2023 Ravenswood MystiCon

On Saturday, October 7th, the Ravenswood Public Library in Ravenswood, WV hosted its second annual Ravenswood MystiCon! This sleepy lil’ river town really knows how to capitalize off its spooky name and come together to put on a really nice FREE smaller-scale paranormal convention.

I didn’t attend last year, and honestly debated as to whether or not I was going to this year, as there was actually another event that same day that I was interested in attending. I’m really glad I gave it a shot, though! We arrived about 15-20 minutes after the event started and found ample parking nearby. We gave a quick peruse of the outside vendors, before heading in to say hello to this year’s speaker line-up. Being in the field as long as I have, I knew just about everyone scheduled to speak!

After a bit of small talk, JR (yeah, my husband made a rare appearance!) and I went to find seats and settled in to listen to the speakers. Hearing the lectures on various paranormal topics is always my favorite part of any convention. I like to keep up with the research being done in this field, and I’m always down with learning new snippets of information. As we were waiting, we took note of the extensive and creative decorations adorning every available space in the library, giving it a fun, spooky, magical feel.

Tony Breeden

Tony Breeden was the first speaker we had the pleasure of listening to, and he gave a humorous and fact-filled talk all about WV’s very own controversial ufologist, Gray Barker. Since I know Tony from the monthly St. Albans Paranormal Discussion Group, I was already familiar with his views on Barker, but it was a really fun refresher on such a fascinating topic. Next up was Ashley Hilt, a Fortean researcher and podcast host (On Wednesdays We Talk Weird) who specializes in the topic of Mothman. She gave an interesting talk about the Men in Black phenomenon, and even shared her own crazy encounter with a possible MIB. Her talk was also very informative, and hilarious at times. As a bonus…I got to sit next to Linda Sigman during the presentation! Linda is an original Mothman witness who spoke about her experiences at this year’s Mothman Festival. I also picked up a copy of her book while in Pt. Pleasant, so I was happy to get the chance to tell her how much I enjoyed it. 

Ashley Hilt

We had a brief interlude after Ashley spoke, so we grabbed a snack from the food trucks. I had a yummy chicken fajita from Jimmy Avocado’s.  As the temperature had recently plummeted, we hurried back inside to settle in for the next speaker. While waiting, I checked my phone, and my sister had another pleasant surprise for me: an interview on ghost hunting I gave to Amanda Larch that had been published in the Charleston Gazette the previous weekend had been posted online as well! My sister sent me the link and saved me a physical copy of the newspaper! 

Ron Lanham

Ron Lanham, who also appeared in the article, speaking about Wild and Weird West Virginia, was up next. He spoke on a variety of things going on in the paranormal field and within his own research. I’d heard quite a bit before from other presentations (seriously, at this point, I feel like a Wild and Weird Groupie, with all the events I follow them to, lol) but there was some never-before-seen footage from their investigation of the RAVENSWOOD LIBRARY! Seems like this little community hub is home to spooky things more than just once a year! As always, Ron’s talk was excellent, and he had plenty of embedded QR codes for further information, which is a really cool touch.

The last speaker we saw was WV author, researcher, and TV personality Dave Spinks. Dave talked a little about UFOs, cryptids, AND ghosts/hauntings, mainly in West Virginia, but also those pertaining to his research worldwide. Even though I had heard Dave speak before, there were a lot of stories and details that I hadn’t heard previously, so that was awesome. Plus, he even took a minute to shout out my blog, so that was super appreciated as well!

Dave Spinks

After Dave spoke, we did one final lap around the inside-vendors, picking up a hot chocolate bomb for Luke, and a weird little musical instrument for JR. I snagged some books from both Tony and Dave, and JR picked out a UFO art print of Ron’s…which, get this: using the app Artivive, MOVES. It’s the coolest/freakiest thing I’ve seen in a long time, lol. 

Anyway, we had a lot of fun, despite the fact that we didn’t really take advantage of all the cool things on offer. There was also a costume contest going on, an Escape Room, photo booth, psychic readings, door prizes (we were there between 12:15 and 4:45 and never heard these called?), LOTS of merch, and live music later in the day. But, I got to see what I really wanted to see…and that was my paranormal family. My earlier years in this field were filled with groups not getting along and not working together, and even though that’s still true for many areas, I feel like I’ve finally found a supportive community that works together to further this field along. Of course, I love spending every minute I can with like-minded people doing like-minded things, making this weekend another incredible one!