PhantomFest 2019 is Hosted and Sponsored by Black Diamond Paranormal Society, BlogTalkRadio show Within the Chaos, Meade's Computer Repair and Elk Garden School Community Ministry. The PhantomFest is geared for the likeminded and enthusiasts and researchers in the fields of the Paranormal, UFO’s, Cryptozoology, Comics, Horror Films, Gamers, Cosplay, Metaphysical, Spiritual, Artists, Authors, Ancient Civilizations, Tattoo Artists, Unexplained Mysteries, Super Hero’s, FX Horror Artists, Steampunk, Costume Contest, SyFy and so much more! The Fest offers a unique and interesting outlook on the abnormal. The PhantomFest will be held on November 2nd, 2019 at The Russell County Conference Center 139 Highland Dr. Lebanon, Virginia. Starting at 10:00 a.m. and going to 6:00 p.m. Tickets are $7.00 per person, ages 0 to 6 are FREE! or Tickets can be reduced to $5.00 per person with 2 nonperishable food items, to be donated to the Elk Garden School Community Ministry to help families during the Thanksgiving Season. Any nonperishable food donations will be happily received. Also, we will have a FREE Costume Contest for all ages.

Guest Speakers: Returning this year, Bill and Kris Reap of Reap Investigations, Giant Researcher Heather Arnold. New to this year’s PhantomFest Guest Speakers: Dave Spinks, Ron Whitehead, Jake Fife, Chad Zumwalt & Whitney Benson, Ami Green, Barry Gaunt, Bridget Baker, C&C Paranormal Investigations, Dennis Estlock, GOREgeous, Miranda Young and Michelle Duell Wagner.

Special Appearances by: Cosplay Bridget Baker, Martial Arts Christian Yeah Yeah Thompson and Token Nihilist Cosplay, Arthur Stump, Chris DeHart, Grace Layman, Rafeal Bertiz and The Wytheville Ghostbusters.

Vendors: 222 Paranormal Podcast, Tiller Paparazzi Jewelry, Black Diamond Paranormal Society / Within The Chaos, Archvillain-Comics, Cat Chick Jewelry and Crafts, Coal Camp Creations, DJ Hobby Center, Elk Garden School Community Ministry, Ellen Apple, Freakin Awesome Paranormal Show, Damsel In Defense, Geek Corps, Hollows Glow, Kaitlin Baker, Lambert Lollies, Oral Frazier, Plunder Design, Shugs Food-A-Palooza, Stephen Barcelo - Cryptozoology & Paranormal Museum, Ted Van Son Jr, The Flippy Family, Yangos Forge, Twisted Paranormal Society and Witches of The Mystic Cauldron

PhantomFest website: www.phantomfest.org

Find us on Facebook PhantomFest: www.facebook.com/PhantomFest/

Our Email: phantomfest1@yahoo.com

Also find us at: http://blackdiamondps.org/phantomfest/phantomfest-2019/

For more information please contact Rodney Shortridge at 276-970-1456

Guest Speakers

Bridget Baker

Bridget Baker

I’m a 22-year-old cosplayer from Southern West Virginia. I’ve only been cosplaying for around two years now. Some of my hobbies include gaming, cosplaying, reading manga, watching anime and taking care of my pet rats. I also have a cosplay page as well it’s @Kaiju Cosplay

C&C Paranormal Investigations

C&C Paranormal Investigations 

is a group based out of Strasburg, Va., and has been on the scene since the year 2000. C&C has a diverse group of members that when put to work, are unstoppable. Investigators for the Order of St. Michaels, they pride themselves on being a team that keeps God at the forefront of their organization, but still catering to the many different beliefs brought before them.

Armed with the many scientific tools of the field, they also bring in physical, and mental health issues, that may be an underlying issue. We are very devoted to our clients and will stop at nothing to get them the help they are asking for. ALL OF OUR SERVICES ARE FREE FOR EVERYONE!!!

