At first glance, Steve Gonsalves looks exactly like your average guy. He works a day job as a police officer, where he manages to eke out a decent, middle class lifestyle--just like most of us. He's young, level headed, and he likes to read Dean's Planet, where he can always find the latest Lindsay Lohan bikini pictures--again, just like most of us. He seems like the kind of guy you'd expect to see playing darts at the local bar, ordering pitchers of beer and checking out the chicks... but then again, maybe I'm just being presumptuous. Still, I suppose that would beg the question--why the hell are we interviewing him then?

Well, as it turns out, Steve has a much cooler hobby than most of us. In his free time, he works as a paranormal investigator and even holds a senior staff position on a magazine he helped found, the TAPS Paramagazine. He teaches a course on the paranormal at the BCAE in Boston, and has given lectures about "the other side" at Penn State, Boston University and Duke. (Yes, Fark crowd, I know... "Duke sucks," right?) To put it another way, Steve is quite knowledgeable about ghosts, demons and all matters of things that go bump in the night. As for me, my interests lie more in the things that go "hump" in the night--unfortunately, I'm not too knowledgeable on either subject.

In addition to all of this, Steve has a starring role on the TV show "Ghost Hunters," which has aired on NBC, Bravo and, most notably, the Sci-Fi Channel, which is set to air season two starting on July 27th. Some of you may have seen this show, in which Steve and the guys from TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) investigate haunted houses and try to prove the existence of ghostly spirits. You remember the investigators with all the cameras and scientific equipment from the movie "Poltergeist?" That's exactly what these guys do, except they're the real deal. And there's no Zelda Rubinstein warning people against going into the light...

By now, I'm sure most of you readers out there are divided into two camps--those who are intrigued at the prospect of ghost hunting, and those who smell bullshit in the air. I tend to be more on the skeptical side myself, having never seen any ghosts personally... unless you want to count the mysterious Tequila Bandit that was haunting my apartment last Christmas. But it's always good to keep an open mind on these matters. In fact, I have an interesting side note to share with you all; my own mother claims to have grown up in a haunted house. She once told me a story about waking up in the middle of the night to hear the TV blaring in the living room. She got out of bed and went to take care of it, only to discover that the TV had turned itself off. Upon going back into her bedroom, she claims she saw a shapeless entity hovering over her bed--which then proceeded to slowly rise toward the ceiling and disappear. Now, you have to understand something here... my mother is sensible, practical, and probably the sanest person I know, especially seeing as how she had to raise an asshole like me. But to this day, she claims she saw a ghost. Her sister Donna had some encounters in that house, too, much scarier than the one I just described. That woman is a bit of a kook, though, so I take those stories with a grain of salt.

So, do ghosts exist? That's what Steve and his comrades are trying to find out--and if your house is haunted, these are the guys you want to call. (As opposed to, say, Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis.) They aren't con artists, they aren't shysters... hell, they don't even claim to be psychics. And if you honestly believe your house has some uninvited, invisible guests knocking about, maybe these guys can come check it out for you. They don't charge for their services (although gas money is always appreciated), and they know what they're doing. Besides, who knows? Maybe you and your ghost friends could wind up on TV!

I wanted to find out a little more about what Steve and the "Ghost Hunters" gang does, so I sent along a few questions. Enjoy!

Jeremy The Loner: So how does one go about becoming a paranormal investigator, anyway? And how did YOU get involved in the field?

Steve Gonsalves: There are alot of paranormal research teams out there.  Most are pretty open to new members so you can contact one and go through their training and hopefully be accepted. I got involved in much the same way. I did alot of reading and research and once I turned 18, I joined a team called the Paranornal Research Foundation. They disbanded so I started my own team, New England Paranormal, http://www.newenglandparanormal.com/ and then I joined TAPS. http://www.the-atlantic-paranormal-society.com/    And here I am 10 years later.

Jeremy The Loner: How did you end up as a cast member on "Ghost Hunters?"  

Jeremy The Loner: I'm assuming that some of the investigations you go on are nothing more than hoaxes. Or, at the very least, the people living in the houses are delusional or just plain nutty. How often do you guys run into that kind of thing? And is there a polite way of saying "You're either crazy or full of bullshit?"

Steve Gonsalves: We don't run into alot of hoaxes, I would say maybe 1 a year. We are, however, able to disprove about 80% of the cases we go on. Just people mistaking normal occurrences that seem out of place as Paranormal Phenomena. For instance, say an old timer that works at a hotel tells the new hotel employees of a ghost story from when he started working at the hotel 40 years ago. So now all the new employees think every little noise and weird shadow is a ghost. When most of the time that is not the case. People are very quick to assume their place is haunted. I go in and find the real reasons for the strange noises and occurrences 20% of the time I can't explain the things that are happening. Only then do we think perhaps there is some spirit activity here. Most of the time people aren't full of shit, just misguided or uneducated in how to differ normal activity from Paranormal. If a person is blatantly lying, I will not hesitate to call them on it and leave. We once had a case where the homeowner went as far as installing speakers in their walls. The founders of TAPS found these speakers after tracing the sound of the bangs, idiots!!! 

Jeremy The Loner: Ahhh well, we'll have to see about that. Thanks for the interview, Steve, and good luck with season two of "Ghost Hunters!" Make sure to check it out on the Sci-Fi channel starting July 27th. And stay out of the light, you goofy bastards.

-JTL

Got something to say? E-mail me HERE

JTL's Archive