St. Lawrence Market resident and Ghostly Encounters host Lawrence Chau is no stranger to things that go bump in the night.  A self-proclaimed “ghost buff,” Chau is right at home as host of the real-life ghost stories show that features everyday people sharing their personal encounters with the spiritual world. Chau has even had a few of his own experiences with the paranormal—and retelling one of them at the audition helped land him the job. “I grew up loving to tell ghost stories,” he says. “It’s a genuine interest on my part.”  Chau remembers his audition story vividly.

It happened when Chau was still a journalism major at Ryerson University and working at the Financial Post on Bay St. He stayed late one evening to work on a class paper, dismissing his supervisor’s warning to “be careful of Big Foot” as a joke. “Around midnight, like out of a movie, all the lights went out,” Chau recalls. “I could hear from down the corridor thumping footsteps, like from a three hundred pound man, coming slowly towards me. Thump, thump, thump. I froze at my typewriter as the sounds passed right in front of me. Then everything on the walls came crashing down. That was just one of my personal encounters.”

Ghostly Encounters airs on the VIVA and W networks and has just been picked up in the United States by A&E. Currently in production for its third season, the show has developed a loyal cult following, a success Chau credits to the show’s non-judgemental attitude, documentary-style filming and creative re-enactments. “I think everyone’s curiosity with the paranormal has given the show legs,” he says. “Aside from people’s genuine fascination with things that go bump in the night, I think the show’s popularity is rooted to its production standards. The bar is kept high in terms of creativity despite not having a huge budget.”  Full Article