Dave Spinks

Dave Spinks

has been researching and Investigating the Paranormal since 1986 in various aspects, due to several experiences he had as a young man.  He retired from over a 20-year Career in the U.S. Military and Federal Law Enforcement in 2011. Since that time, he has investigated the paranormal on a full-time basis and has conducted several hundred investigations during his time researching the supernatural.  Dave not only investigates Haunting’s, he investigates reports of strange creatures as well as UFO encounters.  he has investigated some of the most notoriously reportedly Haunted locations in the U.S. and several in Europe.  all of this has led to numerous hair raising and unnerving encounters as one might imagine.  Recently Dave purchased the infamous Haunted house known as willows weep to further his study of the phenomena related to haunting's.  his sole purpose in investigating the Paranormal is to answer some of man's greatest questions.  Is there life after death? Are we alone in the Universe? Are there unknown creatures walking among us?  he believes there is and that alone is his motivation. 

Dave has been featured on numerous syndicated radio shows, to include coast to coast am and darkness radio.  He has been seen on the Discovery Network's /Destination America’s " Terror in the woods" T.V. Show, He was also featured in Small Town Monsters, Movie, The Flatwoods monster " a Legacy of Fear ", Paranormal zone T.V., several local news stations just to name a few.  He is often requested to be a guest at paranormal conferences as well as a guest speaker on many topics in the supernatural realm.  He also contributed to the new highly successful book series, Woodknocks distributed by leprechaun productions.

if you are interested in booking him as a guest or featured speaker email crpinvestigations@gmail.com

Haunted M.D

Donald Molnar MD is an internal medicine physician by day and a paranormal investigator by night. Don is the founder of the Haunted M.D. project which allows him to combine his passion of ghost investigating with being a practicing physician.  Since 2001 Don has been out of training working as a doctor for various health systems including, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio and the University of Virginia Health system in Charlottesville. He was born and raised in Lorain, Ohio before doing his undergraduate and medical training in the Akron, Ohio area. He worked in Wooster, Ohio after finishing training and moved to Charlottesville in 2009. Don notes having paranormal and ghostly experiences all his life and he finally joined Twisted Paranormal Society (TPS) out of Fishersville, Virginia in 2012 to be able to investigate these curious experiences.  As a part of TPS he has investigated many locations private and public. Some notable investigations include Hill View Manor, Fort Mifflin, St Albans, The Exchange Hotel, Dunnlora Inn and the USS North Carolina. Don can be seen in several of the episodes of the Twisted Realm which is a video production of the investigations of TPS which has been aired on PBS Virginia and now is seen on VIDI space and Amazon prime. In May 2018 Don started Haunted M.D. to talk about being a ghost investigating medical doctor and in March 2019 he decided to focus on it, stepping away from TPS/The Twisted Realm. The goals of Haunted M.D. include doing lectures for conventions, conferences or any group of interested folks; conducting investigations; and helping other teams or individuals with investigations. He approaches investigations using the same methods he uses to evaluate patients, paying close attention to details. He feels it is important to get the chief complaint, history of the present haunting, past paranormal history, past investigation history, history of any previous attempts to cleanse a location  or to treat the haunting, medical and psychologic history of the people involved at the location, drug and alcohol history at the location. After gathering this data, he then conducts his exam or investigation of the location looking for normal and paranormal causes of possible ghostly activity. Next, he reviews the data collected to formulate a final assessment and potential treatment plan for the location. Don provides a written report to the client(s). Besides investigations and lectures, he posts a wide variety of interesting items on the Haunted M.D. FB page and on Don Molnar Haunted MD YouTube page. The posts include thought provoking paranormal concepts along with educational videos and intriguing pieces of evidence. Go check out Haunted M.D. on FB and give him a like and Don Molnar Haunted MD on YouTube and subscribe to his page!

