‘I’M AUSTRALIA’S REAL LIFE GHOSTBUSTER’
THIS PROFESSIONAL AUSSIE GHOSTBUSTER AIN’T AFRAID OF NO GHOSTS
By day she works in sales, by night, she’s a real-life ghostbuster. For nearly two decades, psychic and paranormal investigator, Soula Vaitsis, has scoured everything from abandoned asylums and spooky jails, to ghost-plagued suburban semis, in the hopes of an encounter with a disembodied spirit.
But the seeds for the Melbourne-based mum’s otherworldly occupation were sown after a childhood encounter with a ghost.
“I was only 7 at the time,” the 46-year-old tells New Idea. “I was at a local park with my cousin. We were on the swings next to one other when my cousin said to me: ‘Don’t pull my hair!’ I was swinging next to her at the time. I replied: ‘I didn’t.’ And then, suddenly, I felt my own hair being pulled.
“Jumping off the swings, we both began to run, before I stopped to turn back, and then I saw her – a woman in a long, white nightgown with long black hair and black holes for eyes, floating a metre off the ground.
“Our feet barely touched the ground running home – my heart was pounding so hard! I told me parents, but they didn’t believe me.”
Traumatised and terrified by the encounter – “to this day I can’t sleep in a dark room alone,” she says – more experiences soon followed.
“I had things turning on and off without any power,” she
recalls. “Dolls spoke to me. I saw shadow figures, heard growls, and had entities try to choke me. There were times I thought I was crazy, and my parents didn’t believe any of it, so I couldn’t even confide in them.”
Realising she was destined for a paranormal career, Soula eventually learned to accept her abilities and began to study how to harness them. “I knew I had a gift that could help people,” she says.
Studying demonology, angels and exorcism, the psychic started on a path that would eventually see her set up her own paranormal investigation business, Paranormal Adventures Australia. Formed nearly two years ago, Soula has since recruited a team of like-minded people to help her investigate some of the country’s most haunted locations.
“We use old-school methods and new scientific equipment to prove or disprove a haunting,” she explains.
Though it clearly takes a lot to scare this fearless female, when Soula opens up her case files there are a few otherworldly encounters that have left their mark. One in particular occurred when a suburban family turned to the investigator for help after their 16-year-old daughter was plagued by an entity.
“She said she kept getting poked and pushed when she was in her bed,” says Soula. “I arrived with my equipment and stayed in her room. Around 4am I was woken by the sound of a woman laughing and my legs being pulled hard! I felt hot breath on the side of my face and heard the sinister giggle – I felt fear. I cleansed the home and contacted a priest who exorcised the place. It never happened again.”
Given the freaky nature of her work, Soula acknowledges many people might be sceptical. But rather than being annoyed by nonbelievers, she encourages healthy scepticism.
“Sceptics I like!” she says, smiling. “Because they look to debunk any paranormal activity with a rational explanation – the same as us. Not all cases of paranormal activity are caused by spirits. This is why we look for other explanations first before making a conclusion.”
But the proof of her work is – as the saying goes – in the pudding. Given that most of her cases are from word of
“DOLLS SPOKE TO ME. I SAW SHADOW FIGURES, HEARD GROWLS AND HAD ENTITIES CHOKE ME”
mouth recommendation, it stands to reason that she’s doing something right.
Certainly her family have given her the seal of approval.
“My family are supportive of what I do,” she says, smiling. “My 20-year-old son is also one of the investigators and has psychic abilities himself.”
But most importantly for the ghost hunter is the affirmation her gifts and experiences have given her about what happens after we die.
“I have learned that we go on after we leave this human plane,” says Soula.
“My life has led me on this path and it’s as much a full-time job as what I get paid to do during the day.
“This is who I am meant to be.”