Ghostbusters - Geeks vs Ghosts in Cambridge
If we believe the hype, New York had so many ghosts in 1984 that the Ghostbusters were run off their feet, over time the demand faded, they’d done too good a job…or so we thought, there were a few loose ends remaining. Thankfully the next generation managed to finish the good work that their forefathers started, with some guidance from their own family ghost.
This year we have a new chapter hitting our screens -the frozen empire. It’s hard to know if this instalment will uphold the fun and frivolity of the previous incarnations. Hopes are high and that got me thinking, what would modern day Ghostbusters look like set in Cambridge?
Why Cambridge
I’m thinking that a ‘city’ - sorry Cambridge you do try, but let’s be honest you’re much more ‘town and gown’. Sorry I get distracted…a city that’s as old as this must have loads of ghosts in all those old college buildings.
We’re talking about buildings that are way older then some art deco New York skyscraper and let's think about the people who’ve inhabited these places. I mean who wouldn’t want to meet Stephen Hawkin's ghost? Not to mention all the other amazing people who have passed through these places.
Who would be the next gen Cambridge ghostbusters?
Now this is tricky. For a start this place is packed full of boffins, so there’s plenty of geekery to choose from, in fact I’d go as far as to say that the place literally creates it’s own geekery with new innovations and ground breaking discoveries coming thick and fast from the colleges and their associated start-ups almost every week.
When I look back at the original team it’s clear that there are four quite different characters who all share the same passion…science. Venkman loves himself, he tries to be cool with lots of quips and one-liners, but it doesn't work. Speaking of love, Mr Ray Stantz, he's the original cuddly one, so focused on his love for his work that he knows little else – bless him. Which nicely segways into Egon, Mr Spengler is the nerds nerd. Big brain, deep thinking and able to bring down Venkman in an instant. They were joined in the original by Winston Zeddemore, who brought a much needed down to earth, everyman approach to proceedings.
One thing I’m sure of, should there be an upcoming demand for Ghostbusters in Cambridge, there would be no shortage of applicants, apps, tech and who knows what else – this place is awash with science innovators.
Ecto 1 would be gone!
I love the original Etco 1, it is pure 1950’s automotive nostalgia, complete with all the chrome and wings remixed into the original hybrid - part car, part ghost catching machine. And the siren, simply unmistakable to anyone who’s ever watched one of these films. I’m not sure that today’s Ghostbusters wouldn't be using anything as conventional as a gas guzzling converted hearse.
Would they be electricfied? I’m not sure, it feels way too obvious and just not nerdy enough TBH. I’d like to think that they’d be running on rubbish, like Marty McFly in Back to Future. I'm not the only one thinking it's time for an update, check out the Ghostbusters X feed.
But maybe they’d be more aligned with the current space rocket tech, able to eject ghosts into space via some crazy, roaring fireball rocket? Or maybe they’d simply ‘borrow’ one of those from SpaceX.
Though an immersion flight suit, complete with the afterburners could work well in Cambridge, allowing you to fly over the traffic. But again, it's all a bit...fossil fuelled.
I ain’t afraid of no ghost
The original film had a rich mixture of classic jump scare characters, I’m thinking about the library ghost, the taxi driver... that type of scary looking thing. Then there was the cute and slightly silly ghostly creations, characters like Slimer and the 50ft Marshmallow man (who makes a great return in the most recent films, where he's been cloned hundreds of times, becoming a kind of maniacle miniature team of the original 'big guy').
Lets’ look at the scary ghost ideas first. As we are setting this thrilling instalment in Cambridge it feels only right to me that there should be some sort of serpent ghost that lives in the River Cam. Imagine the fun we could have with proton packs, punting and a big eel type ghost! For me, that’s got something of the original ’84 Ghostbusters feel about it.
It would also be the perfect excuse to blow-up some of the 1960’s brutalist college monstrosities as the Ghostbusters take down the serpent-thingy.
When it comes to the friendlier ghosts, Cambridge does pretty well in these stakes too, though I don’t think it’s actually aware of just how silly it is? I’m thinking about the park and ride system, the guided bus… you get the idea, they had potential, but were fundamentally flawed. That said, I think a band of ghost bicycles, circulating the city, causing chaos could be fun and quite accurate as well.
Work in progress
As you can tell, this is very much a concept and a bit of fun for Halloween. Whilst what we do is all about making you look good and feel good, I should point out that we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Much like Ray, Egon, Venkman and Winston, we love what we’re doing. We know it’s geeky, it’s also fun and who knows where it might take us?
Thanks for reading, if you’d like to know anything about what we do when we’re not writing blog posts about the Cambridge Ghostbusters, check out the site and socials.