Heather Arnold

Heather L. Arnold, a graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, had a 10-year career in television industry as a copywriter, and as a marketing and sales executive in Los Angeles and Manhattan, followed by a 5-year career in pharmaceutical sales in Manhattan. In the early 2000’s she was given the opportunity to move from New York to the Caribbean island of Aruba to start her own tour company, where her quest for historically accurate tours led her to the discovery of the Giants. After a successful run with her company, Heather returned to New York where she continues to pursue the history of the Giants of the Caribbean, and began detailing her finding in her book, “The Islands of the Giants: The Lost Race of Giants of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao.” Her research detailing Giant remains found within an Aruban cave was recently entered into the National Archives of Aruba in 
August 2018. Her research detailing Giant remains found within an Aruban cave was recently entered into the National Archives of Aruba in August 2018 Heather is the curator of the Facebook group: Stones, Bones, and the Paranormal”. She currently lives on Long Island, New York joyfully raising her amazing daughter, who is of Aruban descent. 

Jake Fife

Jake Fife

I am an 18-year-old paranormal investigator from Virginia with over 9 years of in the field investigation experience. I have had paranormal experiences all my life, and those early experiences raised many questions that no one could answer and so I set out to search for the answers to the questions I have about my experiences, the paranormal, and everything classified as "unknown". I co-founded Fife Paranormal with my dad and we investigate haunted locations using a mix of old school methods mixed with new technology to try and record the most paranormal evidence possible. I have run across some pretty disturbing and terrifying things on my investigations, and I have also had encounters with UFO's and Bigfoot on more than one occasion. I also love history and I use my love of history to help me research locations in the field to get a better chance of making intelligent contact on an investigation. I am also a photography and videographer and I apply all these interests to my investigations.

Miranda Young

Miranda Young

creator and star of the hit web series Ghost Biker Explorations is an experienced paranormal investigator, who has turned her passion for photography, history, urban exploration, and motorcycles into a unique and popular show that highlights legends, mysteries and the unexplained. 

Growing up in Robbins, Tennessee, a small town nestled in the Appalachian Mountains and an hour away from the closest metropolitan area, Miranda’s immersion into folklore, ghost stories, and mysteries began at an early age through reading library books and exploring abandoned locations. Her interests were further fostered through long conversations with her 90-year-old grandmother, who would tell her stories about ghosts and legends from the past. 

While continuing to research legends and ghost stories, Miranda earned a degree from Middle Tennessee University and began a career in marketing, graphic design and photography, which afforded her an employment position with a prestigious, international photography company. Due to her expertise in photography and graphic design, in 2013, Miranda was approached by a coworker who asked that she examine several photographs purported to show captured paranormal phenomena. The coworker was the founder and lead investigator on a 4-person paranormal investigation team, and he deferred to Miranda’s background and knowledge of photography and photographic elements to determine the legitimacy of these initial photographs. Her professionalism in examining these photographs led to further requests of photo reviews, which then led to an invitation to participate in an investigation with two members from the team. This investigation, conducted at a local restaurant, was a success in that several Class A EVPs were captured, along with intelligent flashlight activity, as well as Miranda being touched by an unseen entity. This initial investigation led to subsequent investigations along with Miranda being formally voted in as a member of the team. Her roles on the team included: investigator, photo analyst, marking specialist, and video/audio evidence producer. 

While Miranda and the team traveled throughout the country investigating at private residences and at well-known paranormal “hotspots”, Miranda never strayed far from her fascination of exploring abandoned locations, photography, and motorcycle riding, and she would often embark on solo adventures to engage in these endeavors. Telling the stories of the history, the legends, and the ghostly tales of lesser known locations through her photographs, blogs and posts on her social media pages, interest in Miranda and her personal explorations grew. Miranda, in a joke with a friend, mentioned that she should call herself “The Ghost Biker”, to which her friend exclaimed “I’d watch that show!”. Encouraged further by friends, family, and fans, Miranda designed a logo and began creating a plan to film and produce a new and unique show entitled: Ghost Biker Explorations. GBE was designed around the concept of highlighting Miranda, along with her motorcycle, as she travels to various towns to figure out the mysteries within the ghost stories and legends that have been passed down throughout the generations. 

