Some families go to church together others might go to the Olive Garden. Bob Christopher, from Wilkes-Barre, investigates paranormal activity with his family on a reality show, “Ghost Adventures.”
The series, which premiered its sixth season on Oct. 3, is a local production that airs on FOX 56, The CW, ECTV, and WYLN 35. Christopher is joined by a team of nine paranormal investigators, including his wife, Kathy, and daughters, Katie and Maria. It’s a family affair, Christopher said, ultimately inspired by stories he’d tell of his experiences growing up in a house with frequent paranormal activity.
Christopher said he grew up in a house that was haunted in Parsons. It was a nice, family-friendly neighborhood, where kids would be seen outside riding their bikes while the neighbors would sit on their porches, he said. But inside his home, on a street he wouldn’t mention to protect the current residents, activity wasn’t so quaint. From as far back as he could remember, he’d often see doors slam on their own or hear the sound of chains dragging across the attic floor. Oh, and then there was that wheelchair that belonged to a deceased uncle.
“The wheelchair would be folded up and put away in the attic, and then we’d wake up and it would be opened up in a random room of the house,” Christopher said.
The story gets creepier.
When Christopher was about 13 years old, he experienced something that would trigger a passion for researching and investigating paranormal activity.
“I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like I was tied down in the bed,” he said. “My bed felt like it levitated up in the air. I couldn’t move or scream.”
Paranormal activity kept getting worse, he said, until his family finally had a priest bless the home when he was about 15 years old. Christopher said the priest gave his family five crosses to hang up over different doorways in the home.
Christopher said the activity died down following the blessing. Then one morning, all of the crosses were missing.
Three years later, after returning from a grocery story, Christopher and his family witnessed something he said he’ll never forget.
“We were carrying our brown paper bags, and we walk into the dining room, and all five crosses were there. They were spread across the dining room table,” Christopher said.
These stories haunted his memory when he found himself raising his own family. In 2005, daughter Katie, encouraged her father to do something about it. Together they launched NEPA Paranormal, a service for those who believe their house might be haunted.
In 2011, their services became the subject of a reality show.
In the past 10 years, Christopher said he’s been in more than 50 real haunted houses in Northeastern Pennsylvania, where he’s seen doors slam, has heard the sound of furniture dragging, and has heard voices. He wouldn’t share where these homes were to protect the anonymity of his clients.
“Everybody would show up to the house or drive by their house if they knew where all of the haunted houses were,” Christopher said.
The real-life ghostbuster is aware of skeptics. He knows most people won’t believe in ghosts or paranormal activity until they have their own experience.
“I know there’s something out there,” he said. “I want to know what the other side is like. Is it cold? Is it dark? I want to know. I’m searching for the answers.”
So what is on the other side?
Christopher said he’s still searching for it.
