‘Ghost Brothers: Lights Out’ Dalen Spratt and Juwan Mass: The Conskipper Interview

There are certainly many current ghost investigation programs on cable and streaming networks at this point in time, but few combine the realistic and humorous reactions to paranormal activity the way that the Ghost Brothers do.

The Ghost Brothers return to “pop the trunk on those ghosts” on April 17 on discovery+ and Dalen Spratt and Juwan Mass sat down to talk to Conskipper about their new Lights Out series and what it is like to investigate the paranormal in a wide variety of locations around the USA. 

How did the team originally form?

Dalen Spratt: Juwan and I were roommates in college and we would watch these paranormal shows and we were not seeing anyone that looked like us represented on the shows, so we decided to do it ourselves. 

Juwan Mass: Marcus (Harvey) was cutting hair when we were in college and we got together as a team and we have been doing this since 2015.

You both had paranormal experiences earlier in life, correct? 

Spratt: Yes, I was seven years old when I first saw a ghost.  My grandmother brought me to a funeral home in West Texas to pay her respects to a man who died due to gun violence and she had me touch his hand in the casket.  That night I awoke and the man was standing next to my bed. 

Mass: When I was twelve years old, I was running from one end of a cemetery to the other and I felt the presence of someone watching me.  I thought to myself, “Can I outrun a ghost?” From that point on, I knew that there was some kind of energy in the world that I couldn’t understand, but wanted to know more about. 

You have had three different versions of Ghost Brothers: the original series, Haunted Houseguests, and your latest, Ghost Brothers: Lights Out.  How is Lights Out different from the others? 

Spratt: Lights Out brings us back to our roots.  We got away from them a little with Haunted Houseguests, although we did enjoy helping all of the families with their ghost issues.  On Lights Out, we are once again going to bigger locations, but the spin is that only I know the history of the location and the paranormal claims, so when Juwan and Marcus investigate it, we can see if what they find matches up.  

What do you think of the new set-up Juwan? 

Mass: To be honest, it is a little more unnerving having Dalen set-up in the control center and Marcus and I going into an investigation blind.  We didn’t have any information about the locations, so it was a little like walking on pins and needles each time. We tackled it well, but it was an adjustment.  

Did you decide to return to larger locations like asylums, ships, jails, etc. due to COVID-19 or because you wanted to go bigger this time? 

Spratt:  It was really due to both.  COVID-19 shut down a lot of these locations like the Pensacola Lighthouse, so we had more access than we would have normally had.  No one was visiting them so it gave us more quiet spaces to investigate. 

Which sites stood out to you this season? 

Spratt: For me it was the Roff House in Illinois.  It reminded me a lot of the Allen House that we visited in Arkansas.  

Mass: I would say the USS Lexington. It was my first time investigating an aircraft carrier and the history of the ship and the stories about those sailors going through some horrific times were things I never thought about before. 

One of the key aspects of the Ghost Brothers that fans respond to are your reactions to the paranormal.  Does it ever get too intense for either of you? 

Spratt: Every investigation is like the first one for us in terms of how we feel about them. These are things that you can’t get used to, so they do scare you when they happen, and they never happen when you ask them to. 

Mass: I have a lot of those big scare moments on the show and I am constantly terrified.  I think I am now more sensitive than I was when we first filmed Ghost Brothers proper, and look at the phenomenon from an evidence standpoint, but I am still terrified. 

You recently filmed Fright Club with Jack Osbourne.  Thoughts on that experience?

Spratt: It was amazing.  We are known for the humor on Ghost Brothers, but on Fright Club, we got to be funny and tell jokes the whole time.  

Mass: We thoroughly enjoyed it. It was like a group chat where you send memes and videos to your friends, or sit around and talk to your buddies about them.  It was fun and funny. 

You have a panel at the virtual WonderCon@Home coming up on Friday, March 26 from 5:00-6:00 pm ET, but are you looking forward to getting out and meeting people at in-person conventions soon?

Spratt: Absolutely.  We are sort of like music artists on the come up, playing small clubs, and festivals, and getting the word out, so we are looking forward to seeing all of our supporters in-person in the future. I remember when I got to meet Hulk Hogan as a kid and I was so excited, so those interactions are important to fans. 

Mass: Dalen hit it right on the head.  We miss that element and we look forward to getting out there and interacting with everyone, and talking to everybody.  We are really just like are fans.

Ghost Brothers: Lights Out debuts exclusively on discovery+ with three episodes on Saturday, April 17. Check out the trailer below.