People who have known me for any length of time know that I am fascinated by the paranormal. I think the whole idea of investigating the paranormal is interesting, intriguing. It can certainly make you think, consider your own mortality and what might be ‘beyond’.
During my teen years I shared some experiences with friends that made me question what I thought I knew about life and death. No, I don’t claim to know definitively that there are spirits or ‘ghosts’, but I do know we have had paranormal experiences that we could not explain, so to watch various groups investigate such claims of others, it fascinating.
I greatly enjoy Ghost Hunters. I enjoy the cast members and their relationships with one another. Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson approach investigations in a ‘professional’ way, without the hysterics that tend to accompany paranormal reality TV. I appreciate the fact that they set out to disprove or ‘debunk’ alleged paranormal claims. They would sooner view an experience as a common occurrence misinterpreted than immediately proclaim an experience as ghostly.
I watch Paranormal State, because the group originates from Penn State University within my home state. Ryan Buell is the group’s leader. He really is ‘the boy next door’, appearing to be a very caring and compassionate young man. The group has diverse religious beliefs, but incorporate the famed “demonologist” Lorraine Warren and various “psychics” in every episode. Ryan or one of his psychics, almost without fail, determines nearly every paranormal claim to be demonic in nature, ending many episodes with a religious ceremony (often led by Ryan himself), claiming the paranormal activity has ended and the house is cleared.
Ghost Adventures is a similar paranormal investigative series featuring Zak Bagans and two of his friends, Aaron and Nick, who lock themselves in various reportedly haunted sites over night as they investigate claims made by residents, care takers, etc. Zak, Aaron and Nick are much more excitable than the casts of the previous two series I mentioned. They are not as professional, engaging in screaming, running away from unknown sounds and the Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) sounds they collect never appear to be more than static or white noise, though they claim they can hear very specific communications in almost every EVP they highlight.
Ghost Lab is a series I’ve only just found recently. This series features a brother team, the Klinges, and their group, as they investigate reportedly haunted sites across the country. At first glance, they appear to be the most ’scientific’ of all the programs in this genre, but they appear to only view their scientific evidence in a way that supports their goal of collecting convincing evidence of paranormal phenomenon, though much of it could be viewed in an opposing manner, debunking claims of the paranormal.
I find these programs very entertaining.
I recently read that a former cast member of Ghost Hunters revealed that they were instructed to ‘act’ during the taping of the series. The person relaying this rumor indicated that it caused them to now view all their material as suspect and it made them question all these programs.
I have to say, anyone who believes “Reality TV” isn’t staged, scripted, edited, etc., should put the remote down and back away from the TV slowly.
Obviously, there is a formula to editing and broadcasting such programs. Their ‘investigations’ would have to be ’scripted’ to some degree to allow them to be formatted into the one hour or half hour time slot allotted to the programs.
Often you see a ‘teaser’ for each of these series, throughout the week prior to that episode airing that builds you up to believe something truly terrifying is going to happen. That’s a marketing tool used to draw viewers in. They edit each episode in a way that keeps your interest as they break for commercials, so you don’t turn the channel or lose interest. That’s TV.
Programs such as these are clearly intended for an audience that takes an objective position when it comes to the possibility of paranormal activity, such an audience appreciates the tension and suspense, otherwise they wouldn’t continue to tune in.
Obviously, these are my personal views, opinions and brief reviews of these television shows, what do you think?
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