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Ghost Hunters Treat Fans To Tricks Of Trade

Sci Fi

Jason Hawes, front, and Grant Wilson, investigators on Sci Fi's "Ghost Hunters," not only go in search of paranormal activity, but they also work as plumbers. The series has a six-hour Halloween episode.

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By KEVIN WALKER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 30, 2007

TAMPA - Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson know they are taking an enormous chance.

'It's a gamble,' Wilson says. 'But we're willing to try it.'

The 'gamble' happens Wednesday night - Halloween - on the Sci Fi channel. Hawes, Wilson and their crew of investigators go live with a six-hour episode of 'Ghost Hunters.'

Hawes and Wilson realize this could mean six hours of not much of anything.

'Ghosts don't work on cue,' Hawes says.

But it worked well enough last year, when the 'Ghost Hunters' crew recorded mysterious voices during a live Halloween investigation of the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, a place perhaps most famous for helping inspire Stephen King's 'The Shining.'

The location this year is the Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Ky., where the show went in March 2006. During that previous visit, the crew captured a thermal image of something running across a hallway. Another investigator, Steve Gonsalves, saw but was unable to document an apparition on the sanatorium's roof.

Waverly Hills served as a tuberculosis hospital for decades, and 63,000 people died there. For true believers, this is ghost heaven.

Hosted by Josh Gates, from the Sci Fi show 'Destination Truth,' the live show begins at 9 and runs until 3 a.m. The mission is the same as it is every week on 'Ghost Hunters': attempt to document evidence of paranormal activity.

Sound creepy? Or fun? Or ridiculous?

Whatever way people view 'Ghost Hunters,' more of them are tuning in. Now in its third season, the show is getting its highest ratings ever. Every week, Hawes and Wilson lead a crew out on a ghost hunt, often at a residential home where the owners claim they have seen something frightening or (as is often the case) heard something frightening.

Hawes and Wilson talked about the live show, and 'Ghost Hunters' in general, during a recent conference call with reporters.

'Ghost Hunters' is unusual in many aspects. First, Hawes and Wilson are plumbers who work for Roto-Rooter. That isn't likely to change, no matter how successful the show becomes.

'It's recession-proof,' Hawes says of their profession. 'We're not leaving those jobs.'

Second, they approach each case with the goal of debunking the 'paranormal experience' that residents are having. They investigate everything, from the way light coming through a window might play tricks on someone to how rattling water or sewer lines (their day job comes into play here) might make 'ghostly noises.'

'If you believe in the paranormal, you can enjoy the show. If you don't believe in the paranormal, you can still enjoy the show because you'll say, 'That's what I would have done'' in trying to debunk something, Wilson says.

Hawes says he thinks the show's appeal lies in the fact the 'Ghost Hunters' crew works hard to capture evidence on video or audiotape. The crew approaches each case, he says, with a mentality of debunking what is happening.

'I just believe that over 80 percent of the paranormal can be disproven,' he adds.

Many of the shows end without any evidence of paranormal activity being found. And that's after the crew spends as long as two weeks setting up and investigating a location.

There have been mediums - those who claim they can communicate with the dead - on the show, but not often. Wilson says that although they trust the mediums they know, they prefer video or audio evidence. Wilson is a little disdainful of shows that exclusively use mediums who 'get a little dramatic; they drop and do the floppy tuna on the floor.'

But make no mistake - Hawes and Wilson are true believers in the paranormal.

Both say they have had personal experiences that turned them from skeptics to believers. It's not something they talk about a lot. In fact, Wilson says he was married for about seven years before he finally told his wife about his experience.

Hawes says those who don't believe just haven't opened themselves up to the possibilities.

'A skeptic is someone who hasn't had an experience yet,' he says. 'We're not there to appease the skeptics. We're there to help the people who called us into their home.'

Hawes says the success of the show, which has elevated the pair to national celebrities, has taken its toll on their families because of time spent on the road. Both are married fathers. But Hawes says they stick to their motto of 'family first.'

'Our families are our backbone,' Hawes said.

ON TELEVISION

Ghost Hunters Live!

WHEN: 9 p.m. Wednesday

WHERE: Sci Fi channel

Reporter Kevin Walker can be reached at (813) 259-7975 or kwalker@tampatrib.com.

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