Early on Saturday, the 10th of October, I headed towards the centre of Colchester, its beautiful castle and the location for this year’s Moon, Magick and Mystery event. A paranormal conference with a slight difference, this one is held in a lovely museum environment, one that’s housed in the amazingly historic Colchester Castle.
One thing you really can’t help but notice as you walk into the museum is the huge illuminated moon suspended from the ceiling. It’s really a lovely sight amongst the history on show and all the stalls dotted around the building, most with colourful trinkets and crystals catching the light. It’s odd though, seeing all the stalls at what feels like random points around the room, makes it feel less like an organised event and more like a gathering from an older time. As I stood under the moon, I knew I was going to enjoy the day.
I headed up to the Green Room in the top corner of the castle, where I bumped into two old paranormal friends, Richard Clements and Carl Hutchinson. It has been an absolute age since I’ve seen those guys, so we quickly shifted into catch-up mode, discussing some old stories and finding out what everyone had been up to over the years.
Whilst I could have sat there all day catching up with the guys, I also wanted to experience the other talks and the audience, to understand a bit about how my own talk may be received. Which also gave me the chance to listen to some really good talks.
The first talk of the day which I managed to catch was “Past Life Regression: Discover the Wisdom Beyond” by Chia-Yan Oh. This was actually quite an interesting talk, revealing some of the work she had done over the years, exploring the possible past lives of the people she had worked with during her sessions.
Although some of the cases did appear to be a little out there and hard to grasp, you are left wondering if these are actual past lives or constructs of the mind. Especially when those past lives venture into specific historical figures or even beings beyond our own world. Still a hugely fascinating subject and another piece of the greater paranormal puzzle.
Following on from this talk was one by Bethan Briggs-Miller on “Under a Welsh Moon: Myth, Magic & Folklore”, a subject that you could tell Bethan was extremely passionate about. And not just because she’s Welsh.
Again, this was another great talk exposing the audience to folklore that they may not have been aware of previously. I know I had heard snippets of the stories she shared, but presented together they provided a great insight into the rich folklore that Wales has to offer. In doing so, Bethan also reminded me that this field we all enjoy is more than just ghosts, spirits and things that may rap in the night. There is a rich trove to explore of stories, lore and even strange abilities that some possess.
The paranormal provides a great number of people a doorway into a mysterious world, one which deserves to be explored.
On this occasion, I think that Bethan had more to share than time allowed, and whilst she did manage to finish, there was clearly much more to tell us. Perhaps that was the plan, leave us wanting more, in which case, good job, you succeeded.
I unfortunately missed the next couple of talks due to catching up with Clements and Hutchinson again. Something which I do regret, as they sound like they were both quite interesting.
As we came up for a late lunch, it was time for Carl Hutchinson’s talk, “Devices of the Dead”, and as I had not seen Carl in many years, it was good to hear him speak again. In fact, Hutchinson’s talk was a refreshing change from the way he used to talk, providing information on the latest gadgets available to ghost hunters. This time he took the audience back in time a little to help them understand where we had come from, bringing the likes of Harry Price into the equation. Something that began to help provide more perspective on the methodology and also how the various gadgets have evolved over time.
Of course, there is an abundance of technology and approaches that have flooded the ghost hunter market since Harry Price investigated Borley Rectory; some good, some a complete waste of time. Personally, I see most of it as being built to provide reactions within a ghost hunt, not too far from a Ouija board, but with flashy lights and sound. However, I have to admit that it provides a level of interaction that brings new people into the field, and some of those may one day become serious investigators.
Carl did actually mention that these gadgets were built for the ghost hunters to use, but none are “ghost detectors”, which is often a complete misunderstanding. Rookie ghost hunters venture into a haunted building with the belief that a KII meter will detect ghosts. Truth be told, they don’t and are actually super unreliable, and will be set off by mobile phones, walkie-talkies and even alarm systems.
He closed up his talk, also running out of time, mentioning the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which I thought was good. However, there still seems to be a great deal of fear around this tool. That’s a subject for another day’s blog post.
I enjoyed Carl’s talk, certainly more so than his old talks years ago, and look forward to seeing it evolve over time as the technology does.
Once again, time got away from me and I missed the next couple of talks, and before I knew it, it was half past three in the afternoon and time for my own talk on the Royal Oak Investigations.
