With dozens of credits in spooky TV shows and films — including Stranger Things, Ghostbusters and It — Finn Wolfhard has established himself as a mainstay in the horror and the supernatural genres. Yet, the actor hasn’t encountered a ghost in his real life — and he’s not happy about it.
“I’m kind of annoyed that I haven’t had anything paranormal happen to me because of how many things I’ve done with horror and the supernatural,” Wolfhard, 21, told Luxury Handbag Shopping exclusively while discussing his new campaign with Ring. “I feel like I’ve invited so many ghosts and spirits in, so I would think that if some kind of paranormal experience were to happen, it should happen soon.”
The actor may not have seen a supernatural being himself, but he’s actively looking for them with Ring’s Great Ghost Search. Fans can submit their spooky ring footage until Friday, November 1 — whether that be a real-life unexplained encounter or a fun Halloween-themed clip — for the chance to win $100,000 to “ghost their ghost.” Wolfhard himself will choose the contest winner.
“Honestly, there was one that made me laugh so hard because they tried to play it off like it was a ghost but it was just a box moving,” Wolfhard told Us, describing one of the entries. “That one got me for some reason. There’s been some great ones. They’re all very wholesome.”
Don’t expect the Stranger Things star to be spooked by any ghosts caught on Ring doorbells, though: Wolfhard says his true fears are based in real-world scenarios.
“Ghosts don’t scare me as much. For me, it’s something tangible [that’s scary],” he told Us. “Like, being out in the ocean in the dark. That kind of stuff.”
Wolfhard went on to tell a story of a recent encounter he had with an animal that shook him more than Pennywise or the Upside Down ever could.
“An owl was right above me and swooped down. It didn’t hit me, but it was so amazing to see because it was cool to see an owl and I’ve never seen that before,” he recalled. “But it was also kind of terrifying. Add owls to the list.”
Wolfhard first caught the attention of horror fans in 2016 after Stranger Things premiered on Netflix. Now, four seasons and several spooky movies and TV shows later, the actor has solidified himself as a bona fide Scream King.
“It’s a genre that I love as a viewer, because to me, if it’s a really good horror movie, it’s the perfect movie because it really gets a reaction out of you and makes you feel something, always,” he told Us of why he keeps coming back to the genre. “The way I feel after watching a good horror movie is different from the way I feel after watching a really good drama or anything else. It’s very visceral.”
As he’s wrapping up filming the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, Wolfhard is trying to really soak in every moment with the cast, crew and with his character, Mike.
“[I’m] really trying to be present with the character,” Wolfhard said, adding that there’s a “senioritis” feeling to filming the final season. “I’ve just been very deliberate in the way that I treat coming onto set, just having as good of a time as we can since we know it’s the last season.”
While he’s been sworn to secrecy about the highly anticipated final chapter of Stranger Things, the actor teased “a lot of action sequences” in season 5, which he describes as “a really intimate season, but at the same time, a huge season, just in the scale of it.”