Since 2018, Ghost Biker Explorations has amassed a large fan base over various social media outlets. GBE is unique among other paranormal web series because it has a scheduled release date and time for each episode during the month of October; a full-scale marketing blitz for these releases, which starts in September, includes teasers, trailers, episode countdowns, and promotional podcasts and media events. While Miranda’s passion for travel, history, motorcycles and the paranormal are emphasized in each episode, the ultimate goal of GBE is to tell the history and stories of small-town locations, that might otherwise be lost among the popularity of other “commercialized” paranormal sites. Miranda’s ability to highlight the history, legends, and possible paranormal activity at these locations has endeared herself to her fans and has allowed her and GBE to emerge as a fresh and unique concept within the paranormal community. Each episode of GBE contains enough history and mystique that it can carry the episode, even if paranormal activity was not evident during the investigation. This has also allowed for a diverse fan base. There’s something for everyone, whether they enjoy the paranormal or are just a history buff.

Since the release of season #1 in October of 2018, Miranda’s popularity within the paranormal community and within the biker community has grown, and is continuing to grow, as she has been invited to be a speaker at multiple paranormal conventions, a guest on multiple podcasts and radio shows, as well as a guest investigator at several charity events. With GBE branded and trademarked merchandise that includes shirts, hats, photographs of the featured locations, as well hand drawn artwork of featured locations, the GBE website showcases Miranda’s varied and unique talents that extends beyond the episodes of the show. The expansion of Ghost Biker Explorations, is set to continue with an exciting 2019 schedule that includes: the second season release in October, numerous investigations to new locations, several collaborations with other paranormal investigation groups, speaking engagements at various conventions, and guest appearances on various podcasts and radio shows. Miranda’s popularity within the biker community is also growing, with Harley Davidson contacting her directly with an invitation to host her Season 2 Release Party and Meet and Greet at the Harley Davidson location in Chattanooga, TN. She was also approached and asked to wear and endorse motorcycle leathers, armored jackets and luggage for a west coast company. Motorcycle groups from across the country have also contacted Miranda in an attempt to schedule her for guest appearances and to participate in and/or coordinate motorcycle rides and bike nights at historic locations. 

Currently, you can follow along with Miranda and Ghost Biker Explorations on the Ghost Biker Explorations Facebook page, YouTube channel and the GBE website. Miranda is also active on Instagram (Runaway Vixen) and on Twitter.

 Bill and Kris Reap

Bill and Kris Reap

R.E.A.P. Investigations Mission to educate and make the public aware of the paranormal and to help those being affected by researching and investigating possible paranormal activity and the legends of hauntings on the east coast and across the country.

Our primary focus is private residences and local business but sometimes we will investigate the "Historically Haunted" places for fun.

Our primary goal is to debunk possible paranormal activity and then focus on what cannot be debunked.

We believe in preserving history through the paranormal and help many locations raise money to preserve history thru the PARANORMAL.

Special Appearances

Chris DeHart

Chris DeHart

After getting his BFA in painting from Radford Chris immediately joined the Wohlfarth Haus set crew painting backdrops and building sets.  Every eight weeks they churned out 35 ft backdrops, castles, mansions, villages, and props at an incredible pace.  Weaving straw into stage gold for 13 years and working various haunts for 7 has blended for a unique skill set.  Now he has taken a studio at the WV famous Gary Bowling's House of Art in Bluefield where they’ve started making a new haunt based in the historic Ramsey Elementary.

Christian Yeah Yeah Thompson

Christian Yeah Yeah Thompson

I’ve studied all kinds of martial arts but specialize in weapons and the weirder the weapon the better. I have studied weapons for 15 years and have 2 national titles for weapons and have been doing fire performance for 4 years. Instagram: yeahyeahninja Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christian.m.thompson.9

Rafeal Bertiz

Rafeal Bertiz is a humble costume and prop maker who specializes in foam fabrication under the name Netherworks Costumes. Having attended multiple conventions such as mag fest, katsucon, and dragoncon, He aims to show the power of humility and perseverance even in the darkest of nights.

