Parafest 2013 Recap

Enjoying my #parahangover after spending an incredible weekend in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to attend Parafest 2013, which was held at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center.

When I arrived it was early in the day. I took full advantage of this and made a beeline over to where the two Tango's (Dave and Bruce), Steve Gonsalves and Grant Wilson were set up. These guys were great! They were easy to approach, funny and enjoyed meeting their fans. I took a number of pics with them, and got my 8 year old son an autographed photo of Dave and Steve. This got me the Coolest Mom of the Year award when I got home. 9 seasons in and these guys do it with the same dedication and passion as they did the day it all started. Ghost Hunters returns to SyFy Oct. 9th 9/8C.

Brian J Cano (Tech Specialist) and Jason Gates (Investigator/Researcher) from the SyFy show Haunted Collector were also in the house! Brian grew up in Staten Island, NY. There, his exploration into the unknown began at old and abandon buildings near his home. Armed with a plethora of high-tech gadgets and gear, there's no place Brian won't venture into to capture evidence to support the claims of paranormal activity. When not working on cases for the show, Brian produces and edits a paranormal documentary series called SCARED.  Jason spent his early years in Colorado and Idaho. He loves to play a good drum kit, being outdoors and connecting with his fans. Both Jason and Brian have infectious smiles that keep one coming back for another; I am guilty of passing their tables at least 5 times to speak with them and see those smiles, lol!  These two guys were super cool, a lot of fun and do the best photo bombs!

Here is the crème de la crème of my weekend - I finally got to meet, the best of the best, the Booth Brothers! Regular readers of this blog know how much I admire these two amazing souls and how supportive I am of their films. Soon they will be heading to New Orleans to begin filming their latest horror movie. Keep your eyes open for future posts about this movie folks. Philip gave me a quick synopsis; I can not wait for the film to come out in 2014.

Actors and actresses from shows: The Walking Dead, True Blood and Supernatural were also there to meet and greet their fans alongside numerous other celebrity favorites.  I had the pleasure of meeting Lew Temple (Axel, Walking Dead), IronE Singleton (T-Dog, Walking Dead), Kristin Bauer van Straten (Pam, True Blood), Ernie Hudson (Winston Zeddemore, Ghostbusters) and Richard Kiel
(Jaws, The Spy Who Loved Me)

As I write this post, my voice is hoarse and a good nap is in order - two signs that much fun was had! It was an absolute pleasure and honor to spend quality time with everyone; with those whose work I admire. Each of them were genuine and most grateful for their fans.

The venue rocked! All the fans in attendance were awesome! High fives to the organizers of the event, Paradox Entertainment, and to all the kind volunteers. You all did a great job.