I usually don't attend conventions because they are on the weekend and I don't always have off, but this year I decided to take a Su...

ParaHorror Convention 2018

I usually don't attend conventions because they are on the weekend and I don't always have off, but this year I decided to take a Sunday and go to the ParaHorror Convention. It combines paranormal and horror together, so you get the best of both worlds. As a bonus, it's located at the Buffalo Central Terminal, a gorgeous old art deco rail road station. I knew a lot of customers and friends would be in attendance because we are like-minded, but I didn't realize how much I would be among "my people". Fans of horror and weird unite!


There was a vendor quest, oh yes! I was mainly on the hunt for Halloween potholders because every fall I inevitably start mine on fire baking cookies. It seems you can always find Halloween towels, but the potholders are a little harder. I found cute witch hat, full glove style potholders and vintage Halloween! Whoot! They are handmade and the company is called MadDormouse Designs. They have superhero ones, Doctor Who, and nerdy fan stuff!



The other thing I was looking for was a big fun pillow from Deconstructed Designs. If you've watched any of my unboxing videos you can see a small green and black striped monster pillow sitting on my couch. It's from Deconstructed Designs. This time I opted for a large one. I just love this guy's underbite, and of course it has her signature heart on the butt design. Does this mean I have the start of a collection? Possibly! Look for him on my couch in the next video!




 (Please ignore my cat hair.)

Andrew, the hubs, took part in the fun too, and purchased a little bat decal for his new car from Desire Tedesco. If you like skulls and bats ~ and I know you do ~ check out her etsy page! It's been a challenging year, with friends and family having surgeries, Ginger being sick, and many deaths...including his car. So he treated himself.



Next, we unexpectedly came across this lovely vendor, Angela's Wicked Creations. Yes, I bought these earrings, but don't worry I picked up some horror related Christmas presents too. (I won't share those and ruin the surprise.)


We also came across Mike Alvarez Art. He specializes in pop culture characters and makes them all very funny, but gives them a real personality. We picked up two little books from him.


Then I saw Kat, a friend and customer promoting her Living Dead Girls podcast, AND she was wearing a skirt from my shop Cats Like Us! We took a picture and I picked up this little cat pumpkin from her. I HAD TO HAVE IT.



I also met David Howard Thornton, the actor that plays Art the Clown in the Terrifier.  If you like horror and haven't seen this movie yet you are missing out! It's truly one of my favorite new horror movies. It will be available on Netflix Sept 1, 2018 and they are currently working on a sequel. Oh and Mr. Thornton is super nice too. (Side note: I'm so happy he wasn't in Art makeup. I would have been really freaked out. #notafanofclowns)


Overall the event was small, but filled with amazing talent. There was also a haunted house within the terminal, games, lectures, psychics, zombie make overs and more!


We ended with a walking tour of Buffalo's Central Terminal with a guide from Beyond Ghosts. Built in 1929 for 14 million dollars, the place is gigantic. It was designed by the same architect as the Grand Central Station. The goal was to have businesses and people grow around it, but unfortunately with the stock market crash it was doomed from the beginning.


 Outside picture of the Buffalo Central Terminal taken from: http://buffalocentralterminal.org/






World War II gave it new life with 200 trains a day traveling through with men going off to war it became a popular hub. Then in 1956 they tried to sell it for 1 million, eventually Amtrak took it over, but in 1979 left it for a smaller station.

A man bought the building for $75,000!!!! He was in love with it, made an apartment inside and registered the Buffalo Central Terminal as a Historical Building. It will never be torn down for this reason.

The tour started several floors up in the space his old apartment was located, over looking the concourse.




This is across from the windows, where his living room was located.



The the tour worked it's way down. On October 28, 1986 the building was sold again for $100,000. This new owner ended up stripping everything out and selling it off making a ton of money and moving to Florida. In the meantime, it was vandalized and squatters started living inside. Finally it was bought by the Restoration Corporation, that is slowly cleaning and fixing it.

The last time I was in this building was probably five-ish years ago and they only had port-a-potties. I impressed that they now have nice clean bathrooms, and the space itself is much cleaner than it has been in a long time.

The next floor had the ghosts of two children inhabiting it.


Some toys to tempt the ghost children to play.


When the Restoration Corp. started cleaning this floor is was knee deep in papers and dirt. I'd say they made a lot of progress.



 On the lowest level of the tour. 

I took a bunch of pictures, hoping to capture some orbs or something, but no luck. Not only did I have a horror filled Sunday, it was educational too. I can't wait for next year.

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