The Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror XXIV

It’s not actually Halloween or even after Halloween as is usually the case and The Simpson’s have already broadcast their annual Treehouse of Horror. And it didn’t suck as bad as usual!

My interest in The Simpson’s waned about a decade ago, but I still tune in just to see the Halloween episodes. Personally, I think the show’s been on the decline for years and they’re just phoning in the episodes. The Treehouse of Horror episodes haven’t been any different with the last 4 being especially bad. But, the latest outing wasn’t actually that bad.

While the Fat in the Hat spoof wasn’t bad with a few funny moments. Bart having head sewn onto Lisa made for a couple of laughs , but the circus episode was a little flat. Like I said the benchmark from the previous years is pretty low, so there’s really nowhere to go but up. I mean, they can’t get any worse.

But these new stories don’t hold a candle to the first few seasons. James Earl Jones reading The Raven is a classic. And Pierce Brosnan as the house that wants Marge is good stuff.

Still, I think the Phineas and Ferb Halloween special was better.

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Ghost Bait – Demon House – S01E01

The title of this show intrigued me, but that was about the only interesting thing to it. The team of Ghost Bait holds to the idea that fear is what draws the spirits out and they use the fear of the client to confront demons.

And it’s about the dumbest show I’ve ever seen. The team walks around a "castle" that is being restored and when a light bulb breaks, in their minds they’re assured an evil presence is there. To that end they get the homeowner to put a burlap sack over his head and sit in a room by himself to generate fear and get his heart racing. And while in the midst of near panic he’s supposed to tell this entity what he thinks of it and how it has to go.

What the hell is that all about?

Thank heaven this piece of crap was only 20 minutes. Any longer and I would have put a burlap sack over my own head just to hide from this garbage. This was the first episode I watched and will certainly be the last.

I always hope when a new show is announced that it will have a new angle or more science than other shows that have come before it. I don’t believe this crew could spell science and who knows what angle they’re coming from, but it was back from every one of them.

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Ghost Adventures – The Exorcist House – S08E07

So this is an interesting episode, the guys head out to St. Louis to investigate the home made famous by the movie, The Exorcist. Back in 1949, Father William Bowdern supposedly exorcised the demons out of the little boy that lived in the house. It is said the boy and his aunt used a Ouija board to commune with spirits which opened a portal for something evil to come through. And if you’ve watched the movie we all know what happens next.

Supposedly, the evil still lurks in the house, penetrating the very stone and wood of the house. Neither the owner, nor the previous owners actually talk about the house. However, a paranormal investigator claims to have been touched and scratched while investigating there. During their filming a neighbor comes over to say that people move into the house, but that it’s a bad place. They don’t stay very long. No details are given so we’re not entirely sure what he means.

After Zak, Nick and Aaron ratchet up the tension as high as they can, it’s finally time to go inside. You have to consult with priests and demonologists so they can tell everyone what you’re doing is dangerous and scary.

The main activity centers in the bedroom where the original exorcism was performed. Against the better judgment of everyone, Zak pulls out a Ouija board and places the Spirit Box on it. Everyone is scared for their meager lives as Zak stands on the precipice of opening the portal to damnation and bringing ruination to the world. Or he could just be messing around with a piece of cardboard. Take your pick.

When asked the name of the man the entity attacked in the room, the box responds with, "He needs help."

When asked, "What hppened here in 1949" the answer comes as "Ouija board" and "trouble". And it does appear to be two different voices.

When asked, "What is your name?" they get two responses, "Devil" and "Diablo".

The rest of the investigation involves messing around with the Xbox Kinect. Zak feels cold spots at the same time some sort of blue dot shows up on the screen. And there is much rejoicing as they can’t understand why Aaron can’t be tracked on the Kinect. They take both of these as signs of spiritual energy and a presence. In no way should this be taken as a malfunction of the device or it’s inability to track certain people under certain conditions.

As the investigation comes to an end the main evidence is the audio recordings. While they are interesting items, they certainly don’t add up to the Uber sinister and demon infested house the first 20 minutes of the episode tried to instill in us.

I’ve said it before, I don’t believe the Ouija board is a source of evil or a conduit or portal for demonic spirits. It’s simply a piece of cardboard with lettering. That’s the same as saying a blanket with letters you use to help your child with the alphabet is summoning demons into the room or that simply opening the bible will a holy spirit appear. It simply doesn’t work that way. Since everyone has their own differing opinions, we’ll just skip that debate.

I thought the EVPs were interesting, but I can’t agree with most of them. I certainly here Devil and Diablo as well as ouija board and trouble. So, does that make the house haunted? Is there something demonic in there? It really doesn’t seem so since no one got scratched, no one got threatened and no welts with a cross in the middle of them showed up on anybody. All in all the house seemed rather normal. Maybe there is something in there that wants to communicate and it would have been great for the guys to hang around for a couple of days and gather some more evidence. Going off the spirit box alone isn’t going to convince me a house is haunted. To me, it’s possible there is an energy there that should be explored further. As I said, it’s certainly not dropping with the evil that has seeped into the foundation like they want us to believe.

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Ghost Mine – Ghosts of the Geiser Grand – S02E05

For this episode of Ghost Mine, we have a whole lot of little evidence coming together that may all be related to the mine and how the Chinese immigrants were treated, or more to the point, mistreated as they worked in the mines. At least that seems to be the road we’re following for right now.

The focus is on the Geiser Grand Hotel, a prominent building during the gold rush. Land deals, mining deals, lumber and railroad deals were all made here. As with any mining town there was plenty of gambling as well and mines would have been won or lost on a game or cards.

Oddly, the Geiser Hotel is said to have it’s own paranormal events. And just as odd, there are tunnels down in the basement that would have been used by the Chinese workers so they could travel back to Chinatown. Why did they have to travel this way? Chinatown was open at sunrise and closed at sunset. Outside of those times, Chinese wouldn’t be allowed to walk the streets.

With all that in mind, Kristen and Patrick set about their investigation and when asked if the Crescent Mine was used by the Masons as a lodge, a glass tumbles off the shelf. Maybe tumble isn’t the right word, it might have been thrown. It doesn’t just land on the ground right in front of the shelf, but a few feet away. And when listening to the recordings, there appears to be a voice right before the glass hits.

Additionally, when Kristen asks, "Did something bad happen up there?" in regards to the Crescent Mine, she gets a response of "Yes".

While in the basement, they also get a motion sensor going off and the sound of someone tapping on glass. Up in the main dining room, they get the sound of chairs creaking and perhaps a slight shuffling sound as Patrick pulls out a deck of cards and some money. There are also spikes in the EVP, minor but spikes non the less, as they try to get a game started.

Aside from the investigation, the mine owner Larry has brought in a security guard to monitor the place since they feel a trespasser is wrecking the equipment and possibly causing damage to the mine. This new security guard also sees a trespasser and says he’s head right toward the camp where Patrick, Kristen and Stan are waiting. No one ever appears.

Patrick and Kristen then investigate and feel they may have captured a shadow figure in the woods. They’ve also made the claim they feel the old broken structure they stumbled on might be a burn house and there might still be bodies buried in the area. They can’t say for sure, but there is a possibility.

Lots of odd things are coming together with tons of strange noises like the rocks falling, the bangs against the cabin as they all talk about the evidence, some trespassing figure they can never catch and voices that show up on the audio. Seems like Patrick and Kristen either need to lean some Chinese or get someone who speaks the native language so perhaps they can bridge this language barrier. If there is a supernatural cause to these events, they might have better luck asking the miners in their native language.

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