FAMILY SPIRITS: The Adventure and Evidence of Gallo Family Ghost Hunters
Real Family... Real Life... Real Ghosts...
From pioneering the art of paranormal investigation in the early 90s to the creation of an award-winning web series. Join Bobby J., Renee, Nicky G., and Courtnee on a supernatural adventure like no other. The "All American Family" who can capture paranormal evidence like the television para-celebs... And all but prove that ghosts exist.
A thrilling and chilling book for all ages... Learn how and why ghost hunting works. And see the compelling evidence G.F.G.H. has collected over the course of three seasons of episodes while investigating some of the most haunted locations in America.
*Each episode is fully described as if you are actually investigating right alongside Gallo Family Ghost Hunters!
*Learn about the equipment, techniques, and terminology used in ghost hunting, paranormal investigation, and afterlife research.
*Use as a guide for your own ghost hunts and investigations.
FAMILY SPIRITS: The Adventure and Evidence of Gallo Family Ghost Hunters
Real Family... Real Life... Real Ghosts...
From pioneering the art of paranormal investigation in the early 90s to the creation of an award-winning web series. Join Bobby J., Renee, Nicky G., and Courtnee on a supernatural adventure like no other. The "All American Family" who can capture paranormal evidence like the television para-celebs... And all but prove that ghosts exist.
A thrilling and chilling book for all ages... Learn how and why ghost hunting works. And see the compelling evidence G.F.G.H. has collected over the course of three seasons of episodes while investigating some of the most haunted locations in America.
*Each episode is fully described as if you are actually investigating right alongside Gallo Family Ghost Hunters!
*Learn about the equipment, techniques, and terminology used in ghost hunting, paranormal investigation, and afterlife research.
*Use as a guide for your own ghost hunts and investigations.
Chapter 1
Thank you for purchasing this book and allowing our ghost hunting adventures into your world. Weâre a typical American family, average in every way except one. We talk to ghosts. Yea, for real.
From the outset, we have to make this necessary disclaimer. We may be an unlikely band of ghost hunters. And many will see this picture and say, âif they can do it, so can we.â But this hobby isnât for everyone. If you follow in our footsteps and set out to contact supernatural entities using any or all of the methods described in this book, you do so at your own risk. This isnât a game. And since you will see my kids engaging in these activities, it must be stressed that children should never ghost hunt unless supervised and guided by a parent knowledgeable in the study of the paranormal. This is for real. To that end, some will scoff at that statement, while others will take it dead seriously. But at the end of the day, itâs your choice and sole responsibility.
But before we delve into the unknown and permanently change the way you view the supernatural forever, we have a little ghostly housekeeping to do. So I think itâs appropriate to offer a short biography of each team member so that you can get to know us more personally and see our perspective on the paranormal. Perhaps you will see similarities between your family and ours!
Bobby J.
My fascination with ghosts began way back in my childhood. Other than comics and superheroes, my favorite hobby was collecting all things monster related. Favorite shows included; Chiller and Creature Feature on Saturday nights, while Famous Monsters of Filmland was my dream magazine. I can still envision the six-fingered hand rising out of a pool of blood with a dead tree in the background while a creepy voice echoed, Chilllerrrr. And let us not forget the daytime drama Dark Shadows. The show where I waited and agonized for Barnabas Collins to show his fangs. An event which happened maybe once every hundred episodes or thereabouts! So unfair.
I was the nerdy kid who always tried to scare my cousins and friends with rubber monster masks, plastic fangs, and most memorably, my mom with a latex appendage called The Spook Hand that would stick out of a closet door or wherever you wanted to place it. When everyone my age was listening to the Bay City Rollers, my favorite record was the sound score to the 1950âs supernatural series One Step Beyond. Yea, I was weird.
I also remember having strange dreams about the paranormal as a child. Two stand out as particularly frightening. So much so that I remember them in detail to this day.
In the first dream, there was an old stone church on Maple Ave. in Netcong, NJ, where the municipal building now stands. It was Baptist, I believe, and built sometime in the mid to late 1800s. In my dream, I remember standing in front of the old wooden arched doors when suddenly, they swung open, revealing only darkness. As I foolishly entered, I remember the floor beginning to move much like a conveyor belt. I then remember falling onto my back as I was being pulled into the blackness by the moving floor with nothing but laughter echoing around me. Then I woke up, thank God.
