Grant Steven Wilson (born July 3, 1974) is an art director and developer for Rather Dashing Games (now a division of

Kalmbach Publishing Kalmbach Media (formerly Kalmbach Publishing Co.) is an American publisher of books and magazines, many of them railroad-related, located in Waukesha, Wisconsin. History The company's first publication was ''The Model Railroader'', which be ...

), a game company he founded with Michael Richie, and is the co-founder of

The Atlantic Paranormal Society The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) is an organization that investigates reported paranormal activity. Based in Warwick, Rhode Island, TAPS was founded in 1990 by Jason Hawes. In 2004, the organization itself became the subject of '' Ghost H ...

(TAPS), which is based in

Warwick, Rhode Island Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, the third largest city in the state with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is located approximately south of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, sout ...

. He is also the star and co-producer of the cable television reality series '' Ghost Hunters''. He left the show in 2014 and returned for the 2019 revival.

Personal life

Wilson and his wife Reanna have three sons. After an early career in web design, Wilson became a

plumber A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, and for sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.

and worked for

Roto-Rooter Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup (formerly called Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Drain Service) is a Cincinnati-based company providing plumbing repair, sewer & drain services, and water damage cleanup services to residential and commercial customer ...

, a large plumbing service company based in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. His hobbies include writing and illustrating fantasy and role-playing game characters as well as playing and composing music on various instruments including guitar and piano. He is an avid ''Star Wars'' fan. Wilson is a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

. Wilson served an

LDS Mission A mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, whether ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Career

Wilson first met TAPS co-founder,

Jason Hawes Jason Conrad Hawes (born December 27, 1971) is an American plumber and the co-founder of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS), which is based in Warwick, Rhode Island. He is also one of the stars and co-producers of Syfy's '' Ghost Hunters'', w ...

, after offering to redesign the website of the Rhode Island Paranormal Society (RIPS), a support group Hawes had formed for people who had paranormal experiences. Wilson subsequently admitted that the real reason he wanted to meet Hawes was that he had undergone an intense, recurring paranormal experience beginning at the age of fifteen. Hawes and Wilson went on to found TAPS together.''Ghost Hunting'' (Hawes, Wilson and Friedman), pp. 2–6. According to his own account, Wilson's recurring experience involved seeing an unidentified entity in the

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

woods on a regular basis. Wilson and Hawes are longtime co-workers as plumbers for

. It was Hawes who brought Wilson into the plumbing business.''Ghost Hunting'' (Hawes, Wilson and Friedman), p. 12. The two are former co-owners of the Spalding Inn, based in Whitefield,

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

.''Seeking Spirits'' (Hawes, Wilson and Friedman), pp. 254–263. Wilson, Hawes, and other members of the paranormal community frequently give lectures at schools and paranormal-related conventions. Wilson is also available for hire for private ghost hunting trips, and along with Hawes has used public

ghost hunting Ghost hunting is the process of investigating locations that are reported to be haunted by ghosts. Typically, a ghost-hunting team will attempt to collect evidence supporting the existence of paranormal activity. Ghost hunters use a variety of ...

events and personal appearances to raise money for various charities such as Cure Kids Cancer and

Shriners Hospitals for Children Shriners Children's is a network of non-profit medical facilities across North America. Children with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-center ...

. Hawes and Wilson also participate in

events created specifically for the paying public. More recently TAPS has offered an event solely hosted by the TAPS members. The personal ghost hunting events have gained more and more popularity over the years with television celebrity guests. TAPS co-hosts events locations such as the Stanley Hotel in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, RMS ''Queen Mary''

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...

in California, and the

Buffalo Central Terminal Buffalo Central Terminal is an historic former railroad station in Buffalo, New York. An active station from 1929 to 1979, the 17-story Art Deco style station was designed by architects Fellheimer & Wagner for the New York Central Railroad. Th ...

in Buffalo,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. On the 13th mid-season opener for ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

'', Grant and Jason were both parodied and portrayed as easily frightened, going as far as to wet and poop their pants. However, neither the real-life Wilson or Jason Hawes were offended, and Grant made a post on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. On the February 15, 2012, edition of ''Ghost Hunters'', Wilson announced that he would be leaving the ''Ghost Hunters'' show for personal reasons, including working on his own projects. The May 16, 2012, episode of ''Ghost Hunters'' was Wilson's last episode. He is now the vice president of Rather Dashing Games. In the 10th season of ''Ghost Hunters'', which premiered on October 8, 2014, Wilson returned to the show for the two-hour 200th episode, which was aired on October 22, 2014. In a 2013 interview on British radio, Wilson described some of the scariest cases he had to deal with on ''Ghost Hunters'', including being held by a whole town that practiced

black magic Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 145 ...

. He also discussed life after ''Ghost Hunters'', including his band Carpetshark and his forthcoming high-fantasy novels. In 2019 Grant returned to ''Ghost Hunters'' on A&E for two seasons.

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Grant Steven 1974 births Living people American plumbers Paranormal investigators Participants in American reality television series People from Warwick, Rhode Island Ghost Hunters (TV series) 21st-century American novelists American male novelists 21st-century American male writers American Latter Day Saints American Mormon missionaries in Italy

Personal life

Career

Bibliography

See also

References

External links