‘Ghost Hunters’: Daryl Marston Shares Details of Mustafa Gatollari’s Ghostly ‘Scratch,’ Bone-Chilling EVPs and More (Exclusive)

Delivering another eerie episode of the season, the Ghost Hunters emerged from isolation and covered an intense investigation Wednesday night during the evening’s penultimate episode of its sophomore season, showcasing a century-old mansion in Missouri plagued by a dark history. Once home to the affluent Glenn family amid the Victorian era, the estate sadly embraced its fair share of tragedy, involving financial ruin and the death of three infants, prompting a number of bone-chilling claims reported by the historical association’s president and volunteers. From doors opening to walls rattling and a number of taps felt on the shoulder by visitors and staff, the case produced startling results and a jaw-dropping encounter with one of their own that co-lead investigator, Daryl Marston admits exclusively to PopCulture.com was a powerful moment for the team.

During the episode, “The Glenn Family Curse,” the team led by Grant Wilson investigated a number of spots in the mansion, once home to prominent businessman, David Glenn and his family. However, generations later, the “eerie, but beautiful” home is now a museum and historical landmark to the community of Cape Girardeau — something investigator, Mustafa Gatollari tried to respectfully convey with an entity during a session. However, that didn’t go as planned as the New Jersey native came away with a battle scar in the form of a scratch. Marston reveals when that kind of occurrence happens with the team, you can’t help but feel a bit apprehensive.

Mustafa’s haunting scratch

“It does make you nervous when you get touched, but a lot of times you’ve got to remember, and you’ve got to think of it this way — you really didn’t get hurt. With a spirit touching you like that, it may be the only way they can get your attention,” Marston told PopCulture. “Leaving a scratch, they probably didn’t mean to leave a scratch.”

Marston, who has been investigating the paranormal for more than 16 years now, reveals while he has never been scratched during cases, the encounter is still something to consider as solid communication. “I’ve never been scratched — I’ve been touched and pushed down on locations, but when Mustafa felt that, he was very emotional,” Marston said. “You didn’t see that part of it, but he was very emotional after that and he was excited, but he felt like somebody was reaching out to him and he felt almost bad for them.”

He adds how it’s interesting to watch someone actually have that kind of experience as so many investigators in the field will oftentimes never encounter something that intense. “For Mustafa to have that, it was a rite of passage like Grant said. It’s like it was an honor,” he said, further expressing the importance of talking respectfully to an entity. “It’s very important. The thing is, when you’re in the moment and you’re investigating, you’re not always thinking like that. You’re trying to get answers. You could be in there for hours investigating and just get no response at all.”

The Delaware native adds that when it did happen to Gatollari, he just remembers watching him acknowledging how he “overstepped his boundaries and kind of crossed the line” while still understanding the heart of the situation.

“Mustafa’s an amazing guy and I think it really hurt him more than it hurt the spirit,” Marston said of Gatollari’s admission. “Once he stepped back and said, ‘Oh, man, I crossed the line on that. I said something I probably shouldn’t have said’ — especially because this family went through a hard time where they basically went bankrupt, they lost everything — and for him to say, ‘This is not your house anymore,’ it kind of hit a nerve. We all feel that. […] Being high society at one point and the next minute you’re living on the streets. I can only imagine what that feels like.”

The EVPs

Though the scratch can be regarded as a response in itself, the team managed to collect a number of EVPs with very direct replies thanks to the binaural microphone, which the team has found incredible success with. “Sometimes you get an EVP, it could be residual or it can be intelligent, but it seems like whatever was there [in the house] was very intelligent,” Marston said. “The crazy thing is it felt like it wasn’t just one — it was almost like the entire family was still there living their lives, doing their daily routine, and we were almost trespassing into their lives. It would be like you living in your house right now and a stranger just walks in uninvited. That’s how it felt almost, especially with the EVPs we were getting.”

Trespassing in an active home

While the scratch and EVPs might have helped the team to figure out what is happening in the historic home, one thing he admits they have yet to “totally” figure out is the doors opening and closing on their own. Thoroughly debunked, Marston believes it has more to do with the family wanting to keep trespassers out, especially since the vibe upon entry was a “weird, strange feeling” they encountered almost immediately.

“In my opinion, I felt like we were almost trespassing, and they were like, ‘Hey, guys. You’ve outworn your welcome and it’s time to go,’” he said. “But it was the doors, and we tested them. We debunked that. We tested every door in that house to make sure it latched properly, it locked properly, and there were no problems. But sometimes you would just hear a door open on the other side of the house, you’d go, and the front door would be open or the back door. It was weird. Very strange.”

Sarah Glenn Marsh as a trigger object

One of the biggest parts of the team’s investigation was the addition of Sarah Glenn Marsh, a descendant of the Glenn family who took part in the case as a trigger object, working to elicit paranormal activity. But it was Marsh’s involvement that really helped to understand the claims being experienced by the historical association’s president and volunteers. Bringing her in with the team to investigate was “amazing,” especially as she was the one reaching out directly.

“It was very strange bringing her in because the place was pretty active and then when she got on location, everything settled and died down,” he said. “It was really quiet for a long time. I remember having her in there and asking question after question. We were getting a couple hits on the data recorder, but it was weird. It felt like the whole vibe of the house kind of changed. Like, ‘Okay, she’s home now. We can all settle down,’ feeling.”

Adding how they have implemented people as trigger objects on several cases, Marston shares the method “always works out really well” for the team. “It’s always a good idea when we do that and we’re able to do that, especially with somebody who’s a direct descendant of this family who’s pretty much haunting the place,” he said.

Return to the Glenn family home?

While Marston shares that he “felt good” helping the client and Marsh, at the same time, he and the team were a little relieved to leave. “I was happy to leave due to the fact because I felt like they probably didn’t want us there to begin with,” he laughed before adding how he would re-investigate the property if given the chance. “I would investigate any place again that I’ve ever done. […] Absolutely.”

Ghost Hunters airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on A&E, and is produced by Lionsgate’s Pilgrim Media Group. For more on the ground-breaking reality series, spooks and other paranormal-related news, keep it locked to PopCulture.com. While you’re at it, follow us on Twitter @PopCulture for the latest in news and entertainment coverage.