Sylvia Shults is the author of several books of paranormal nonfiction, including Gone on Vacation: Haunted Zoos, Museums, and Amusement Parks, the award-winning Days of the Dead: A Year of True Ghost Stories, and Grave Deeds And Dead Plots.

Sylvia sits in dark, spooky, haunted places so you don’t have to. She has spent the last twenty-five years working at a public library, slowly smuggling out enough words in her pockets week after week to build a book of her own.

She lives a short, ten-minute motorcycle ride away from the haunted asylum that features in so many of her books. She considers it the highest privilege to share the incredible, compassionate history of the Peoria State Hospital.

Festival Presentation

Sylvia will present her research into some truly notorious crimes.

For more about Sylvia, visit her blog here.

Chad Lewis is an author, researcher, and lecturer on topics of the strange and unusual. The more the bizarre the legend is, the more likely you will find Chad there.

Chad had trekked across the world in search of the paranormal. From tracking vampires in Transylvania and chasing the Chupacabras in Puerto Rico, to searching for the elusive monster in Loch Ness, and pursuing ghosts in Ireland’s castles, Chad brings over 18 years of research experience to his presentations.

Chad has been featured in hundreds of radio interviews, TV appearances, and newspaper articles. Chad is also the co-author of the Road Guide to Haunted Locations book series

Festival Presentation

Chad will tell tales of Gangsters in Illinois and Wisconsin.

Kathi Kresol has been researching the history of Northern Illinois for twenty years. She has published two solo books: “Murder & Mystery in Rockford, Illinois,” (2015); and “Haunted Rockford, Illinois,” (2017). Kathi has also collaborated with other local authors and shared articles in three books featuring compilations of Rockford authors.

Kathi shares the stories she researches in presentations for local organizations and in events sponsored by the Rockford Public Library and her business Haunted Rockford events. The local newspaper, Rock River Times has shared Kathi’s stories for several years. He column “Voices From The Grave” has allowed Kathi to share her passion for history with a larger part of Rockford’s community.

Festival Presentation

Kathi will share the details of some of the horrible crimes she has discovered in her research of the region.