BECKLEY, WV (WOAY) – Paranormal experts of all kinds came out to the very first West Virginia Paranormal Tourism Conference.
Held at the Raleigh Playhouse and Theater in uptown Beckley, the event brought keynote speakers, paranormal vendors, and even some ghost hunts.
The conference opened with a “Let’s Talk Paranormal Tourism” presentation led by Scott Worley of Haunted Beckley and April Richardson Morgan of the Charleston Ghost Tour Company.
A growing industry across the country, the paranormal tourism scene is seeing its fair share of success right here in the Mountain State.
“Paranormal tourism in West Virginia is growing by leaps and bounds, we have so many locations all across the state, plus folks like myself that are doing ghost tours and paranormal tours,” says Haunted Beckley’s Scott Worley.
Following the opening presentation, many others were expected to be held throughout the day on Friday. The next day, Saturday, April 9th was another big day of ghost talk, along with a series of paranormal vendors. The vendors included anything from ghost tour companies, ghost hunting teams, and psychics.
“We want to let people know that we’re all here and that no matter where you are in the state if you wanted to plan an entire week-long tour to go around the state and see different paranormal venues and events, you have that opportunity,” Worley says.
Highlighting the many ghosthunting teams across the state was a big part of the conference. Austin Stanley, part of the Mountaineer Paranormal team says he’s making it his mission to get the word out about the many spooky aspects the Mountain State offers.
“I want to try to promote West Virginia, try to show everybody that West Virginia is more than just four-wheeler trails and hunting and fishing, we’ve got some scary places to go to,” Stanley says.
For an additional fee, participants of the convention were invited on a ghost walk led by Haunted Beckley and Charleston Ghost Tour Company in either Beckley or Charleston. People also got the option to go on a paranormal investigation with the teams in either Beckley or Charleston.
