Paranormal and Ghosthunting Shows: Ghosties, Ghoulies and Things That Go Bump in the Night

[Gharlane]

On 12/7/2021 at 10:17 AM, Ananayel said:

Yeah, at some point they're going to have gone through all the "legit" potential paranormal clips, and will be left with the obvious hoaxes or identifiable things. 

I swear I saw a listing for an ep of Paranormal; Caught on Camera describing clips that weren't even remotely preternatural or paranormal. 

On 12/9/2021 at 9:42 AM, Ananayel said:

I don't see those things either, but I do have a 35 year old standard def tv. The tech to do this is amazing, there are instagram accounts and youtube channels where they do this to very early film footage. I wonder what happened to the original P-G film, and I hope it turns up in an attic somewhere, in decent shape.

Hold the phone! What we've been shown over the years is a copy of the footage? That makes it automatically fake to me.

[Ananayel]

On 12/31/2021 at 4:18 AM, Gharlane said:

I swear I saw a listing for an ep of Paranormal; Caught on Camera describing clips that weren't even remotely preternatural or paranormal.

Yep, there has been at least one about natural disasters, and at least one called OMG! about people who survived horrific accidents. I'm getting a bit bored of the whole concept actually. It's why I now prefer the Osbournes and Fright Club - at least they provide humor and entertainment, even if the clips are recycled suck.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Is The Osbournes Want to Believe watchable now?  I tried to for a bit of one episode from its first season and Ozzy was mumble-murdering everything he said.  It was extremely hard to figure out what he was saying.

[Ananayel]

He still mumbles, but I've seen subtitles if it's really bad. I have had a lot of Ozzy- decoding practice though, since I have been watching him for a long time. The Osbournes, Battle for Ozzfest, Ozzy and Jack's World Detour, etc. 

[Gharlane]

Watched a (relatively) new ep of The Proof is Out There last night. I didn't realize they have new ones. The first clip was allegedly a bigfoot standing in a tree that was obviously an optical illusion formed by rocks and shadows in the background but was labeled
"misidentified animal". 🙄 They also showed cheap security camera footage of something that looked like the so-called "Fresno Nightwalkers" that seemed oddly familiar and appeared to be related to some passing car headlights on the other side of the screen. For some reason, they concluded it was something else, like a 3rd-party prank.

[Gharlane]

I was super bored and tuned in to a random ep of Paranormal; Caught on Camera which featured footage from Mexico of some superstitious rubes encountering a witch in the woods outside a town. I couldn't identify what was making the sounds they recorded, but the screaming/laughing sounded like a screech owl or something like a hyena. When I heard it saying "come here", it was pretty obviously a parrot.🙄 

[Gharlane]

Recently, I watched an episode of History's Greatest Mysteries, which is pretty skeptical about these things, about the so-called Amityville Horror. 🙄

You'll be happy to know they eventually came up with "it was a hoax",  but didn't really do much to make the case (for example, the blown out windows and doors show no damage ever having happened, etc), and then followed it with the theory that the guy who killed his family had accomplices who had returned to terrorize the Lutz family. Really? 🙄 

Edited March 28, 2022 by Gharlane

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

9 hours ago, Gharlane said:

Recently, I watched an episode of History's Greatest Mysteries, which is pretty skeptical about these things, about the so-called Amityville Horror. 🙄

You'll be happy to know they eventually came up with "it was a hoax",  but didn't really do much to make the case (for example, the blown out windows and doors show no damage ever having happened, etc), and then followed it with the theory that the guy who killed his family had accomplices who had returned to terrorize the Lutz family. Really? 🙄 

I love the general concept of HGM [/sarcasm], itself, let alone the episode on the The Amityville Horror.  Fishbourne gives the series the tagline of "We are closer than ever to solving these long-standing unsolved mysteries".

Yeah.  No.  All the 'experts/people involved' do is regurgitate the outlandish theories that everyone else has already spouted out over and over again.  Yawn.

 

Although, if not faked, this was the first time I remember ever seeing the "ghost boy" photo from the Warren's (& other paranormal/local news crew) investigation of the Amityville house, back in the late 70s/early 80s.

