As I wrapped up my last night of Michigan Paracon 2023, I casually danced along to Baby Got Back with a renowned medium and a real-life demonologist as I sipped on some margaritas. How I ended up there sounds like it should be a wild story, but therein lies the magic of MI Paracon- it's a place where all the strange and unusual is simply the everyday.

This was the first event of this kind I’ve attended, and I was admittedly feeling nervous about it. I think part of that anxiety started at the beginning, when I decided to attend. Even though that decision was easy, it was much more difficult to nail down plans, especially because Sault Ste. Marie (affectionately called "The Soo") is a small town that's challenging and expensive to travel in and out of.

To make it easier (read: "cheaper") I flew into Detroit, where my friend Heidi picked me up. Together we drove five hours north through beautiful Michigan to the Upper Peninsula and on to Sault Ste. Marie. We checked into our unique Airbnb- a renovated old church right by the International Bridge to Canada. It was the perfect spot to stay for this event- a little old and creepy, but with everything you need for your stay. Like pretty much everything in town, it was only about ten minutes from the Kewadin Casino where the convention is held.

*Our Airbnb- Seven Bridges Chapel in Sault Ste. Marie*

That night we attended the “Pre-Game Party” which kicked off with two panels and lots of drinks in the one non-smoking bar. There I got to meet one of my new best friends, Lauren Hellekson of Liliana Marie Creative/Lauren Haunts (she makes custom rem pods along with doing other amazing things- go check her out). Then we meandered into another bar in the casino where we mingled and made some more new friends.

Let me pause my little journal entry here to tell you- by the end of the first night, only a few hours into this convention, I was already blown away by the vibes. My whole life I’ve been interested in the paranormal and weird stuff like this, and I’ve always felt I had to hide that, or diminish it, because it was too taboo to talk about with other people. This felt almost like a “coming out” of sorts- for the first time in my life I could walk up to just about anyone and talk about these things, and they’d be just as excited as I was. Beyond that, everyone was just incredibly kind and friendly and open. The energy all over this place was really incredible to behold.

Unfortunately Thursday and Friday I had to work during the day, so I did miss out on some of the workshops and vendor markets and things, but I was able to do plenty of people watching. There were a lot of paranormal experts and celebrities arriving late due to some travel snafus (I’m telling you- it’s hard to get to this place) and something I noticed was how many people were flocking to these folks. It made my heart hurt a little for them that they weren’t able to have a moment of anonymity or peace, from the time they got there to the time they got into their room. At the same time, they were all so gracious and took the time to talk to their fans and never seemed annoyed or put out. As someone who works in the film industry and often deals with celebrities, it was refreshing to see how down to earth and approachable everyone was. It felt like we were ALL there as fans of the paranormal, which definitely contributed to those good vibes.

*Spooky Sis Heidi Willis with paranormal expert MJ Dickson*

Something they don’t tell you ahead of time is that the workshops and galleries listed on the website are not the only events on the schedule, and the full list of talks or live events aren’t revealed until the week ahead of the convention. A couple notes on that- if there are workshops listed that you absolutely MUST go to, go ahead and buy tickets, a lot of them do sell out. But if you’re considering signing up for one just because it’s a celebrity you want to see, you could consider waiting to see the full schedule to see if they're doing any sessions that are included in your ticket, or you could even just plan to see them in the vendor areas for a meet-and-greet. To be honest, you’ll probably also run into them around the casino, but keep in mind they may be exhausted and bombarded with folks all day, so they may just want to head up to their room and not get caught up chatting with their fans.

Speaking of workshops and galleries, I did sign up for a handful, some of which were absolutely worthwhile. If you get a chance to hear Jeff Belanger, no matter the topic, do it. He’s hilarious and brilliant and his presentations are so well done. I also really enjoyed Karen Dahlman’s spirit board workshop- she’s so fun and takes all the stigma out of using spirit boards for investigation, so by the time you break into groups to test out your skills, you feel totally at ease.

*Jeff Belanger telling scary Christmas stories*

As far as the other sessions went, there were so many I didn’t get to experience, but I can tell you from all the buzz that some of the presenters you don’t want to miss are Mike Ricksecker, Andrea Perron, and MJ Dickson. Jessica Knapik also absolutely crushed the closing session, so if you have a chance to see her, take it, for sure.

These are all just a sampling of what is offered, and the photos below give you an idea of what the schedule looks like. From the time the event kicks off each day until well after the event technically closes down for the night, there’s plenty to keep you busy and having fun. The afterparties in the casino bars included karaoke, dancing, plenty of drinks, a little gambling, and lots of chat about everything spooky.

