One of Gannon’s newly budding clubs on campus is the Gannon Paranormal Society (GPS), a club that is focused on sharing stories of the paranormal and bringing together lovers of unexplained mysteries. The GPS is headed by Edge Magazine’s own Aaron Mook and I sat down with him to ask him about his new club and its future on campus.

Q: What gave you the idea for GPS?

A: The idea for GPS started as a joke about a subject of which I enjoy reading. The more I talked about it with administration the more we came around to how cool the idea was and I decided to reach out to see if anyone else had any interest.

Q: Have you always had an interest in the paranormal?

A: Absolutely! When I was a kid my friends and I used to tell ghost stories any time they slept over. I started to buy books on the subject when I was a teenager. I read up on anything relating to the paranormal be it ghosts, cryptozoology, and things like that. As a young adult I aspired to be Fox Mulder from the X-files.

Q: Have you ever had a ghost experience?

A: Once my brother was living by the covered bridge in Waterford in this really shoddy house, and everyone heard things in that house. What sounded like heavy boots would always stomp around in the attic at a certain time. But when my friend and I stayed over for the night, we heard what sounded like dishes clattering in the kitchen, as well as a conversation between what sounded like a small child and an older man by the front door.

Q: Since it’s a paranormal society by name do you plan on focusing on other weird happenings outside ghosts, like aliens? What about Bigfoot? 

A: I think we’ll talk about those topics if other people want to because I know I do. But I think we’ll primarily focus on ghosts because that is what’s easiest to investigate.

Q: What to you hope to accomplish with GPS?

A: All I hope to accomplish with GPS is to engage others who are interested in the paranormal and the unknown on campus by getting together and having a dialogue.

Q: Do you think there is a pretty significant interest for a club like this on campus?

A: No. [Laughs] The hardest part is getting people inside a legitimately haunted house overnight. There is some interest but like any club it’s a pretty specific group of people that are interested. We want to try and draw more skeptics and nonbelievers into the club though.

Q: So there is a place for ghost skeptics in GPS?

A: Absolutely! One or two of the founding members are actually skeptics but still find the idea just as intriguing.

 Q: You were talking about haunted houses. What are your personal feelings on staying in a legitimately haunted house?

A: Haunted houses absolutely freak me out. I’m banking on other people being there to be my Aaron from Ghost Adventures.

Q: Explain that to people who don’t watch the show Ghost Adventures.

A: Aaron is the unfortunate cameraman who always gets pushed into the most haunted places as bait. If something scary goes down on the show, it’s probably happening to Aaron.

Q: Do have any plans for any upcoming activities?

A: We’re still finalizing our members and meeting times and locations. But I’m hoping we can start investigating before the end of the semester. We don’t have a need for fundraising, so as soon as we can we are excited to start investigating locations around campus.

Q: Where can interested students contact the GPS?

A: Interested students can request to become a member of our group on engageU. They can contact me at mook007@knights.gannon.edu or on Facebook. They can also check out the brand new Gannon Paranormal Society Facebook page.