been misplaced or lost only
to reappear or show up later or at another location. Phantom furniture
has been heard along with thumps, thuds, knocks, scratching and the
sound of animals and human voices. Although some voices have been heard
with the naked ear, there have been an amazing amount of EVP
(Electronic Voice Phenomena) captured, further depicting the voices of
men, women and children. Numerous psychics have entered the picture in
order to help us along the way, including Barbara Conner and the
world-renowned Peter James. Paramount Pictures, the Travel Channel, KQ2
News out of St. Joseph, Missouri, Channel 4 News out of Kansas City,
Kansas, and the Discovery Channel have all been involved in documenting
this story over the last 12 years.
After
living through terrifying experiences in the infamously haunted Sallie
House 14 years ago, Tony and Debra Pickman did something that most
in their
shoes don’t do; they ran
fearful of the unknown. Today
they
are respected investigators focused on understanding the phenomena that
ran them off. They have gone back many times over the years to
investigate the house; during the last investigation Tony was thrown 4
feet across the room. Although they have not gone back to the house
since, they continue their work by comparing what they have learned and
theorized and applying it to other locations. In their desire to help
others understand what they and others go through, they have created
a website dedicated to their haunting. In making themselves available
through the website, email and other venues they hope to help others
work through their own experiences.
(www.thesalliehouse.com)
Ray
Sawyer & Paul Von
Eisengrein Dark Angel
Paranormal
Dark
Angel
Paranormal is a Connecticut-based research group
which has been doing positive research since 2005. Founder
Ray
Sawyer
is a retired state correctional officer who served with the Connecticut
Department of Corrections for two decades, and who now spends much of
his time trying to understand why spirits interact with the living.
Sawyer began seeing spirits when he was a child and was
naturally
drawn to cemeteries, where he spent time at an early age trying to make
sense out of his own experiences. With Dark Angel, Sawyer is
able
to
help others try to understand the strange phenomena occuring in their
homes and businesses. He feels that every investigation is
unique
and
can teach us something new about the paranormal..
Paul
Von Eisengrein
is a Co-founder of the Dark Angel Paranormal Investigators of
Connecticut. He is a 17-year veteran of the Connecticuit
Department of Corrections and is an avid student of Ancient Religions
and Pagan Rights. Paul has had a passion for photographing cemeteries
since elementary school, which eventually led him to paranormal
investigations, where he uses his skills in both digital and chromatic
photography. Over the past two years Paul has been developing
his
skills in EVP collecction; on two separate occasions Dark Angel has
appeared on the Maury Povich Show
to present their findings on alleged haunted houses and to present
their photos and EVP samples to a national audience.
Jeff
Rezman The Dangers of Ghost Box
Research
Jeff
Rezman has been involved in the paranormal since he was a
little boy.The
first
time that he ever
spoke with a spirit he was no more than 5 years old, and it was
immediately after his grandfather had died.All
through his
life Jeff has seen spirits and talked with them, though he
did not truly
realize what was happening until many years later.When
he did realize what was really going on
Jeff
embraced the reality of it but soon soon found
out he was not ready for it and tried to block it from his mind until
he could get some type of control of it..He
later realized that there is no real control to be had in research of
the paranormal; all one can do is control the research situation.
And that was when he
discovered the controversial device known as the GHOST BOX. After receiving his
first box-a "Joe's Box" he
had ordered online--Jeff took it out to the driveway at the request of
his wife, who was fearful of Jeff using it in their home.
"The
moment I turned it on, " he
says, "it
started talking to me." He
was on his
way.
Jason Sullivan & Jacob Venibule
(Midwest Haunts) Paranormal
Philosophy Jason Sullivan is a paranormal scientist and creator of the
Video Vlog Series Ghost Hunting 101.
Sometimes called the "Paranormal Professor," Sullivan teaches the
basics of ghost hunting as well as advanced theory and methodology of
paranormal science. He has a unique approach to the paranormal and believes his
term "Paranormal Philosophy" will help shape the way we approach
paranormal science in the future.
Jacob the Ghost Hunter is a professional cameraman and EMT. He
has worked as the cameraman and advisor for the shows Midwest Haunts
and Ghost Hunting 101 for over 10 years. An expert in photo and video
analysis, he is currently filming an Internet series called
Paranalysis, in which he demonstrates the techniques used to examine
paranormal photos and videos. Jacob also teaches classes on Spiritual
photography, Instrumental Transcommunication, and various other
techniques involved in filming the paranormal.
F E A T
U R E D E X H I B I T O R S
Throughout
the day, attendees will be free to visit our many exhibit
booths, featuring numerous local and national ghosthunting groups,
regional and national authors, paranormal radio broadcasters,
metaphysical and ghost hunting vendors
and others.