[Gharlane]

I guess I like HGM better than you do, but they need to steer clear of supernatural content. I had forgotten about the "ghost boy" photo and wish some debunking had been attempted with it instead of just leaving it with whose ghost people thought it was but do not remember a news crew and "pyschics" having a sleepover at the house.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

5 hours ago, Gharlane said:

I guess I like HGM better than you do, but they need to steer clear of supernatural content. I had forgotten about the "ghost boy" photo and wish some debunking had been attempted with it instead of just leaving it with whose ghost people thought it was but do not remember a news crew and "pyschics" having a sleepover at the house.

I don't necessarily hate HGM, I just don't like the way its advertised.  Its misleading.

They aren't really any closer to solving these mysteries, as they give very little actual new evidence/facts to these long-standing unsolved enigmas.  They just rehash the theories that have been out there for a very long time, since almost the beginning of the mysteries themselves.

But as with anything else, ymmv and to each their own.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

For anyone who gives a hoot, the new season of P: CoC premieres tonight, at 8p CDT on  Trvl.

 

They must be running out of good evidence for episodes - at least towards the tail end of 2021 - because the last 3 to 4 episodes of the previous season were the "OMG: Caught on Camera" variety of P: CoC.  IE, the real-world events that are miraculous/unexplained in nature, instead of the usual ghosts/cryptids/UFO 'captures'.

Edited April 1, 2022 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[Ananayel]

Oh no! I thought it was yet another repackaging, so I watched Science Channel! Whatever shall I do - they'll surely never show it again!

Sapphire Sandalo, of CoC fame, now has her own show, I believe it's called Ghost Town Terror. She and a partner investigate a town in Montana consisting of old buildings all brought together to recreate a ghost town? I don't know. I just need Brian Cano to get a show now.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

2 hours ago, Ananayel said:

Oh no! I thought it was yet another repackaging, so I watched Science Channel! Whatever shall I do - they'll surely never show it again!

Sapphire Sandalo, of CoC fame, now has her own show, I believe it's called Ghost Town Terror. She and a partner investigate a town in Montana consisting of old buildings all brought together to recreate a ghost town? I don't know. I just need Brian Cano to get a show now.

Don't worry, you didn't miss much of anything.

Maybe I'm just a cynical, bah-humbug skeptic, but I feel like I could - and most times, do - come up with at least 2 ways every piece of footage could have been faked, instead of buying the "this stuff is SO genuine!!" each of the 'experts' try to sell us.

They show footage of either a ghost/shadow walking off somewhere that supposedly a normal person couldn't.  But almost every time, they video taker never provides any proof to show that what an entity did was not possible for a normal flesh-&-blood person could do. 

Or one of the videos last night was supposedly seeing Bigfoot in the woods at the edge of their property (@ Christmas, in northern Minnesota), but like usual, no video of acquiring proof of what was seen; IE checking the snow out there for huge footprints, etc.

[Gharlane]

On 3/28/2022 at 11:05 PM, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

I love the general concept of HGM [/sarcasm], itself, let alone the episode on the The Amityville Horror.  Fishbourne gives the series the tagline of "We are closer than ever to solving these long-standing unsolved mysteries".

Yeah.  No.  All the 'experts/people involved' do is regurgitate the outlandish theories that everyone else has already spouted out over and over again.  Yawn.

I watched the episode about The Holy Grail and 🥱 yeah, I see your point about them rehashing theories. 

[Ananayel]

For Amityville, I feel like it's been established for a while that it's a hoax - weather records not matching up to the alleged dates of storms, no trace of the ooze, etc. A theory I heard somewhere is that DeFeo's lawyer was angling for an insanity defense, and arranged for the book deal to promote "possession" as a reason for it. The Lutzes created all of it, at his behest.

I did find the Somerton man one interesting, since I didn't know a lot about it to start with. They took DNA almost a year ago, maybe they are still doing that DNA  linking research to track down related people. But the ones I do know, like Holy Grail. Amityville etc., I suppose it's nice to have all the theories in one place! 

