U of M to get paranormal journals from Ghostbuster Aykroyd’s dad

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This article was published 17/10/2009 (6167 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The father of actor Dan Aykroyd from the 1980s comedy movie Ghostbusters announced Thursday he will donate his research notes and his grandfather’s journals on paranormal activity to the University of Manitoba.

The actor has often said his inspiration for the blockbuster film came from his family. His father, Peter, made the announcement in Toronto at the launch of his book A History of Ghosts.

The book features a foreword by Dan and mixes family tales with an introduction to ghostly terms like "glossolalia" (speaking in a language unknown to the speaker or listener) and "clairhambiance" (the ability of a medium to experience a taste associated with a spirit).

The university was not told of Peter’s decision before the book launch and has not yet heard directly from the family or received any of the material. However, Brian Hubner, archivist at the Archives and Special Collections department of the university, said it is logical that Aykroyd would think to make the donation to the university.

"The archives here are world-renowned," Hubner said. "Researchers come here because our collection of materials related to the paranormal is so interesting."

The collection is the largest of its kind in Canada and features materials from well-known historic figures, including former Manitoba MLA Thomas Glendenning Hamilton. He is best known for holding seances in his Winnipeg home in the early 1900s. During these sessions, he took thousands of photographs depicting ectoplasms — the term popularized by Ghostbusters that means a spiritual energy that comes out of a medium’s body.

Dan said he definitely believes that mediums exist and can communicate with the dead.

"What I do believe after reading this book is that there are people and have been people on this planet who can and are willingly able to submit to a control entity beyond this reality that we live in, a control entity being another spirit, a spirit from the other side."

Peter said he intends his collection to be available for public perusal. Photos from the archives were used in the recent film The Haunting in Connecticut.

— With files from Canadian Press

eva.cohen@freepress.mb.ca