The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

It’s almost here. The Texas Ghost Show opens to the public at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Beaumont Civic Center.

One of the featured presenters is Brian Harnois, former member of “Ghost Hunters” and “Ghost Hunters International.” Harnois has since started his own group, the “Paranormals” and about 80 groups throughout the United States make up his “Paranormals Community.” When investigations come up that are farther away, it goes to a member group of the community near the location. 

“I’m not rich,” he said; so he can’t personally go to each investigation. He said member groups are checked out before they can join, so he knows they are good.

Harnois is now is a full-time ghost hunter. Since a client is never charged for an investigation, Harnois makes his living doing lectures, conventions and personal appearances. “It pays the bills. I do about two a month,” he said. It gives him more time to spend in his Warwick, R.I., home with wife Michelle and daughters Mackenzie, 3 and Kylie, 7 months.

Harnois is also in negotiation with producers to create a new show on paranormal investigations and may once again be on TV soon.

This is not Harnois’ first trip to Texas; but his in the Golden Triangle. He has participated in investigations both in Corpus Christi and at the York Town hospital, “It’s pretty creepy in there.”

Like most paranormal investigators, he started his quest after a profound incident when he was young.

“Back when I was 11, I had a personal experience at my friend Josh’s house. I was sitting over at his house and around 12 midnight we were told to go to bed” As most 11-year-olds do, they continued to “jump around and do our thing, while trying to not make any noise.” Harnois said, “A full body apparition walked out of one wall, walked through the room into another wall. That really freaked me out. I didn’t know what that was.” His friend had seen the apparition once before. “He was always telling me his house was haunted. I didn’t believe him. I do now.”

Harnois said that experience started a fascination with the paranormal. He has actively been pursuing the paranormal for 18 years.

The veteran investigator has taken part in over 645 investigations. He has seen so many things; it took a minute of thought to decide what the most startling thing was. “Being face to face with a demon, an inhuman energy, evil spirit whatever you want to call it.” Harnois said he has been involved with four possession cases and assisted in an exorcism by holding the person down. “It was a 90-year-old lady possessed by a demon. Her eyes turned black, it was a very nasty, nasty situation. She was speaking in Latin. A person being possessed – that’s not something you really want to experience.”

Contrary to what some people believe, Harnois said hauntings with demons and demonic possessions are very rare. “That’s a problem in our field, most people see a ghost they think it is a demon, if they see a black shadow it’s a demon. No it’s not, it’s just a black shadow, and we don’t know what it is. It’s a big misconception.”

He’s very excited about coming to the Texas Ghost Show. “I’ve known Don (Don Dennis, founder of Texas Society of Paranormal Investigators and the Texas Ghost Show) now for seven or eight months, we’ve been talking on the phone a couple times a week.”

He will also be meeting others in his field for the first time. “It will be a good time, I’ll see a bunch of people I’ve never seen before and a few I have. Ticket sales are going great, so I’ll get to meet a lot of fans.”

Harnois is just one of the speakers in a great line up. Also presenting Saturday is Ericka Boussarhane, known as the “Oprah of the Paranormal,” authors Larry Flaxman and Dr. Rita Louise; Cryptozoologist Ken Gerhard, Ghostman of Galveston Dash Beardsley and Father Andrew Calder. Also making appearances will be “Ghost Lab’s” Brad Klinge, Chris Walden and Mike Roberts. Ghostology’s Brian and Anna Marie will emcee.

There are several booths including the Museum of the Weird, aura photography, wire wrapped jewelry, crystals, horoscopes, massage by the minute, energy healing sessions and more. Tickets are $20. Speakers start at 8:30 a.m.

For more information call Don Dennis at 553-4456 or go to txparanormal.com.