About G-Bust or My Journey to Becoming a Ghosthead
Why g-bust.com? Why bustingmakesmefeelgood.com? Because it’s just the truth: busting makes me feel good. In five other words: because of the documentary “Ghostheads”. I have now watched Ghostbusters I, II, and Answer the Call many, many times, but I actually am more of a fan of the fans, the ghostheads who want to put on a costume and emulate their heroes on screen. These everyday men and women who continue to suit up interest me far more than ZEDDEMORE, STANTZ, or VENKMAN.
My path to zipping up my first flightsuit and becoming a Ghosthead is a relatively compressed one, but I thought a short timeline may be in order.
1980s: I probably saw “Ghostbusters” first on TV or via VHS rental. I have no memories of it. I was more aware of the competing Ghostbusters TV shows and didn’t understand where or how exactly the gorilla related to the Ghostbusters I was seeing. Egon from the Real Ghostbusters also stands out in my mind. I related more to him than to Harold Ramis because I saw the cartoon much more frequently, had blonde hair, wore glasses, and was fairly brainy.
1989: I saw “Ghostbusters II” in the the theater. I also saw “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.” The latter two made more of an impression and – again – I related to the glasses-wearing Rick Moranis scientist. My father was a scientist and our family moved to Saudi Arabia where I began 6th grade.
1990: I played Dungeons & Dragons with my friend and his older brother and was instantly hooked. Shortly thereafter I created a character for a different friend’s Ghostbusters RPG game. I chose Winston, but we never played. My interest in role playing games, wargames, and comic books was both massive and obsessive throughout my teenage years.
2004-2009: I started going to San Diego Comic Con, which quickly became the highlight of every summer. I LOVED IT. Among all the superhero and sci-fi cosplays, several groups stood out. There were guys in brown coats from Firefly/Serenity, then there were at least a dozen Stargate guys in jumpsuits we’d see in those years, and then there were Ghostbusters cracking jokes and walking around together.
2010s: I started a tabletop gaming and LARPing website and explored several different Live Action Role Playing groups ranging from almost purely combat to extensive roleplaying and enjoyed it all. I started wearing more and more extensive costumes or “garb” and at some point my wife and I both got jumpsuits to cosplay as Dharma Initiative members from “Lost” while at Comic-Con. Dharma Initiative, of course, is one of the easiest costumes and not tied to a particular character. We occasionally got comments from people passing by and more than one person thought that we were supposed to be Ghostbusters and even asked us about the new movie coming out.
2016: My wife and I saw Ghostbusters: Answer the Call in the theater and both enjoyed it. She wanted to get a Ghostbusters costume and watched “Ghostheads” on Netflix. Soon I was watching “Ghostheads” and then occasionally watching it again during the next couple of years.
2018: My wife wore her Answer the Call costume to SDCC with the Ruby’s Costume proton pack and tried to go to the Crossrip Gathering at the Werewolf. It was hot, there was a long wait to get in, and time at Comic Con is at a premium so we ate elsewhere. But something POWERFUL happened as I was walking around with her:
“Ghostbusters!”
“Hey, Ghostbusters!”
“Who ya gonna call?”
“Can I get a picture of you?”
“Oh, I loved the new movie. What did you think?”
“Ghostbusters!”
People LIKE Ghostbusters. It clicked. Ghostbusters are “good guys” and get positive attention. They don’t scare people and people are excited to see a Ghostbuster walking around. “Ghostheads” clicked. I watched it several more times in the days following Comic-Con, fired off messages to our local Las Vegas franchise, ordered flightsuits, hoses from GBfans, patches from ETSY, black boots and I was off and running on our Ghostbusters I/II uniforms.
That Halloween we were Ghostbusters with our little ROOKIE in her costume. People KNOW what you are. We go in to Chipotle to get the “Boo-rito” and I hear all sorts of murmurs of “Ghostbusters”.
2019: My wife and I are both teachers. For Superhero day during Reading Week, I got out the uniform again and learned that the majority of my 5th graders were at least familiar with Ghostbusters and could definitely answer the question “Who you gonna call?”
The deal was sealed at the 2019 LVL UP EXPO here in Las Vegas. We all put on our costumes and NOW I was experiencing what my wife had at Comic Con the summer before.
“Can we get your picture?”
“We love your costumes.”
“I saw Slimer over there!”
“Can we get your picture?”
“Your daughter is so adorable.”
“Ghostbusters. Did you see her?”
“Did you make that proton pack? Wow.” (Unmodified $70 Spirit pack.)
“Who ya gonna call?!”
“Hey, Ghostbusters! Ghostbusters!”“I like your costume!”
Maybe a total of 15-20 positive statements or questions were made toward us directly, but there were at least ten more overheard Ghostbusters references or people covertly taking our pictures. One little boy just STARED at my daughter and I while we were sitting and clearly wanted to talk to us or play with the proton pack and “Ghostheads” clicked again for me. His father had to drag him away.
After that awesome experience, I started listening to even more Yes Have Some and Crossrip Podcasts when driving together with my wife and decided that we should go to Ghostbusters Fan Fest in June.
In short: bustin’ makes me feel good. I love this!
