Zachary Bagans is an American

paranormal investigator 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 ...

, actor, television personality, museum operator, and author. He is the principal host of the

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...

series ''

Ghost Adventures ''Ghost Adventures'' is an American paranormal and reality television series that premiered on October 17, 2008, on the Travel Channel before moving to Discovery+ in 2021. An independent film of the same name originally aired on the Sci-Fi Chann ...

''.

Early life

Bagans was born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and raised in

Glen Ellyn, Illinois Glen Ellyn is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. A suburb located due west of downtown Chicago, the village has a population of 28,846 as of the 2020 Census. History Glen Ellyn, like the neighboring town to the east, Lomba ...

. He graduated from

Glenbard West High School Glenbard West High School is a public four-year high school located at the corner of Ellyn Avenue and Crescent Boulevard in Glen Ellyn, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Glenbard Township High School Distri ...

Career

''Ghost Adventures''

In 2004, Bagans teamed up with

Nick Groff Nicholas Groff (born April 19, 1980) is an American paranormal investigator, musician, and television personality. Groff was the lead investigator for the television series ''Paranormal Lockdown.'' He was a co-investigator, executive producer, edi ...

and Aaron Goodwin to produce a documentary-style film called ''

''. The film aired on the

SciFi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. La ...

in 2007. A successor series premiered in 2008 on the

and has aired for 19 seasons as of 2019.

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 ...

shows in general, and ''Ghost Adventures'' in particular, have been accused of fakery. From 2014 to 2016, Bagans helmed a spin-off series titled '' Ghost Adventures: Aftershocks'', which focused on changes to people's lives after prior ''Ghost Adventures'' investigations. One of Bagans' more notable claims from the show is his alleged communication with deceased actor

David Strickland David Gordon Strickland, Jr. (October 14, 1969 – March 22, 1999) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as the boyish rock music reporter Todd Stites in the NBC sitcom ''Suddenly Susan''. Life David Gordon Strickland, Jr., was b ...

of NBC's

Suddenly Susan ''Suddenly Susan'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 19, 1996, to December 26, 2000. The series was created by Clyde Phillips and starred Brooke Shields in her first regular series. Shields played Susan Keane, ...

. Strickland committed suicide at the Oasis Motel in Las Vegas in 1999. Bagans claims to have recorded Strickland's voice nearly a decade following his death, and included this recording in a track on the album ''NecroFusion''. No known scientific analysis has been attempted on the raw recording, including any comparison of the voice heard on the

Electronic Voice Phenomena Within ghost hunting and parapsychology, electronic voice phenomena (EVP) are sounds found on electronic recordings that are interpreted as spirit voices. Parapsychologist Konstantīns Raudive, who popularized the idea in the 1970s, described EV ...

recording to that of the famous actor.

Museum

On April 2, 2016, ''

Deadly Possessions ''Deadly Possessions'' was an American paranormal reality television miniseries that aired from April 2, 2016 to May 7, 2016 on the Travel Channel. It featured paranormal investigator Zak Bagans of ''Ghost Adventures'' as he gathered artifacts f ...

'' premiered on the Travel Channel; the show featured Bagans finding items for a prospective "haunted museum" in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. The museum opened to the public in October 2017. It consists of 33 rooms with various artifacts on display. Visitors are given guided tours of the rooms. Some of the items on display include

Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...

's mirror, the

Dybbuk box The Dybbuk box, or Dibbuk box (), is a wine-cabinet claimed to be haunted by a ''dybbuk'', a concept from Jewish mythology. The box gained notoriety when it was auctioned off on eBay by owner Kevin Mannis, who created a story featuring Jewish Holo ...

, Peggy the Doll, and

Jack Kevorkian Murad Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian (May 26, 1928 – June 3, 2011) was an American pathologist and euthanasia proponent. He publicly championed a terminal patient's right to die by physician-assisted suicide, embodied in his quote, "Dying is not ...

's "Death Van". Some of the claims attached to the artifacts have been criticised. Both the Lugosi mirror and Captain Smith mirror kept in the museum have been claimed to have dubious provenance. In 2018, the museum received Las Vegas Mayor's award for historic preservation and adaptive reuse. In 2021, the transaxle salvaged from the American actor

James Dean James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...

Porsche 550 Spyder The Porsche 550 is a racing sports car produced by Porsche from 1953 until 1956. In that time only 90 Porsche 550s were produced, and they quickly established dominance in the 1.1- and 1.5- liter classes. The Porsche 550 is a mid-engine car with ...

was added to the museum's collection.

''The Haunted Museum''

In May 2021, Discovery+ Channel announced its plans to broadcast ''The Haunted Museum'', an upcoming horror anthology show for which Zak Bagans will be the host and an executive producer. The series will be filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada and Toronto, Canada by the Cream Productions with Eli Roth as a filmmaker and Matt Booi, Kate Harrison Karman and David Brady as executive producers. The museum also contains a large painting of

P.T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He was ...

, whom Bagans is said to idolize.

Books

Bagans co-wrote a book with author Kelly Crigger titled ''Dark World: Into the Shadows with the Lead Investigator of the Ghost Adventures Crew''. On September 23, 2011, the book debuted on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list at No. 18. In December, 2019, Bagans published the book ''Ghost-Hunting For Dummies''. The book 'outlining the history of ghost-hunting, including true accounts and stories from Bagans’ famous cases and investigations, and explains how anyone can get started in investigating the supernatural." Writing for ''

Skeptical Inquirer ''Skeptical Inquirer'' is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle: ''The Magazine for Science and Reason''. Mission statement and goals Daniel Loxton, writing in ...

'' magazine, paranormal investigator Kenneth Biddle observes that throughout much of the book Bagans displays a strong bias against skeptics and scientists. The Skeptical Inquirer and the Society for Psychical Research noted similarities between several passages in the book and those by other writers.

Personal life

Bagans lives in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. He previously lived in

Summerlin, Nevada Summerlin is a master-planned community in the Las Vegas Valley of Southern Nevada. It lies at the edge of the Spring Mountains and Red Rock Canyon to the west; it is partly within the official city limits of Las Vegas and partly within uninco ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bagans, Zak Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Male actors from Las Vegas American documentary film directors American documentary film producers American male television actors American reality television producers American television hosts Male actors from Washington, D.C. Paranormal investigators Writers from Nevada Writers from Washington, D.C. Ghost Adventures American curators American writers on paranormal topics Film directors from Washington, D.C. People from Glen Ellyn, Illinois