Ghost Hunters Academy is a paranormalreality television series that premiered on November 11, 2009, on the Syfy channel. The program was the third spin-off series based on Ghost Hunters (after Ghost Hunters International and UFO Hunters). The show featured TAPS members Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango as they led a group of prospective investigators on various ghost hunting cases at locations that are allegedly haunted, and which had been previously investigated by TAPS.
Premise
The series featured Dave Tango and Steve Gonsalves teaching a group of aspiring ghost hunters how to explore some of the most haunted locations in the country with the TAPS methodology from the Ghost Hunters series. Recruits were taken to some of the most "active" areas investigated on the main show at the time, such as Waverly Hills Sanatorium and St. Augustine Lighthouse. Participants who "passed" the course were able to elect to move to Ghost Hunters or Ghost Hunters International.[1]
Cast
Lead investigators
Steve Gonsalves
Dave Tango
Jason Hawes (arbitrated eliminations during Season 1.5)
Grant Wilson (arbitrated eliminations during Season 1.5)
Investigators-in-training
Dismissed
Heathyr Hoffman (ep. 1–3)
Chris McCune (ep. 1–5)
Jane Riley (ep. 3–6)
Ben Smith* (ep. 1–6)
Chris Smith* (ep. 5–6)
Eric Baldino (ep. 7–12)
Rosalyn Bown (ep. 7–10)
Daniel Hwang (ep. 7–8)
Vera Martinez (ep. 7–11)
Brett McGinnis (ep. 7–9)
Natalie Poole (ep. 7)
Michelle Tate (ep. 7–12, moved to Ghost Hunters for Season 9)
Veteran "Ghost Hunters" Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango lead a team of young, aspiring paranormal investigators in a probe of Philadelphia's Fort Mifflin in the spin-off's premiere. At the location of their first "classroom," the legendary Fort Mifflin, Steve and Dave promise much hard work as the students learn how to gather information and properly review analysis in order to crack the case.
Eastern State Penitentiary is probed in Philadelphia regarding claims of spectral voices and footsteps, and a new recruit arrives to shake up the team.
When the class travels upstate to check out Buffalo Central Terminal this week, they receive a surprise drama lesson as they're put to the test dealing with conflict in the group.
Recruits have their work cut out for them on Ghost Hunters Academy as the team heads down to Florida to investigate the St. Augustine Lighthouse. Nerves kick in when there's an addition to the group, which means class is dismissed for one of the scholars.
Everything the candidates have learned this semester is put to the test in their final investigation at the Essex County Asylum, the sprawling, abandoned infirmary that's supposedly home to the spirits of thousands who died within its now-decaying walls.
The competition heats up as the cadets travel to Hartford, CT to investigate the Mark Twain House. With only four investigations remaining, the margin of error has become razor thin, as the slightest of mistakes could send any of these investigators packing.
Only five cadets remain as the group travels to Fort Delaware, the civil war prison on Pea Patch Island. With an odd number of cadets left in the competition, Steve and Tango decide to have one team leader and let them call the shots.
With the competition almost complete, the four remaining cadets face their most daunting challenge, Mansfield Reformatory, where "The Shawshank Redemption" was filmed.
With a spot in TAPS so close within their grasp, the last remaining cadets head deep in the heart of the Rockies to face their steepest challenge in the Stanley Hotel, famously known as the inspiration of Stephen King's The Shining. In order to stand out on the final investigation, the cadets must pull out all the stops, and as a result collect some of the most astonishing evidence found all season.