[Gharlane]

Here's a closeup of the Amityville ghost boy photo. 🤔

Edited April 11, 2022 by Gharlane

[Gharlane]

On 4/8/2022 at 4:22 PM, Ananayel said:

For Amityville, I feel like it's been established for a while that it's a hoax - weather records not matching up to the alleged dates of storms, no trace of the ooze, etc. A theory I heard somewhere is that DeFeo's lawyer was angling for an insanity defense, and arranged for the book deal to promote "possession" as a reason for it. The Lutzes created all of it, at his behest.

Yeah, he said he and the Lutz's created their story over "many bottles of wine".

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

8 hours ago, Gharlane said:

Here's a closeup of the Amityville ghost boy photo. 🤔

I know Photoshop wasn't any where close to being a 'thing' back then, but that pic looks PS'd as all hell.

Looks like a normal boy, but with the eyes all whited out.  One change to try and make a normal photo look "spooky as hell".

And coincidentally, this episode will be replayed on History a half hour from now.

Edited April 11, 2022 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[Ananayel]

3 hours ago, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

I know Photoshop wasn't any where close to being a 'thing' back then, but that pic looks PS'd as all hell.

Looks like a normal boy, but with the eyes all whited out.  One change to try and make a normal photo look "spooky as hell".

Photo retouching goes all the way back to the point where they started using film instead of glass or metal plates. Hell, it might go all the way back to the beginning in some form or other. It wouldn't have taken much to make those eyes glow white like that. 

I believe the senior DeFeo was a horrible man, I kind of almost believe Ronny when he says it was Dawn's idea - don't know why, but I almost do. I also believe George Lutz was a hot mess, got himself in way over his head financially, probably had a depressive episode about it, and saw a way out by concocting this nonsense and getting a book deal payout. I'm not sure what to make of Danny's remembrances, except that he was quite young and his memories have no doubt been thoroughly altered by all the publicity.

[Gharlane]

16 hours ago, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

I know Photoshop wasn't any where close to being a 'thing' back then, but that pic looks PS'd as all hell.

Looks like a normal boy, but with the eyes all whited out.  One change to try and make a normal photo look "spooky as hell".

It's not photoshopped. It's light reflecting off someone's glasses. You can see the frames better in the closeup.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

7 hours ago, Gharlane said:

It's not photoshopped. It's light reflecting off someone's glasses. You can see the frames better in the closeup.

*goes back for another look*

Sure is.  Can't believe I didn't catch that yesterday.

Edited April 12, 2022 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[Ananayel]

I can't believe no one had mentioned that on the shows that claim hoax. It's really kind of obvious now! 

[AstaCharles]

I thought the Amityville ghost theory was the younger boy was known to have glasses. I think the woman  interviewed on the program mentioned that there were about 20 paranormal investigators that night. Some from the news media camp, some from the Warren camp and some local paranormal folks that wanted to jump on the bandwagon. I think that woman did a podcast interview a couple years ago (not sure if it's the same retired journalist) . In the podcast interview, she was from the news media camp that asked her to investigate the claims. She did go back a couple months later to the house alone. She brought her German Shepherd with her. She said her dog followed her around the first floor but would not follow her upstairs. 

Edited April 15, 2022 by AstaCharles

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Anyone ever watch Haunted Encounters: Face to Face, back when it was on in 2012?  The investigating team calls themself the 'Paranormal Syndicate'.  A lead, a case manager, a tech specialist, a 'renowned' psychic and even a ghost-sniffing golden retriever.

Trvl is airing it now.  Once they introduced The Captain, the dog, I moved this show from 'just another paranormal investigation show' to 'absurdity'.   The show's host voice-overs - as well as the tech specialist reiterating - that, "Like a bomb-sniffing dog, Captain has been trained to sniff out electromagnetic anomalies".  Come on.  If you had said he could sense it, ok, but sniff out electromagnetic changes!?   How can he smell something that is completely odorless nor has any way to actually provide odor to sniff??

Tech specialist again just said "Captain can smell anomalous EMF".  NO!!  lol.  That isn't possible!  lol. 

Its kinda obvious immediately why this show only got the chance to air 5 episodes total.

