Haunted Realm Paranormal Investigators

Brad Hill's From TVNZ's Ghost Hunt which can be seen on televisions Zone Reality, he is also an Honorary Member of The Haunted Realm Paranormal Investigators

Brad Hills was born in 1973 and is originally from Sydney but now lives in Auckland. He as had a very busy and fulfilled career so far, he as tried his hand at most jobs including Insurance Broker, professional tennis umpire, running a talent agency, managing celebrities, working in children's television for six years, Theatre actor, Voice-over artist and live mc he as also appeared in shows such as Shortland street, Power Rangers and as written and directed his first short film The Real Deal in 2001 which was a finalist at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. He was the Co-presenter for all ten episodes of the Television show 'Ghost Hunt' which now as been distributed worldwide and as become a huge success (you can catch Ghost Hunt with Brad and the team on Television's Zone Reality).

How did you first become interested in the paranormal?
Like every kid of my era I guess - watching movies like Ghost Busters and wondering if that sort of apparition was actually possible and whether I could indeed get 'slimed'.

Do you believe in Ghosts?
I do, but when I talk about ghosts, most people's idea is of the traditional 'ghost' ie the floating image of a person. I believe more in residual spiritual energy than an actual physical presence.

Can you remember your first investigation and the
investigation that got you really excited?
My first true investigation was actually on the show. I was brought on more for my technical knowledge than my ghost hunting prowess - it just turned out that I was already interested in the paranormal. Up until then I had more 'stumble around in the dark, scaring myself senseless for no real outcome' experiences. I was most excited about going to Waikumete Cemetery - if for no other reason than getting to run around a cemetery all night, every kid's dream! Turns out it was very peaceful which made sense, as cemeteries are places of spiritual rest - I don't actually think they are good places for paranormal activity. But it was still fun.

What was it like working with Carolyn and Michael on Ghost Hunt?
Carolyn and Michael were just amazing. I had known Michael for a year or so before we ended up on the show together by sheer co-incidence, so we had a great time. The Larnach episode was brilliant - Michael had decided from reading about the man that he didn't like him and so was going to 'challenge' his spirit. I don't think he bargained for the result he got! Carolyn was hilarious - she was so scared everywhere we went and in the sense of gathering evidence was hopeless as she just kept running away! She is quite perceptive though to spiritual activity - the 'colours' she saw at Kingseat, that also appeared on the footage, I would have just put down to a fault with camera had she not mentioned she could actually see it. The same thing happened at Waikumete station just before the alarm went off - but she didn't see them that time because she was outside illuminated by street lights so it wasn't dark enough for her to pick up the colours around her. But it still showed up on the footage. After the series ended she and I were flatmates for a year - our power bill was huge because she always had every single light on in the house 24 hours a day as she had become so scared of the dark after doing the show!

Do you regret that TVNZ never filmed a second series
and if so would you still want to be apart of the crew?
(Because you have a massive following in th UK and we all miss the show)
I miss the show too!!! Yeah I was very disappointed that we didn't get to do a second series. It was very popular here too but, well, let's just say it got extremely political. And TVNZ virtually made it impossible for us to do another series even though we had all our locations already planned! I think they thought they could just bury it late at night and no one would watch but it was far more successful than they had bargained for. But by then their minds were already made up.

What was the best piece of Paranormal evidence that you
captured on Ghost Hunt and where?
My personal favourites were the Larnach photo of the figure in the doorway, the 'Rose' photo at St Bathans and the floating orb at Waitomo Caves hotel. Although funnily enough that last one was the least well received - everyone had a theory on what it was, but you had to be there to know there was no explanation for it. Personally I don't like 'orb' photos - there are so many explanations of what it could be - dust particles, insects, light flare, or drop out in pixels on digital cameras or 'dirty' film in traditional cameras, but people are always in my mind too quick to claim paranormal activity. You really need to see it moving before you can make a call on what it could be which was why I liked Waitomo so much. It moved in a way that was completely different to anything else we had seen and seemed to respond to Carolyn.
A lot of the weirdest stuff that happened occurred when the cameras weren't rolling (like the camera being thrown down the stairs in Dunedin) and so all we can do is talk about it - and inevitably people think we made it up because they didn't get to see it happen. At St Bathans we talked about a recent guest who had an experience where he was physically harmed - that was actually the Producer who had gone down the night before we arrived. But again if you don't get it on tape no one is going to believe you! And if you do, everyone assumes you doctored the footage or the photos. It's a no win situation sometimes this ghost hunting business!

On the show we the viewers see you all meet up in the morning to review what was captured during the investigation, did you really stay up all night and go through the footage and photographs yourself?
Well, I did stay up all night going through footage, but I must admit I had help! It was usually myself, and the producers, plus a production assistant all trawling through the footage looking for evidence. Of course we always knew not to look at Carolyn's camera because she never took any photos - she just screamed and ran!!!

Were there any episodes of Ghost Hunt that were never shown?
(what is your favourite episode?)
No we filmed ten episodes and all ten went to air. My favourite episode from a viewer perspective was the St James in Wellington. The whole thing with the lift going up and down was just plain weird and I think that came across. My favourite episode from a filming perspective was St Bathans and Kingseat (The Mental Hospital) - both for their creepiness. I actually brought 'something' home from St Bathans which followed me for weeks which was quite a strange experience. And at Kingseat, there was just the feeling of desperation and anguish in the air which was horrible. Funnily enough when we filmed at Kingseat the owners didn't want us to name the place because they didn't want bad press as they were trying to turn it into a conference centre. They followed us around all night disrupting our filming as they were paranoid we were actually secretly filming a story about a death investigation that was still ongoing. After it went to air, they suddenly decided to make the nurses quarters into a commercialised "haunted house" experience where actors run around scaring you - although having been there and felt first hand the taps on the shoulder in the dark while I was setting up cameras, I can tell you a lot of people may be getting more than they paid for!

When the show ended did you get to keep the famous Ghost car or at least the GHOST licence plate as a momento?
Haha! No! But that would have been so cool. I think the production company ended up with it, because at that time we were planning a second series so no one thought to keep the number plate at least. The suspension and brakes were shot anyway...it did quite a few kms around the country!

Do you plan to work on anything Paranormal related in the future? If so could you tell us about it?
No plans at this stage. I believe the Producers have been trying to do an Australian version which I would love to be a part of.

You have had so many different jobs in your life what are your plans for the future?
Well hopefully I will be moving to America in about 4 weeks! Maybe I could offer my services to the 'Ghost Hunters' show over there...

Copyright©-2007-Haunted-Realm-Paranormal-Investigators