By Natalie Fowler
Halloween came early this year for some, when the Crypticon horror convention oozed, gave a sneer, and crept its way into town.
Our Ghost Stories, Inc. crew was thrilled to be the featured paranormal group. A huge shout out to the organizers (again) for putting on such a great event.
We were a little nervous when we realized our panel was scheduled for the hour between the close of the exhibit doors and the monster ball, but thankfully, we didn’t have to speak to an empty room. If you were one of the loyal fans that came to see our video and ask us a few questions, we sure are glad you stuck around! And to all those new fans who stayed to meet us for the first time, we’re so happy to add you to our list of friends!
Being new to the group, I wasn’t sure what to expect with Crypticon. I’ve never been to anything like it before. Sure, I write about ghosts, and I love a good creepy thriller. But I tend to steer clear of the hacker movies. Don’t tell anyone…but blood, guts and gore have never really been my thing. And while we are telling secrets, here’s another: I sort of had to close my eyes for some of the special effects booths (I didn’t want to have nightmares).
So imagine my surprise when I realized how nice everyone was. I loved to see how excited both the vendors and attendees were, just to be there. The costumes were amazing and creative. And of course, scary. It was fun to meet some of the featured actors. Felix Silla and Carel Stuycken of Adams Family fame (among many other movies between the two of them) were kind, and hearing about their start in Hollywood many years ago was fascinating. Listening to Carmen Reed talk about the real life events that inspired the movie, The Haunting in Connecticut, was chilling. We had so many great conversations with everyone at Crypticon, it’s impossible to name them all here.
While Corey Feldman’s line of fans snaked out the event room and down the adjacent hallway, we all agree that our favorite LOST BOYS Frog Brother is Jamison Newlander. We even get to brag that he became our 1,000th follower on Twitter, which naturally means that we’ll be sending him a GSI t-shirt (I’m sure this news has him jumping up and down like an excited girl at a One Direction concert).
And while Jamison may have thought Jessica was kidding when she offered to take him on a ghost hunt, the fact that she’s already talking about booking tickets to L.A. and coordinating a group investigation with her friend Dan Santat (who probably doesn’t even remember agreeing to go ghost hunting with her) and her screenwriting partner Jay Asher (who is almost as excited about going ghost hunting with GSI as Ralphie was to unwrap his Red Ryder in a Christmas Story) indicates that she means business.
On behalf of GSI, I’d like to thank all of our new and old friends for being part of our creative journey into the paranormal. And we wish you a happy Halloween…may you enjoy the frights and sights and eat Snickers and Starbursts until you feel like you want to puke!