So with all the current Paranormal shows on re-runs or hiatus I thought why not have some fun. So, I’ve decided while waiting to move I’d delve into the world of, The Men of the Paranormal (Ladies you will have your turn).
The list of men in the paranormal field far outweigh the women so I thought I’d start with Zak Bagans because well, why not!
Born Zachary Alexander Bagans on April 5, 1977, and being of Italian, Czech & German descent (he’s an Aries for those interested) was born in Washington, DC. Later moving to Michigan where he graduated from Glenbard West High School
after which he attended Western Michigan University for eight months. He later enrolled and graduated from The Motion Picture Institute of Michigan. His favorite subject in school was Poetry, (wouldn’t all his fans love for him to publish a book of his poetry) but he was also fond of History, The Old West(as seen in the number of old west GA episodes) and Vlad III Tepes (Dracula) which GA did a 2 hr special from Vlad’s hometown and castles.
Upon graduation he moved to Las Vegas to pursue becoming a documentary film maker and to explore the paranormal after his encounter with a spirit in his apartment in Michigan. Arriving in Las Vegas he worked as a DJ for Voltage and met Nick Groff in 2004 at his wedding, And the two worlds collided with the Ghost Adventures documentary that started his career, at the Goldfield Hotel in where they captured bricks being thrown and an orb of light in one of the rooms.
I did find he’d appeared on an episode of The Wheel of Fortune with his sister in February of 1998,
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/1998/jan/27/a-wheel-y-big-show/
I did try to find that video
Standing six feet tall, he works out and eats very well so he could very well take on any spirits who might get a little rowdy, he has also recently stated he is Empathic, saying his experiences have caused him to have a solid faith in God and that he has witnessed holy water used to banish a demonic presence. He’s become more respectful toward entities who have yet to cross over. As an empath it helps him understand what the spirit is trying to convey, experiencing its emotions sometimes to the point where he has broken down and cried.
“Those moments were so real to me,” he said. “This woman was asking me to help her, I felt like I was chosen for this.”
Demonic entities, however, get no such respect from him.
He’s been outspoken about his fears of snakes, heights, clowns and dolls and has had to face those fears in many episodes of his number one rated Ghost Adventures, going into season eleven and signed for a 12th on Travel Channel. He currently sports seven (7) tattoos, The largest on his back, that of an angel/demon, from his experiences on Povelgia, A Christian cross on his right index finger, a celtic cross on his left arm, the Aries symbol on his right arm, the German phrase “Denn die todten reiten Schnell” which means “the dead travel fast”, and the number 11 for room N11 of the Silver Queen Hotel.
It’s funny, Zak sold one haunted house and bought another. His “Demon House” in Gary Indiana. The show which is now in post-production. After what documention says went on in that house and was witnessed by some very reputable individuals, like law enforcement, social workers, doctors and nurses this may be one of the most interesting paranormal documentaries yet.
Not only has he been executive producer on Ghost Adventures, his Demon House documentary, he’s also executive producer/host of Ghost Adventures: Aftershocks a show which calls back those who GA has investigated to hear what if anything is still going on and how it’s changed them/the location. He was also executive producer of the short lived Paranormal Paparazzi, which was actually a pretty good show and dealt with all things paranormal not just spirits and Paranormal Challenge, in which teams of paranormal investigators where run through haunted locations and the team with the best evidence capture won. He was also executive producer on his two hour Netherworld special about the catacombs of Paris where one of the cameras went missing, can’t wait for that footage to surface. There is also an upcoming Un-Named new show coming out so listen for that announcement.
He also served as Executive Producer for the now completed feature film, Sympathy, Said the Shark, which is “part suspense thriller and character study, constantly challenging its viewers while entertaining them”. It was also designed per writer/director Devin Lawrence, “to deliver a very unique and innovative cinematic experience, showing how We are all imprisoned and controlled by our secrets and subjective views”. For those interested the soundtrack is awesome.
Zak Bagans & Devin Lawrence on set
The POV Camera designed for the movie
http://www.sympathysaidtheshark.com/home/?page_id=70
To say Zak is a busy man would be putting it mildly. Always tweeting, keeping in touch with the fans of his work and lining up new Ghost Adventures locations as well as other projects along with his fourth coming second book, “I am Haunted” in which he gets personal about his paranormal experiences.
For those who do not think the paranormal effects you, Zak answered this way in a recent interview, “I changed so much,” he said. “I think that the success of my show and the fame that comes with it, that hasn’t changed me at all. It’s my experiences that I’ve had with spirits and ghosts and demons that have (caused the change). … I can best describe it as this: we all have five senses, but I feel that my sixth sense had developed over the years of doing this. I’ve been overexposed to so much energy — not just ghosts and spirits but residual energy — overexposing myself to locations where bad things have happened and to levels of electro-geometric energy.”
Available on Amazon.
From the Summerlin Area View he said about writing a book: “With a book, I can really open my mind up and really let out parts of me, parts of my emotions and parts of my beliefs (attained) through my experiences, and I can get really, really deep.”
For those who bulk at the fact Zak has a passion for the paranormal, His book editor Pam Mourouzis has something to say about that, “There are many authors that don’t have passion for what they do and that’s not something you can hide in a book, Zak is all passion, which you can tell with just a short conversation, and his constant quest to dig for answers and ask questions forces even the biggest nonbelievers to put down the book, think deeply and start asking questions of their own.”
For the full article from The Summerlin Area View here:
His fans wait with baited breath for each new project and Season 11 and 12 of Ghost Adventures, which will put them neck and neck for longest running paranormal show with Ghost Hunters. A sneak peek into one of the episodes coming in February 28th,
“They said that their Bibles were being lit on fire, and the demon was writing ‘666’ on his office walls, We’re there to investigate the people making the claims, too, because we don’t know if it’s true or not.” (review of this episode posted)
And when “Ghost Adventures” is over, and he’s free to pursue whatever interests him, he would like to “escape the noise of everything” and find an old town in which to settle down and maybe buy a historic home with a garden. But that doesn’t mean his ghost hunting days will be over.
I do have to say I like the Zak he has become over the Las Vegas showman Zak he started out as. Just all black clothes, asking pointed, great questions and really like he’s trying for the answers, now if he’d just smile more.
Some Convention Fun:
A Day In The Life from Travel Channel:
And his funniest moments from his Vine:
“Being a paranormal investigator is in my blood, and after a while, I’ll get bored, and it will call me to other locations. Because when I have those moments, it’s a rush.”
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