'Paranormal' star comes to Tampa seeking supernatural stories

Are you being haunted? Have you had a close encounter with the supernatural?

If so, then paranormal researcher and reality TV star Ryan Buell, of A&E's "Paranormal State," wants to talk.

Buell, and his right-hand ghost tech Sergey Poberezhny, will be at University Mall on Fowler Avenue from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. next Monday.

Traveling in the new "Paranormal State" tour bus, Buell is on a 10-city tour to collect stories for possible future investigation.

"We are really interested in gauging how many people have had these kinds of experiences," he said in a telephone interview. "We especially want to find people who have experienced extreme encounters with the paranormal."

Buell, 27, founded the Paranormal Research Society (PRS) in 2001 while he was a student at Penn State University. He says he majored in journalism with a goal of one day becoming a storyteller.

"I just didn't know I would be telling stories through reality television," he says.

What started as a campus club evolved into a team of professional ghost hunters (not to be confused with "Ghost Hunters" on the Syfy network).

"When we started, there were only a handful of paranormal groups in the country," Buell says. "Now there are groups in every state."

There are a dozen groups in Florida, including several in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area such as the Paranormal Research Organization of Florida (PROOF); SPIRITS of St. Petersburg (Serving Paranormal Investigation Reporting Information Through Study): and Pasco/Pinellas Paranormal.

Buell says he started his quest to learn more about the paranormal when he was a teenager living in Sumter, S.C., near a church and graveyard that are supposed to be haunted.

While at Penn State, Buell assembled a team that is still with him today, including researchers Katrina Weldman, Heather Taddy and Elfie Music. In 2006, the group was approached to be part of a reality series. It debuted in December 2007 and a third season begins Dec. 15.

"Since the launch of our A&E series, we've been getting thousands of calls from people wanting us to investigate their homes," Buell says. "We can't do them all but with this tour we can reach more people."

The best stories will be profiled on the tour's interactive Web site, www.paranormalstatetour.com, where fans can upload their own paranormal stories.

SCRUBS BACK: Speaking of coming back from the dead, "Scrubs" was canceled by NBC and then came back on ABC, where it ended an eighth season with a finale.

J.D. (Zach Braff) said goodbye to his colleagues at Sacred Heart Hospital. But he's back at 9 tonight for a ninth season on ABC along with Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) and Turk (Donald Faison).

They have become instructors at a teaching hospital where newbies include insecure Lucy (Kerry Bishe); tough intern Denise (Eliza Coup); and cocky Cole (Dave Franco).

Series producer Bill Lawrence says this is basically a sequel but it keeps the same title so it can be syndicated with the old episodes.

Braff is in the first six episodes. His J.D. character is married to Elliott (Sarah Chalke, who guest-stars tonight).