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[Ghostbusters]: The Complete Visual History in stores NOW! Fantastic!

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Do you believe in UFOs, astral projections, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trance mediums, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis?

If there’s a steady paycheck in it will you believe anything I say?

If the answer to these questions is “yes” then welcome aboard!


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What are Ghosts?
The term “ghosts” can refer to a range of phenomena from ethereal mists that cause emotional unease, psychic “echoes” of past events or people, free-roaming phantasms caught in a repeating cycle due to a turbulent incident at the site, or even fully-formed, conscious spirits of the deceased. In-addition the term has come to also encompass extra-dimensional presences who draw their power from the paranormal realm. For more information consult Tobin’s Spirit Guide or Spates Catalog of Nameless Horrors or the updated Spengler’s Spirit Guide (1997).

Our History:
The Ghostbusters paranormal investigations and eliminations business began in September, 1984 when an interdimensional cross-rip caused a surge of supernatural activity across the island of Manhattan. With no one else to call, three professors from Columbia University pooled their collective skills and know-how and launched into action to combat the paranormal threat with their own custom-designed equipment. Without backing from the city and with the University terminating their employ Drs. Stantz, Spengler, and Venkman took out an exorbitant mortgage on Dr. Stantz’s childhood home and went into private business for themselves.

Did you know the founders experimented with several names? It’s true! It was a delicate balance of finding a name that sounded serious and which didn’t have its rights owned by an existing company. In the end the founders decided to settle out of court with a film company after running out of ideas.

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Their major credits include:
  • The creation of compact, portable positron-colliders and muon traps to restrain and contain ectoplasmic manifestations.
  • A successful exorcism of a persistent green, gluttonous apparition from the Sedgewick Hotel in Manhattan. Unfortunately this entity later escaped through no fault of the company.
  • The destruction and/or banishment of Gozer, the Sumarian god of destruction from the 22nd floor of a Central Park West apartment building along with a 100-foot recreation of the Stay Puft Marshmallow man, a (then-popular) snack food mascot.
  • The discovery and exploration of a “river” of pink, psychomagnatheric ectoplasm running below the city in the abandoned pneumatic rail tunnels.
  • The capture of the ghosts of convicted murders Nunzio and Tony Scholeri during their assault on a New York City courthouse.
  • Animating the Statue of Liberty and guiding it to walk across the water and through the city on December 31st, 1989, galvanizing the positive energies of the New Years Eve crowd.
  • Confronting and defeating the late Carpathian sorcerer Vigo Von Homburg Deutschendorf as he attempted resurrection into the body of the infant son of an art-restoration technician at the Manhattan Museum of Art.
  • Leading a joint operation to stop the assault on New York City by an amalgamation of spectral entities that gelled together due to a competing business opting to try to destroy ghosts rather than capturing and containing them.

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Let’s meet the team:
We’ve enlisted the talents of many individuals over the years. From our first expansion the staff with Winston Zeddemore (still with the company!) to hiring untrained college students to combat the unknown the uniform has been worn with pride for over 30 years.

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Full Roster:
Spoiler:
Dr. Egon Spengler
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Dr. Egon Spengler, Ph.D. is a former professor of paranormal studies at the Columbia University. Upon his termination, Egon founded Ghostbusters, Inc. along with Doctors Ray Stantz and Peter Venkman. He is considered the brain behind the Ghostbusters and has designed and built nearly all of their equipment, including the Proton Pack and the Storage facility. Typically, Ray is the only other member of the Ghostbusters who has no trouble understanding Egon's technical jargon.

Dr. Raymond Stantz
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Ray's devotion to the company was obvious when he mortgaged the house his parents had left to him to provide the capital to begin Ghostbusters Inc. Ray was also a handy man and largely responsible for the repair and modification of the Ecto-1. He wasn't particularly religious, but did seem to believe in a spiritual realm of sorts. In the video game it is shown he believes in the concept of a soul. He also states that he played a game entitled Ghosts and Gargoyles while in the seminary, indicating he may have at one time considered becoming a clergyman.

Ray is regarded by Peter as the "heart of the Ghostbusters." Indeed, Ray displays a level of ebullience when it comes to Ghostbusting and paranormal science in general unmatched by any of his colleagues (One example is were Peter was slimed by Slimer is where he exclaims "That's great! ACTUAL physical contact!"). His mention of an undersea, unexplained mass sponge migration shows he's more than eager to go anywhere it takes to study the strange and unusual.

Ray is generally the most positive of the group in outlook, however bits of cynicism will surface on occasion.

