Ghostly Television Shows

Which reality-based ghost hunting television show is the real deal?

Like millions of others I am totally enamored with the paranormal, and enjoy most of the ghost hunting shows. There are lots to choose from, like: Haunted History, A Haunting, Ghostly Encounters, The Unexplained, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International, Paranormal State, and Most Haunted. They are all entertaining. However, the question is, which one is the real deal?

In this context, the definition of the real deal is a show that actually proves or disproves paranormal activity without resorting to something that seems to be a hoax or someone’s imagination running wild. It all comes down to a believable show that presents believable evidence.

The shows that get the most attention are: Most Haunted, Ghost Hunters & Ghost Hunters International, and Paranormal State. Each of these is a reality based, continuous running series. They each consist of an investigating team that hunt ghosts and seek out the paranormal. There are no recreations or written scripts. What you see is actually what happened, as they try to find and present documented evidence. Therefore, these are the ones I am going to review in an attempt to get to the real deal.

Most Haunted

Led by the presenter, Yvette Fielding, a famous television personality from England, the team includes two Pyschic Mediums (Derek Acorah and David Wells), one Parapsychologist (Ciaran O’Keefe) and six Investigators (Stuart Torevell, Karl Beattie, Geoff Adams, Catherine Howe, Iain Cash, and Jon Gilbert). Their audience is based on the fact that the show originates from Europe where the oldest and supposedly most haunted places exist. And because every building or home they investigate seems to be haunted.

If there were an award for the most theatrical ghost show, this would win hands down. Yvette puts her acting skills to work with a lot of over reacting, screaming (“Did you hear that?), carrying on, and unnecessary chatter, all of which are quite distracting. Most of the time the viewer cannot hear what she supposedly heard, so you have no idea what she is yelling about. It’s too dramatic and makes the show seem hoaxy.

One of the biggest faults of the show, is they do not use any paranormal equipment to capture and document actual activity like: EMF Detectors, digital audio recorders, infrared cameras, or thermal cameras. The only major evidence you get is the reactions of the team members. Hard evidence is rarely presented.

The use of psychic mediums is effective, as I truly believe in them. But other than giving a history of the building, and telling us about the ghosts that are there, they do not help present evidence of actual activity.

The séances are over utilized and quite predictable. Hearing banging sounds on cue in just about every show is just too good to be true. It comes across as a set up, and seems more like acting, team members scaring the heck out of each other, or imaginations running wild.

If you like dramatic reactions with no actual proof, this is an entertaining show. Other than noises, moving tables and orbs, the show lacks evidence, which is a huge let down. I am not calling the show a hoax, but I am not convinced this is the real deal.

Paranormal State

This is the newest addition to the reality paranormal shows. Ryan Buell, the founder and director of the Paranormal Research Society, leads the show. His team consists of Katrina (Interviewer), Heather (Documentarian), Eilfie (Occult Researcher) and Sergey (Tech Specialists). There are also quite a few other major contributors like psychic mediums, counselors and religious figures.

This show is more demonic than most. I think that’s what brings in the viewers. They focus on scary and at times evil hauntings. The Penn State surname offers legitimacy. I do not think a reputable university like that would allow their name to be associated with anything that is a hoax. So, I will give them that much.

Although they do use some equipment like audio recorders and motion sensors, one of the major problems is they do not use enough. Not only that, they do not share with the audience activity that has been caught. This comes across as if nothing substantial has been captured. The proof is in the evidence, and the viewer wants to see or hear what’s going on. Similar to Most Haunted, there is a lot of vocal reaction to supposed sounds or movements, although not as dramatic. But, not much of it is shared with the viewers. Understandably, just because you do not capture something it does not mean there is no paranormal activity. However, capturing and sharing evidence goes a lot further in proving a haunting.

During their investigation the team performs something called Dead Time. This is their own slang term that refers to a specific time they dedicate to try and communicate with the spirits, usually starting at three a.m. The problem here is that whatever personal experiences the team encounters is not noticeable by the viewer. So, all you are left with are their reactions. To make the experience more difficult to follow they edit in all kinds of scary sounds, which makes it impossible to detect if what you are hearing is what they are hearing.

