‘Teeth’ – Creators Preview Their Monster Hunting Role-Playing Game [Interview]

Welcome back to DEAD Time. Do you believe in ghosts? Even if you’re a skeptic, you’ve probably tuned into at least one of the many TV shows or web series about ghost hunting. I’ve been watching paranormal reality television shows since Ghost Hunters first aired on Syfy in 2004, so this month I wanted to talk to one of the OG ghost hunters, paranormal investigator and researcher Adam Berry.

The original Ghost Hunters featured paranormal investigators Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, who formed The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) and assembled a team which included Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango. Each episode followed the TAPS team as they explored allegedly haunted locations, and the show became extremely successful. Ghost Hunters eventually spawned several spinoff television series, including Ghost Hunters Academy (2009), a paranormal competition reality show. When paranormal investigator Adam Berry won Ghost Hunters Academy, his prize was supposed to be a guest spot on the TAPS team, but he went on to appear on Ghost Hunters for the next several years. While on Ghost Hunters, Berry became close friends with fellow investigator Amy Bruni and the two of them ultimately left the show to star in their own paranormal series Kindred Spirits, which aired on Destination America and TLC from 2016 until 2018.

Since 2018, Kindred Spirits has aired on Travel Channel and Discovery+. The show follows Berry and Bruni as they investigate locations with a history of paranormal activity and attempt to communicate with any entities they encounter. Berry and Bruni’s bond makes each investigation an intimate experience as they try to connect with spirits on a personal level, and the show has gained a large, loyal fanbase over the course of seven seasons. Since first appearing on Ghost Hunters in 2010, Berry has become one of the most well-known and sought-after experts on the paranormal and is currently working on a book called Goodbye Hello: Processing Grief and Understanding Death Through the Paranormal, which will be released later this year.

Bloody Disgusting was excited to have the opportunity to talk with Adam Berry about his early career on Ghost Hunters, hunting ghosts with kindred spirit Amy Bruni, the inspiration for his new book, and a whole lot more.

Bloody Disgusting: I can’t believe it’s been over a decade since you won Ghost Hunters Academy and joined Ghost Hunters! What was that experience like?

Adam Berry: I know, right? I can’t believe it’s been thirteen years! It’s wild! It’s hard to describe the experience because I finally got a chance to do something that I had always wanted to do on a larger scale. I had been investigating houses and graveyards with my friends, but I had never had the opportunity, money, or equipment to travel and do that kind of thing. The opportunity to go to these incredible locations and have access to equipment that I’ve always wanted to use, plus meeting Steve and Dave and working with them, and hearing their thoughts and theories they had, was just an incredible experience. It was tough. It was a competition, reality show, so whatever that phrase means to you, that’s what it means [laughs].

I don’t think I would want to do something like that again, however I would never throw away that experience because I met some really great people that I’m still friends with. Obviously, it gave me a platform of some kind and I won that chance to be on Ghost Hunters, which originally was only supposed to be six episodes. I didn’t know that, and I just never left [laughs]. Amy was my prize [laughs]. We worked so well together and we just both stayed until we left to move on to other things. It’s crazy to think it’s been thirteen years. We’ve not aged a day, though. You and I, we’re still so young [laughs].

BD: As you mentioned, you and Amy Bruni met during Ghost Hunters and became close friends. The two of you eventually left Ghost Hunters to host the television show Kindred Spirits, which has been really successful. What is your favorite thing about working with Amy on Kindred Spirits?

AB: We’ve had seven seasons, so that’s very, very exciting! We’ve known each other for so long, it’s like working with your best friend. We’re family; we go on trips together, not just work trips. We travel with each other, and we hang out; we don’t live too far from each other. So, I think the best part is being able to do something together that we’ve been doing for so long. Especially in the paranormal community, I don’t think people realize the relationship that you have with your team is very important. Sometimes she and I know exactly what we need to do and we don’t even say it out loud, which can be a problem when you’re doing television. We’ll look at each other and we’ll immediately know what we need to do, but we’ll forget to explain it [laughs]. We’ll be like, “Oh, wait! You guys can’t read our minds [laughs]!” That’s literally the best part.

When we started working together on Ghost Hunters, we quickly realized we both had the same sort of, not just sensibilities when we investigate, but outside of work we had the same interests. We both like to have nice dinners and explore new places. So, when we were traveling together, we had multiple days off in between locations. She and I would go explore and see things and have new experiences and I think it’s all part of it. When it comes to paranormal investigation, I think spirits and entities feed off of that kind of energy; they see the two of us and they’re like, “Oh, I like that. I like whatever this is.” And sometimes they want to be involved. I think it actually helps us get more results.

