Defecio Stoglin is the head honcho on WE tv’s hilarious new paranormal docu-series Ghosts in the Hood — but where did he come from and what’s his story?
Defecio is the CEO of Official Paranormal Operations (O.P.O.), a team of ghost hunters headquartered out of…a rickety old RV. Which Defecio promises he got a good deal on. No matter that it’s falling to pieces.
Which Hood? O.P.O. mainly investigates the strange goings on in its home territory of Compton, CA, where ghosts and other spirits play havoc with the locals.
As Defecio says: “If you’re a ghost, and you’re livin’ in the hood, you better watch the f*** out because we’re gonna get you.”
O.P.O. probe strange goings on in all manner of places, from piñata shops and cleaners to family ‘fun’ zones.
Defecio explains: “What separates us from any other paranormal group is that the O.P.O. will investigate anything paranormal, anywhere…like a drive-thru mortuary, in the damn hood. Who doing that? Nobody.”
But hunting ghosts in the hood isn’t always easy, as Defecio says: “If there’s one thing I’ve learned…these ghost spirits? They’re some tricky motherf******”.
Defecio has worked as an actor in the past but founded Official Paranormal Operations after becoming obsessed with ghostly goings on as a child growing up.
He says: “I’ve been fascinated with the paranormal since as long as I can remember.” But he’s also the first to admit he doesn’t “know everything there is to know about ghosts”. Which is what makes Ghosts in the Hood so charming.
Defecio grew up in Long Beach, California, and has had a string of TV roles during his career including in 2009’s Streets of Blood alongside Val Kilmer, 50 Cent and Sharon Stone, and horror films The Remaining (2014) and Hayride 2 (2015).
He has impressive acting skills. Watch his 2008 audition tape for Mardi Gras below.
Defecio founded O.P.O. to try and help out ordinary people and businesses facing spooky problems, in places many paranormal teams wouldn’t usually venture.
The other members of the O.P.O. are Dave Purdy, the “tech guy”, medium Jasmine Orpilla — whose connections with the spirit world often seem remarkably sexual — team researcher Maunda Oyin, and Defecio’s nephew Matty Richards, a comic from New York who in Defecio’s words “don’t know s**t about ghosts”.
Matty is also apparently the only member of the team who’s actually scared of them.
Stoglin is super-serious about his role as CEO of O.P.O., and helps oversee the whole operation. His official uniform? Velour sweatsuits, which make him, well, sweat.
His retro look hasn’t gone unnoticed by the other members of his ghost-chasing crew, who say he looks like a “rejected Power Ranger”. Or, as Matty puts it: “Defecio look like he in a Diddy video from the 90s.”
Check Defecio out in the Ghosts in the Hood clip below…
Ghosts in the Hood airs Thursdays at 10/9c on WE tv.