“The paranormal is the norm” for a team of real live Ghostbusters on their way to Edmonton.
Parapsychology experts Chip Coffey and Ryan Buell have gained star status through ghostbusting on the A&E television show Paranormal State, though they say unexplained events aren’t always a reason to panic.
“I think people watch too many horror films,” said Coffey, the show’s psychic.
“They think of these marauding, malicious, rampaging ghosts that are going to come drag them into the basement and they’ll never be seen again.”
The pair will be at the Myer Horowitz Theatre Thursday night, hosting a pre-Halloween Q&A about the show and the unexplained for those who live with their own bumps in the night.
Though he says he can see ghosts and firmly feels all places are haunted, Coffey stressed mysterious and harmless occurrences are no cause for concern.
“People get really freaked out by simple paranormal activity, like bumps and knocks around their house that aren’t in any way malevolent or malicious,” he said, adding turned-over furniture, foul odours and unexplained injuries are legitimate reasons to be afraid.
The cast uses one-on-one time to break down and explain a realm of spiritual topics and help people scratch beneath the surface of that which they can’t explain in their own lives.
The show’s popularity has added a new demographic into the subculture of believers, Coffey said, adding it’s often around Halloween that interest in the paranormal is peaked.
The pair aren’t in the business of swaying skeptics to the other side, he said, though believers and non-believers alike are encouraged to attend.
“Most people are looking for something to believe in,” he said.
Tickets, including VIP packages, are available through Ticketmaster.
