Paranormal Challenge – Rolling Hills Asylum – S01E01
So this is the premiere episode of Paranormal Challenge where two teams of investigators face off to collect the best evidence within a given space and within a given time period. Not only will they be rated on the quality of the evidence but also on their teamwork, understanding of the equipment they have and choosing the best locations to gather evidence. It’s an interesting idea but quite frankly this inaugural episode fell short of being interesting or entertaining.
To start with the girls seemed nervous and completely out of sorts. They acted like this was their first investigation rather being season professionals. Besides dropping the equipment they came across as tentative and scared. When they got voices on the PX they wanted to turn on the lights. The word "paranormal" coming through the device brought everything to a grinding halt. Rather than following that up with more questions or more investigation they froze and almost came unglued. One of them starts to cry.
The guys were arrogant bastards and after only a few minutes I really wish Dan had been thrown down the stairs by Raymond. They were annoying to watch and while they seemed a little more organized the overly aggressive stance they took with everything was unneeded. Also, Adam, if you’re going to start busting up the place to create dowsing rods perhaps you should know what they are for and how to use them. This just comes across as moronic. Further, Dan, you lose all your cool and machismo points (not that you actually had any) for talking shit to a spirit and then crapping your pants yelling the telltale "Oh My God" when you get a response. This makes you look like an idiot.
Ditch the whole, we didn’t come here to lose mentality too.
So what about the evidence?
The girls presented a very odd EVP of what sounds like a struggle and then some screaming. It almost sounds like it was cut from a horror movie.
The video evidence of the orbs was weak and should be thrown out.
The guys presented an audio of "I am here" which I couldn’t hear at all. They also claim to get "Kill him now or I’m gonna get him" which again I don’t hear at all. I played that part several times and can’t make out a single word.
The video evidence contains orbs so to me that is junk. They have a still photo of what they claim is a silhouette against the wall. That’s a bit of a stretch I’m afraid.
I thought the evidence from both teams was really weak. And quite frankly I thought both teams were really weak. It was the battle of underachievement versus overcompensation. I was completely underwhelmed with this episode on many levels.
Other Articles of Interest:
- Paranormal Challenge – Western Virginia Penitentiary – S01E05
- Paranormal Challenge – Eastern State Penitentiary – S01E02
- Paranormal Challenge – Ohio State Reformatory – S01E04
- Paranormal Challenge – Waverly Hills Sanatorium – S01E06
- Paranormal Challenge Ohio State Reformatory S01E03
- Paranormal Challenge – Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum – S01E07
- Paranormal Challenge – Jerome Grand Hotel – S01E12
- Paranormal Challenge – Linda Vista Hospital – S01E10
- Ghost Adventures – Mackay Mansion – S13E02
- Ghost Adventures – Goldfield Hotel – S04E16
Ghost Adventures – Loretta Lynn’s Plantation – S05E06
At least I think this is episode 6 of a new season. It’s sort of hard to tell where one ended and the other started. I’ve been completely off in my numbering so maybe this will straighten things out.
The team heads out to Loretta Lynn’s Plantation in Hurricane Mills Tennessee to investigate a series of paranormal claims by multiple people. Apparently the activity has been going on for 40 years, basically the entire time Loretta has owned the plantation. Some of the paranormal activity includes:
Loretta saw a woman in white on the balcony of her home wringing her hands and crying.
A tour guide was pushed down the stairs while trying to adjust some albums and pictures.
Loretta has heard footsteps on the stairs and so has her granddaughter.
The granddaughter Megan has seen a figure at the foot of her bed.
Shadows have been seen in the mill house.
In the Brown Room Loretta’s son claimed he felt and a saw a Confederate Soldier taking his boots off.
It seems the house is charged with activity. And multiple people claim to have experiences. It seems like everyone who works there has seen the woman in white – the wife of JT Anderson who lost her baby and died less than two weeks later. Multiple people also claim to see Confederate soldiers wandering around the property.
The property does have a link to the Civil War since many troops camped on the grounds and there was a small battle that took place. The Anderson Cemetery is located on the property and a slave pit used to make up the basement. So all in all there is a lot going on and Loretta’s home has a long history of battles, slavery and several deaths.
So what do we get from the investigation?
Zak starts things off with the Ovilus II which offers up the words "Must" "Kill" "Sixty" which Zak and Nick associated with killing sixty men in the mill house. It’s an interesting phrase to be sure. They also get a series of words such as "Dig" "Ground" "Lot" and "Manifest" which Zak and Nick interpret as they need to go to the cemetery so that JT Anderson can manifest. The device is throwing out words left and right so the guys rush over to the cemetery to where this trail leads.
Once there they get more words such as "Save", "Two", "Moan", "Seen" and "Brown" and draw the conclusion that JT Anderson tried to save his wife and daughter. He is also admitting to being seen in the Brown Room. That is a lot of wild connections but it sort of makes sense, but it’s really molding the data to support your conclusion.
