Ghosthunting reality stars visiting Cowtown April 10

For paranormal reality show stars Chris Green and Mike Goncalves, a visit to Wichita’s Old Cowtown Museum is like going to “a paranormal playground.”

Part of the supernatural investigative team known as the Wraith Chasers, Green and Goncalves are coming to the living history museum April 10 for an event that includes asking participants to help investigate the museum’s Turnverein Hall.

During the event, which runs from 6 p.m. to midnight, participants can also tour some of Cowtown’s other historical buildings with members of the Wichita Paranormal Research Society. The Wichita society has done several ghost hunts at Cowtown over the years, many of them open to the public. Those frequent hunts — the last of which was in November, according to Jacky Goerzen, Cowtown’s executive director — have provided plenty of ghost stories to tell.

Green and Goncalves will hold a question-and-answer session with the event’s living participants, who will be able to get photos with the two and handle many of the gadgets featured in the team’s TV shows.

Green and Goncalves have visited Cowtown twice before since 2019, and already have a second visit this year booked for September.

“One of the coolest things, right off the bat, is just the place itself. We’re so used to one location, one building but this is a town,” Goncalves said. “I don’t think there’s another place like it. We go to museums and other buildings that were something else before, but never an entire town. … It’s a paranormal playground.”

Most of Cowtown’s structures are historical, having been moved to the museum’s location at 1865 W. Museum Blvd. to recreate an Old West town, where volunteers in period dress interpret frontier town activities that went on in the late 1800s.

Turnverein Hall, for example, was built in 1880 in Derby and was used as a hardware store and then as city hall and police headquarters. It was donated to Cowtown in 1966. During Cowtown events, the museum’s Victorian dancers often perform there.

A Tennessee native, Green founded the Tennessee Wraith Chasers in 2009, taking the word wraith from Scottish folklore. The word also has a personal connection to Green since one of his first paranormal encounters was with a wraith figure in his grandfather’s barn, he said. The team dropped Tennessee from its name recently, Green said, to reflect that it investigates the paranormal in several states, including Missouri, Texas, Florida and Georgia.

The team often touts that it’s made up of “Christian guys,” Green said. They were the featured investigators in the “Ghost Asylum” series that aired from 2014-2016 on what is now the Travel Channel.

The Wraith Chasers have a loyal fan following, Green said, with some following the team around the country as it does appearances like the upcoming one in April.

“We call them all-timers,” Green said.

Goncalves, a New Jersey native who had moved to Tennessee to pursue his career as a musician, joined the Wraith Chasers in 2015 when the crew needed someone to handle its technical requirements.

The pair said they like interacting with fans and those interested in the paranormal and encourage them to show up at the Hotel at Old Town, where they’ll be staying for the weekend.

Only 50 tickets are available for the April 10 event, with little more than half already sold, Goerzen said.

Ghost Hunt in A Ghost Town

What: a paranormal investigation event by members of the Wraith Chasers as well as a question-and-answer session and tours

When: 6 p.m.-midnight Saturday, April 10

Where: Old Cowtown Museum, 1865 W. Museum Blvd.

Admission: $99. Limited quantity available, find the ticket link at Old Cowtown Museum’s Facebook page.

This story was originally published March 26, 2021 at 12:00 AM.