“People weren’t prepared for the winters, so you had so much death throughout this area - whether it’s starvation, whether it’s freezing,” he said. “(New England) is one of the oldest areas where people came in and started populating,” Hawes said, adding that the harsh nature of our early settlers’ passings could also lead to more hauntings. “Any time you have a place where you have more history … you’re going to have more tragedy and more love,” Gonsalves said, explaining that those two components tend to act as the most common catalysts for lingering spirits. “It’s not all about walking around in the dark looking for paranormal activity.”Īnd for them, digging for historical context is crucial when piecing together the paranormal puzzle, especially in an area with a profound past like New England. “You try to follow a path to find out what’s truly happening and take the fear out of it,” Hawes said. In this case, they also had to consult historians for accurate information about the property, its surroundings and past owners. The residents vacated the premises for about a week, so the ghost pros could comb through the house from top to bottom without any “contamination” from outside energies. They spent time talking to the family about their inexplicable experiences, which included seeing objects vanish. The team of experts headed to the Bay State abode after Hawes’ daughter, local investigator Satori Hawes, called them for backup. “But there were things in there that were frightening.” “It was one of the first times we had to unravel a bit of a religious mystery,” he continued. “The mother did claim to see an apparition - I think she said twice - in the house that she thought perhaps her grandmother had invited into the house inadvertently through a ritual practice of Santeria,” Gonsalves added. “Sometimes, that can backfire because you don’t really know what you’re going to draw in.” “They were concerned as well because some family members had come in after they were experiencing some activity and started doing rituals to draw in positive spirits,” he continued. “They were worried about the safety of their children,” Hawes said of homeowners Janelle and Jonathan Mangiante, who will be featured on Friday night’s episode of the show titled “The Squire Street Haunting.”
Travel Channel stars and paranormal pioneers Jason Hawes and Steve Gonsalves opened up about their recent experience in Franklin, where they and teammate Dave Tango helped a local family get a handle on the supernatural forces in their house as part of their latest series, “Ghost Nation.” Halloween may be over, but the haunting never stops in New England.