I really wanted to believe.
Like most in the crowd that night, I was drawn in when Victor Perez started boasting about his fiery battles with ghosts and demons. He painted such vivid pictures of supernatural occurences that they had to be true.
He'd beaten down a spooky specter that haunted a couple's downtown Brownsville home. He'd driven away a creature that got off on pinching ladies on the rear -- so he said.
It didn't take long for me to realize that Mr. Perez was an excellent storyteller. And on this evening, at least, the stories would far outnumber the spirits.
My first encounter with Perez was around Halloween 2006. The Rio Grande Valley-based "paranormal investigator" was leading a tour of, according to him, some of downtown Brownsville's most haunted spots. This was Ghost Town. I was part of a crowd of 20 or so amateur ghostbusters, and I was ready for anything.
But we didn't come upon any slimy ectoplasm. There were no banshee howls or bloodcurdling screams. And to be fair, we weren't promised anything like that.
Perez didn't deliver any devil sightings, but he did offer an engaging night. Listening to him tell his twisted take on local history reminded me of Robert Preston in "The Music Man." The excitable Perez spun tales about all kinds of super beings. My favorite was the one about an old ghost cook who burns tortillas -- scary stuff. There's the one about the hundreds of dead bodies that like to rise from the grave around the old Brownsville cemetery. Perez claims he's talked a few of them into seeing the light.
Perez and his Rio Grande Valley Paranormal Investigators are a fun bunch. What might seem like cultish hucksterism to some is really just light entertainment. Perez leads several of these haunted tours a year, and for most, he's a bigger draw than the opportunity to see a spook.
Perez and crew train several junior ghost hunters at special summer camps at the Brownsville Heritage Complex. The children trade ghost stories while learning about local history and area landmarks. He provides a good, if odd, service to the community. It's part history and part entertainment.
Perez will lead a special "Shades of History" tour Saturday, May 26, in downtown Brownsville. Those interested should show up at the Brownsville Heritage Complex at 6:30 p.m.
You probably won't see any ghosts, but there will be a lot of spirit.
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Mike Moody, Online Enertainment Coordinator for TheV247.com, writes about Rio Grande Valley art and events.
