What Did We Ask Jason and Steve from Ghost Nation?

Yesterday was the press conference call with Jason Hawes and Steve Gonsalves to talk about the second season of Ghost Nation. Ahead of the call I had written a post asking what others might ask them if they got the chance. I tagged both Jason and Steve in a Tweet, and to my surprise Jason retweeted it!

Questions from Twitter

Here are some of the great questions people replied with:

Which location would you NOT go back to? You always tell clients we’d love to come back but what place was so crazy, you wouldn’t?

— Britton (@Britton97258594) April 14, 2020

Do you think that perhaps sometimes hauntings can be created by many people believing there is a haunting in a certain spot?

— Scott Parker (@ScottPa36499403) April 14, 2020

Who has made the biggest imprint on your life and why?

— STURS (@sturspi) April 14, 2020

Was there ever a time you felt your life was in danger in a paranormal way? If so where and when?

— Darlyn Rojas bluedingo321@gmail.com (@DarlynRojas15) April 14, 2020

Why don’t you use equipment like the spirit box, etc. like you did on Ghost Hunters?

— Shelley McIntyre (@sesmtexas) April 14, 2020

Can Tango just hypnotize Steve to stop being afraid of spiders, bugs, and just about everything that moves. LOL JK Steve-we love ya

— Caroline Anderson (@chanderson72) April 15, 2020

Decisions, Decisions

I wish I could’ve asked them all, but I knew I’d get just one shot.

Although, I was surprised during the call that people asked follow up questions to their initial one. I hadn’t experienced that before, but it was great because they posed fantastic inquiries that led to great dialogue. (I’ll be sharing more about what I gleaned about Ghost Nation, Jason and Steve from the call in a separate post.)

Anyway, when it came my turn to ask a question I still hadn’t quite decided which question I’d ask. Because in addition to all that came from Twitter, I had a few of my own.

I ended up going with one inspired by watching the screener for season 2’s premiere episode, “The Witching Tree.”

Ain’t Afraid of No Ghosts

In the season 2 premiere, the Ghost Nation guys travel to a potentially cursed farm in Biglerville, Pennsylvania. There’s a curious tree on the property that the homeowner’s feel may be a cause of some of their issues.

However, as the show sets the scene and lets the homewoners recall their experiences, I didn’t get the sense that the spirits were very malevolent. The homeowners said they were spooked, but it wasn’t like they were being threatened in any physical ways, ie. like being pushed, shoved, tripped, having sharp objects fly at them, etc.

One of the encounters the homeowners shared was something the male apparition said. (There’s also a female one, and potentially ghost children.)

The male ghost grunted at the male homeowner while he was peeling apples, “That’s woman’s work.”

That didn’t seem very bad to me.

Earlier in the conference call, Jason and Steve had both answered a question about not being scared of ghosts at all, because there’s no reason to be. That’s not to say they don’t get startled during investigations. (And poor Tango in “The Witching Tree.” Steve startles him pretty good at one point.)

Anyway, I wondered how they finessed fearful homeowners like Steve and Glenda, the owners of the farm in Biglerville, when at the end of the day nothing really menacing is happening. It’s more a matter they’re spooked and in their own heads.

So that’s what I asked.

How Do You Help People Realize Ghosts Aren’t Scary?

I wish I had phrased my question that succinctly. I didn’t.

I asked this question because I have zero patience for nonsense. (And, yet, I’m a goofball.)

But what I mean is, I find it hard to tolerate people who are fearful of apparitions. Maybe because I’m jealous? How lucky are they to have seen the Holy Grail of paranormal activity!

Steve and Glenda seem like marvelous people. Very lovely. But at the end of the day, they’re hearing noises. Sometimes they see spirits. What’s the big deal?

The big deal is they felt uncomfortable. It was apparently upsetting these “newlyweds” enough that it was threatening to destroy their marriage.

That’s what I was struggling with. If you’re imagining young people just starting out in their 20s, as the term “newlywed” might conjure, you’d be wrong. (Like I was, because that’s who I had pictured when Steve, Jason and Tango are discussing heading to help out some newlyweds.)

Why was it having such a negative impact on their relationship? None of the experiences they shared connected those dots. What they did share didn’t seem very bad in the scheme of things.

Then again, my “scheme” is a little skewed. I’ve survived cancer and toxic relationships. I’ve yet to meet anything supernatural to rival the horrors I’ve endured in this lifetime. Having a spirit deride me for how I’m doing something? I’d likely chuck whatever I was working on at it. Get outta here with your opinions, Mr. Ghost!

So I wanted to know how Jason and Steve deal with what I see as nonsense.

Find the Cause of the Fear

Both Jason and Steve are so chill. Jason is especially self-possessed.

They realize it’s as much about connecting with the people experiencing the haunting as it is investigating the activity.

Why are they afraid? Where’s the fear coming from? Is it a fear of the unknown? Is it a fear of finding out a truth?

They recognize every case is different and they enjoy that aspect of the puzzle too.

I think it’s the secret of their likeabilty. Their compassion shines through.

Bonus Mystery Solved

There’s a part during the season 2 premiere episode where Steve Gonsalves is standing in the backyard with the other Steve –Steve Bansick, one of the home’s owners. Steve G pats Steve S’s back and says he’s proud of him.

It doesn’t make sense during the episode, but during the call Steve G explained the other Steve found it hard to even go in the backyard or near the tree at all. That’s how uncomfortable it made him. So it was a big deal he was out there like that.

Which is pretty cool. Overcoming fears is something I definitely know a thing or two about. If I hadn’t overcome one of mine, I’d be dead right now. It’s nice the Ghost Nation guys also help like that.