Dr. Peter Venkman
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Peter is portrayed as the "lazy" Ghostbuster. He doesn't usually take his work seriously, has a dry sense of humour, and flirts with women, including clients such as Dana Barrett and Ilyssa Selwyn. While Peter is a scientist, he isn't as technically experienced or academically inclined as Egon and Ray, and also tends to be more aggressive when fighting ghosts.

Peter also slacks off on experiments and usually focuses on the women or other subjects, as in the first movie he is testing sixth senses and shocks the boy in the experiment for getting the answers wrong (even though he was really getting a majority of them right) and refuses to zap the pretty blonde (even though nearly all her answers were wrong). Peter is also a very outspoken person, as he back-talked to EPA representative Walter Peck and provoked him when the discussion shifted to the storage facility. This encounter led the Containment Unit being shut down and all the ghosts escaping over New York. Peter's fast-talking, however, "bargained" the percentage from the broker they consulted in mortgaging Ray's house (in order to lease the firehouse), as well getting their first payday of $5,000 made busting Slimer. His "gift of gab" also won over the mayor's judgment against Walter Peck.

Janine Melnitz
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Janine is highly sardonic with her eccentric bosses, while taking her job in such an unusual business in stride. As such, no matter how strange circumstances become at work, she is largely unflappable. Her hobbies included racquetball and reading

While office admin work is her official position, Janine has been known to don a pack and jumpsuit on occasion. When the guys disappeared she lead a new team not-only to rescue her employers but also kept New York's ghost problems in check at the same time. She really deserves more paid time off.

Dr. Winston Zeddemore Esq.
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Out of the four, Winston is perhaps the most conventional. He is the common man of the Ghostbusters. He is a responsible dependable person, however as shown in the jail in Ghostbusters he does think for himself. His Christian background shows sometimes in ethical issues, and may be partly why he is so dependable. Winston takes over the mechanical aspect of Ecto-1, leaving Ray more time to work with Egon and build new equipment.

As a part of his employment interview, he was asked if he believed in many paranormal activities and phenomena, but he said that he'd believe anything as long as there was a steady paycheck involved.

Ron Alexander
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Ron Alexander [1] (Also Known As Ronald Tyson Alexander) is a scheming New Yorker who wants to get into the Ghostbusting business one way or the another. He later founded and led the Ghost Smashers. Then he got arrested... but became one of the New Ghostbusters... then joined the Chicago Ghostbusters.

Brian “Rookie” Welsh
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The Rookie arrived at the Firehouse for his first day of work in late November 1991 when a Psi Energy Pulse suddenly passed through. With the modified Proton Pack prototype strapped on, the Rookie faced his first entity, Slimer. However, during the attempted bust, the Sloth Ghost was released from the Containment Unit after the Rookie shot it by mistake. When the Sloth Ghost was recaptured and returned to the grid, the mission to recapture Slimer began. The Rookie soon became embroiled in an Apocalypse event with the other Ghostbusters and proved his mettle as they unraveled the machinations of the Cult of Gozer.

After Ivo Shandor was destroyed by the Ghostbusters, the Rookie was offered the opportunity to lead a potentially lucrative Ghostbusters franchise in Chicago.

Kylie Griffin
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After Ray Stantz went back to active ghostbusting, he hired Kylie to run Ray's Occult. On occasion, she would help out the Ghostbusters by researching ghosts for them. After Walter Peck had the Ghostbusters permits revoked, Ray attempted to get Kylie to help him look for loopholes in the team's contract with the city.

Kylie was brought in by Janine to help with trying to find the Ghostbusters after they were abducted by demonic forces. Walter Peck justified leaving Kylie on the team because she was thoroughly vetted by PCOC (Paranormal Contracts Oversight Commission) due to her close working relationship with the Ghostbusters and she had extensive experience in paranormal research. Kylie remained a Ghostbuster and helped out when the others were too busy to go out on a bust.

Special Agent Melanie Ortiz
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FBI agent and partner of Special Agent Jim Savage. She later joined Janine Melnitz's Ghostbusters team. Melanie currently serves as a liaison between the FBI and Ghostbusters. She is not an active member of the company but has the training to operate the equipment during emergencies. She has a close relationship with Dr. Peter Venkman but nothing romantic has developed.


So there we have it? Think you've got the moxie to lug a 30lb nuclear backpack up a 20-story walk-up?

Call 555-2368 today!

Have you or someone you know seen a spook, specter or ghost? Don't waste another minute! Call the professionals.
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