In my other dream, I found, for some inexplicable reason, that I was the only one left on the planet. I searched up and down the streets of my hometown for other living souls but to no avail. All I could hear was a loudspeaker warning everyone to get indoors (so thatâs where they all went!) because a maniac was on the loose. Then, suddenly, I could see him in the distance, walking towards me; a dark overcoat, with a very wide-brimmed hat, pulled down low so you couldnât see his face. No matter how fast I ran, I would look back, and there he was, ever so much closer, still walking while I ran, but he was catching up. Closer⌠Closer⌠Closer⌠My fault for watching Ray Miland in the classic horror movie, The Man With The X-Ray Eyes before bedtime.
In all seriousness, I later discovered that the man in my dream may have been the infamous Hat Man. A terrifying shadow person so many others have experienced. The accounts and drawings of him certainly match the memory of my dream.
I couldnât care less about sports. My parents had to force me to play little league. Even when I became a budding magician, a past-time that I would eventually parlay into a full-time career, I always gravitated toward the spookier, Bizarre type of magic. I can still remember reading a book entitled Houdini on Magic which I borrowed from my elementary school library. In it, I saw a reproduction of an old Houdini promotional poster that read: Do Spirits Exist? Houdini says No!; and proves it! As a bizarre kid, I was mortified. I thought to myself that Houdini was supposed to do the opposite! ⌠He needs to convince people that they DO exist! ⌠After all, isnât that the job of a magician? Or so I thought.
I didnât know at the time that Houdini was a staunch skeptic of the Victorian Spiritualist Movement of that period birthed by the famous Fox Sisters of Rochester, New York. Houdini thought people were getting taken advantage of by fraudulent mediums at the time. Whether or not this was or was not the case is still the subject of fierce debate. Looking back, I should have read the entire book to learn these facts. Not just skip to the magic trick sections.
Fast forward to modern times, the skeptic movement seems to have followed Houdiniâs lead. It includes people like James Randi, an ex-magician who fancied himself a paranormal expert (ironic since you canât be an expert on something you donât believe in). Of course, these people have devoted their lives to debunking every aspect of the paranormal, but I digress.
As I grew older and into high school, my interest in magic and monsters faded, while dreams of becoming a rock star took center stage. Heavily influenced by KISS, our band was quite ahead of its time for the high-school garage variety. We had flash pots, dry ice smoke machines, the works! Great memories and concerts that people talk about to this day. People who were at these performances in the early â80s are still asking us if we will ever have a reunion. But life happens, and those dreams have faded. For me, however, performing onstage was still in the cards, literally.
Several years later, I worked as a full-time professional magician performing 300-400 shows per year, touring the college circuit, and being represented by the prestigious theatrical agency DCA productions in NYC. Which also represented celebrities such as Jeff Dunham and Saturday Night Live cast members. I performed all across America and even appeared on television several times. In fact, I held the record for most appearances on the regional television show Jerseyâs Talking with the legendary talk-show host and sportscaster, Lee Leonard.
It was also during that time I had one of my first memorable paranormal experiences, which I wrote about once before. So rather than starting from scratch, I have included the original article here. It has been reprinted without any changes and with permission from The Secret Passageway Forum of the International Conservatory of Magic Online at: www.magicschool.ws; which is a mega-site that I owned and only recently retired. In it, I created the worldâs first and largest online school for magicians starting in the early 90s. The school has taught students from across the globe how to become performing magicians.
The International Conservatory of Magic Online - Secret Passageway - September 1997
Strange Vibrations
A True Story by Bobby J. Gallo
Many of you may know that I just returned from a college tour up and down the east coast. It was an extraordinary string of events with an interesting experience happening to me on one particular date. The school where I performed my full evening show, Sharing The Spotlight With You, was situated in upper New England. It was a rural college with great students who showed me excellent hospitality. Before the show, I was given an old skeleton key to my sleeping accommodations. It was the oldest building on campus. Over 180 years old (and smelled like it!). Originally the main school building many years ago but now serves as a campus guest house and is only used on certain special occasions. Such as visiting performers and faculty (lucky me!?). When I first arrived, I noticed ancient paintings of various people from all eras of American history in the Great Room of the old mansion. These people had something to do with the school in one way or another during their lives. But now all were long gone, and their images were entombed, umm⌠I mean enshrined in this old parlor.
The strangest feeling overcame me as I entered the house and proceeded upstairs to my guest room accommodations. The hair on the back of my neck began to stand on end for reasons I couldnât understand at the time. I joked to myself about the place being haunted. How could I not? The age of the building, coupled with the portraits downstairs, looked like something out of The Haunted Mansion in Disney World. Also, the reality that I was the only one staying the night in this old mansion fueled this humorous notion.
