‘Ghost Adventures’ Star Jay Wasley on ‘Mind-Blowing’ Investigations & Why He Tries to Stay Skeptical

Just when you think the guys of Ghost Adventures have seen it all, they find new ways to challenge themselves and keep audiences at the edge of their seats. Starting with their exploration of Devil Island in a chilling two-hour special, this season brought paranormal investigators Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin, Jay Wasley, and Billy Tolley through some of the most remote and haunted locales yet.

So far, they’ve ventured through the historic town of Sutro, Nevada, battled blizzard conditions and an aggressive presence of Ghost Island off the coast of the Great Salt Lake, Scotty’s Castle within California’s Death Valley, and Orcutt Ranch.

Next up is Northridge, CA in the November 8 episode of the show, where they’ll investigate and work to help the Munoz family, affected by a negative energy. Kevin, a former firefighter speaks to Bagans about a traumatic experience he may have had six years ago that started the haunting. Bagans finds the dark energy is so prevalent he calls in an exorcist.

Here Wasley previews what’s to come in the “Nightmare in Northridge,” and reflects on some of the team’s most ‘mind-blowing’ investigations.

How would you sum up the season so far? 

Jay Weasley: I think throughout my history with the show I’ve encountered so many amazing experiences and paranormal phenomena. There are points where I’d ask, “What else will I see?” And I’ve seen things lift off the ground and go flying, exorcisms, possessions, and all kinds of things. Every investigation there are things that occur that blow my mind. I love every moment of it. This season in particular where it has been one location after another, we’ve really gotten some amazing locations, very unique, very remote.

From Devil Island, which is a remote island outside of San Francisco. You can’t get more isolated than that. From old mining tunnels to another in the middle of Salt Lake surrounded by water and trapped on a deserted island. We went to a place I was excited about Scotty’s Castle, way out in the middle of nowhere in Death Valley. Another instance where we had to travel deep into the middle of nowhere.

For Ghost Island, you were sent to the woods alone. How do you look back on that experience? 

In the investigation we did on Antelope Island there were claims of an evil presence in the wooded areas. Zak decided to send me out to investigate out there the entire night. I honestly lost my mind. It’s the woods at night, so it’s naturally creepy. I definitely felt a presence out there. It’s hard to explain, but it messes with your head. It messes with your mind. It confuses you. I started having physical feelings.

I started feeling scratched. I scratched and it manifested on my stomach. I felt basically like things were swirling around me. There was a sound I heard of what I felt was someone running up on me, which was terrifying. I actually ended up hurting myself in that investigation. With all the scars and jumping up and down, I ended up twisting my ankle. It would end up being completely dislocated. I ended up having to wear a boot, which you see on the Scotty’s Castle episode.

Jay Wasley/Instagram

Has there ever been a point where you considered not doing the work anymore? 

It has crossed my mind, but I can’t imagine doing anything else. Even though it is terrifying and I have been hurt many times. I even broke a rib during an investigation, but I love it. There is an adrenaline rush to it. There is something satisfying, a desire to figure out the unknown and what happens when we die. The paranormal is something, even if they don’t want to talk about it. Everyone wants to know that. It drives me to figure it all out.

Do you feel over the years you’ve converted a lot of the skeptics? 

I think over the years we probably have. I still approach every investigation like a skeptic. I think it’s important to do that, just to back up every piece of evidence we get. I hear from skeptics and fans on social media who say they never believed in anything, but from watching the show they’ve realized they’ve had experiences. There wasn’t just a safe space to talk about it. Probably, 20 years ago you talked about having a ghost encounter and people would look at you funny. Maybe even lock you up. Now there is a platform to share those stories and experiences. It has helped a lot of people come to terms that there is more and paranormal does exist.

How have technology and the internet impacted the paranormal and ghost-hunting space? 