The Wytheville Ghostbusters

PhantomFest 2019 Costume Contest

PhantomFest 2019 Costume Contest
FREE ENTRY-FOR ALL AGES
Starting at 2:00 PM
Category - Judging
Craftsmanship
Hair and Make-up   
Presentation   
Originality   
Adherence or Adaptation to/from 
Source Material   

Vendors

222 Paranormal Podcast

Jennifer and Joe Shortridge

Brother and Sister duo Joe and Jen have been interested in all things paranormal bring you the award winning, 222 Paranormal Podcast. With over 150 episodes 222 Paranormal Podcast brings your personal experiences, news from the paranormal world and special guests. With topics such as Hauntings, Possessions Bigfoot and more. Guest From all over the globe such as Jeff Belanger, the late Stanton Friedman, Andrea Perron and many more. 222 Paranormal Podcast is always interested in your stories and would love to have your story on our show.

Black Diamond Paranormal Society & Blogtalk Radio Within The Chaos - Sponor 

Black Diamond Paranormal Society
Rodney Shortridge started this organization to search and find evidence of the paranormal. 
Through the years I have experienced and witnessed many unexplained phenomena.  I have heard footsteps and whistling when no one is there.  I have been followed by apparitions and had been awakened by the deceased. My Uncle shared with me evidence of EVP's (electronic voice phenomena) and ghostly photos that he has collected through the years of investigation the paranormal.  We sat down and discussed creating a  paranormal group for this area.  Within weeks I came up with BDPS. I have put together a team of paranormal investigators and started in August 2008 investigating the Southwestern Virginia & Southern West Virginia area.
Within the Chaos 
iis a radio show delving into a wide range of topics such as the paranormal world, 
cryptozoology, legends, myths, science, entertainers, theorist, religion, aliens, political, 
social issues and so much more the show is intended to enlighten, educate, entertain all 
listeners young and old. Host Rodney Shortridge, and guests will discuss and converse on a vast list of topics. Come join Within the Chaos as we try to put order to the chaos. 

Archvillain-Comics

Cat Chick Jewelry and Crafts

Coy Witt - Aqua Clean

Coy Witt- distributor since 2006. We have a brand-new location in Rosedale, VA. Introducing the brand-new Rainbow SRX model.

D&J Hobby Center

D&J Hobby Center in Galax, Virginia has been serving our local model and gaming community for twenty-two years. We carry a variety of Model Kits, Table-Top Gaming Supplies, RPG’s, Dice, Paints, and Hobby Tools. We are supplied by one of the largest hobby distributors in the U.S.A. While we can’t carry everything at our location, we can get a great variety of items! We offer great customer service and will do our best to help you with your modeling or gaming needs. We have special orders and shipping available for you if you’re not able to come to out to our store.

D&J Hobby Center

106 Nuckolls Curve Road

Galax, Va. 24333

276-233-6852

Hours:

Mon-Sat: 10am-7pm

Elk Garden School Community Ministry - Sponsor 

The Elk Garden School Community Ministry exists to improve the physical, mental, social and spiritual health of the community.

Elk Garden School Community Ministry is a sponsor to this year's PhantomFest 2019 they will set up to receive donations for the food pantry to help local families have a special Thanksgiving. Everyone that brings 2 nonperishable food items tickets for the PhantomFest will be $5.00 each a discount of $2.00 from the original cost of $7.00 per ticket.... kids 0-6 get free admission.... all nonperishable donation food items are welcomed.... for more information go to Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/egschoolcommunityministry/

Damsel In Defense

Kaitlin Baker

Kaitlin Baker I’m a 23-year-old Wiccan. I have a love for the night and anything remotely horrible or creepy.   I cosplay and own a small jewelry business. I work event such as metal in the mountains and an upcoming event such as fearfestwv. If you haven’t check out the amazing events out, then you should.

