MEDIA

Chip has appeared on numerous television and radio programs.  He has been featured in newspapers and magazines throughout the world.

'God-given talent' is channeled in mysterious ways Published on: 11/24/04 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Chip Coffey asked his mom what time they'd be leaving for dinner at Aunt Helen's.

There were no such plans, she told the toddler. Then the phone rang.

Aunt Helen was calling with an invitation for dinner.

Young Coffey had a knack for knowing when the telephone was going to ring. It wasn't long before he was using his "God-given talent" to read the past, present and future for family and friends.

Today, Coffey, 50, is a full-time psychic who works out of his home in Lilburn. The South Carolina native prefers to be called a spiritual counselor. Whatever he calls himself, people across the country pay up to $150 an hour to learn more about themselves.

Coffey does readings over the phone as well as face-to-face. He conducts "sittings," private sessions where he tries to channel messages and images of the deceased to living relatives. He travels the country giving seminars and group readings, and he writes a monthly column, "Mystical Mentors," that runs in The Oracle, a monthly metaphysical magazine.

But Coffey would never come right out and tell you any of this. It's not that he's ashamed of how he's made a living since 2001. He's leery of how people will respond, despite the popularity of celebrity psychics John Edward and Sylvia Browne.

"We're in the Bible Belt and a lot of folks believe what I do is sacrilegious -- that's the kind comment," he said. "The unkind comment would be someone saying, 'You do the devil's work.' So I tell people I am a spiritual counselor. If they push it further and pressure me, I will tell them I am a psychic."

And like most of us, there's a part of the job that troubles the former travel agent and theatrical performer -- the endless stream of women seeking answers to rocky relationships.

"Either he loves you or he doesn't," the bespectacled Coffey said. "Either you're happy or you're not. The best answers to relationship questions aren't found in consulting a psychic. They are found in your own self-evaluation and self-esteem. Deep down inside, they want to hear that he's coming back to me, or that he is going to love me. There's a sense of desperation, and many people are looking for hope."

One of Coffey's favorite readings was for a family that wanted to channel a 2-year-old girl who'd died of leukemia. The girl told Coffey she was riding in a red truck.

It turned out the girl's mother had often played a CD that contained a song: "Riding Over the Rainbow in a Big Red Firetruck." When the family left Coffey's residence to return to their home near the Georgia-Alabama line, a rainbow flashed across the sky.

When Coffey was 6 weeks old, he had to undergo a risky urological surgery. His late mother made a promise to God. She told him that, if her only child lived, she would encourage him to "do God's work."

"My Mom was thinking priest," said Coffey.

God works in mysterious ways.

Psychic says he's 'flying sky-high' over 'Airline' appearance

Former Elmiran will be on A&E reality show Monday night.

Published in the Elmira, NY, Star-Gazette on May 5, 2005.

Written by "Neighbors" columnist, John  P. Cleary.

Chip Coffey, an Elmira native who works as a psychic and medium in Atlanta, will appear Monday on an episode of the A&E Network reality show "Airline."

"Airline" shows the real-life adventures - and misadventures - of airline employees and travelers in airports. It usually features segments on people stranded without their luggage or scrambling to make connections after flights are canceled. My favorite scenes involve patient airline employees trying to explain to intoxicated vacationers why they can't be allowed to board their flights.

On Monday's show, Coffey's friend, paranormal investigator Patti Starr, is captured on tape by the show's film crew in the Louisville, Ky., airport. The crew follows her to Birmingham, Ala., where she meets up with Coffey for a ghost hunt at an old foundry. Coffey said they discovered psychic evidence of ghosts.

Coffey was born in Elmira and lived here off and on growing up. He studied at Elmira College and last lived in the area in the early 1980s before giving up for good, he said, on our cold weather.

He said he grew up in a haunted house on Sullivan Street.

"Lights would turn on and off, things would levitate, pianos would play by themselves," he said.

None of that was terribly surprising to Coffey. He said his family has always been "tuned in" to such things.

"We've always been drawn to paranormal things or things outside the ordinary," he said.

Coffey started giving tarot card readings in high school and has always been able to pick up on a person's or a place's vibes, he said. But it wasn't until a few years ago that something really strange began happening.

"I started talking to dead people," he said. "I thought I'd gone around the bend.

