Zachary Alexander Bagans (born April 5, 1977) is an American paranormal investigator, actor, television personality, and author. He is the principal host of the Travel Channel series, Ghost Adventures

Bagans was born on April 5, 1977, in Washington, D.C.^[1] He graduated Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, in 1995.^[2][3] Bagans attended the Motion Picture Institute in Michigan.^[4] Following graduation from MPI, he moved to Las Vegas, aspiring to film documentaries. After arriving in Las Vegas, he found work as a wedding disc jockey.^[5] According to Bagans, he was initially skeptical, but his passion for investigating the paranormal was the result of what he describes as "a face-to-face encounter with the spirit of a suicidal woman" in his former apartment building in Trenton, Michigan.

In 2004, Bagans teamed up with Nick Groff and Aaron Goodwin to produce a documentary-style film called Ghost Adventures

Bagans has been criticized by some paranormal enthusiasts for the aggressive and confrontational methods he uses during investigations.

In a June 2009 interview with Paranormal Underground magazine, he responded, "I don't want the public perceiving us as the taunting, provocative ghost hunters. We do that only to the bad spirits who we know are attacking the living."^[6]

On April 2, 2016, Bagans premiered his new show on the Travel Channel, Deadly Possessions featuring his Haunted Museum ^[19] located in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[7] The show follows Bagans as he acquires items for the museum.

In October, 2017, Bagans opened the Haunted Museum ^[19] in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the historical Wengert mansion at 600 E. Charleston Blvd.

The museum consists of 33 rooms with various artifacts on display.

Visitors are given guided tours of the rooms taking about one-and-a-half hours to complete.

Some of the items on display include Bela Lugosi’s mirror, the Dybbuk box, Peggy the Doll, Dr. Kevorkian’s “Death Van”.

and the basement staircase from the Demon House.^[8]. Bagans announced on January 14, 2019 via Twitter post that the museum had acquired a mirror once owned by Captain Smith of the Titanic.^[9]

All visitors must sign waivers before entering indemnifying the museum against “spiritual or paranormal interactions”.

On May 27, 2019, an exhibit featuring a rocking chair from The Devil in Connecticut alleged demon possession case was shut down briefly due to a visitor fainting. The exhibit reopened on June 7.^[10]

Both the Lugosi mirror and Captain Smith mirror have been shown to have dubious provenance.^[11][12]

In 2011, Bagans hosted Paranormal Challenge, a concurrent spin-off program also on the Travel Channel, which also starred radio talk show host and paranormal personality Dave Schrader. In 2011, Zak Bagans narrated and hosted a Travel Channel special called "Ultimate Travel: Legends of the Park," a show about legendary hauntings of America's National Parks.^[13]

Bagans co-wrote a book with author Kelly Crigger titled Dark World: Into the Shadows with the Lead Investigator of the Ghost Adventures Crew (Victory Belt, 2011). On September 23, 2011, the book debuted on The New York Times Best Seller list at No. 18.^[14]

In 2012, Bagans appeared in two music collaborations with Lords of Acid on the song "Paranormal Energy" and on an album titled Necrofusion with Praga Khan.^[15] Bagans produced Paranormal Paparazzi, a reality show that premiered on September 28, 2012, but starred entertainment pundit Aaron Sagers.^[16] In March 2014, Bagans announced a spin-off series titled Ghost Adventures: Aftershocks