That evening, I dressed in my finest performing attire and proceeded to the theater, where I met and began a conversation with my contact at the school before the show. I joked with her about the house and the fact that it looked like it could be haunted. She replied; you mean you heard about that place?⌠Stunned, I turned to her and responded with a single word⌠WHAT?
It just so happens that dozens of people have experienced supernatural happenings in that old stately manor. For example, everyone from campus security guards to students and faculty report the strange ghost of a woman. My contact told me not to worry because she was supposedly a friendly spirit! However, another student contact told me to be very afraid in what I thought was a joking tone of voice.
Was I? Suffice to say that after the performance, I calmly and quietly went back into the old mansion, up the creaky wooden stairs to my room, and packed my things. All the while, a feeling of being watched put a knot in my stomach. I then got into my car and drove back to New Jersey. It was the last gig on my tour, and the drive was about 6 1/2 hours. I know I could have checked into a hotel, but it wasnât easy to sleep at that point!
End of article:
In hindsight, from a paranormal investigatorâs perspective, this experience was significant because I wasnât looking for an experience at the time. It just happened. So for that reason alone, I attach validity to it. Plus, I did not want to drive through the night and would have welcomed a good nightâs sleep!
Also, I can still remember the weighty atmosphere in the mansion. The energy was so thick you could cut it with a knife. I had a knot in my stomach that I couldnât explain, and the hair on the back of my neck was standing straight up. Itâs a familiar feeling many sensitive investigators experience at haunted locations. But at the time, I knew none of this. Now Iâm almost sure that the place was indeed haunted. Too bad I didnât have my equipment back then. If this happened to me today, you can rest assured I would have stayed the entire night and attempted to gather as much evidence as possible!
The positive thing about this experience is that it paved the way for my very first paranormal investigation a very short time afterward.
Background on the rest of the team
To say that I am proud of my wife and kids would be an understatement. They have impressed me in so many ways itâs hard to fathom. Smart, fearless, strong, and talented would be words that come to mind. They are true naturals at this game. The following are some short bios so you can get a feel for their personalities.
Renee
Renee always had a strong religious faith and belief that there were unseen forces at work in our lives. However, not long after we started investigating, she realized she had certain gifts for this type of work. The kind of gifts that would blow away seasoned veterans in the field of paranormal research once they viewed our videos. Renee is an empath and a natural-born dowser. The truth is, despite my ringmasterâs personality and experience as an entertainer, she truly is the most talented person on the team. Though with her humble personality, she would be the first to deny it.
This is what Renee had to say concerning her involvement with Gallo Family Ghost Hunters:
I have experienced the unexplained my entire life. I have always felt the need to look over my shoulder and have had many personal experiences. Probably more so than most people. So the paranormal field has always intrigued me as somewhere I could find answers.
Other than that, I appreciated the historical and educational aspects of conducting an investigation. The background work, as well as the production, was always a learning experience. When people questioned me as to why I would let my kids ghost hunt, I would always point to the educational aspects of paranormal investigation. It also gives them a sense of empowerment and the knowledge that there is nothing to fear from what we suspect are ghosts.
We have had enough unfortunate experiences with spirits to come to the understanding that it is crucially important to appreciate life while we are in this physical form. So many aspects of life come into focus when you are dealing with a spirit who cannot let go of anger or is somehow trapped here and doesnât know how to move on or cannot. Petty squabbles and bickering in life seem insignificant compared to the torment that an earthbound spirit may experience.
My favorite episode is âFlowers For Emma.â Investigations like this one make you feel good inside, knowing that you can still do good deeds and acts of kindness, even when a person is now in spirit. When they connect and communicate with you, it makes you think.
Nicky G.
The kids were relatively young when we started investigating, so their experience is limited. Nicky G. though is a chip off the old block as far as her interests are concerned. Her fascination with the supernatural was evident when she had me take her to a Twilight convention in Charlotte, NC, during her teenage Gothic phase. I was the only father there, but it was fun! We even made the local newspapers because of the novelty of a dad taking his kid to meet and greet the Twilight stars.
She quickly grew out of that and became ROTC at her local high school. Intelligent, beautiful, and witty, she is now a licensed Cosmetologist but still passionate about producing Gallo Family Ghost Hunters episodes. This was her response when Nicky G. was asked about her views on the paranormal.
