The Mass Monster Mash

On Saturday October 18, I'll be speaking at the annual Mass Monster Mash gig on the subject of Bigfoot in Britain. Here's all the details of the event, location, website details, price, and much more. Check it out if you're in the area; it looks like it will be a great event!

MASS MONSTER MASH Paranormal Infotainment that brings the fear back to Halloween!

EVENT DETAILS FOR THE 2008 MASS MONSTER MASH

Five Outstanding Researchers Set To Speak On Paranormal Phenomena

Watertown, MA -- When darkness falls on Saturday, the 18th of October, 2008, five experts will speak about unexplained phenomena at the Hibernian Hall in Watertown, Massachusetts. The topics of discussion will include Mothman, Weird Massachusetts, Haunted Baseball, Phantom Hitchhikers, the Loch Ness Monster 75th Anniversary, the Bridgewater Triangle and Bigfoot in England! It's time for the third annual "Mass Monster Mash", New England's premiere paranormal conference!

Esteemed cryptozoologist and popular author Loren Coleman will present his detailed research and chronology from his book Mothman and Other Curious Encounters of the incredible Mothman sightings, a series of odd encounters with a winged humanoid that took place in 1966 in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Some feel that this "flap" indirectly caused several fatalities, including a massive bridge collapse. Loren will refer to the hit movie The Mothman Prophecies and give a current assessment and perspective of one of the classic historical cryptozoological mysteries of our time. He may even defer to the "Houston Batman" incident as well as the "Lawndale Thunderbird". Coleman, the world's greatest living paranormal researcher, will provide unique insight into his research of this unexplained incident that rattled an Appalachian community 32 years ago. As he will be making a rare Boston appearance, he will be available to sign copies of his books, including his culture-changing masterpiece Mysterious America, considered by many to be the seminal book of cryptozoology. It was Coleman who dubbed the anomalous area in Southeastern Massachusetts as the Bridgewater Triangle, which was prominently featured at the 2007 Mass Monster Mash along with Loren's presentation about the "Dover Demon". He also created Cryptomundo, the premiere cryptozoology web site on the World Wide Web.

A rising star - and arguably one of the most versatile paranormal authors in the world today - will be speaking for the second time at the 2008 Mass Monster Mash. Writer Jeff Belanger will once again dazzle the audience with some of his classic legends. Belanger is widely recognized as the most prolific author working in ghost research today. A frequent guest on Rob McConnell's radio show the X-Zone, Belanger is an eloquent speaker who articulates the most chilling accounts of alleged ghost and poltergeist activity. His web site Ghost Village is one of the most popular ghost activity and research portals on the Internet. Jeff's lecture will be entitled "Weird Massachusetts". No, he won't be talking about the state's liberal politics or moral promiscuity. He'll tackle some of the Bay State's greatest paranormal mysteries in its 350-year history. He will be selling his vast array of titles that encompass poltergeist activity such as "The Ghost Files: Paranormal Encounters, Discussion, and Research from the Vaults of Ghostvillage.com".

Another prolific author, paranormal expert, government agitator and professional monster hunter is Nick Redfern. Nick was born in Great Britain and now resides in the United States. He has appeared on more than 60 TV shows to promote his numerous books (including the Sci-Fi Channel). He has traveled to Puerto Rico to search for the legendary Chupacabra and he has appeared on MSNBC with Keith Olbermann. He has lectured at a variety of conferences, including the Laughlin UFO Congress (in 1998 and 2001); the Mutual UFO Network Conference in 2004; the Aztec UFO Conference in 2003; the Texas Bigfoot Research Conference in 2004; at numerous events for the British-based UFO Magazine between 1997 and 2000 (now closed); and at the UFO Crash Retrieval Conference in Las Vegas (in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006). His many book titles include Three Men Seeking Monsters, Memoirs of a Monster Hunter, and his newest title There's Something In The Woods. As it has always been traditional for the Mass Monster Mash to have a bigfoot element (Stan Gordon in 2006 and Don Keating in 2007), Nick's lecture at the Mass Monster Mash will be entitled "Man Monkey: In Search of the British Bigfoot".

Dan Gordon first experienced the magic of Fenway Park in the summer of 1975 when his father took him to his first game. With a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, Gordon studied global baseball culture in Japan, the Domincan Republic, Cuba and Nicaragua. His writings on baseball have appeared in the Providence Journal, Fort Worth Star, San Juan Star, NINE, Elysian Fields Quarterly and Scribners Encyclopedia of American Lives. Gordon recently published the popular Cape Encounters: Contemporary Cape Cod Ghost Stories. His lecture will be the same title as his newest book: Haunted Baseball. He'll talk about such tales as: The historic Spring Training ballpark in St. Petersburg, where Babe Ruth and his teammates still roam the field, the ghost encounters at Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, and Dodgers Stadium; the beloved Cleveland Indians trainer said to have revisited the team in the form of a seagull and eerie player stories from road-trip hotels they insist are haunted.

