Sarah Armstrong, Festival Co-Chair
A lifelong lover of ghost stories, she has always been drawn to the shadows between charm and scare. As Program Coordinator at PATV, she helps bring community stories to the screen, while her work as a screenwriter and author explores the eerie and the enchanting. Through her business ventures, she blends legacy with imagination, crafting beauty touched with a whisper of the uncanny.
.jpg)
The Siren
Born from tides and tales, she drifts through CalaSCAREus with the hush of old ghost stories in her wake. She is the presence felt in the quiet before the reel begins, the chill that lingers after it ends. Both guide and warning, she embodies the festival’s haunting charm—an echo that stays long after the curtain falls.
Hollie Fee, Festival Co-Chair
Jeff’s interests lean to the paranormal end of the horror spectrum.
A filmmaker and a classical black and white photographer, his ongoing project The Lonely Places has taken him to abandoned mines, ghost towns, and forgotten cemeteries in remote places. But he never had a paranormal experience. That changed last year. While filming in a 110 year old hotel (someplace he had worked numerous times before), as the camera and microphones were running, a disembodied voice appeared in the footage as he was leaving the building. It said “Jeff.”
The Dark Lord
The Dark Lord knows your secrets. You are thinking about them at this very moment. He knows what you want and how desperate you are to get it. And he is here to help … for a price!
Ewa Kuc, Head of Marketing
Jeff’s interests lean to the paranormal end of the horror spectrum.
A filmmaker and a classical black and white photographer, his ongoing project The Lonely Places has taken him to abandoned mines, ghost towns, and forgotten cemeteries in remote places. But he never had a paranormal experience. That changed last year. While filming in a 110 year old hotel (someplace he had worked numerous times before), as the camera and microphones were running, a disembodied voice appeared in the footage as he was leaving the building. It said “Jeff.”
__edited.jpg)
Baba Yaga
The Dark Lord knows your secrets. You are thinking about them at this very moment. He knows what you want and how desperate you are to get it. And he is here to help … for a price!
Manuel Crosby, Head of Logistics
Jeff’s interests lean to the paranormal end of the horror spectrum.
A filmmaker and a classical black and white photographer, his ongoing project The Lonely Places has taken him to abandoned mines, ghost towns, and forgotten cemeteries in remote places. But he never had a paranormal experience. That changed last year. While filming in a 110 year old hotel (someplace he had worked numerous times before), as the camera and microphones were running, a disembodied voice appeared in the footage as he was leaving the building. It said “Jeff.”
.jpg)
The Werewolf
The Dark Lord knows your secrets. You are thinking about them at this very moment. He knows what you want and how desperate you are to get it. And he is here to help … for a price!
Jeffrey Klingler, Co-Head of Education
Jeff’s interests lean to the paranormal end of the horror spectrum.
A filmmaker and a classical black and white photographer, his ongoing project The Lonely Places has taken him to abandoned mines, ghost towns, and forgotten cemeteries in remote places. But he never had a paranormal experience. That changed last year. While filming in a 110 year old hotel (someplace he had worked numerous times before), as the camera and microphones were running, a disembodied voice appeared in the footage as he was leaving the building. It said “Jeff.”
The Dark Lord
The Dark Lord knows your secrets. You are thinking about them at this very moment. He knows what you want and how desperate you are to get it. And he is here to help … for a price!
Tom Herlihy, Co-Head of Education
​As the eldest voice on the festival board, I have walked the shadowed halls of horror for a lifetime. My earliest companions were the creatures of black-and-white dread—Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolf Man, Night of the Living Dead, The Birds, Psycho. I’ve always been drawn to places where silence lingers too long—abandoned castles, forgotten cemeteries, the yawning mouths of caves and caverns. Over time, I have shaped nightmares as a producer, scriptwriter, technical writer, set builder, and special effects creator. For me, horror is not simply fear—it is atmosphere, the chill that clings, the slow dread that whispers, you are not alone.