Edward Shanahan
& The
Unexplained World
Edward
L. Shanahan is one of Chicago's most respected and astute psychic
feelers, and is also gifted in the art of psychometry--deducing
spiritual truths from the personal items of loved ones. Ed, a
native of Chicago's richly storied Southwest side, began his lifelong
involvement with the unknown as a young child, when his mom
bought him his first magic set at Ford City. Magic did not long hold
Ed's attention; however. He soon discovered Real Magick and,
accordingly, became engaged in exploring the realities of the unseen
world. As a young man, Ed was intrigued by the work of his
uncle,
a handwriting analyst, who sometimes appeared on Eddie Schwartz's
popular Chicago radio show, and he was intrigued by the stories told by
famed Chicago personality Richard Crowe, one of the world's first
full-time "ghost hunters." As a teenager, Ed began his first wide-eyed
journeys into Chicago's paranormal underworld to explore some
of
Chicago's most notoriously haunted sites, including Bachelors Grove
Cemetery, his first-ever outing to a haunted site. Ever
since,
Ed's joy has been exploring both the spiritual and paranormal
realms with fellow travelers from around Chicago and around the world,
but he's also explored the world of high celebrity in the Pro-Wrestling
and Glamour industries. Today, Ed's web community, "The
Unexplained World," draws thousands of visitors each week, many of whom
tune in to his popular and acclaimed webcast of the same name.
Ed
Shanahan remains a popular reader at private and public gatherings
throughout
the Chicago area and, recently,began hosting Beyond the Veil
events, which he
co-founded with Ursula Bielski, escorting guests to haunted and
spiritual locations around the Midwest. Ed
has contributed to Jeff
Belanger's Encyclopedia
of
Haunted Places and Scott
Markus' Voices
from the Chicago Grave, as
well as Ursula Bielski's forthcoming Chicago
Haunts 3:
From the Secret Files of Chicago Hauntings, Inc. To join Ed
on his
first return to
Bachelors Grove, visit the Unexplained World's archived
selection
at: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/231080/haunted_bachelors_grove_cemetery_tour/
Scott
L. Jackson The
Halloween Art Exhibit
Artist
Scott Jackson started out
creating logos and t-shirt designs for local print shops with a flair
for the grim and ghastly. As early as 9 years old Mr. Jackson could be
found in his neighborhood sporting the Dracula cape his mother made for
him long after Halloween was over. Besides art &
music, Creature Features
and Famous Monsters
magazines were
major influences. Twenty plus years later, Mr. Jackson has created a
multitude of covers & artwork for magazines, comics, books,
games,
CDs and posters. His artwork has been featured by Kiss, Pink Floyd,
Megadeth, The Electric Hellfire Club and many others. The
Annual
Halloween Art Exhibit had it's humble beginnings in Chicago's Flat Iron
Arts Building, with nothing more than a few small paintings, a bowl of
candy, and a spooky record on the phonograph. As more and more
Halloween fans visited the show, Scott and the exhibit's other
organizers realized that their dream of a full scale gallery style
exhibit could be accomplished with dedication to quality and
creativity. The Exhibit celebrates its 10th Anniversary this Fall, and
the Chicago Ghost Conference is honored to host Mr. Jackson and a
special preview of the Exhibit's 2009 offerings. For more
information, visit www.monstermangraphic.com
and www.halloweenartexhibit.com
Dan T. Hall
Independent
filmmaker Dan T. Hall is an accomplished director, producer and
screenwriter, and often composes his own music. Included in his many
credits are three family feature films, EZ Money, The
Lil’ River Rats and
the Adventure of the Lost Treasure,
as well as 587:
The Great Train Robbery; and
the TV special 7 Days Left…:
Queen Latifah Goes to Hollywood’s Biggest Night.
These
days he is widely known for his paranormal documentaries Central State: Asylum for
the Insane,
Ghost Stories: Walking with the Dead,
and Ghost
Stories 2: Unmasking with the Dead.
Hall is currently in production on his fourth look at the world of the
paranormal. Dan will be screening segments of his upcoming film at the
2009 Chicago Ghost Conference.
Doug &
Scott L.
Ghostly Talk Paranormal Radio
Ghostly
Talk remains
one of the most popular and beloved
paranormal-centered radio broadcasts in the nation, thanks in great
part to the teamwork of award-winning hosts Doug and Scott L.
The
Chicago Ghost Conference is delighted to announce that Ghostly Talk
will be recording throughout the conference day, covering the
conference lineup and commenting on the day's events. Stop by
the
recording booth for more information on Ghostly Talk and let the guys
know what you think of the Chicago Ghost Conference!
The Ghostman
& Demon Hunter Show!
The
Ghostman—Shaun Burris, a
blue collar ghost hunter for over 10 years--and Nathan
Schoonover—AKA the Demon
Hunter, a paranormal investigator and counselor for almost 15
years, bring you their smokin' hot podcast every Sunday night
at
9:00 pm. , bringing you famous name guests, inevstigation reports, tips
and information from every corner of the paranormal community.
The
bad boys of the paranormal will be with us to bring the Chiago Ghost
Conference experience to a world of listeners--stop by their recording
booth as they help listeners find "answers to the questions nobody else
is willing to ask!"
