(photo: Daniel Maurer)
Who is Janice Gunter? With handmade postings anywhere from Williamsburg to NYU advertising her strange services and conveniently-rhyming name, it would appear that this bespectacled woman is the latest to join the ranks of NYC’s colorful flyer characters. Visit Janice’s Facebook page and you’ll find nearly six month’s worth of ghost-related status updates, bad jokes, and musings about her Ma’s tendency to videotape everything they do.
Janice also has an Instagram and even a LinkedIn profile, where she explains “[g]host hunting is officially classified as a pseudoscience, but my customer service and attention to detail are more like an art form.” She also worked as a cashier at CVS for an impressive eight years before deciding to follow this ghostly path.
When we got in touch with Janice, she told us via email that “the amount of paranormal activity I experienced at my register during a typical eight hour shift was enough to tell me that my skills were needed elsewhere. There’s a lot of people who can stock shelves but not many who can stock Bounty paper towels and be visited by an entity from the 17th century at the same time. I had to follow my gift.”
But is Ms. Gunter really just Bay Ridge’s latest DIY entrepreneur? An oddball with a penchant for frumpy sweaters and a fierce interest in all things spooky? A swift Google of “Janice Gunter Ghost Hunter” gives way to casting calls and Instagram posts by actors and writers, including actor/comedian John Early and writer Drew Larimore.
This appears to be a new webseries. A rep at One Glass Productions gave us the scoop that it follows Janice’s humble beginnings as a fledgling ghost expert and her eventual journey as a contestant on America’s Next Top Ghost Hunter. Janice also looks suspiciously like comedic actress Elizabeth McDonough, who made a YouTube video in 2012 featuring a CVS employee with thick eyewear speaking about her “otherworldly experiences,” but that’s probably just a coincidence.
According to Instagram finds, Janice and her cohorts have been filming around NYC for the past few months, including a stint at Williamsburg queer bar Lovegun.
When I called the number on Janice’s flyer, it went to voicemail. She must have been busy. However, when reached via email, she offered the following advice to anyone with suspicion of a lurking spirit:
“Stay still. Wait for me to arrive.”
We may be waiting for some time: a premiere date for Janice Gunter: Ghost Hunter has not yet been set. However, there will be a special sneak preview screening event on October 27, hosted by Janice and friends. Details will be announced via Facebook in the near future.