Speakers & Presenters
TROY TAYLOR:
Troy Taylor is the author of nearly 140 books on history, hauntings, true crime, the unexplained, and the supernatural in America. He is also the founder of American Hauntings Ink, which was founded in 1993 and offers books, ghost tours, events, the American Hauntings Podcast and the Haunted America Conference, held annually in Alton, IL. He was born and raised in the Midwest and currently divides his time between Illinois and the far-flung reaches of America.
ROBYN DAVIS & TED WILLIAMS
Ted and Robyn are thrilled you are here!! Your hosts for the Haunted Galena Conference own The Haunted Galena Tour Company, and were co-creators of Galena's first ghost tour back in 2001. Robyn has an undergrad degree in History and a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology. She blends these two disciplines to study the history of past events that have led to hauntings and interpret the motivation of those involved. Ted has been fascinated (and occasionally confronted) by the paranormal since his arrival in Galena in 1995, He has spent the last 20 years researching Galena history and the paranormal. Ted enjoys studying esoterica and proposing theoretical solutions to mysteries. Robyn and Ted live in an 1892 restored schoolhouse with their Golden Doodle Winn Dixie.
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KARI BERGEN:
Kari Bergen is an intuitive assemblage artist, lover or the strange and forgotten history, and owner of the art and historical oddities shop, Ephemera Obscura. She is a lifelong sensitive who has spent the last 20+ years studying the metaphysical and investigating the paranormal. Kari is the author of "The Ghost of Floyd Collins" article in Troy Taylor's "The Morbid Curious" No.4. She has given presentations for Atlas Obscura on topics such as Victorian Mourning, Postmortem Photography, and the History of Disaster Tourism and after hours talks at Haunted America Conference on Dreaming of the Dead, Messages from the Dead, and the Care and Handling of Haunted Objects. She and her haunted doll orphanage appear in the documentary, "A Haunting in Blue Hill."
BRANDON MASSULLO:
Brandon is a clinical therapist and parapsychologist residing in Northeast Ohio. He received his undergraduate degree in psychology, as well as his graduate degree in clinical counseling from the University of Toledo. He also has a MSc in psychological research methods with a specialization in Parapsychology from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, UK. His research at the University of Edinburgh centered on neurobiological correlates of ghostly encounters and he studied within the Koestler Parapsychology Unit. Brandon has been fascinated by paranormal phenomena for 20 years and has been a participant and featured speaker in numerous paranormal forums and events, including the Parapsychological Association's 60th Anniversary Celebration. Brandon's research has been published in academic journals including Frontiers of Psychology, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, and the Journal of the Society of Psychical Research. Brandon provides a unique viewpoint to research into ghosts due to his education and experience in both clinical and research psychology.
AMANDA WOOMER:
Writer, anthropologist, and dark historian, Amanda R. Woomer was born and raised in Buffalo, NY. The curator of The Traveling Museum of Memento Mori, she is a featured writer for Haunted Magazine, The Morbid Curious, and the creator of the all female journal, The Feminine Macabre. She is the author/co-author of nearly 20 books for kids and adults including The Art of Grieving, A Very Frightful Victorian Christmas and A Child's Guide to Cemeteries. Follow her spooky adventures at spookeats.com and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @spookeats. You can find the Traveling Museum of Memento Mori on Facebook and Instagram @museum.of.memento.mori.
CHRIS MCBRIEN:
Chris McBrien, a documented psychic medium was raised in a documented Scots Irish family tradition of shamanism carried with his ancestors from Antrim, Ireland to the US in 1809. He had additional witchcraft teachers Dolores Youngquist, George Shadwick and Selena Fox. He then spent nine years in training as a Sufi in the Dayemi Tariqat under the direct tutelage of it's Master, Sheikh Din Muhammed Abdullah al-Dayemi. His psychic/medium abilities were enhanced as the result of a near-death experience in 2011. His abilities from his Sufi training include Sufi meditation techniques, energy work/Dhikr as well as the skill of exorcism. Besides the experience inherent in his work, he also travels to research and document the paranormal both in the US and Europe. He provides services through but not limited to his office in Galena, IL.
SCOTT MARKUS:
Scott has been actively involved in researching the paranormal for more than half of his life. He is a published author, having written a historical/paranormal book about Chicago called "Voices from the Chicago Grave." His work in both production and the paranormal includes two documentaries on the unexplained, running the website WhatsYourGhostStory.com, co-hosting and producing the paranormal radio show "The Mothership Connection" out of WLIP AM-1050 Kenosha and being interviewed multiple times for Travel Channel's "Mysteries at the Monument," in addition to other local press. Markus has been working in various aspects of film and television production since 1997. His work has taken him across America while working on set for "Lost," "The Dark Knight," "Forgetting Sarah Marshal," "Stanger Than Fiction," and many more. He is a regular public speaker and paranormal convention guest across the US including Hawaii.
WENDY LYNN MARKUS:
Musician for the paranormally-inspired rock band Sunspot and Co-Host of the podcast "See You On The Other Side", Wendy's curiosity for the unknown is balanced by a healthy skepticism established through years working as an engineer. As an American Ghost Walks haunted history tour guide for the city of Waukesha, she presents fantastic stories of ghosts and mysticism while remaining dedicated to the historical accuracy of Wisconsin's riveting past.