Following a 15-minute reading session Saturday, Carmen Kosmider hugged self-described psychic medium Scott Rorek.
Since she was a child, Ms. Kosmider felt she had the power to communicate with spirits, but it wasn’t something discussed in a religious family, she said.
On Saturday, during the third annual Paranormal Toledo Convention, she received confirmation she was waiting to hear.
Ms. Kosmider said Mr. Rorek encouraged her to start doing readings of her own, as she possessed similar skills, she said.
“It was a lot of validation,” Ms. Kosmider said.
The daylong event hosted at the Collingwood Arts Center brought in numerous paranormal celebrities, vendors, and those interested in the topic. All proceeds go back to the arts center, said Jason Schneider, founder of Lake Erie Paranormal, which helped organize Saturday’s event.
“We started Lake Erie Paranormal to give back to the community. We started this event with Tower Paranormal just to be able to bring people like this into the community so they have a chance to meet different celebrities, different people from movies,” Mr. Schneider said. “Everybody has a story. Everybody has a question. It’s just finding the right people to be able to talk about the paranormal. You find a lot of people won’t start the conversation.”
Scott Sukel during the Paranormal Toledo Convention
Some attendees said they went to Saturday’s event out of sheer curiosity while others had questions about unanswered experiences. And there were those who wanted to pose for pictures with the celebrities — like Michael Koske of AMC’s Walking Dead or Bruce Tango of SyFy’s Ghost Hunters.
Mr. Tango, of New Jersey, said he wished he would have brought proper equipment to the Collingwood Arts Center, one of Ohio’s most haunted places, according to Haunted Houses.com, which reviews various haunting publications. During sessions, Mr. Tango tries to ask personal questions to the spirit he is trying to reach. While he may not hear anything in real-time, a recording may pick up on the spirit’s voice.
“We’re trying to find answers. I don’t know if we will and I don’t even know if we’re meant to find the answers but these things do happen and they’re pretty cool when they do,” Mr. Tango said.
Paul Bradford, who lives near Cincinnati, was previously on Ghost Hunters International and spent years building equipment to better serve ghost hunters.
One of his creations was a toy-like bear that recorded sound, tracked temperature changes, and talked with spirits. Sometimes the spirits of children were shy to communicate with adults and were more reactive to the bear, Mr. Bradford said.
Each year, the event has continued to grow, with approximately 1,000 people expected to show up throughout Saturday’s event, Mr. Schneider said.
“We all have a weird get-together and talk about our experiences,” Mr. Bradford said, “and it’s comforting for people.”
Contact Allison Dunn at adunn@theblade.com, 419-213-2134 or on Twitter @AllisonDBlade.
First Published September 22, 2018, 10:55 p.m.
