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Local business owner cast in 'Ghost Hunter' spin-off
Sci-FiChannel show debuts Nov. 6
BY LINDSAY SAUVAGEAU LSAUVAGEAU@LEOMINSTERCHAMP.COM
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| Leominster resident Shannon Sylvia is one of the crew of parapsychologists on the Sci-FiChannel's new show, "Ghost Hunter International," which debuts Nov. 6. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
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When Shannon Sylvia was a little girl, all her friends wanted to grow up and become veterinarians or teachers.
But according to Sylvia, when she was little, she didn't want to work with children or animals. She wanted to work with the paranormal - with ghosts.
"I got interested in the field during my early childhood," she said. "When my friends wanted to be teachers and vets, I wanted to be a parapsychologist."
Now the Leominster resident is taking her interest in the strange and unusual to the next level.
Having already trained in Boston and worked for several years with New England Paranormal, a non-profit paranormal investigation team, Sylvia's experience and on-camera charm have landed her a role on the Sci-FiChannel's new series, a spin-off of the hit cable show "Ghost Hunters" called "Ghost Hunters International." Sylvia will be traveling all over Europe with the "Ghost Hunters" original The Atlantic Paranormal Society investigation team out of Rhode Island, exploring some of the world's most renowned paranormal locations
"It's like winning the lottery," she said. "It's incredible to be able to get to work with these people that I have worshipped for so long, who have such a huge reputation for their work. It's like I got to the airport and joined up with the whole cast from the original series, and here I was, one of them now."
Sylvia says she got the role by answering a bulletin on Myspace looking for someone to be cast in the "Ghost Hunters International" pilot. She said she sent in a questionnaire and photograph of herself and was immediately asked to send in a video of herself.
"I had one day to produce a videotape, so I sat at the end of my couch in front of a camera, put on a cute hat, set a poster board behind the camera with the questions on it and answered them honestly. I couldn't have imagined that the video would mean anything, but then a weekand a-half later they called me back and said if you want to be on the show, you've got it," she said.
Sylvia spent two weeks in July shooting the pilot. She said the investigation team traveled Europe for two weeks and in that time visited three spooky locations.
"It was terrifying. When people see me scared on TV, that's genuine. Most of the places we visit are in remote locations, there's no electricity, we're being touched by ghosts, hearing voices, seeing things move - shooting the pilot, I was more scared than I've ever been on an investigation."
Despite this being Sylvia's first time working for the TAPS team full-time, the owner and operator of In Design in Leominster has actually assisted the "Ghost Hunter" team before, and been frightened. Last year, Sylvia helped the TAPS crew with an investigation in Clinton, which produced one of the group's most famous investigations. Aired on TV, the episode captured Grant Wilson, one of the lead investigators, being mysteriously scratched on the back. Sylvia herself captured the heavy breathing experienced by all of the crew during that episode on tape as an electronic voice phenomenom.
"It's been amazing so far. Hard, but amazing. When it's time to film, you eat, sleep, drink and work, that's it. Thank goodness for European Lattés," she said.
The pilot of "Ghost Hunters International" will air on the Sci-FiChannel Nov. 6.
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