Whilst I probably started off a little nervous, I think I soon got into my flow and delivered a reasonable talk. There were certainly a few questions afterwards, and hopefully a few people will read the book and even visit the pub themselves.
I really enjoy sharing the story about the Royal Oak, as it’s not just a story about a purported haunted pub, or even just about spirituality. It reminds me of my own journey through the paranormal too. Equally, so did my visit to Colchester and meeting up with old friends from the paranormal that I had lost touch with for many years. It’s easy to drift in and out of the paranormal community, and it’s constantly changing, but I’ve made some good friends through it, and sometimes that’s better than getting that Holy Grail evidence we may seek.
Colchester would also be somewhere I would make a new friend, but this time it was possibly odder than witnessing a ghost!
Following my talk, I was introduced to someone, a person who was accidentally contacted instead of me. Now this could have been pure coincidence, it may be synchronicity, it may be something else, but it was certainly weird and cool in my book. I was introduced to one Ashley Knibbs. That “s” at the end is important as it’s the only tiny distinction between our names. Obviously, she is a much younger, better-looking version, but also has some distinct life similarities that just cannot go unnoticed. I am not going to go into the details here, but the meeting certainly was strange and also a reminder that sometimes oddities can appear in various forms.
The last talk of the day was by Chris McKinnell, known for being the grandson of Ed & Lorraine Warren. His talk, “The Truth Behind the Conjuring Universe”, was certainly interesting, and it was good to hear him acknowledge the SPR investigators at the Enfield Poltergeist case too.
It must be extremely hard to pack in the details of the Conjuring Universe into a thirty-minute slot, but Chris done a brilliant job. Equally, I found it interesting that he was not simply repeating the beliefs of his grandfather; at times he provided a point of view that was obviously conflicting to that of Ed Warren.
This is what the paranormal is all about, though, differing views that can be rationally and respectfully discussed. We do not all have to agree on everything in the paranormal community, but healthy discussion will provide the progress it really needs.
I really enjoyed McKinnell’s talk, and it provided a new perspective on an area of the paranormal that I had almost decided to discount. Now I find myself realising that perhaps there is still something worth exploring. Like much of the paranormal and many of the top cases, there may be some fraud involved, but also some genuine activity that needs to be distinguished. This was believed of the Enfield Poltergeist case, where the attention the girls were getting due to genuine activity, may have led to them creating some themselves for more attention. Paranormal cases like this are rarely simple and there is always more to them than meets the eye.
Simple disregard for the whole case based on an event where fraud was detected and proven may no longer be the way forward. Which is why, as investigators, we should analyse each event as a singular piece of the whole puzzle, rather than simply reducing it to one case. These events should be distilled in order to provide an understanding we can liken to the Philosophers’ Stone.
Moon, Magick & Mystery was a brilliant day at Colchester Castle museum. It was great to catch up with old friends, make a few new ones too, and learn more about the paranormal world.
However, the day wasn’t quite over, and for a few of us we got the excellent chance to investigate the castle for a few hours.
Over the course of those few hours, we ventured down to the vaults, the prison, the chapel and the main ground-floor area.
Personally, I found the vaults and the prison areas most interesting. The team done a great job of engaging with the groups to allow them to experience an investigation.
Whilst there were a few oddities that did occur, they were as ever difficult to clarify. The usual audible phenomena in the vaults, whilst minimal, was certainly there from time to time.
Working with Richard, Russ and Andy in the prison area was interesting. Using devices that provided various words and phrases, that engaged the group. Normally I am not a fan of these, but remain open-minded.
However, Andy’s spirit drawing was interesting and very good to be fair, as well as the details he received. I must connect with him to find out a little more about this area.
Moon, Magick & Mystery gave me more than a chance to speak about the Royal Oak investigations. It was an opportunity to reconnect with old friends, make new ones and hear perspectives that challenged some of my own thinking. Those conversations are a large part of what keeps me returning to the paranormal: there is always another account to consider, another question to ask or something familiar to see differently. My thanks to everyone who helped bring the day and evening together. I hope to return to Colchester Castle and the event again.
Next, I’ll be speaking at the Festival of the Unexplained, taking place from 6–8 November 2026. If you’re coming along, do say hello. Whether we’ve met before or are meeting for the first time, it would be good to share a few stories and continue the conversation.