Edited April 19, 2022 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[Gharlane]

22 hours ago, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

Anyone ever watch Haunted Encounters: Face to Face, back when it was on in 2012?  The investigating team calls themself the 'Paranormal Syndicate'.  A lead, a case manager, a tech specialist, a 'renowned' psychic and even a ghost-sniffing golden retriever.

The only thing that sounds familiar is the psychic dog. 🤣

[SVNBob]

On 4/19/2022 at 9:17 AM, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

The investigating team calls themself the 'Paranormal Syndicate'.  A lead, a case manager, a tech specialist, a 'renowned' psychic and even a ghost-sniffing golden retriever.

And did they drive around in a van called the Mystery Machine?

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

15 hours ago, SVNBob said:

And did they drive around in a van called the Mystery Machine?

It was the only thing missing.

That and the tech guy exclaiming "Zoinks!".

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Anybody ever watched the show called Web of Darkness?  They seem to be taking 3 'instances' and acting out the "story".

Watched the very end of the previous episode and up to the first commercial break of the next one and I don't think its for me.  Seems like the show is taking internet-based urban myths - or possibly based on 'real' stories - and playing it out with really bad & overdone acting.

Lame.

Edited June 14, 2022 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[Gharlane]

I haven't bothered to watch them, but I noticed some shows in the online schedule that sound more like a scripted series than something Ghost Hunters.

[Ananayel]

New episodes of Fright Club with my favorites, Jack Osbourne and the Ghost Brothers, start tonight at 10. Allegedly new episode of P:CoC seems to be a Frankensode. The two-hour runtime gives it away.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Does anybody still watch the new episodes of P:CoC, or the afternoon+evening+night long reruns on Thursdays?  I watched the first new one of this season, but none of the others (yet).

Guess I got tired of watching the marathons repeatedly and have been on a break.  Will watch the rest of the newest ones at some point, but can't say I've missed it much at all - especially the nearly all day long marathons on Thursdays - in the past 2-3 months.

[Gharlane]

1 hour ago, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

Does anybody still watch the new episodes of P:CoC, or the afternoon+evening+night long reruns on Thursdays?  

No, I got tired of them showing increasingly dubious video clips that were claimed by credulous "experts" as being conclusive proof but were easily found to have been debunked.

[Gharlane]

Why the hell is The Proof Is Out There taking place in Skinwalker Ranch? 🤷‍♂️

[Ananayel]

History has already paid Fugal for access for the Travis Taylor Show, so they're likely getting the most out of their money.

Or because Fugal, a commercial real estate developer, wants to make it a paranormal/alien hotspot resort. Throw up some cabins overlooking the mesa, make sure there's "anomalies" most days of the week, charge $$$. I mean, it went from "Top Secret Nothing to See Here" under Bigelow to basic cable channel marathons in just a couple of years. 

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

1 hour ago, Ananayel said:

History has already paid Fugal for access for the Travis Taylor Show, so they're likely getting the most out of their money.

Or because Fugal, a commercial real estate developer, wants to make it a paranormal/alien hotspot resort. Throw up some cabins overlooking the mesa, make sure there's "anomalies" most days of the week, charge $$$. I mean, it went from "Top Secret Nothing to See Here" under Bigelow to basic cable channel marathons in just a couple of years. 

Give it a number of years - maybe in a few decades, if not sooner - but this will be the same for places like Area 51.

No way someone like the Discovery group of networks will let that 'cash cow' sit idle when the government finally abandons it or opens parts of it up for public perusal.

Edited July 27, 2022 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[Gharlane]

13 hours ago, Ananayel said:

History has already paid Fugal for access for the Travis Taylor Show, so they're likely getting the most out of their money.

Or because Fugal, a commercial real estate developer, wants to make it a paranormal/alien hotspot resort. Throw up some cabins overlooking the mesa, make sure there's "anomalies" most days of the week, charge $$$. I mean, it went from "Top Secret Nothing to See Here" under Bigelow to basic cable channel marathons in just a couple of years. 

Well, that's the thing. The show takes place entirely inside a studio, so we're not seeing any "beautiful bean footage" of the ranch. I don't they changed anything about the studio, in fact!

