It’s a pretty simple question but I’ve been wondering, who prevented all the supernatural disasters before the Busters were around?
That would be a neat story to tell.
I’ve often wondered just how much the Ghostbusters have upset the natural order of things. How their existence may have stirred the supernatural from the shadows.
Sort of like how they started locking the supernatural away and nature started fighting back.
This is ‘ripe’ for exploration and goes even further in the GB mythos; maybe the IDW comics can provide an answer (If a Vol. 3 ever happens, someday) 
Ghosts were rare (why most people did not believe in them) until the Shandor buildings’ effects reached a certain threshold. After the events atop the Shandor building, ghosts went back to being incredible rare, contributing to the Ghostbusters’ business going bust.
i.e. the rise of paranormal activity and the Ghostbusters was coincidental and part of the joke. There was no need for the service until Vigo’s concentration of evil kicked business back up again.
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The Filmation Ghostbusters.
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Mystery inc.
John Winchester.
You can assume that there has always been some form of paranormal research going on since there are multiple reference guides available to the Ghostbusters. In terms of actually catching a ghost the Ghostbusters are likely the first to accomplish this feat.
Like Boomer said ghosts always existed, but due to the naturally low levels of PKE they were unable to manifest themselves. This explains why the staff at the Sedgwick had always told stories about slimer, but he was never a problem until the events of the first movie. Once the Shandor building began to draw in and focus high levels of PKE more and more spirits were able to manifest and cause trouble.
Priests or charlatan psychics? People still saw ghosts prior to the Ghostbusters, but no one believed them.
I also agree with Boomer’s answer.
It would be the same people who fought with ghosts through actual history. But the people we usually know as frauds (psychics, exorcists, spiritualists) were legit. Plus a few notable figures like Tobin. And whoever eventually killed Vigo.
The problem with the notion that ghosts only really existed during the two movies is that we have an expanded universe and video game that says otherwise.
The video game featured an energy wave that amped things up but in the time between GBII and the game they were busy enough to stay in business, hire 2 new employees (Rookie and another guy they don’t talk about) and earn another key to the city or two.
The comics are all over the place with it. The recent IDW comics give a few explanations, if I recall correctly (the universes being in close proximity or the weakening of the boundaries between worlds).
There are catalysts that lead to major events, sure. But 3 of them in less than a decade that just so happens to coincide with the Ghostbusters (plus many, many more in the comics and cartoons) is a bit much.
I’m sure the denizens of the Ghostbusters universe had to deal with malevolent ghosts or extradimensional entities at one point or another before 1984.
In RGB it’s been Tobin, wizards, firemen and ancestors of the busters. Egon had two forefathers that dealt with supernatural problems; a wizard who got rid of a dragon and pilgrim who imprisoned a witch. Winston also had a ancestor who was a African witch doctor or something if I remember right.
1689–Eli Spengler saves the colony town of Lewistown. Massachussets from the witch Kestrel, imprisoning her in a crystal containment unit. Eli’s descendants will include Zediciah, 18th century wizard, and 20th century Ghostbuster Egon Spengler (“If I Were a Witch Man”)
1742–Zediciah Spengler, a deranged dabbler in the occult, conjures a small dragon, then imprisons him in a well. The scholarly Spengler family comes to regard him as an embarrassment: one descendant would label him one of the “loons and scoundrels of the family” (“Egon’s Dragon”)
c.3000 BC–Shima-Buku, cheiftain of the Ibandi people of Tangalla, defeats the Undying One and imprisons him in three stones that were scattered throughout the borders of Tangalla (“Moaning Stones”)
Other notables in RGB continuity:
Gustav Eiffel’s famous tower was secretly designed to draw in and contain supernatural activity in Paris (“Ghostbusters In Paris”)
“The Collector” (“The Brooklyn Triangle”) was a powerful mage who challenged a powerful demon (Possibly The Undying One) and lost, and was imprisoned in the Land of Lost Objects for ten thousand years.
Somebody had to imprison Hob Anagarak in that block of black ice (“Cold Cash and Hot Water”)
The Now comics run had the Council of Eight, self-described “Guardians of the Universe”. Though they didn’t seem to want to do much, but presumably they could have acted when things got really bad
Now also introduced us to Phineus Eventide, the “Prince of Warlocks”, the Crime Patrol, and a group of “Atomic Wizards” who helped the Ghostbusters oppose the demon Astorath
Merlin existed in the RGB universe (“Hard Knight’s Day”)
The monks of St. Theopolis bound the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (“Apocalypse…What, NOW?!”)
You get the picture.
Maybe people just had to deal with the ghosts. No one was around to get rid of them, so they just cleaned up after them. It’s possible that they weren’t so much a bother because they were a.) rare, and b.) weak. Considering these factors, perhaps they were rare and weak because there wasn’t a strong enough PK Energy level for them to have an effect in our world, and Gozer’s (or Vigo’s, as in the second movie) approaching presence raised the energy level and gave them the strength to manifest and/or actually have a physical impact on things. This event could have influenced dean Yeagger (sp?) to boot the Ghostbusters, perhaps in a manner similar to that of Marley’s ghost warning Scrooge in Christmas Carol, which would prove Dr. Venkman’s beliefs (“Call it fate, call it Karma, I believe everything happens for a reason.”).
JOE FRANKLIN
Ray, every time I hear about your company,
I can't help thinking about the old Bob Hope
movie.
STANTZ
Actually, Joe, the title of that film was "Ghostbreakers" ...
Olsen and Johnson did one called "Ghost Catchers..."
Abbott and Costello did "Hold That Ghost..."
the East Side Kids did "Spooks Run Wild..."
and the Bowery Boys did "Ghost Chasers..."
"Spook Busters..."
and "Spook Chasers."*
[*I’ve tweaked this dialogue from the script due to a couple of factual errors, one of which was mentioned in the footnotes of Making Ghostbusters by Don Shay.]
And just for fun, here’s an awesome ‘premake’ video that someone made, using clips from Ghostbreakers and many other films.
Alex
Jeez, that video is hilarious!
“Spooks Run Wild” sounds like a very different kind of film…