"The first person who tried to reach me was the brother of a co-worker who had died in a car accident," he said. "She was able to confirm what he was telling me. I was telling her details that only she and he would know."

Coffey was working in the travel industry, he said, and lost his job when that business took a downturn following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"I very unceremoniously lost my job," he said. "I had been working as a psychic a little bit for a few months before then. I packed up my desk, walked out and have never looked back."

He's been working as a psychic ever since, he said.

"I've never been happier," he said.

The appearance on "Airline," which was taped in February, may lead to more exposure for Coffey and Starr. He said a producer is pitching a television series about the psychic and ghost hunter to the company that produces "Airline."

"It's exciting," he said. "Pun intended, I'm flying sky-high."

 

John P. Cleary

Who ya gonna call? Ghost Chasers!

Published in the Spartanburg, SC, Herald-Journal on May 8, 2005.

The Internet brought two former Spartanburg residents together. Monday night, they'll go ghost-hunting on the A&E network.

Patti Acord Starr, a Spartanburg native, is president of Ghost Chasers International, headquartered in Lexington, Ky. She and her husband, Chuck Starr, went to Alabama to check reports of a ghost sighting for the cable program "Airline."

In Birmingham, they met Chip Coffey of Atlanta, who grew up in Spartanburg and with whom Patti Starr had been corresponding online. Coffey, an ordained minister, psychic/medium and certified ghost hunter, and Starr were there to investigate Sloss Furnaces, a haunted iron mill.

The Starrs also ran into a ghostly airline passenger named Joe at the airport, making them perfect for "Airline." The segment is set to air at 8 p.m. Monday.

And the two ghostbusters are in discussions about a possible series for the fall, depending upon the response to "Airline."

 

October 17, 2005

PROFESSIONAL GHOST CHASERS TO STIR UP SPIRITS AT TEMPLE UNIVERSITY AMBLER

written by James Duffy

What are those whispers that you hear during the darkest hours of the night? Is it the rustling of a branch against your window frame, or is it something altogether otherworldly?

What is that shadow that skirted past the corner of your eye? A trick of the light or a restless spirit seeking your attention?

If you ask Patti Starr and Chip Coffey, the answer may not only surprise you, it could frighten you.

Ever since personal experiences as children led them down the path to seek explanations to the paranormal, Starr and Coffey, both certified “Ghost Hunters,” have been gathering information and evidence of ghostly phenomena.

On Thursday, October 27, Starr and Coffey with bring their extensive personal experience with the paranormal to the Ambler campus for a special lecture — which will include a wide variety of sounds, images, and video from their research — at 7:30 p.m. in Bright Hall Lounge. The event is free and open to the public.

Coffey, an internationally known psychic and medium, and Starr, who brings the ‘scientific’ to the duo’s investigations, will also lead select members of the audience on a mini campus ghost hunt.

“Patti and I both grew up in the area of Wellford, South Carolina. It was an interesting connection that we discovered when we first met and started working together. We’ve both lived in haunted locations in the past, and in the present for that matter,” Coffey said. “Together we blend the scientific with the sensitive. Patti is well versed with her scientific equipment — cameras, video, electromagnetic readers, EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) recorders. I grew up in the psychic arena; my great grandmother was a Native American medicine woman and my Dad’s mother read tea leaves.”

Coffey’s first official “ghost hunt” with Starr took place in 2002 “and it scared the bejeezus out of me, but I’ve been hooked ever since.” Of course, that wasn’t his first encounter with ghostly experiences.

“For a time, my family lived in a haunted house in New York,” he said. “Lights would turn on and off, you’d hear footsteps, doors would open and close, but none of it was ever malicious.”

All of the occurrences, Coffey said, began when he and his mother started exploring the history of the family that had lived there previously and appeared to have more than a few secrets — a daughter who fell down the steps and broke her neck, a son who was murdered not far from the home, and an eldest son who simply…vanished.

“Perhaps we were learning information that the Murphy’s didn’t want anyone to know. Still, when we moved from New York to South Carolina, we asked them to come along,” Coffey said. “It was a huge turn-of-the century farmhouse. I remember on the first day wondering aloud if they had taken us up on the offer. That’s when a shirt levitated half way across the room — I’d take that as a yes.” 

For Starr, her first experience with a ghostly form came in early childhood; a shadow man that would appear in her bedroom.