[Ananayel]

Aren't the intro and some introductions done in front of one of the run down buildings or that stupid gate fence? I mean, they probably filmed all of it for the entire run of episodes before lunch one day, so it counts! Also, that alien gate is kind of a dead giveaway as to what's going to ultimately happen to the ranch.

[Gharlane]

On 7/28/2022 at 8:55 AM, Ananayel said:

Aren't the intro and some introductions done in front of one of the run down buildings or that stupid gate fence? I mean, they probably filmed all of it for the entire run of episodes before lunch one day, so it counts! Also, that alien gate is kind of a dead giveaway as to what's going to ultimately happen to the ranch.

They might have filmed footage on the property, but all I saw were were segment introductions being performed in the same set they used in previous seasons.  🤷‍♂️

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Watching Fright Club for the first time tonight.

Its good, but they are presenting some old footage as if its newer.  Like the "Beast of Gum Hill" was a clip first seen on P:CoC years ago.  Another one of a pub in England, during the 'Frightening Round' was old clips seen before on P:CoC.

I don't care if they watch stuff that has been shown before by shows on the same network, but don't play it off as if its new or previously unshared.

Something I found ridiculous, and not in the good way, was having Cindy Kaza (a psychic medium) on to 'analyze' video/photo evidence and she's going on about sensing the presences haunting the theater.  What?!?  How!?!?  You're likely half way around the world from the place, watching old footage and photos.  How in the world can you 'sense' the presence(s) behind the shared evidence!?   That earned a big "ayfkm?!" eye roll.

[Gharlane]

I watched some eps of Mysteries Decoded on demand because I didn't realize new ones had been made. 

Quote

"Curse of the Conjuring House". Private investigator Jennifer Marshall and paranormal researcher Sara Gray travel to Rhode Island and visit the "Conjuring" house to investigate some of the most terrifying mysteries behind the home that inspired the supernatural film series.

This was disappointing in many ways, namely because there's no way to prove or disprove hearsay and feelings. 

Quote

"Horror Hotel". U.S. Navy veteran turned private investigator Jennifer Marshall and journalist Ozzy Mora investigate chilling claims and a mysterious death at the infamous Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles. 

They eventually concluded that the girl who mysteriously died there hadn't taken her mental meds and tried to hide in a water tank on the roof and drowned, but they had a scammer who claimed to be psychic that used divining rods also investigating. Guess what she concluded? 🙄
 

[Ananayel]

Cindy Kaza, Chip Coffey and Chris Fleming have all shown up on Fright Club this season. I think I liked it better last season with none of that, though I do like when they have the people who make the videos on, and I guess they have to have something for them to discuss. Loved the girl who said she hooked up with the alien from the dating app. Oh, and David Oman from the Sharon Tate haunting. That dude's a real loon. And let's be real, I'll watch anything the GBs and JOz do. 

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

8 hours ago, Gharlane said:

I watched some eps of Mysteries Decoded on demand because I didn't realize new ones had been made. 

This was disappointing in many ways, namely because there's no way to prove or disprove hearsay and feelings. 

They eventually concluded that the girl who mysteriously died there hadn't taken her mental meds and tried to hide in a water tank on the roof and drowned, but they had a scammer who claimed to be psychic that used divining rods also investigating. Guess what she concluded? 🙄
 

I'm reaching the conclusion that they are all frauds, some are just more entertaining in how they present their 'character' for the people they're working with and the TV audience.

[Gharlane]

On 8/5/2022 at 6:42 PM, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

I'm reaching the conclusion that they are all frauds, some are just more entertaining in how they present their 'character' for the people they're working with and the TV audience.

Yeah, divining rods were debunked long ago as the person making them move, whether on purpose or not.

On 8/4/2022 at 10:56 PM, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

Watching Fright Club for the first time tonight.

Its good, but they are presenting some old footage as if its newer. 

I tried watching it this weekend and immediately noticed them showing clips from other shows on the same network without any skepticism.

On 7/28/2022 at 8:55 AM, Ananayel said:

Aren't the intro and some introductions done in front of one of the run down buildings or that stupid gate fence?