Iâve been interested in the paranormal for as long as I can remember. When I was younger, I loved dressing up as supernatural creatures such as vampires every year. I think that deep down, I secretly wanted to be one myself. While most little girls aspire to be a doctor or a ballerina, I wanted to be one of the undead! LOL. So when my dad talked about ghost hunting like they did in âGhost Adventures,â I couldnât be more excited! The aspect which made the idea even better was the prospect of doing it together as a family. Iâve always felt very close to them; this experience has made us even closer, so cool.
I will always look back at this part of my life and smile when I remember the awesome adventures we had (hopefully more to come). I think in many aspects, itâs when we were closest. Depending on one another and having each otherâs back.
Iâm often asked that if I had one superpower, what would it be? The truth is, I already have one, my intuition. I can sense emotions in both the living and the dead. I can also tell when something is not quite right. There are many examples during our investigations where it clearly came in handy. One episode discussed in this book immediately comes to mind, âThe Gate Keeper.â From the moment I stepped into that cemetery, I could feel dark and frightening energy. It was the only time I felt that we were threatened in any way during an investigation. But all we can do is chalk it up as a learning experience and move forward. Itâs the only direction we have.
Courtnee
Miss personality herself. The adorable ghost-magnet who steals the show in every episode. One thing most people immediately notice about Courtnee is that she is utterly fearless. If you donât watch her like a hawk, she will be off wandering alone in a dark cemetery looking for ghosts and is intent on finding them. Which frankly is the primary reason I purchased walkie-talkies for the team!
Though Courtnee has blossomed into a beautiful young woman as of the writing of this book, she has maintained that amazing personality and ability to capture attention. Currently a political science major at Northhampton College.
In Courtneeâs own wordsâŚ
I am a fun outgoing person. My dad loves to call me âMiss Personalityâ because I loved the spotlight growing up. Also, people indeed say I am âfearless.â That fact is only partially true; Iâm just not afraid of the paranormal (most of the time). But I think everyone, no matter how brave they appear, gets freaked out now and then, especially when you are ghost hunting. Because you donât know what to expect. And what you donât expect, is what usually happens.
If Iâm not looking for paranormal activity, you can find me at the pool (inside or out) due to my love for competitive swimming. I am currently studying political science and want to work in the government in some capacity. It may sound self-serving, but one thing that made me want to do the paranormal show growing up was the prospect of fame. Like any little girl, I wanted to be rich and famous. But over the years, that has all changed. After communicating with so many ghosts, my interest in the paranormal has grown into a much more intellectual pursuit. What consumes me now is answering the one great unsolved question, âWhere do we go after death?â That is the mystery that draws me back to the paranormal, again and again.
Not all people believe in the paranormal world. But, of course, many do, but equally as many donât. So, donât you want to know regardless of your beliefs?
âYes, ghost exist,â Bobby J. Gallo asserts. âAnd I am going to write from the perspective that they do.â Family Spirits: The Adventures and Evidence of Gallo Family Ghost Hunters never waivers from this central thesis. All history about spiritualism and evidence of ghost hunting is presented as fact. When opposing viewpoints are offered, they are quickly dismissed, such as when he writes about how skeptics may respond to experiences labeled âAfter Death Communicationâ (ADC). He writes, âMany skeptics will say that this theory is just wishful thinking or a psychological mechanism to cope with grief, yadda, yadda and that this is all take on faith alone.â The constant dismissal of any opposing arguments felt off-putting.
The book shines when presenting evidence gathered during family ghost hunts. The Gallo family, made up of Bobby J., his wife Renee, and their two daughters Nicky G. and Courtnee, focuses its investigations on little known haunted locales and avoid the locations that have âbeen investigated to deathâ (if you donât like these sorts of puns, you will not like this book). Some of the evidence presented is compelling, as Gallo focuses on a preponderance of the evidence and shows how various pieces create a whole. Photos from their hunts accompany the text, but unfortunately, they have been edited to point out what Gallo wants you to see. It would have been more compelling to show the photographs and allow the reader to analyze the evidence without being directed.Â
Family Spirits is at its best when describing the tools of the trade and presenting the compiled evidence. Unfortunately, the combative, sarcastic tone, overshadowed the ghost hunting tales. This, along with several distracting grammatical errors throughout the text, detracted from the quality of the work. Fledgling ghost hunters may enjoy this book, as Gallo offers a great explanation of ghost hunting tools and how-to perform a hunt. Even the most open-minded skeptic, though, may struggle to get past Galloâs diatribes against non-believers.Â