“I was horrified. At the time I wasn’t thinking about a ghost; I was afraid it was someone actually in my room. I came to understand that the form wasn’t there to frighten me but was most likely there to protect me,” she said. “Later in life, when I had children of my own, I would see the image of a small child in the corner of my children’s bedroom. I would think they had invited a friend over, but when I would look again, it would be gone.”

As she got older, Starr said, while learning all she could about ghostly visitations, the image of spirits, or at least the awareness of them, “became clearer.”

“At historic locations, I’d be able to sense if a ghost was male or female, an adult or child, though they weren’t as clear as if it was someone I had been connected to on an emotional level, such as a relative. I’m nowhere near as sensitive as Chip; whereas I might see a shadow form he might see and hear the actual person,” she said. “I’ve never been afraid during any of my experiences. I may get startled, but then I get so excited and I’m grateful that they’ve allowed me see, hear, or feel them.”

Coffey hasn’t been quite as fortunate. During an investigation that Starr and Coffey have undertaken for a special to be aired on the Discovery Channel, Coffey descended into the basement of a location know as “the Bishop’s House” in Lexington, Kentucky, where several murders allegedly occurred — a location replete with shackles, specimen trays, claw foot bathtubs, and examination tables.

“The basement is infested with such negative, fearful, sad, energy, it’s overwhelming. One young lady on our investigation team felt she was being possessed when we were down there — a photo of her at that time shows her eye sockets completely white and glowing red,” said Coffey, who also has the ability to communicate with the dead and share messages from the other side. “I didn’t sleep for two days after being there.”

According to Starr, who offers courses in “Ghost Hunter Certification,” hauntings can take many forms. During an “intelligent haunting,” for example, the ghost reacts to outside stimuli, such as being called to, whereas during a “residual haunting” it is like watching a section of film looping over and over again — a memory burned into the surroundings.

“Poltergeist activity usually includes some form of physical manifestation, floating objects or items thrown across a room. The activity might center around a child,” she said. “Crisis hauntings might be a last goodbye — a child is killed in a car accident and appears at the foot of the bed of their father.”

A portal haunting, Starr said, may take any number of forms, as they are commonly “a doorway from one dimension to another” — often there is no telling what might make its way through.

“I don’t think that my house or Chip’s house are haunted. I believe that we are the haunted ones — as sensitives, we give off a different vibration, a different light that they follow seeking understanding,” she said. “One thing that I would like to do is change the fear that typically surrounds ghosts and spirits and replace it with understanding and compassion. We can learn so much in our life from their experiences in death.”

Coffey also hopes that audience members will leave “a little more open to the possibilities.”

“There are so many things that our human senses are not able to pick up unless we are open to them,” he said. “The paranormal isn’t supernatural. It is simply experiences that are beyond the norm."

Psychic's plan for ghost tours runs into wall

By EILEEN DRENNEN

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 07/29/06

Chip Coffey has been telling ghost stories for years.

The full-time psychic (or spiritual counselor, as he likes to be called) gets his business from across the country.

He does psychic readings by phone and in person.  He works the college and lecture circuit.

But with all he does, Coffey, 51, is more concerned right now with what he hasn't been able to do.

The Lilburn psychic says his request to lead a ghost tour in historical downtown Buford has been denied, and he doesn't understand why.

Last month, Coffey sent an e-mail to the city through its Web site detailing his plan to offer a "History and Hauntings Tour of the historic downtown section of Buford" on weekend nights for a fee.  As someone who started producing psychic events in that city in 2002, he said, he's familiar with the historical district and is fond of its stories.

Part of the pilot episode of a TV series called "Eternal Connections" he hopes to sell to a network (it's in postproduction at the moment) was filmed at the Gardner Mansion, a stately 1897 home on Buford's Main Street.

Coffey, who led an informal version of the tour last month during the Historic Buford Festival, said he was hoping to build on all that with a fun enterprise that's been a boon to other old towns.

The e-mail response he got from the city said simply that walking tours weren't covered in its zoning code.  It didn't suggest any further action. He sent a follow-up request asking for more details but hadn't heard back.

City Manager Bryan Kerlin said that Coffey "has to have a business license to operate a business in the city."