The use of something called the Director’s Log, which is when Ryan speaks into his tape recorder to diary events, can be annoying. Some times one of the other investigators is asked to make a recording, and they usually seem very uncomfortable. I can’t say that I blame them.

The use of outside sources like psychics, mediums and religious figures is effective. They seem to take a simple five-step approach: listen to the stories; do research; call in a psychic medium; conduct Dead Time then perform some kind of blessing. Again, this is all good stuff, but where is the evidence?

The main goals of PRS are to help people and get to the truth. They are almost always able to put their clients minds at ease. However, I am not sure they really get to the truth as often as they think. With very little hard evidence to back up their claims, I am not sure the truth is actually found.

The show works in some aspects, but it does need some improvements, that being providing solid evidence.

Ghost Hunters & Ghost Hunters International

Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International are together because the same paranormal group, T.A.P.S. (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) conducts both shows. The founder of TAPS is Jason Hawes. His right-hand man and good friend is Grant Wilson. As the saying goes, they are from the same cloth, but with different personalities that compliment each other. Their charm comes from the fact that they are real people; every day common folks with a sincere passion for the paranormal created by their own personal experiences.

The entire TAPS investigative team is comprised of the same types of people whose enthusiasm is contagious. Although different members have come and gone since the show started in 2004 there are currently two teams, one for Ghost Hunters and one for Ghost Hunters International. GH is made up of Jason, Grant, Steve Gonsalves, Dave Tango, Dustin Pari and Kris Williams. The GHI team consists of the leader Robb Demarest and investigators, Barry FitzGerald, Brian Harnois, Donna LaCroix, Andy Andrews and Shannon Sylvia.

All of the members of both teams have unique personalities, and do come across as one big family, although at times a bit dysfunctional. The interaction of the team is sometimes more entertaining than the investigation. The reason is, you can relate to them, because they are just regular folks with jobs and interests other than the paranormal.

Jason and Grant’s management style could use some fine-tuning. But again, that’s part of their charm. There is nothing fake about them. After all, they are Roto-Rooter plumbers by day.

Their goals are simple: prove or disprove the paranormal activity, and help the people involved. The approach is scientific and factual, which works to their advantage when compared to the other shows. They use all available equipment like: digital audio recorders, EMF detectors, infrared cameras, and thermal imagery camera. Their objective is to capture actual evidence that can prove paranormal activity.

Although you can see their fear, they always move towards the activity. With the exception of one classic episode when Brian Harnois and a cameraman went running, with Brian yelling, “Run dude run!”

All of the investigators buy into the TAPS concept and processes. A major part of that is something they call “debunking”. In other words if you can reproduce the activity naturally or it is explainable, then it is probably not paranormal. If you are left with evidence and activity that is unexplainable, then chances are it is paranormal.

Like all shows they do have some faults. Sometimes they seem to dismiss evidence too quickly, especially when it comes to supposed orbs that could be ghostly activity. But, if it moves like a bug or piece of dust it probably is.

The other thing that skeptics seem to question is their decision to not bring in psychic mediums. They do bring in demonologists and people of faith to help bless homes, but they have never brought a medium to an investigation. Again, I am a true believer in bon-a-fide psychic mediums. Bringing in someone like this will add to the entertainment and the validity of the show.

If you are looking for a show that will try to scare you all the time, this is not it. This show is about evidence and either proving or disproving paranormal activity or a haunting. Yes, it is disappointing sometimes when they do not come up with actual evidence, but that’s part of the show. The point is that ghosts do not always come out on cue, and sometimes the house or building is simply not haunted.

If you are truly a fan of the paranormal, and you have no interest in just getting scared, this is the show for you. As Jason says, “It’s all about the evidence.” For sure, this show is the real deal.

Now, if Ghost Hunters would be willing to team up with John Edward, you would really have an awesome show! How about it guystel?

I don’t think any ghost hunting show compares to Ghost Hunters or Ghost Hunters International. With the initial approach of disproving the haunting, you know what you are getting is the real deal. Just because someone says a place is haunted, it doesn’t mean it is. The imagination is a powerful thing. You just have to be able to decipher what is and isn’t factual. Ghost Hunters is the only show that does that.

I invite you to open your door to Ghost Hunters, as Grant greets you with, “Grant from TAPS. We’re here to help.”