Lambert Lollies

Oral Frazier

Oral Ryan Frazier, the author of Rise of Lord Tharagen, is a graduate of Concord University with a Bachelor of Arts in Creative and Professional Writing. While attending, he was the Head Editor of Concord Reflexes, a literary arts program at the college, and served the English Department as a tutor and teacher’s aide, assisting panicked students with their essays. Honing his craft from the tutelage of some of the greatest minds in the state, he eagerly looks forward to a lifetime of writing.

Native son of West Virginia, Mr. Frazier is a passionate writer who loves sharing the exciting (occasionally grim) stories of his characters and believes that any goal can be accomplished with hard work and the right mindset. Currently hard at work on the next novel in the Tharagen Series and planning more books for the future!

my website/blog is orfrazier.wordpress.com and I have amazon and Facebook author pages if needed.

If there's anything else I can get to you that you need, please don't hesitate to ask.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VJfON2AYfk    Trailer 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHc00gLnyag   Trailer 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyxFsYYkUVk   Trailer 3

The Flippy Family

The Flippy Family

Dennis Warren aka Dionysis Metalcult aka The Spectacular Stache is a comic book creator, heavy metal musician, and professional wrestler/manager. Jerri Warren is an artist, writer, and craftsperson of handmade leather and pottery pieces. Flippy The Dachshund and Zombie Stardust are a couple of Wonder Wieners who just happen to star in their coloring comic book series, created by the Warrens. Known collectively as "The Flippy Family", this oddball, vagabond, traveling dog and comic, circus sideshow act is a one of a kind attraction! It features a personal petting zoo starring the very friendly Flip & Zom, a coloring station with Flippy The Dachshund comics to color, a wide selection of cool Flippy stuff + vintage comics from the 1940s-modern day, along with magazines, pulps, toys, sci-fi/horror/ufo/cryptid/paranormal/antique books, artwork created by the Warrens, and other truly awesome stuff. Drop by their booth, meet the Wonder Wieners and their parents, check out some very interesting, odd, and rare items you'll find nowhere else on planet earth!"

Yango’s Forge

Twisted Paranormal Society

The Twisted Paranormal Society was formed in July 2011 to work towards helping individuals, families, or businesses understand the activity that they may be dealing with whether it is paranormal or not. We investigate all claims presented!!! We also investigate many of Virginia and beyond most "HAUNTED" locations. With our interests sparked in the paranormal field just over 7 years ago, along with family and friends we created Twisted Paranormal Society. We are a group of individuals that share a common interest in the field of paranormal studies. Our services are totally free because we enjoy what we do and don't feel it is right to charge someone who is seeking answers. We have been recognized for local investigations on networks WHSV TV3 out of Harrisonburg, Va., and WVIR CH29 News out of Charlottesville, Va. We were also recognized in the Staunton, Va. News Leader for the investigation of one of the towns well known restaurants and recognized in the Charlottesville Weekly for its annual Halloween edition. We received the best team showing at the 2012 ParaCon at the Exchange Hotel and 2014 ParaCon at the Boxwood Inn events. www.twistedparanormalsociety.com

Witches of The Mystic Cauldron

Witches of The Mystic Cauldron. That’s our coven name. And what we are basically goanna do is just sell crafts we make from wreaths, oils, candles, necklaces, Wands, and witch starter kits etc. much much more. We are also goanna do tarot readings. 

My name is Krissie Cline. I’m from southern West Virginia and I’m 25 years old and a mother of one. I’m a caregiver during the day and a paranormal researcher at night. I’m also a witch and I do sfx makeup in my spare time as well as study demonology and all things paranormal and make crafts for our coven.

My name is Jessica McKinney I am 23 years old. I am a customer representative and going into paranormal research at night. I'm a witch and love doing sfx, crafts and learning new things in my spare time.

My name is Melinda Jackson I am 46 years old in the mother of three grown children I am a pagan high priestess a sensitive and an empath I love all things paranormal and magical and Halloween I love making oils candles and doing magic.

My name is Goldia Davis. I am 33 years old and from Southwest Virginia. I study elementals, herbology, and the old ways. I love all things Nature, Magickal, and Supernatural. I'm also interested in shamanism, really all things supernatural. I love to learn.