"It's not an allowable or permissible use in the 2000 zoning ordinance of the city of Buford at this time," Kerlin said.  He's not ruling out the idea of a history tour, he said, adding that residents could request the zoning code be amended.  "We're interested in promoting tourism in the city of Buford," Kerlin said.  "We haven't investigated walking tours, but it's something we may look into if the city so chooses."

Coffey said his busiest season for college tours and readings is just around the corner, and he's reluctant to invest in a drawn-out process that requires a significant time commitment.  But he said he may "pursue it again in the future, probably within another few months."

Buford's got a great deal of ghostly lore to draw on, Coffey said. The most famous is probably a spirit called James who reportedly haunts 37 Main St., where Aqua Terra restaurant is now.

Ghost tours have proven popular with historical cities using their past as a lure for tourists elsewhere in Georgia.

Savannah is probably the king of such ventures, with 47 walking tours alone dedicated to ghosts. Jack Richards, who pioneered the ghost tour industry there before moving to the metro area, is working on one for Marietta, where he lives. Although every city requires a business license for operators of ghost tours, he said, other requirements vary from town to town.

"We came with a track record from Savannah," Richards said of starting Roswell's tour in 1998. "One of the things [the city] was trying to do is make it a walking city, bring tours in."

After becoming hooked on the history strolls herself, resident Dianna Avena and her husband bought the business from Richards last November.  The Roswell actress said the company — which has recently added three additional guides — leads as many as 30-40 visitors each week in the summer. And at peak times — especially October, when extra nights are added — the weekly totals get as high as 250, she said.

The Aurora Theatre started Lawrenceville's Ghost Tour last fall.  It's been successful, said Al Stilo, the theater's marketing director, because of support from the city and local businesses.

"Without the help of these corporate and community partners, we wouldn't have been able to get the ghost tours off the ground," Stilo said. "The city wants it, they enjoy having it, they like the way we run it, and everyone's comfortable with each other."

photo by Charlotte Teagle / AJC

Chip Coffey and Patti Starr are hunters of a different sort.

Instead of guns and ammunition, they are armed with technological know how, uncanny perception, and an open-minded willingness to believe. Their trophies don’t consist of antlers or pelts but of images of the paranormal and voices calling out from beyond the grave.

The two professional ghost hunters have Temple University Ambler clearly in their sights and with a rich history dating back to the Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women in the 1900s and a working farm all the way back to the 1700s, there’s know telling who — or what — they might stir up.

On Tuesday, October 23, internationally known psychic and medium Chip Coffey and partner Patti Starr will lead students on a exploration through the unknown. The paranormal experts will host ghost hunts on campus at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.

The hunts will begin with a brief introduction in Bright Hall Lounge and continue through several locations on campus, including the Administration Building — once a classroom and dormitory building dating back to the early 1900s, the West Residence Hall, and the campus gardens.

“We look upon this as an ongoing investigation. This will be our third year at Ambler and that’s not something that we take lightly. There is so much history on campus — the old buildings, the people, the trees — and their vibrations, their residual energy, is still there and it remains strong,” said Coffey, who will be appearing on a new series on A&E called Paranormal State beginning in December. “We hope that the spirits on campus have become familiar with us, with what we are setting out to do, and that they’ll be willing to give us a good show! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to get a crystal clear EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena, or ‘ghost voices’) or a full body apparition — you never know what you’re going to get!”

Coffey and Starr recommend that participants bring along with own cameras and recording devices so that they have the opportunity to become actively involved in the ghost hunt.

“I believe that the intent of the seeker affects the result. You have to realize that every bump in the night isn’t paranormal, but if you go into it with the right intent — with a positive attitude and an open mind — there is a realistic expectation and hope that you will get results,” Coffey said. “It’s called the paranormal for a reason — you should expect the unexpected. You need to make a step toward thinking beyond the obvious and scratching beneath the surface.”

Starr, who owns her own Ghost Hunter Shop (www.ghosthunter.com) in Lexington, Kentucky, said she is “always amazed” during their college investigations “at how well the evidence comes through.”

“It’s the youth energy, which is so vibrant. The students want to see something, they want to experience that connection,” she said. “That energy matches the frequency that the spirits need to come through. Each college group has gotten something out of their investigations that they were able to see or experience immediately.”

In the case of the Ambler campus, the results have ranged from strange mists and “ghost orbs” appearing in photos during the duo’s first investigation in 2005 and ramped up in 2006 to two decidedly unwelcoming spirits that had taken up residence in the West Residence Hall and a disembodied voice on the third floor of the Administration Building.