Dave Schrader
& DarknessRadio
Originally
from Illinois, Dave Schrader
has been a resident of Minnesota since 1988 when he attended Winona
State College and fell in love with the beauty and people of the great
state. With the growing interest in the world of the paranormal and
supernatural on TV, the movies and literature building each day, Dave
brought his unique views and experiences to the radio. He is the host
of the very successful weekend paranormal radio show, Darkness on the
Edge of Town, a.ka. DarknessRadio. His show is heard every Saturday and
Sunday night from 9pm-Midnight cst on the #1 rated talk radio station
in Minnesota and they stream the show to a worldwide audience from
their website www.KTLKFM.com.
Dave has become one of the most sought after speakers in the paranormal
field, blending insightful tips and a warm sense of humor has led to
him being billed along side paranormal heavy weights, T.A.P.S. founders
Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, Patrick Burns & John Oliver from
TV's Haunting
Evidence,
the cast of Paranormal State,
Chris Fleming of TV's Dead Famous,
Professor Loyd Auerbach, Dr. Barry Taff and more. Dave has had an
active interest in the paranormal since early in his childhood when he
was visited by the spirit of his deceased grandmother, witnessed a
Bigfoot sighting and a few years ago encountered UFO and possible alien
activity over the skies of Trout Lake, Washington. Continued activity
and experiences have kept this passion alive. He has been a
contributing writer to TAPS Para-magazine and now shares his humor,
intelligence and passion in the paranormal every week to a global
audience, entertaining, enlightening and educating listeners
everywhere.
Dave has appeared on numerous radio shows, newspaper and magazine
articles and was featured on the episode, "First Contact" on
A&E's Paranormal State season
2 and will
be appearing on episodes of the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures
second season.
V
E N D O R
S
HORRORBLES MEMORABILIA & COLLECTIBLES
FANTASY HEADQUARTERS:
20% DISCOUNT ON ANY COSTUME ON
OCTOBER 3RD
W/CONFERENCE
WRISTBAND!
A VENDOR'S TABLE AT THE CONFERENCE IS JUST $125 AND INCLUDES TWO $50
FULL PASSES TO THE CONFERENCE! CONTACT US TO BOOK YOUR
VENDORS'
TABLE AT ursulabielski@sbcglobal.net
Other,
non-sponsored events and attractions you may enjoy while in Chicago:
The Houdini
Séance at Excalibur (Saturday at 7pm) Experience the
thrill of a
Victorian spirit circle in one of the most haunted nightspots in
Chicago. Neil Tobin, resident necromancer of Excalibur nightclub and
current President of the Chicago Assembly of the Society of American
Magicians, will lead guests and members of the magic community in
contacting
the departed magician, Harry Houdini, who left his mortal body on
Halloween
over 80 years ago. This theatrical reconstruction of an authentic
Victorian seance lasts approximately 105 minutes and takes place in
Chicago's original Historical Society building, used as a morgue after
the deadly Eastland Disaster of 1915. Price includes
admission to
Excalibur for the evening, which will be hosting a riotous costume
party later that evening.
The
Field Museum of Natural History
The largest natural history museum in
the world is just a few blocks from the Congress Plaza Hotel.
Its
collections include Sue,
one of the world’s finest T-Rex
specimens, Inside
Ancient Egypt, a prime
collection of Ancient Egyptian
artifacts and home of the so-called “Screaming
Mummy,” and
the famed Lions of Tsavo specimens, of Ghost and the Darkness fame.
The
Field’s many supernatural stories inspired the Chicago-based
film, “The Relic.” The
Museum of Science and Industry
A fascinating and ghost-ridden
collection housed in one of the only remaining structures of the 1893
Columbian Exposition. If you loved Devil in the White City,
you’ll want to visit this museum, where serial murderer H.H.
Holmes picked up victims at the World’s Fair--and where his
ghost
is sometimes seen in the Yesterday’s
Main Street exhibit.
The museum also houses the newly-restored U-505 submarine, a gorgeous
vessel haunted by its erstwhile captain, Peter Zsezsch. And
the
museum’s rear portico, overlooking the Jackson Park Lagoon,
is
the haunted home of defense attorney--and phantom--Clarence Darrow,
often seen gazing across the Lagoon he loved, where his ashes were
scattered at death. Prairie
Avenue
Chicago’s easy street in the days after the Great Fire,
the newly-gentrifying Prairie Avenue is now home to the Glessner House
Museum, which gives ghost walks of the Avenue at Halloween time, and
Clarke House, Chicago’s oldest residence, which sponsors
atmospheric October readings of Poe classics in a 19th century setting.
Fright
Fest
Every October, Six Flags Great America turns its grounds into one
of the country’s most sprawling haunted
attractions. Six
Flags is located in Gurnee, about an hour north of Chicago.
Chicago-area
Commercial Haunted Houses You’ll
find them all at www.hauntedhousechicago.com