Like some sort of scavenger hunt they head back into the house and break out a parabolic dish. It’s an interesting choice as Zak begins to pick up all sorts f phrases like "I hear them… I hear them coming" and the sound of footsteps. As Zak asks if someone is up there he claims to get "I need to go downstairs".
Everything seems to be leading them into the Brown Room, which is supposedly the hotspot of activity, but when they get there not much happens. Things are surprisingly quiet in this area.
With that part of the investigation over the guys split up with Aaron going to the slave pit while Zak and Nick go to the Mill House. Not much happens with Aaron but Zak claims to get the name Loretta Lynn when he asks who owns the land.
It was certainly a lively interview and it’s interesting to see Loretta Lynn discussing her experiences and being open about them. I’m not sure how I feel about that Ovilus device. I have my doubts about the validity. And the EVPs? Well, as always, hard to decipher and certainly open to interpretation. But a fun episode none the less. I think they did a good job of capturing the history of the place.
Other Articles of Interest:
- Paranormal Lockdown – Anderson Hotel – S01E02
- Paranormal Lockdown – Bellaire House – S02E06
- Paranormal Lockdown – Statler City Hotel – S02E07
- Ghost Stalkers – Wheatlands Plantation – S01E05
- Ghost Adventures – USS Hornet – S04E08
- Paranormal Lockdown – Franklin Castle – S01E03
- Ghost Adventures – Missouri State Prison – S08E04
- Paranormal Lockdown – Monroe House – S02E01
- Haunted Collector – Spirits of Gettysburg and Headless Horseman – S03E06
- Ghost Adventures – Old Fort Erie – S04E12
Paranormal Challenge Tonight 9pm E/P
Don’t forget Zak’s new show Paranormal Challenge airs tonight with Rolling Hills as the backdrop. This show looks a little strange, but it could be pretty interesting. Anyway, I guess we’ll see what they have planned in just a few hours!
Other Articles of Interest:
- Looks like ghost hunting is becoming big business
- Ghost Adventures returns tonight with a marathon!
- Paranormal Challenge Ohio State Reformatory S01E03
- Paranormal Lockdown – Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum – S01E01
- Ghost Adventures – Clinically Dead – S07E14
- The Exorcist Files – Infestation – S01E01
- Ghost Adventures Fan Event at Waverly Hills Sanitorium
- Paranormal Challenge
- What happened to that Ghost Hunters Live DVD?
- The Conjuring – First Impression
Haunted Collector – Burning Spirits – Ghosts of the West – S01E03
John heads down to New Mexico to investigate the Backside Ale House with alleged haunted activity. There are claims of shadow movement while in the women’s restroom, beer taps that open on their own and gas burners that turn on by themselves.
John fixates on an old detonator used in the coal mines. He casts an inquisitive eye over the tomahawk and the old whiskey jug as though thinking how they might look in his collection. John immediately jumps on the idea that the tomahawk must have killed people and is therefore evil. By this same logic all hearses are haunted and evil because they’ve carried the deceased.
The idea that the detonator caused people their lives is equally as illogical. It may have caused explosions that killed people. It may have trapped workers. Then again, it may have done none of those things. John is making massive leaps of logic and causation. This is truly assigning cause and effect regardless of how the items are related.
When it comes to the taps pouring beer when no one is around would have nothing to do with pressure in the line I’m sure. Same with the knobs on the stove. There is no way pressure could push them open. There is no way it could be the work of faulty equipment. Clearly this has to be the work of the paranormal.
John then heads down the road to the St. James Hotel where guests are running out in the middle of the night because of all the activity. People claim to get attacked and thrown over the railing. They’re seeing faces in the mirrors and the owner wants some answer before he gets run out of business.
The investigation at the St. James Hotel is a complete farce. Not a single experiment John does has any merit whatsoever. There are dozens of causes for a glass of water to get cold not the least of which is something we like to call "ice". I’ve never seen this type of experiment done before and it just happens to get an effect in the exact spot John puts it in. What are the odds?!
And the odds of someone getting a nosebleed in New Mexico are unheard of. Clearly that is the work of spirits and has nothing to do with dry air and dust.
Honestly these experiments are as bad as the ones we used to see in Ghost Lab. John’s like of thinking and methods of inquiry are sketchy at best. This show is turning into a comedy with each new episode.
Other Articles of Interest:
- Ghost Adventures – Winchester Mystery House – S05E04
- Haunted Collector – Emmitt House Ghosts and Shadow Intruder – S03E05
- Haunted Collector – Haunted Bayou/Library Ghost – S01E01
- Haunted Collector – Stirring the Dead and Ghost Writer – S02E06
- Ghost Adventures – Old Town San Diego – S05E03
- Ghost Adventures – Lizzie Borden House – S05E05
- Haunted Collector – Enfield Horror and Masonic Spirits – S02E11
- Haunted Collector – Uncivil Spirit & Revolutionary Ghost – S01E05
- Haunted Collector – Haunted Mansion and Ghost Mill – S02E01
- Ghost Adventures – The Queen Mary – S10E01
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