By Justin Bonitz
With Halloween today, it’s time to ask the big question: Who are you going to call? The answer here isn’t Ghost Busters, but Bob Pfeiffer, a 27-year-old Westminster resident who started a paranormal activity YouTube series in June 2013.
The series, titled “The Strange & Unusual,” features real evidence of ghosts, aliens, the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, and other fascinating entities.
Pfeiffer is currently working on episode 7 of his series, and hopes to pull off at least 20 episodes. The show has a slight comedic touch, so as not to immediately turn off skeptics. It features Pfeiffer standing in front of a green screen while reacting to the footage shown behind him. “I’ve always had an interest with the paranormal, and I’ve always wanted to seek things that are strange and unusual,” he said. “They make the whole world unique, and want to express that in a way using comedy and at the same time horror.”
Pfeiffer has been a filmmaker since 2006. He currently works at a local Stop & Shop, but after nine years in the produce department, he’s ready to get serious and pursue his dream. “I am obsessed with film making,” said Pfeiffer. “Despite the challenges and failures that I will come across, I see myself becoming very successful.” Some of these challenges mentioned are green-screen work, lighting, and finding usable content that’s already out there.
Pfeiffer finds it easy to distinguish between the hoaxes and the real deal. Aside from being of horror films such as “Paranormal Activity,” “The Fourth Kind,” “Insidious 2,” and “The Blair Witch Project,” Pfeiffer said he has had his own run-in with a ghost. It was in the Victorian Mansion in Gardner, which is internationally recognized as one of the most haunted locations on Earth. The popular paranormal TV shows “Ghost Adventures” and “Ghost Hunters” have investigated the Victorian Mansion several times. Pfeiffer is good friends with the owner of the mansion, so he was allowed to take a peek inside.
“I was on the second floor of the mansion. I was standing at the end of a hallway, and from the other end I couldn’t see, but could sense that an old woman was staring at me. I could sense her presence,” he said. “For the record, it was a warm summer night. Moments after that I desperately felt the need to sit down. Even after I did, I still felt very weak, to the point that I almost passed out. I was able to make my way down the staircase by grasping the hand-railing.
“Once I reached the bottom the owner’s wife made physical contact with me asking if I was all right. In a matter of 10 minutes or so, I felt perfectly fine. It turns out that the next week was a complete nightmare for her. I think some kind of spirit was oppressing me, and used me as a vessel to get to her.”
Pfeiffer was interviewed by the TV series “A Haunting,” and will be featured on a future episode. The release date is still unknown.
Aside from being a paranormal investigator, Pfeiffer is good friends with internet comedian Rob Dyke, founder of “Why Would You Put That on the Internet.” Pfeiffer said, “I’ve known Rob since sixth grade, and when I saw Rob’s success as a YouTuber, I thought I would take a swing at it.”
The hardest part for Pfeiffer is finding footage for an episode. Depending on the topic, it can be very difficult and stressful. Pfeiffer wants to write scripts for all of his new episodes to help get his thoughts organized. Typically he writes more of an outline, then improvises around it, but he feels that this may get confusing and unclear at times. Depending on the success of this series, Pfeiffer may create a new paranormal series, but the idea is still in the works.