I think with the expansion of the internet there are so many people on there that post things. A lot of it you see and it’s hard to believe. What we strive to do is to present evidence, especially in multiple ways. We try to document as much as we can from multiple angles with multiple pieces of equipment. So when we do see something happening, we can show you from different angles. We can show you measurements on multiple pieces of equipment where a lot of things you see online are one shot. We want to present that it is scientifically possible.

We take a lot of time and consideration into how we present the evidence. It comes down to the investigation itself. We put out everything we got. Every camera we have. We use every device we have. Sometimes it doesn’t make the episode, but we’re out there for a while. The best evidence in my mind was when it’s proven on multiple devices and cameras.

Do you find it hard to watch horror movies and TV shows because of what you’ve experienced? 

I grew up loving horror films, so I think I’ll always love horror. It is interesting now in a sense living a real horror film week after week. It is humorous for me to watch. Sometimes it’s relatable. The really good ones can get it right. The other ones I look at are far-fetched fun. I’m a horror nerd at heart. I feel like every movie will be oversensitized…The Conjuring movies are solid. Then we investigated the actual Conjuring house and learned the true stories. They really spiced it up, but it played out really well.

How is it for you to know that some of the investigations you’ve done have helped people like in the “Nightmare in Northridge?” 

Throughout the years of the show, we focused on abandoned buildings, old hospitals, and jails. But I feel one of the most important things we’ve done is focus on individual homes. People who reach out to us, or we find out their story and get in contact with them. These people need help. They are having paranormal experiences and even though it’s becoming more acceptable to talk about, it’s still hard to get help. It’s hard to get people to come out when they are affected by a haunting or evil spirit. Through our experiences, we’ve all gone through that and learned what works and what helps cleanse a space and get rid of these attachments. It feels good to give that back to people who are suffering and help them. Most of the time we hear back from these homes and families that do feel better after we visit. We show them how to keep it going too. It’s not just one night and all gone. It might be something they have to keep up with in terms of cleansing and blessings. We make sure they are equipped to handle it.

Discovery Channel

What stood out for you with this particular episode? 

I think it was a very intense case. There was a big family that lived there. What gets me personally is that when we’re doing the initial interviews, you can feel the pain, the suffering. Not only Kevin, who was the main family member was affected. You feel it from his brother. You feel it from his mother. They just see the pain and suffering he is going through. That stuck with me. In the end, we had to help. We were documenting activity while there, so we know something is there. We didn’t want to leave until we helped them.

You also have the spinoff Ghost Adventures: Screaming Room now in season 3. How is it revisiting your past work with a new perspective? 

One thing a lot of people don’t realize is we film every other week. We’re on the road all the time. There are no breaks. We’ve been shooting nonstop for 15,16 years. I’ve been with it for 13 years. There is little time to reflect. We basically have enough time to do laundry, relax for a few days, and back on the road. Screaming Room has been an amazing experience to sit down with the other guys and watch our old episodes. It brings back memories we forget. There are moments it can give us closure or remind us of interesting ways we tried once and maybe try again. It helps us look back and evolve and learn from past experiences to see how we can make our investigations better.

Are there any recent episodes that stand out to you? 

The Comedy Store for me was one of my favorite places. I actually worked on Jeff Ross’ comedy special way before Ghost Adventures. So when I reached out to him to come on the episode. He was amazing. He was all about it. He actually had experiences with us, so it was fun to relive them with him.

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What can you say in terms of what we’ll see for the rest of the season of Ghost Adventures? 

We are still finding incredible locations, very far out there. Just unique locations. Many places have a rich history. Those are my favorites. We’re also stepping up in experiments and specifically really approaching it from a scientific method of document and proof. Understanding and accepting that the paranormal is out there. It’s mind-blowing stuff. We just got back from an investigation the other week. I’m still buzzing about and shaking off. It takes a few months for people to see it,  but I’m excited for them to see these investigations.

Ghost Adventures, Wednesdays, 9/8c, Discovery

Ghost Adventures: Screaming Room, Wednesdays, 11/10c, Discovery