The name patch on his jumpsuit reads “Cobra,” but Ryan Doell said he preferred the grander and possibly controversial nickname “King of the Ghostheads.” This gets a uproarious laugh out of the other members of the Ghostbusters of British Columbia in attendance at Fan Expo Vancouver mostly because it’s a good natured take-down of a Ghostbuster in a far away city who laid claim to being the fan leader. (Impossible, the local guys said, Ghostbusters are notoriously too disorganized to have a leader.) The joke never gets old, especially in the bemused presence of somebody who is not wearing a proton pack nor vintage combat boots.
This is Ghostbusters culture and, it’s true — they do act more like game show hosts than scientists.
Todd Whalen, whose name patch reads straight up “Whalen,” noticed more fellow professional paranormal investigators at the comic convention held on the long weekend at the Vancouver Convention Centre than in the past four years the Ghostbusters of British Columbia have been in attendance. The spike in interest is likely due to this year’s Ghostbusters remake, a film that sparked such an outcry with its all-female cast that it’s no surprise a woman did not later win the U.S. presidential race.
“They’ve been coming by the table and asking, ‘How do I join?’” Whalen said. “And we tell them, ‘You’re pretty much doing it.’”
The group isn’t official and that in itself makes it easier to have a group. There are no brand bylaws, rules of conduct or copyright issues to worry about. The Ghostbusters of British Columbia is really just a group of friends, both male and female, with a Facebook page.
Whalen was five when he watched the original Ghostbusters movie for the first of many times. It was 1984 and peak action-adventure hero. Unlike other Hollywood hits of the time, such as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Back to the Future and Return of the Jedi, it was the paranormal that got him hooked.
“It was science fiction, plus the fact it was kinda scary, it stimulated the imagination, and there was a science behind it,” he said. “I was interested in it off and on throughout my life and it was one of those Halloween costumes I didn’t want to do unless I could do it right.”
So Whalen, now 33, grew up, and sourced the Ghostbusters outfit. It includes a military surplus flight suit, elbow pads, military surplus belt, custom-made key chain, military boots, a police radio and firefighter distress signal device. And then came the pack, made by people he met at a Dan Aykroyd autograph signing event a couple years ago (Aykroyd, of course, co-wrote and starred in the originals as well as made a cameo in the 2016 reboot).
The proton pack, used to trap the negatively charged energy of a ghost, is the mark of a Ghostbuster who, sans pack, could be mistaken in appearance for a high school janitor. Its authenticity lies in its intricacy. Some members of the Ghostbusters of British Columbia own silver or black packs. Doell wears a gold version with purple tubing (along with a chain and sparkly No Ghost emblem around his neck). Most of the members’ packs light up, some play the Ghostbusters theme song on repeat. Some members design and make their own packs out of molds and other prop-making tricks to create the knobs, bumps and buttons. Nobody in the group has the $3,500 U.S. number, as seen on ebay.com (with 57 watchers as of press time).
It’s the packs that draw the crowds. “The questions range from people wondering if it’s actually the real stuff that was used in the movie,” Whalen said. “Or, ‘Does it actually work?’ — that’s a very common question. Some wonder if it works for real. I tell them yes.”
There are also many who want to talk prop shop with the Ghostbusters as some group members have loads of experience, added Whalen, himself a visual effects artist who worked on Ghostbusters (2016) with a Vancouver studio that can’t be named due to confidentiality reasons. There are also those who take cosplay to a whole new level, who revel in pointing out a hex nut on a pack is off by one millimetre. “Or that my gun grips are too big, or whatever,” Whalen said with a shrug.
For a donation to the BC Children’s Hospital, people were also allowed to wear the Ghostbusters of British Columbia’s near-accurate packs for a photo. It’s the charity and the community aspects that keep Whalen involved.
“We’re a group of friends who love to do this stuff and love to build the gear. Events like this give us the opportunity to share the fun we have with everybody else.”
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