We’ve had some really good results at Ambler,” said Starr, who is launching a huge Ghost Chasers “Scarefest” horror and paranormal convention in September 2008. “EVP, for example, when you are able to record them, are very difficult to dismiss.”

Dismissive is exactly how the voice captured on tape last year could be categorized. In one of the third floor rooms of the Administration Building, as Starr tried to cajole one spirit into making itself known, the entity in question apparently decided 25 people tromping about its home at midnight was just too much.

In a distinct, feminine whisper, the word “stop” was clearly heard on Starr’s tape recorder shortly after the voices of Starr herself and others in the room had finished speaking. A bookshelf decided to fall off the wall at right around the same time, adding emphasis to the moment.

Coffey said the goal of any paranormal investigation is to “capture the most compelling evidence possible.”

“These investigations are fun, and the students certainly make it fun, but this is also serious business,” he said. “The wonderful thing is that they are able to witness and capture these phenomena on their own.”

Starr said that every investigation is a new learning experience.

“Helping people learn and understand and not be afraid is the real objective. Learning to work with spirits, to share their experiences, is extremely rewarding,” she said. “Sometimes I think I’ve learned more from the dead than I have from the living! I think it makes you more aware of your surroundings — you learn to live in the now without being caught up in the past or the future.”

The best thing for the novice ghost hunter to do, Starr said, is to become “familiar with what you’re getting involved with” by learning about EVP and other ghostly phenomenon. Pertaining to some of the darker aspects of the supernatural, Coffey warns that “if you don’t understand it, don’t dabble in it — it’s better to error on the side of caution before you delve too deeply.”

Of course for Coffey and Starr, facing some particularly frightening hauntings has become part of their stock and trade.

For Coffey and Starr, interest in the paranormal started early. Both had personal otherworldly experiences as children. They’ve been gathering information and evidence of ghostly phenomena ever since. Starr began her career as a professional ghost hunter in 1999, though she’s been involved in studying the paranormal for nearly 30 years. Coffey just entered his seventh year as a professional ghost hunter, a step he calls “a huge leap of faith.”

“I’ve been surrounded by the spiritual and the paranormal all of my life and I’ve never found a more rewarding or fulfilling career,” he said. “My goal today is the same as it has always been. Ultimately I want to help others, whether that’s by directly helping people in need or through education, which is an important part of it.”

Coffey, a medium who has given more than 10,000 readings in the past six years alone, brings the spiritual connection to their proceedings, while Starr, who teaches beginner and advanced courses in “Ghost Hunter Certification,” at her Ghost Hunter Shop and the Bluegrass Community and Technical College, brings the ‘scientific’ to the duo’s investigations.

In addition to traveling extensively providing readings for clients, Coffey this year wrote several articles for national magazines. In January 2007, he was approached by the Paranormal Research Society to participate in a series of investigations — some of which form the basis for the upcoming Paranormal State (www.paranormalstate.com) television series —  a preview of the series will be shown prior to the October 23 ghost hunts at Ambler.

“I’ve been in about six of the episodes that have been completed. The goal of the organization is not just to go in and investigate but to offer a wide variety of services, from paranormal and historical research to counseling,” he said. “Many of these cases involved negative hauntings and they were pretty intense. The families involved were in a lot of danger.”

In addition to giving lectures and conducting investigations — each investigation takes about 25 hours from initial interviews to finished paperwork — with Coffey all over the nation, Starr continues to teach her certification courses in the classroom and at her shop. She also hosts the “Bardstown Ghost Trek” every weekend from June through October.

“This year has been the best I’ve ever had — the ghost walks, the seminars, the college tours have all had some incredible results,” she said. “Chip and I work best together and it seems that our understanding and our ability to communicate gets better and better.”

On the horizon, she said, is next year’s Scarefest, which will take place September 12, 13, and 14, 2008, at the Lexington Center in Lexington, Kentucky. In addition to paranormal experts such as Starr, Coffey, John Zaffis and Patrick Burns, the event will include a special Friday the 13th reunion, with five stars from the horror film series, as well as appearances by other horror film stars, such as David Naughton from An American Werewolf in London.

“This is a very exciting undertaking,” Starr said. “We expect it to be one of the biggest events of its kind on the East Coast!”

