Per Matt
Patti Starr is fascinated by the paranormal.
Not only does she teach classes to become a certified ghost hunter, but she started one of the very first horror and paranormal conventions in the country, with ScareFest. Recently, I spoke with Mrs. Starr about organizing the convention, writing the book Ghosthunting Kentucky and coordinating the Mystical Paranormal Fair.
How did you get involved with ScareFest?
– “I wanted to do the first horror and paranormal convention, which it was, and we would just start from there. That was about 2006. We didn’t actually do the first convention until 2008. Jeff Waldridge loves horror conventions, so he went to all these horror conventions and he tried to learn as much as he could. Most of them had really skinny aisles, so he wanted to have the big aisles. A lot of them weren’t real fan friendly. Of course, he noticed all the good stuff, too.”
“We sat down and I wanted to have it in a state-of-the-art facility, not in basement of some hotel, where things go wrong. So, he said, ‘Let’s do it.’ We put all of our talents together. I have some awesome promoters (Lee Kirkland and Jennifer Kirkland) and organizers and volunteers. I’m just real pleased to be so blessed to have so many people who love this and they want to help me with it.”
Previewing next year’s convention, do you have a date in mind?
– “Yes, we do. It’s the same weekend as this year. Of course, it’s not going to fall on Friday the 13th.”
Wasn’t last year’s ScareFest a little later in the month?
– “Yeah. This is our sixth year. One year, we lost this spot when the Equine Horse Show came here. And then I forgot why we lost it last year. I might have been late, just getting my bid in. This year, we bid for two years in advance.”
How long did it take to write Ghosthunting Kentucky?
– “About a year. And that was me getting up at 3 in the morning and being very committed and working until about 7, without doing anything else. It took a long time. Of course, that didn’t count the times I was in the car, traveling to the places, doing the investigation and reviewing all my evidence. I loved it, but it was a lot of hard work.”
Is this your first book?
– “No. this is my second. The first book — believe it or not — the title sounds almost alike. It’s called Ghosthunting in Kentucky and Beyond. I wrote that book when I was teaching at the Bluegrass Community & Technical College. It was a book about how to become a ghost hunter.”
Can you tell me a little about Ghost Chasers International?
– “I teach classes for people to become a certified ghost hunter. I do that once a month. And then, once a month, I also have a Mystical Paranormal Fair. That lasts all-day Saturday and all-day Sunday, where people can learn the mystical side and the paranormal side in my ghost hunter shop in Lexington.”
For More Information:
– Patti Starr’s Twitter
– Patti Starr’s Facebook Fan Page
– Ghost Hunter Shop
– ScareFest Fan Page
– Bardstown Ghost Trek Fan Page
– ScareFest Webpage
– ScareFest Twitter Page
– Mystical Paranormal Fair