Who We Are

Ghosts of Summer was started by a couple of nerds with arts backgrounds who love Halloween and crave community. We are always searching for things to do to immerse ourselves in Autumnal celebrations and wanted a space where the cool creative people who make those things happen can share their work in one place to be supported by the weird and wonderful people of the Pacific Northwest.

We are inspired by the success of and encouragement from an array of similarly focused conventions across the US, as well as the impact of community driven markets that promote and connect local businesses with large audiences.

We are POC, neurodiverse, LGBTQIA+, and we love pumpkin spice. We do not gatekeep horror and nerdism.

We reject the use of Halloween as a tool to mock or ridicule marginalized and underrepresented cultures, identities, and practices.

We do what we can to support and uplift businesses in alignment with our values.

Our Team

  • Lilo Alfaro | Executive Director

    Lilo (she/they) is an organizational development & culture consultant, event producer, stage manager, dancer, board member at PHAME, and director of the Ghosts of Summer Halloween Convention in Portland, OR. This growing multi-hyphenate catalogue of introductory nightmares is a glittering portrait of one who has a rocky relationship with their brain function.

    Simultaneously overstimulated and bored, Lilo spends their time accumulating hobbies, working with social justice organizations, and forgetting to text back.

    www.liloalfaro.com | @captainlilo

  • Matthew Capurro | Program Director

    Matthew (he/him) is a Portland based composer and board game designer. At the age of 11, he was told he was too old to trick-or-treat anymore. That year he set up a display on his parents' porch and sat out all night to spook the neighborhood trick-or-treaters. It seems he never could get too old for Halloween. Nowadays he hosts an annual Halloween party with ever changing themes and builds mini-haunts on his front lawn.

    TikTok: @matthewcmusic | Youtube | MatthewCMusic.com

  • Hannah Complin | Art Director

    Hannah Complin's illustration career began in kindergarten, when she discovered that if she drew the Ninja Turtles, other kids would give her quarters for her drawings. She has been creating things for fun and money ever since.

    Today she is making a name for herself in watercolor and ink illustration with her own projects "Cats in Disguise" and "The Deadliest Animals on Earth". She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, 2 cats, and a Corgi named Sonja.

    HannahComplin.com

  • Betty | Director of Marketing

    An avid glutton for Halloween Decor. You may find her in the aisles of buried treasure within a Homegoods, Michaels, Joann’s or TJMaxx.

  • Abigail StJohn | Vendor Coordinator