This one-hour weekly docu-soap follows a group of real-life paranormal researchers as they investigate haunted houses throughout the country, encountering every type of imaginable haunting.

Ghosts & Plumbery

In October of 2006, these two crazy plumbers decided to search for the unknown. These two friends were as close as brothers. Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson did their best to prove to the world that not only is the paranormal real but that there is a science behind hunting ghosts.

Jason Hawes founded TAPS, The Atlantic Paranormal Society, in 1990 after he experienced his paranormal encounter. Grant joined his friend in the years that followed, and their investigations caught the attention of the SYFY channel in 2006.

The team grew to include some fantastic people including Dave Tango and Steve Gonsalves. Samantha and Haily Hawes—Jason’s daughters and even the family dog was on a few investigations.

Haters Will Hate

Ghost Hunters opened the door for several books and radio shows. Two years after it’s debut a spin-off called Ghost Hunters International took off.

Viewers saw Robb Demarest and his team of investigators visit some unusual haunted locations around the world. International, however, would only last until 2012.

By then, TAPS in the USA was already feeling the heat of its popularity. In 2008 Ghost Hunters received the award for The Truly Terrible Television Award. I didn’t make it up.

An independent investigation group accused TAPS and SYFY of peddling pseudoscience and superstition to audiences around the world. For those of you who don’t know what the word paranormal means, it is an occurrence outside the realm of what society describes as usual.

Skeptical Crowd

However, that was just the beginning. Ghost Hunters fame drew the attention of many skeptics who would go on to form their organization called: SAPS, which stands for Skeptical Analysis of the Paranormal Society.

A mix of highs and lows would plague the television show over the next twelve years. During a seven-hour live Halloween special, Grant Wilson received accusations of pulling a hidden string in his jacket pocket to make it appear like “someone” pulled his collar.

Later Wilson went on record saying that SYFY forbade them from faking evidence on the show, probably due to the negative exposition Paranormal State got and had people criticize the A&E channel.

100 Episodes and Counting

In 2010 the team celebrated its 100th episode and became the longest-running reality show on SYFY in 2011 as COPS is the longest running reality show in USA history, premiering in 1989.

In 2012, co-founder Grant Wilson stepped out of the spotlight for personal reasons and retired from the show. However, without one of the fans’ favorite investigators the show began to spiral downward and by 2016 Ghost Hunters and SYFY parted ways.

Then What Now?

I wanted to see what these two superstar plumbers were up to now. I went looking for the TAPS website, but every link was a dead end. However, in my research, I found that Grant Wilson attended a ghost hunt event in Charleston on Saturday, February 16th, 2019.

He still does paranormal investigations from time to time, joined by Ghost Stalkers‘ Chad Lindberg and Carol Cleveland from, Haunt ME. Currently, between his love of painting, music and guest appearances, Grant Wilson is worth three million dollars.

Jason Hawes appears to have turned back to his previous passion of plumbery. While he owns a few small businesses and is still a paranormal activist, he has not done as well as his friend and is worth about one and a half million.

Ghost TV Classic

Ghost Hunters was without a doubt one of the shows that paranormal enthusiasts grew up watching. TAPS is without a doubt the bar when it comes to create a paranormal investigation documentary show.

Jason once said that all he wanted was for the world to believe that the paranormal was possible. Well, I believe we do.

So, if you are brave, daring and crazy enough how about considering to grab a recorder and a flashlight and visit your local cemetery. Join a local paranormal team or form one and let’s see where that get you!

Artemis Dai