BD: The fact that you’re both on the same wavelength really comes across on the show and that makes it more interesting to watch.

AB: I hope it does [laughs]! I think you can’t just make stuff like that up, those kinds of relationships. Those kinds of relationships are built. I think we got lucky when we were allowed to create something that we had always wanted to do and somebody believed in it, and we have been able to do it for so long. We’re very, very lucky that the people who watch our show still support us. I posted on social media that we’re going live before the season finale and people are pissed that it’s over [laughs]! I like the fact that our fans and people who follow us are very passionate about what we do, and they want more.

BD: You’ve been doing this for a long time, so you probably have a few, but was there one experience that really scared you and what did you learn from it?

AB: I have a few, but I’ll talk about one people saw—The Villisca Axe Murder house episode. We don’t provoke, that’s not our thing. We don’t go in and demand information; we try to encourage communication through conversation. Sometimes we have to put ourselves in situations in order to experience the activity the client is experiencing, so that we can better understand what’s happening. And we have to put ourselves in a vulnerable situation so that if we feel the entity is being aggressive or mean, they’re going to take advantage of that. During this episode, we were trying to reach out to a person who we thought committed the murders and they were in the attic. So, I sat in a chair in that house with my back open to the attic space behind me, which I hate. I don’t know if I was a gangster in another life, but I can’t stand having open spaces behind me [laughs]. I sat up there alone and we put up a couple of static cameras to film what was happening, and I asked questions. I tried to coerce whoever it was to interact with me in whatever way they wanted to, so we could definitely find out if they were there. We got an EVP back that said, “I killed them.”

When you watch it, you see me listening to it and Amy is listening to my mic with headphones. She’s patched in, but she’s in a different building, so you can see me hearing the response that says, “I killed them.” I was like, “I don’t understand what that says,” because clearly my brain had not clicked in, or didn’t want to click in. Amy says, “It says, ‘I killed them.’” She gets on the walkie talkie, and she says, “Adam, it says, ‘I killed them.’” She had to tell me because for some reason my brain wasn’t computing it, because for some reason I don’t think I wanted to hear that. When you hear someone who has passed away, who basically is admitting to the murder of this entire family, and they are in the space with you and you are alone, it is incredibly intense. I don’t know how to explain it, but you sort of have to kind of pull your energy into yourself, and not protect yourself, but it’s almost like you’re on guard. Now my spidey sense has gone off [laughs]. I don’t know what actually is happening and I’ve gotten the results that I need, how do I get out of this situation.

That was a pretty intense moment. I knew nothing was going to happen to me because this person was dead, but it’s still creepy. It’s really unnerving and really creepy. We found those answers and we feel very strongly that the person is there. So, it’s things like that that are really intense. That’s one of many that I could talk about, for sure.

BD: You have a new book coming out later this year called Goodbye Hello: Processing Grief and Understanding Death Through the Paranormal. Can you tell me about that?

AB: I can! The pre-sale is happening now, and I would like everyone to grab it because that helps get it on lists and in book clubs and in people’s hands. They can go to https://www.adam-berry.com/adam-berry-books.html to pre-order. I’ve been thinking about this topic for a very long time because when you think about what a ghost is, it is someone who has passed on who is no longer living. We’ve always humanized our spirits; we’ve always talked to them as people. Once we understand who they are, we try to help them with whatever they need. What’s interesting is that we have gained information and insight from spirit communication that sort of gives us a better understanding of our own mortality and what may happen after we leave. Some ghosts need to stay behind; some don’t have a choice; some don’t know they’re dead. All of these things have influenced us in what we believe happens after we pass away. So, this book is an exploration of that. It’s an exploration of how we can better process grief and understand death with what we know from our experiences in the paranormal.

You know how psychics have books about what they see and what they get from spirit guides, and it gives people hope? It’s a book like that, but I’m not psychic. So it literally comes from actual experiences and evidence and things that are tangible that everyone can experience. Not that the psychic phenomenon isn’t tangible. I wanted to talk about these topics from my point of view as a paranormal investigator and a researcher, who has been fascinated with ghosts since I was a little kid. What can we learn from it to help us understand what happens after we die and find comfort in that. This book is the first of its kind. There is no paranormal book out there like it. I’m hoping it gets into the hands of people who really need it most. So, I’m really excited about the book. It comes out September 26th, but I’m hoping everyone grabs a copy as soon as possible [laughs]!

You can catch up with episodes of Kindred Spirits on Discovery+ and find more information about the new book, as well as upcoming events, on Adam Berry’s website.

Until the next DEAD Time, leave a light on for me.

You never know what might be waiting in the dark…