INTERVIEW: TAPS returns for ‘Ghost Hunters’ Halloween special
The Ghost Hunters team are back with a Halloween special. Photo courtesy of discovery+ / Provided by press site with permission.
Ghost Hunters, one of the most popular paranormal shows in history, is back on discovery+, the streaming network from Discovery. This Halloween, Oct. 31, fans can tune in for a special ghostly investigation that will serve as a sneak peek of the new season. For this adventure, there’s an all-star team assembled, including Jason Hawes, Steve Gonsalves, Shari DeBenedetti, Dave Tango, Amy Bruni and Adam Berry.
Details on the special episode are still under wraps — and who knows what they may find in these dark corridors — but what fans do know is that the team makes every effort to find evidence in a scary prison setting. DeBenedetti, who has been a friend of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) for a long time, was there every step of the way, and, in her belief, this prison was a prime property for their investigations.
“First of all, there was a lot of activity at this location,” DeBenedetti said in a recent phone interview. “So there was a lot of activity at the facility, so there’s going to be a lot of evidence. But the other thing is they are going to see the old crew. I know a lot of people were always asking for the old crew to come back. … So I think everybody is excited to see everybody working together again.”
When the network comes knocking, asking the TAPS members whether they are interested in filming more ghost hunts, there’s usually not much hesitation before saying yes. For DeBenedetti, paranormal investigations have been her life for the last quarter of a century, and she always jumps at the chance to join her friends and appear on television.
“There’s really no hesitation,” she said. “We all get along together, so there’s no issues there. It kind of depends place to place. If we’re just doing a small home, it would be very difficult for a big team to all do a location, but to places like this and the large places, we would love for them to come in and help us … because these locations that we do sometimes are like 15 buildings. There’s no question. We love them [the team]. We love them to help us. We can trust them.”
When DeBenedetti enters a place for the first time, she doesn’t go in thinking there are ghosts around every corner. Instead, she puts on her skeptic’s hat, listens to the claims, checks out the location, and considers the ins and outs of the property.
“In my mind, nothing is haunted until I get the proof, so in my mind, I just go in with a clean slate,” DeBenedetti said. “And we try to do all the disproving of claims or debunking or getting alternative answers. From there, then I’ll start doing the investigation and trying to get in contact with whoever we can get in contact with. Then I kind of go through process. I never say that anything is haunted. I never look at a place and say, ‘Oh my God, this place looks haunted. This place is definitely haunted because of what it looks like and what the claims are’. That is totally not what I do, so I always need the proof.”
DeBenedetti said she’s not putting on an act for the cameras. When she’s conducting private paranormal investigations with her own local team members, she acts the exact same way that audience members see on the reality TV show. That said, seeing herself in Ghost Hunters episodes still seems likes a novel experience. She’s not quite used to being a character on the small screen.
“In my head, it’s still kind of new to me with the whole cameras right there,” she said. “It is weird just knowing that it’s going on TV. It’s weird still seeing myself on TV. Like I’m still not used to all of that. What I don’t like, and it’s difficult, is fans or other people will critique every little thing, and so it’s very difficult having to respond. They tweet out: What about this? What about that? And you’re trying to respond to them so that they understand while we’re going through this, this is what was going on, and this is what was going on. You didn’t see this because it was edited out, but really we did do this and this and that. That part of it is … difficult because we feel like we have to explain ourselves over and over again, so I think that’s what the most difficult thing is.”
DeBenedetti has known the TAPS team for a long time. In particular, she and Hawes have been friends for two decades. Even though some fans call her the “new girl,” she’s been in this paranormal circle for a long, long time.
“I’m not the new girl in their lives,” she said. “So in the mid-’90s is when I started. … I met Jason before all of this started. I talked to him about paranormal stuff. He had TAPS, and he ran his TAPS events. So that’s how I met him. Then I met other TAP members throughout all the years, and I worked with a lot of them. So I’ve been there. I just haven’t been on TV, so it is like family. We all get along. We all share stories. We all help each other. It definitely is like one big family. I absolutely love being with them. I absolutely love working with them. It’s just been a fun ride. I can’t even describe how excited I am every time I go in and work with them. We all know what each other needs to do, so we all work really well together. And we all make a good team. I love it.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Ghost Hunters returns with a Halloween special, Oct. 31, streaming on discovery+. The program is part of the Ghostober month of programming. Click here for more information.