_(1).jpg)
The Gargoyle
I am “Gargolas”, stone-born watcher of the dead, my gaze has never blinked in a thousand years. For centuries, I have clung to ledges and tombs, watching the living scurry below. We first rose in the Middle Ages, chiseled from cold stone to guard against forces that crept unseen. Through our gaping jaws run rainwater—an architect’s trick. Perhaps. But in truth, we swallow the sky’s tears, washing away the whispers of the dead before they seep into the world of the living. Be aware, I am not alone. My brothers perch on cathedrals, my kin brood over graveyards. At night, when the moon is revealed, the earth will breathe its secrets. I listen… I do not rest… I watch and remember.
%20(1).jpg)
Aryelle Smith, Head of Merchandising
Jeff’s interests lean to the paranormal end of the horror spectrum.
A filmmaker and a classical black and white photographer, his ongoing project The Lonely Places has taken him to abandoned mines, ghost towns, and forgotten cemeteries in remote places. But he never had a paranormal experience. That changed last year. While filming in a 110 year old hotel (someplace he had worked numerous times before), as the camera and microphones were running, a disembodied voice appeared in the footage as he was leaving the building. It said “Jeff.”
Ms. Hyde
The Dark Lord knows your secrets. You are thinking about them at this very moment. He knows what you want and how desperate you are to get it. And he is here to help … for a price!
.jpg)
Steve Carleton, Art Director/Podcast Host
Steve Carleton is a prolific digital artist with a distinctive style rooted in both pop culture and dark imagination. Steve brings a cinematic touch to every piece, whether he’s designing a terrifying creature, illustrating a moody skyline, or crafting a clean, iconic brand. Beyond the canvas, Steve is a longtime podcaster and storyteller. He co-hosts the long-running podcast and YouTube show The Geekz and is a part-time co-host on the horror-centered podcast The Horror Returns. Originally from Southern California, he’s spent the last eight years in Calaveras County, where he lives with his wife and children.
​
The Vampire
The vampire lives deep in the rugged foothills of Calaveras County, hidden among twisted oaks and long-abandoned mining shafts. No one knows how long he’s been there, only that livestock go missing, hikers vanish, and cold winds carry whispers no one wants to hear. He’s not the elegant kind. He doesn’t sparkle. His skin is cracked like old stone, and his fangs jagged and yellow. At night, his roar carries down the hills like a warning. Locals speak of glowing red veins on his arms, pulsing like fault lines, and say he feeds not just on blood, but on fear. He doesn’t hunt for sport. He waits. Watching. Always close, but never seen, until it’s far too late.
%20(1).png)
.jpg)
Erin Harris, Head of Programming
A lifelong horror movie fanatic, I’ve spent countless nights chasing the next spine-tingling story, from cult classics to obscure indie gems. My passion goes beyond watching—I’m dedicated to championing the creativity of emerging filmmakers who dare to push the boundaries of fear and imagination. I believe fresh voices keep the genre alive, and I’m committed to supporting the next generation of horror storytellers through collaboration, advocacy, and sharing opportunities that help their visions reach the screen.
The Banchee
In the windswept hills of Ireland, her wail is the sound of doom. The Banshee, a ghostly harbinger of death, drifts through the mist with hair like tangled silver and eyes as hollow as the grave. Her piercing cry shatters the silence of night, foretelling of imminent tragedy. Some say she appears cloaked in tattered white, others claim she moves unseen—but all who hear her keening know one truth: there is no outrunning the Banshee’s call.
Elsie Lodde, Head of Tourism
Jeff’s interests lean to the paranormal end of the horror spectrum.
A filmmaker and a classical black and white photographer, his ongoing project The Lonely Places has taken him to abandoned mines, ghost towns, and forgotten cemeteries in remote places. But he never had a paranormal experience. That changed last year. While filming in a 110 year old hotel (someplace he had worked numerous times before), as the camera and microphones were running, a disembodied voice appeared in the footage as he was leaving the building. It said “Jeff.”
The Dark Lord knows your secrets. You are thinking about them at this very moment. He knows what you want and how desperate you are to get it. And he is here to help … for a price!
Contact
I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities. Let's connect.
123-456-7890