The Loch Ness Monster will be having its 75th birthday celebration at the Mass Monster Mash. "Nessie" came to the public's attention on June 5th, 1933 when a young maidservant named Margaret Munro supposedly observed the creature for about 20 minutes at about 6:30 am. She spotted it on shore from about 200 yards and described it as having elephant-like skin, a long neck, a small head and two short forelegs or flippers. The sighting ended when the creature re-entered the water. Although sightings of the creature on land around the loch reputedly date back to the sixth century, modern interest in the monster was sparked by a sighting on July 22nd, 1933 when George Spicer and his wife saw 'a most extraordinary form of animal' cross the road in front of their car. They described the creature as having a large body (about 4 feet high and 25 feet long), with a long, narrow neck, slightly thicker than an elephant's trunk and as long as the 10 to 12 foot width of the road; the neck had a number of undulations in it. They saw no limbs because of a dip in the road obscuring the animal's lower portion. It lurched across the road towards the loch 20 yards away, leaving only a trail of broken undergrowth in its wake. And finally, in August of that same year a motorcyclist named Arthur Grant claimed to have nearly hit the creature while approaching Abriachan on the north-eastern shore, at about 1 am on a moonlit night. Grant saw a small head attached to a long neck; the creature saw him and crossed the road back into the loch. Grant dismounted and followed it to the loch, but only saw ripples.

There will be a tribute to Scott Norman of Cryptosafari, a classy cryptozoologist and friend to the Mass Monster Mash, who suddenly passed away this year. Artist Bill Rebsamen has created a wonderful portrayal of Scott's work. Scott was lucky enough to encounter a Pterosaur during one of his expeditions. He also searched for the legendary Mokele-mbembe.

Back again as a co-host at the Mass Monster Mash will be Matt Moniz. Matt has over 20 years experience investigating paranormal phenomena. He has a "Forrest Gump"-type litany of involvement with historical UFO, ghost and paranormal case investigations and has even tried to pick up a phantom hitchhiker! Matt will chat specifically about that legendary entity, namely the Red-Headed Hitchhiker of Route 44. As a chemist, Matt analyzed soil samples from the famed "Bentwaters Incident" and was acknowledged accordingly in the book “Left at East Gate” by Larry Warren and Peter Robbins. He will be bringing soil samples from that area where an alleged UFO landing took place 27 years ago. Matt was also featured in the popular books “Witnessed” by Budd Hopkins, and “Glimpses of Other Realities” by Linda Moulton Howe. Matt will be reporting live from the Mash for the hit fortean radio show Spooky Southcoast that is hosted by Tim Weisberg and Matt Costa.

Some other special guests will be on hand for the Mash.

Christopher Balzano, who is a staple at the Mass Monster Mash, is an expert on paranormal phenomena in New England, director of the "Mass Paranormal Crossroads", author of the book Dark Woods and a recent recording artist. Chris will be on hand (he lives in Florida now) to meet and greet the conference attendees. Chris has also written about the Dover Demon case and is a collector of urban legends, such as the "Red-Headed Hitchhiker of Route 44", Ghosts of the Bridgewater Triangle, Ghostly Adventures, "Pukwudgies" and "Killer Clowns". Balzano has spent countless hours researching the Bridgewater Triangle. His latest book is Picture Yourself Ghost Hunting.

Tim Binnall is the producer of the Binnall of America Audio Podcast and webmaster of the very popular internet portal Binnall of America that deals with "esoteric" phenomena. Tim is a webmaster for Coast to Coast with George Noory and he will be back to meet-and-greet the speakers and attendees while again serving as the Monster Mash Ambassador. He was a vital participant in last year's conference (and recognized as such with an award) and his company was enjoyed by many.

Film producer Aaron Cadieux may be on hand as well. In 2006, he screened his film "Inside The Bridgewater Triangle" at the Monster Mash and received critical acclaim. He is recognized as one of New England's up-and-coming film producers and has just released his latest documentary "The First Patriots", dedicated to King Philip's War.

Chris Pittman, a Massachusetts folklorist, paranormal investigator and a recent recording artist is considered by many to be the foremost authority on the Bridgewater Triangle. His extensive exploration of this anomalous area, research into the Dover Demon and encounters with black helicopters make him a fascinating and enigmatic guest. His brief lectures at last year's Monster Mash and Mass UFO Show were riveting. Both he and Chris Balzano may be on hand to autograph their CD entitled "Mysterious Bridgewater Triangle".

Joining the Mash once again may be defending Monster Mash trivia champions (and the "belle and beau of the ball") Arlene Nicholson and Thomas D'Agostino, author of the books Haunted Rhode Island, Haunted New Hampshire and Haunted Massachusetts. Arlene and Thomas (who is recognized by his peers as the most comprehensive New England ghost historian) will be available for questions during a book signing.

Ned, the hyperactive janitor-at-large from Paraforce (played by comedian Steve Russo) will once again disrupt the proceedings. We are hoping that he limits his use of Homer Formby or at least uses it in a responsible manner with proper ventilation.

This event was created and produced by philanthropist and paranormal gadfly John Horrigan. Horrigan has a vast history of paranormal exploration and is considered by many to be a leading popular historian and public speaker.

The Mass Monster Mash is a celebration of Northeastern legends and folklore, using lecture, film, exhibits and trivia dedicated to strange occurrences with a mission to entertain and captivate anyone who is looking for spirited pre-Halloween fun! Doors open at 5:30 PM with the program beginning promptly at 6:00 PM and concluding by 10:30 PM. Also, this may be your only chance to pick up the "The Bridgewater Triangle" CD that was produced by Steve Russo and created by event producer John Horrigan, Chris Pittman and Christopher Balzano. The Mass Monster Mash is accessible by public transportation. Admission is $25.00. Tickets are limited and will not be sold at the door.

For more information: massmonstermash@hotmail.com or call 781-916-9223 or log on to http://www.massmonstermash.org/