By the time the weekend came to a close very late on Saturday night (ok, more like early Sunday morning), I remarked to my new friends that I felt a bit sad for it to end, like I was leaving spooky summer camp and I hoped to stay in touch with all my new friends. I think that feeling was kind of going around, as many of us connected on social media into the wee hours on Sunday and started making plans for next year. A lot of folks bought their tickets for 2024 or signed up to be a vendor before they even left for home.

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If you’re interested in attending next year (or sometime in the future) too, I’ve put together some quick thoughts and tips to hopefully make it easy and enjoyable for you. As always, your mileage may vary, but these were all things that came to mind after my first time.

1) Dress in layers. For us, the weather outside was really pleasantly spooky- cool and misty the whole week. Inside, depending what room you’re in, it can be sweltering or frigid. So be sure to wear something lighter-weight and bring a warm sweater or jacket.

2) Bring snacks. The food at the casino is… not great. And there’s not really a lot of time to leave and grab food and come back between sessions. There’s a gift shop with some chips and candy and such, but I’d also recommend tossing some snacks in your bag in case you get hungry.

3) Don’t bring a backpack. A couple of us were kicked out of the casino/bar areas because we were carrying a backpack. The reason is both because of cheating at gambling as well as security purposes. They agreed to let us keep our bags as long as we stayed in the convention area and didn’t enter the bars or gaming floors. Tote bags seemed to be okay, as well as shopping bags from the vendors.

4) Wear comfy shoes AND a watch. You’re gonna be walking a lot (I got about 8-10k steps a day on average, with my most active day hitting 15k). You’ll also want to keep up with the time to be sure you get to all your sessions, and you don’t want to be rude and pull out your phone in front of the presenters.

5) Bring cash. Aside from buying lots of great stuff from the vendors, there’s folks you’ll want to tip, from the bar staff to the bellhops to the restaurant servers, and there’s also a lot of businesses in this small town that don’t accept cards- including the cab services. So bring cash for sure.

6) The casinos make the whole building really smoky. Even though there’s plenty of non-smoking areas, the smell really permeates everything, including your clothes (and your lungs). Several people wore face masks to help, and I’d definitely recommend that if you’re sensitive.

7) The vendors are spread out through the building and are not open during all hours of the event, so be sure to check the hours for the vendor spaces and make sure you explore all the different rooms where they’re stationed.

8) Another note on what to wear- I recommend wearing something that starts conversations. As a bubbly introvert, I get nervous approaching people I don’t know, so I purposely wore outfits that I knew would help break the ice. I brought a Haunted Mansion print purse and wore a Star Wars/Disney shirt and both times folks came up to talk about those things.

9) Speaking of which- don’t be afraid to approach people and chat. I’ve never been some place where people are so easy to connect with. It was wonderful.

10) Buy your tickets and book your room early. The VIP tickets to Paracon 2024 were sold out within a couple of days of Paracon 2023. And rooms at the casino fill up quickly as well. While we loved our Airbnb, we also felt that staying at the hotel would have made things a lot easier overall.

11) Look at alternate travel options. Flying into Sault Ste. Marie is EXPENSIVE and challenging. There are other airport options within a few hours, but you may need to rent a car or catch a ride with someone who’s driving. Next year, I think I’ll make the 14 hour drive instead of flying, and just make a week of exploring along the way.

12) Lastly- be open to new experiences. If you asked me if I ever thought I’d travel to the UP to spend four days talking to ghost hunters, psychics, exorcists, energy healers, and Ufologists, I’d call you a liar. If you told me I’d then be in the parking lot of a Michigan casino late at night listening to Andrea Perron singing to the skies to summon spaceships, I’d laugh in your face. I also would have never expected to be using a mini-CD as a planchette on a laminated spirit board in a conference room with thirty strangers, but I did that too. All of those little moments were totally unexpected and absolutely made the whole week so memorable.

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To wrap things up, Michigan Paracon was such a unique experience. One that I needed way more than I realized. It gave me such a renewed sense of who I am and what I want to do, and it brought me a ton of new friendships and acquaintances that I’m thrilled to watch flourish. It was worth every penny and every bit of the difficult journey to get there. If you get a chance to go in the future, I highly recommend you give it a try, and hopefully you leave feeling just as fulfilled and energized as I did.

Check out social media for some bonus pics of the whole experience. :)

Follow this page for updates on the 2024 MI Paracon as we get closer to the event.
https://saultstemarie.com/events-calendar/michigan-paranormal-convention/

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