John Zaffis
John Zaffis | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 18, 1955 |
| Occupation(s) | Paranormal researcher TV personality Author Lecturer |
| Organization | Paranormal Research Society of New England |
| Spouse |
Cheryl Zaffis (m.1984) |
| Children | 3 |
John Zaffis(born December 18, 1955) is aparanormalresearcher born and based inConnecticut,United States.He starred in theSyFyparanormal reality TV show,Haunted Collector,and runs the Paranormal and Demonology Research Society of New England, which he founded in 1998.[1]
Career[edit]
Zaffis has over forty years of experience as aparanormal investigator.[2]Research has taken Zaffis all over the United States as well asCanada,England,andScotland.He lectures at colleges, universities, and libraries throughout the United States, although usually not under academic auspices.[3]Zaffis currently runs the Museum of the Paranormal located inStratford, Connecticut.He also starred in and wrote thedocumentary filmMuseum of the Paranormal,which was released in spring 2010 and produced by New Gravity Media.[4]His first book,Shadows of the Dark,was co-written with Brian McIntyre and published in 2004 throughiUniverse.[2]
A documentary film on his work and personal life, calledJohn Zaffis: The World Withinand produced by CORE Films (which also produced the paranormal documentary seriesScared!), was released on September 3, 2010.[5]
Haunted Collector[edit]
Zaffis starred in a documentary TV series onSyfycalledHaunted Collector,which premiered on June 1, 2011. It features him, his son, his daughter, and three other crew members searching for ghosts in certain buildings people call upon him to investigate. The premise of the show is that the crew finds an item in the building that may have some sort of connection with a haunting. The show was initially cancelled in November 2013. It has subsequently been renewed and as of October 2016 is releasing new episodes onDestination America.
Other media appearances[edit]
Zaffis has made appearances onUnsolved Mysteries,Fox News Live,[6]and theDiscovery ChanneldocumentariesLittle Lost SoulsandA Haunting in Connecticut.[7]He currently co-hosts theParanormal Nightsradio show with Brendan Keenan. Zaffis was also in two episodes ofA Haunting( "The Possessed" and "Ghost Hunter" ) where the main characters of both episodes are possessed by harmful demons. In the 2008docudramaThe Possessed,he plays himself as the demonologist.[8]Zaffis also appeared and was interviewed in the 2009Ghost Adventuresepisode at theRemington Armsfactory. He also appeared in the 2009Scared!episode filmed at the Grand Midway Hotel.[9]
Zaffis has appeared six times on the long-running radio programCoast to Coast AMfrom 2005 to 2007.[2]Often, he is a guest and co-host on theBeyond Reality Radioprogram hosted byThe Atlantic Paranormal Society'sJason HawesandGrant Wilson.
He has also appeared in several episodes of theTravel Channel's paranormal reality TV program,Ghost Adventures,as well as onABC's investigative program,20/20,and onPiers Morgan's cable talk show broadcast onCNN.
Personal life[edit]
Zaffis admits that he was initially very skeptical of the existence ofghosts,until one Wednesday evening when he was sixteen and saw a transparentapparitionat the foot of his bed shaking its head back and forth. When he told his mother of the incident, Zaffis learned that his grandfather, when he was alive, always shook his head when he was upset about something. In the next few days, Zaffis' grandmother, who lived with him, died. This incident piqued his interest in the paranormal and set him about talking to authorities on the subject and reading about the paranormal. Zaffis spent his first years studying under his uncle and auntEd and Lorraine Warren,[10]both demonologists.[2]
What he learned from his aunt and uncle exceeded his original interests in ghosts andhaunted houses.[11]Zaffis became interested indemonologyat a young age,[10]which led into his involvement with cases ofspirit possessionandexorcismand working with prominentexorcistsin that field. He has studied the work ofRoman Catholicpriests, monks,Buddhists,rabbis,andProtestantministers.[6]Zaffis has also taken part in and assisted with the work of well-known exorcists like BishopRobert McKenna,Malachi Martin,and Reverend Jun.[2]
According to fellow paranormal investigatorJason Hawes,co-star of the reality television seriesGhost Hunters,Zaffis counseled him after he began seeingapparitionsat the age of twenty. Hawes credits Zaffis with his subsequent career as a ghost hunter.[12]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^The New York Times, "Haunted Inn Draws Horde of Believers", by Peter Applebome, November 1, 2007
- ^abcdeCoast to Coast
- ^Herald Mail, "Famed ghost hunter tells tales of the paranormal", by Dave McMillion, September 22, 2005
- ^Museum of the ParanormalMovieArchived2010-01-10 at theWayback Machine
- ^The World Within website
- ^abParanormal Research Society of New England
- ^Internet Movie Database
- ^The Possessedat IMDb
- ^Courtney Mroch."Movie Monday: SCARED!'s" Grand Midway Hotel "".HauntJaunts.net. Archived fromthe originalon 2010-04-08.Retrieved2010-05-18.
- ^abOur Haunted Lives: True Life Ghost Encounters, Jeff Belanger, page 186
- ^Providence Journal, "Paranormal expert to appear in Portsmouth", by Bryan Rourke, October 31, 2002
- ^Hawes, Jason;Wilson, Grant;Friedman, Michael Jan(2007).Ghost Hunting: True Stories of Unexplained Phenomena from The Atlantic Paranormal Society.New York:Pocket Books.pp.2–3, 201.ISBN978-1-4165-4113-4.LCCN2007016062.