Ultimately, Coffey said, he hopes that their lectures and ghost hunts “make people think.”

“This is not going to conclusively prove the existence of spirits, we’re not going to prove there is life after death, but I feel I’ve been asked to do God’s work and that’s never changed,” he said. “I’ve said that I certainly know just how much I don’t know. There is so much we don’t understand but hopefully through this work we will help people really stop and think about the possibilities.”

Professional Ghost Hunters Chip Coffey and Patti Starr to scare up spirits at

Temple University Ambler

written by Jim Duffy

October 16, 2007

Published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday, December 9, 2007

PARANORMAL STATE

"Asthma.”

The word, or something related to it, popped into his head.

We met for the first time three years ago. Chip Coffey and I. He’s a psychic. Maybe it’s genetic. He’s the great-great grandson of Minnie Sue Morrow Foster, the Native American medicine woman and shaman.

Coffey, of Lilburn, criss-crosses the country, attending conferences, lecturing, giving presentations and readings - putting what he calls God-given gifts as psychic, medium, spiritual counselor and parapsychologist to good use. Helping others.

On Monday night, his talents will be put on a national stage. Coffey, 53, is featured in “Paranormal State,” a series on the A&E Network that debuts at 10 p.m. with 30-minute, back-to-back episodes. The show chronicles cases of the Paranormal Research Society, a group started by a Penn State University student to investigate inexplicable incidents.

When the series needed a psychic, Coffey’s name surfaced. He received a phone call back in January. A couple days later, he was on a flight to Pennsylvania to join a case. He filmed nine of 20 episodes and appears in the second one that airs Monday night.

“I’m a very big skeptic when it comes to psychics,” said Ryan Buell, the society’s director and founder, who plays a central role in the series. “Chip read things and gave me information [on cases] that I can’t explain how he got it.”

In the past, Coffey has passed on projects that could have garnered him exposure, but lacked purpose. Had that been the case with “Paranormal State,” he says he wouldn’t have signed on.

Initially, the show’s goal was to find evidence of the paranormal. Nothing more. The people who appear in the episodes needed more than that, though, said Buell. They needed help to get rid of demons, negative spirits, strange entities - call them what you want. Families who appear on the show also receive free counseling and therapy.

For Coffey, that was a selling point.

“Chip cares about the families,” Buell said. “He’s very conscious about the information he tells a family. He doesn’t just show up on the episodes wanting to be ‘a psychic.’ His psychic abilities are just another part of him. He wants to be responsible.”

And to do God’s work.

“I make no apologies because I earn a living doing what I do,” said Coffey, who also does private readings. “I feel honored and blessed to be doing God’s work, to help others. The show really focuses on the family. The family is not left adrift. If I can bring healing, peace,and comfort to one person or family, what can be better than that?”

Coffey and I recently met in the same coffeehouse that we’d chatted in three years ago. At the end of that first interview, he’d gotten a reading, hint, inclination, something, related to asthma. I didn’t say so at the time, but Charlie, my brother, died from an attack in February 2004.

I told Coffey this last week. Charlie, Coffey told me, wanted me to know that he and mom are together, and that they are doing just fine.

For more information, see Chip Coffey’s Web site at www.chipcoffey.com.

Chip with Dr.Lisa Miller, his co-host on Season One of

Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal.

Chip in New York City with a billboard promoting the premiere of Paranormal State in

December, 2007.

Chip in New York City with A&E executives Rob Sharenow and Elaine Frontain-Bryant (left) and the

indomitable Lorraine Warren (right).

Dorman High grad is no stranger to strange

A psychic discusses growing up in Spartanburg and developing his career

By Linda Conley

published October 25, 2009

Spartanburg, SC Herald-Journal

Many parents would find it spooky if their toddler could tell them when the phone was going to ring and who was on the other end.

But it wasn't strange for Chip Coffey, because psychic abilities ran on both sides of the family. His mother had intuitive abilities, his father's mother read tea leaves and a maternal great-grandmother was a Cherokee medicine woman.

"Knowing that the phone was going to ring and who was on the other end was no big deal," he said from his home outside Atlanta. "My parents were blase about it."

Coffey, 55, has been featured on national paranormal shows numerous times. He was born in New York and spent part of his childhood in Spartanburg County, graduating from Dorman High School. His parents were natives of the area, and he still has distant cousins living here.