I watched an entire ep of The Proof is Out There: Skinwalker Ranch, and observed that the opening and closing credits were filmed at the ranch but the segments were from previously aired eps. 

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

2 hours ago, Gharlane said:

I watched an entire ep of The Proof is Out There: Skinwalker Ranch, and observed that the opening and closing credits were filmed at the ranch but the segments were from previously aired eps. 

That's not even surprising or even makes me angry, just disappointed that the same stuff keep happening with this network and these shows.

That seems to be Trvl's whole MO, run shows that repeat themselves while changing the presentation slightly - or changing the name of old shows to something a bit different - and advertising it is as *BRAND NEW*.

[satrunrose]

On 8/5/2022 at 7:42 PM, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

I'm reaching the conclusion that they are all frauds, some are just more entertaining in how they present their 'character' for the people they're working with and the TV audience.

I want to believe, but yeah. Oddly, the group I think is faking the least is the Destination Fear crew. I don't think they're necessarily experiencing that much paranormal stuff, but I do think they're sincere. They just get themselves so keyed up that the sound of abandoned buildings falling apart becomes ghosts coming to get them. 

I would love to see a show that really used a skeptical approach, like getting someone on to talk about what those fantom stick figures on the SLS (SLR?) cameras could be if not a ghost. 

[Gharlane]

Yeah, I think I need a guide to the high tech ghost investigation devices. I think one is basically a radio scanner, right? In Kay's Hollow, Dildo Baggins claimed that standing on the stone cross was drawing upon supernatural energy and causing it to work (isn't a "hollow" a small valley?) and I noticed when Scoobie Douche was investigating a hospital and that stick figure device showed a figure next to someone laying on the examination bed, I noticed the points used for its shoulders and head matched the investigator's and the lines connecting them made it look like it was between us and him! 

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

18 hours ago, satrunrose said:

I would love to see a show that really used a skeptical approach, like getting someone on to talk about what those fantom stick figures on the SLS (SLR?) cameras could be if not a ghost. 

You know what I would like to see?  A show that takes the exact opposite approach to most of these paranormal investigation shows.

Instead of the ghost hunters being absolutely sure that every little thing is caused by paranormal entities/energies;  have a team of hardcore skeptics go in to supposedly haunted locations and try & debunk or use methods to explain every noise/shadow/weird light/orbs, etc.  If they can't, then we know something is quite possibly legit paranormal.

[Ananayel]

For me, I would wear like a skinsuit with nothing loose that could flap or brush against me. Something like a swim cap would cover all my hair so it can't be blown by a draft against my neck or cheek. A GoPro type body cam facing forward at all times, so my handheld device of whatever can be properly deployed. And the area should be cleared completely - by a separate team not chosen by the investigators. I swear, most of these huge abandoned places are "haunted" by squatters and animals.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Just binged all (the aired episodes) of Fright Club.

When the guys are watching the clips/pictures and then having fun with their reactions and trying to make the others laugh their asses off, I really like this show.   LOLing a lot.

No true offense to the evidence gatherers and 'experts', but when they bring them on for discussion, it ruins most of the flow of what makes the show most enjoyable.  That's JMO.

They could also cover more clips and captures if didn't feel the need to talk to the evidence owners & experts after each viewing.

If the evidence owners are seeking help to deal with what they got going on, make another show similar to this, but call it something like Paranormal SOS.  Where the host(s) can talk to every gather and connect them to 'experts' to deal with what they got going on.

[Ananayel]

On 8/26/2022 at 12:59 AM, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

If the evidence owners are seeking help to deal with what they got going on, make another show similar to this, but call it something like Paranormal SOS.  Where the host(s) can talk to every gather and connect them to 'experts' to deal with what they got going on.

Ooh, good idea! The entire TRVL/D+ ghostly roster can rotate in and out, have the experiencer, one "hands on" investigator, one medium or channeler, one "expert" (demonologist, exorcist, researcher, tech guy,) and an affable, levelheaded host to guide the discussion. Half hour probably, not a full hour. Make it happen, TRVL!