We’re the real-life Addams Family! PE teacher and his partner give up their jobs to go full-time ghost hunting with their daughters… in their hearse called Mortica
A real Addams Family quits their high-paying teaching job so they can dedicate their lives to ghost hunting full-time.
Jon-Paul Kenny and his partner Kymmi Jeffrey talked about how they search for the unexplained mysteries of the paranormal.
Mr. Kenny, 33, is the gym director at the high school where Ms. Jeffrey is a therapist, but they say their work gets in the way of their lifelong mission.
The couple travel the country in their hearse named Morticia, conducting ghost hunts in haunted buildings and investigating occult history with their daughters Snow, 10, and Pebble, seven.
It is said that the young girls can feel and see different energies and spirits when they enter places where paranormal activity has been reported.
A real Addams family quits their high-paying teaching job so they can dedicate their lives to ghost hunting. Jon-Paul Kenny and his partner Kymmi Jeffrey talked about how they search for the unexplained mysteries of the paranormal. Above: The family with their hearse, called Mortica
The family – who like to dress all in black and admit to being ‘creepy and crazy’ – plan to spend Halloween at their home in Winsford, Cheshire, investigating ghosts around the property.
The family are now in talks with producers in America who are intrigued by their research and want to create a reality TV show based on their lives.
Wrapping up Halloween preparations, Ms Jeffrey told MailOnline: ‘It’s almost like a draw – we have to do it.
“We’re leaving behind very good-paying jobs.”
Mr Kenny, known as JP, explained: ‘People think we’re crazy, but we’re going to give it a try and see what happens.
‘We have done our full-time work and come home to do this. It’s been very tiring.
‘We literally leave school at 4pm, come home and have a cup of tea and then it’s been a night job, but we want to change. We want to do it 24/7.
‘Things happen at all times of the day – with the paranormal it doesn’t have to be at night. People like to see ghosts in the dark because of the added fear, but ghosts are always present.
‘We have handed in our notices, so after Christmas, in January, we will start working full-time.
“I don’t know if we’re stupid to give up these jobs. I have taught for 10 years and Kim has been in education for 18 years.
‘We want to do something we enjoy. We can put all that passion into it all the time.”
Judith Malina, Christina Ricci, Raul Julia, Carel Struycken, Anjelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd and Jimmy Workman in The Addams Family
Mr Kenny, known as JP, explained: ‘People think we’re crazy but we’re going to give it a try and see what happens’
The family, who like to dress all in black and admit to being ‘creepy and wacky’, plan to spend Halloween at their home in Winsford, Cheshire, investigating ghosts in the property.
Last year they bought Morticia from a funeral director.
Mrs Jeffrey said: ‘We love Halloween, but for us it’s Halloween every day.
‘On Halloween night we’re going to investigate our house. It is new construction, but we do not know what land it was built on and who lived there in the past.
“We will only conduct private investigations with the girls. They’re going ghost hunting with us.
“Snow saw a little girl in this house. She saw a lady floating in Pebble’s bedroom. She drew that to show what she saw.
‘She saw a gray creature on the landing. One day we picked her up at the bottom of the stairs and she waved. She said she said hello to a man walking down the stairs.”
Ms Jeffrey said JP had always been interested in the occult but she was skeptical until he took her to a haunted house in Pontefract for a birthday treat 18 months ago.
They picked up a pink ghost ghost that they said they captured on camera during the visit, sparking their drive to conduct further research into phenomena that had until now been beyond the realm of normal scientific understanding.
She said: ‘We like to try different things and we have tried.
‘I used to think all those ghost programs they show on TV were crazy, but I have experienced things that we cannot attribute to science.
‘There’s more out there than we know. We want to bring the paranormal to the mainstream.”
The family began collecting haunted artifacts, including dolls from all over the world, and keeps their collection in an “occult room” where they conduct most of their research and investigations.
They now organize ghost hunting and sleepovers, including ‘terrifying tours’, and take part in experiments such as table tilting, Ouija boards, glass distractions, wakes and séances.
Daughters Snow and Pebble are seen in the family’s hearse, which is named Mortica
The family – who like to dress all in black and admit to being ‘creepy and crazy’ – plan to spend Halloween at their home in Winsford, Cheshire, investigating ghosts around the property.
They encourage people from all walks of life to push themselves beyond their comfort zones, challenge beliefs and awaken consciousness by participating in their ongoing experiments.
The family uses high-tech equipment in their investigation, including electromagnetic meters that detect the movement of ghostly apparitions, voice recorders, sensors and cameras.
They also have a music box that plays creepy music and lasers when energy comes near.
But Ms. Jeffrey said, “Using your voice and just recording is absolutely the best equipment.
‘We captured grunts and someone saying ‘I love you’ in a strange voice. You can do amazing things.”
In the run-up to Halloween, the family investigate paranormal activity at an old courthouse in Knutsford, the Lyceum Theater in Crewe and at the Wincham Hall Hotel in Northwich – a haunted building recorded in the Doomsday Book.
Ms Jeffrey said: ‘We hunt ghosts in amazing buildings – asylums, prisons, schools, old houses – all places where ghostly activity is known to take place.’
Snow and Pebble now also organize ghost hunts for children between eight and fifteen years old.
Kymmi said: ‘They got jealous because they couldn’t go ghost hunting with us one night, so they had to do their own ghost hunting. These are fun events, there are no Ouija boards or anything like that.’
The ghost hunting family is seen on holiday in Greece
And they attract a lot of attention as they drive around Morticia, taking their hearse to the supermarket for their weekly shopping and even visiting McDonald’s drive-ins.
JP said, “We’ll go all over it. We drive a hearse with children in it like a family car. It attracts a lot of attention, but people here are used to it now.
‘We get a lot of reactions, but we haven’t actually had any negative points, which is nice.’
Mrs Jeffrey added: ‘We don’t bring Morticia to school because our principal wouldn’t be happy about that. It’s the only place we don’t go with her.
‘It’s very practical. Last year we went to the garden center and got a three-metre Christmas tree in the back, and it was really easy.”
Mr Kenny told how the family began their investigation when Netflix’s hit supernatural drama Wednesday – based on the character Wednesday Addams – was released.
He said: ‘We didn’t know it was coming out, but when it came out more people started thinking about it and it really helped us. It’s a bit weird, it’s just gone crazy.”
The family are now in talks with producers in America who are intrigued by their investigations and want to create a reality TV show based on their lives.
JP said: ‘There aren’t many families who do it – we’re the world’s first paranormal family to hunt ghosts. The interest is on another level and hopefully it will be released next Halloween.”
Mr. Kenny and Mrs. Jeffrey are seen with their daughters on a ghost hunt
Speaking about their future plans, Mr Kenny said: “We are on a crazy journey. We’re just there to educate people and see where things go.
‘We are absolutely not ghostbusters. People kind of rely on the fear factor, that’s how it’s portrayed in Hollywood, but we try to stay away from that.
‘People see the paranormal world as full of demons, but just because there is activity in your home doesn’t mean they want to hurt or harm you. It is normal.
‘Not enough is known about it yet and we want to know more about it.’
Ms Jeffrey added: ‘We are real people, we have professional jobs. We are somewhat normal, but not.
“We’re putting everything on the line, but we believe our work will uncover real evidence that could be more decisive.
“It could ruin us, but this is real: It’s out there.
‘We are not retiring. It will be a life’s work.’