Punchbowl Panic
August 7, 2027 at 12:00 AM
Natchez, Mississipi
About This Event
High above the Mississippi, Natchez has always kept two books. One is the official history of mansions,steamboats, and Spanish moss. The other is written in blood, rumor, and the kind of darkness that prefers fog and river bottom. Punchbowl Panic opens both. Across two days you’ll walk the documented crimes of Under-the-Hill and the Trace, the gambling and corruption that tied Natchez to New Orleans, the pirates who worked the river to the Gulf, and the West Memphis Three case that still refuses to settle. Parallel to that, the bluffs and bayous offer their own evidence: Bigfoot sightings that lead into the woods, Native mound mysteries, UFO reports over the river, Spirit Phone experiments, and the researchers who have spent years mapping what the cameras keep missing. When the sun goes down the schedule changes. An off-site graveyard and haunted-space walk ends in time for the Hellfire Club Party—dancers, music, and a hard cap. A separate, small-room session with Dr. Clingman examines how 1890s “scientific” language was used as cover for behavior that preferred not to be named. Sunday closes with writing in the paranormal space and a clear-eyed look at how 1890s investigation differs from today’s cheap-entertainment media
Programs & Tracks
Explore the event themes and jump directly to their sessions.
River & Trace: True Crime from Under-the-Hill to New OrleansUnder-the-Hill was never just a landing. It was the place where the respectable city ended and the Mississippi began keeping its own accounts—gambling dens, brothels, knife fights, and the occasional body that didn’t make it back up the bluff. This track follows the documented crimes that still cling to Natchez and the river corridor. You’ll hear the bloody history of the Natchez Trace, where land pirates and organized killers worked the overland route that fed New Orleans. You’ll see how gambling, murder, and corruption in Louisiana reached into Mississippi and refused to stay on one side of the river. The "West Memphis Three" case is examined not as folklore but as a documented killing with lingering questions about motive, method, and the satanism / Crowley allegations that still circulate. And the pirates who operated from the bluffs down to the Gulf left more than legend—they left wrecks, treasure claims, and court records.
Bluffs & Beasts: Hauntings, Cryptids & Lights in the SkyThe same bluffs that watched the steamboats also watch something else. Reports of large, upright figures in the woods around Natchez go back decades; some lead to actual field walks for those who want to look for themselves. Native mound-builder sites in the region carry both archaeological fact and the myths that grew around them when the builders were gone. UFO sightings over the river and bayous refuse to fit neat explanations, and the researchers who have spent years documenting residual and intelligent phenomena in the area will be in the room. Spirit Phone and Spirit TV sessions offer daytime access to the tools and claims that sit at the edge of paranormal investigation. Dr. Clingman adds the local map: the researchers who have worked these bluffs and bayous, the sightings that repeat, and the difference between what gets recorded and what gets turned into cheap entertainment. Sunday continues the thread with a clear comparison of 1890s science-focused investigation versus today’s media packaging.
Get Your Spot
Join us as an attendee, exhibitor, or sponsor. Secure your registration today!