But his local childhood friends had no idea about his psychic abilities because they weren't discussed outside of the family. He said such talent was considered the "devil's work" when he was growing up in the South.

"I really didn't announce it because Spartanburg was in the Bible Belt," he said. "We kept it inside the family."

He had a normal childhood going to the Beacon Drive-In and seeing J.C. Stroble. He also has fond memories of riding the train in Cleveland Park and having his picture taken while sitting on the shoulders of the Daniel Morgan statue. The only thing separating him from other children was his psychic abilities.

The psychic world

One of his first encounters with the dead came when his parents moved back to New York for a few years when he was child. The family bought a haunted house in an estate sale and spirits made their presence known quickly. Coffey said lights turned on, the piano played and footsteps could be heard when no one was around.

"The house had belonged to an old Irish immigrant family," he said. "We didn't feel threatened or have a negative experience. Everything is haunted. Spirits are the essence of dead people. We are always surrounded by spirit or ghost energy."

The family moved back to Spartanburg a few years later and stayed until Coffey graduated from high school. He focused on a career in show business because he enjoyed performing in plays at school and the local Youth Theatre. Coffey eventually settled down in Atlanta where he worked as a travel agent and on his acting. He conducted psychic readings part time to supplement his income, but it became a full-time job when the travel industry was hit hard after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"I walked away from the high-rise building where I had worked carrying a box with all of my stuff in it," he said. "I was thinking to myself, 'I guess you are a full-time psychic now.' "

After almost 10 years of working as a full-time psychic, Coffey has been featured on episodes of the A&E Network series, "Paranormal State" and starred on a show helping children understand their abilities called "Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal." He has made many television appearances and conducted more than 10,000 readings for clients around the world.

Viewers will see him Friday night when he makes an appearance on "Larry King Live" on CNN. The Halloween program features Coffey along with paranormal investigators. He also is working on several other projects including a new book.

Seeking answers

Psychics and the paranormal have become big business. There are several shows seen every week about the supernatural and connecting with the dead.

"People are looking for answers about the afterlife," Coffey said. "We have longed to find out what happens after we die."

He said some people want to talk to dead loved ones and others just want to make sure their dead loved ones are at peace.

"When I am doing a reading, the messages come to me like an afterthought," he said. "Personalities of the dead are usually the way they were in life. People carry their memories with them to the afterlife."

Coffey said he saw his first full body apparition when he became an adult and has seen many ghosts and spirits since then. He always wanted to see his mother after she died, and it took nine years for it to happen.

"I was hoping for one of those burning bush experiences," he said. "When it happened, I was on my riding lawn mower coming around the side of the house. My mother was standing there, and she looked so healthy and hardy."

Coffey said he saw the apparition for three to five seconds. His first reaction was to think he was having a stroke or losing his mind because he couldn't believe it.

"My mind was racing a gazillion miles a minute, and I thought I was having heart palpitations," he said. "When you see something like that, our brains want to rationalize it. I have a skeptical attitude but you get to a point where you run out of explanations or reasoning."

Viewers have watched Coffey do everything from talking to the dead to assisting with exorcisms. He said his strong faith and belief in God helps during cases involving demons and negative spirits.

"My God is stronger than anything, and it has worked for me so far," he said. "My faith is so strong and unwavering. God is everything to me."

Turning it off

When he isn't working, Coffey compares turning off his psychic abilities to turning off a light switch. He just switches it off until he is ready to work again. He doesn't have spirits flying in and out of his life like Whoopi Goldberg experienced in the movie "Ghost."

"I am not running Hampton Inn for the dead at my house," he joked. "This isn't Grand Central Station for the spiritual world. I make agreements with them."

Success didn't come easy, but Coffey said he is fortunate and had some great blessings along the way. He never thought he would be able to feed and clothe himself by working as a psychic.

"I took a huge leap of faith," he said. "It is like a series of dots have connected, but I don't hesitate to tell people it has been hard and sometimes heart breaking."

Coffey also has been fortunate with his show business career. He has performed and written several plays and has worked with numerous theater companies. Work keeps him very busy, but he loves it.

"I am living my dream," he said.

Chip with Edy Nathan, his co-host on Season Two of Psychic Kids:

Children of the Paranormal.