Frogman Festival speakers

 Charlie Mewshaw has traveled across North America in search of hidden history and evidence relating to cryptids, UFOs, and paranormal encounters. His books and research have been preserved in State Libraries and held in archival libraries at public research institutions. He is the lead natural resource science and technology expert on Discovery's Lost Monster Files, a show that explores the work of famed cryptozoologist Ivan Sanderson. He is also the co-creator of Arcane Carolinas, a podcast and book series that explores the unknown in the Carolinas and beyond. He is currently teaching and conducting research as a computer science professor at a public research university and enjoys getting out into the woods and back to nature as often as possible. 

Jim has spent the last 35 years chasing after ghosts, monsters, and all things strange and spooky. He still feels lucky to have been given the opportunity to write about his travels and exploits in over a dozen books because he’s convinced the whole “published author” thing just fell into his lap. Truth be told, he was always obsessed with visiting weird places and digging into the history behind those places. It never dawned on him that there were others out there who shared his obsession and wanted to hear about his experiences. Then came that fateful day in 2003 when Weird NJ’s own Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman came calling, and the rest, as they say, is weird history. Jim resides in Ohio and runs the “Strange and Spooky World” and “Ghosts of Ohio” websites while not writing more books! This is his second appearance at the festival, one of two returning presenters as he filled the room last year 

beyond capacity. Get your seat early and hold on because he will take you on a wonderful journey.

 Ashley (aka Asherz) brings a fresh perspective on the world of Forteana, which she began to explore fully after attending the Mothman Festival several years ago. She came to realize that she experienced a Mothman encounter. She and several podcast partners host weekly episodes of "On Wednesdays, We Talk Weird." But she wears many hats, including cryptozoologist, ufologist, author and lecturer. Asherz will be our host throughout the day and a featured speaker.    

 My name is Chad Lewis and I am a researcher, author, and lecturer on topics of the strange and unusual. My background is in the field of Psychology as I did both my Bachelor and Master degree work in the field- but for nearly 30 years I have traveled the globe in search of unique and bizarre stories and history.