‘Ghost Brothers’ helps families in haunted homes

ATLANTA — The fearsome threesome — Dalen Spratt, Juwan Mass and Marcus Harvey — have landed a new show on the Travel Channel, “Ghost Brothers: Haunted Houseguests.”

The eight-episode series features the Atlanta trio — who are not brothers but close frat buddies — visiting homes of families who suspect that their residences are haunted. The Ghost Brothers try to figure out what’s going on while providing advice, humor and comfort.

The first two seasons on the much smaller sister network Destination America had the Ghost Brothers visiting mostly abandoned or well-known places where ghosts are thought to inhabit. They spent much of the time running around being scared and cracking jokes.

In this case, Spratt said, they will be interacting with these family members and playing investigators to seek answers.

They will also do research on the home and the neighborhood using historical records and interviews with longtime residents to piece together why a spirit might be hanging around.

“It shows our maturation,” said Mass, an Atlanta resident who runs both a production company and men’s fashion line, Loren Spratt, with his business partner Dalen. (Harvey was not available for an interview.) “It offers a humanizing aspect, and it requires a different level of finesse. The stakes are higher. We are dealing with people and their emotions.”

The original series featured their camaraderie, but now, Spratt said, the show will get to hear Harvey talk about being a father, • “Ghost Brothers: Haunted Houseguests” will premiere at 9 p.m. Friday on the Travel Channel.

Mass show off his nurturing side, and Spratt consoling the kids and their fears.

But it doesn’t change how viewers perceive them: Harvey is the funny, goofy one. Mass emotes sexiness. And Spratt is the naturalborn leader.

Spratt said that after their first series aired, at least 100 families emailed or contacted them on social media seeking help with haunted homes.

“That’s where the idea came from,” he said.

He also realized that many people feel embarrassed to talk about paranormal activity in their midst for fear that others will see them as nutty. Mass said it takes courage for many of them to go on TV about this.

Spratt said the homes of both of his grandmothers were haunted. At the home of his maternal grandmother, the cabinet doors would open by themselves at 5 p.m. every day like clockwork.

“My mom had eight sisters,” he said. “They all told the same story.”

He said his experiences doing the show reflect things that he has seen in movies.

“It would feel like something I saw in ’The Conjuring’ or ’Paranormal Activity,’” Dalen said. “There’s a scene in ’The Conjuring 2’ where an old ghost is rocking a chair. We’ve seen that happen ourselves.”

Travel will air some of the original 20162017 Destination America “Ghost Brothers” episodes today, before introducing the new one at 9 p.m.