Paranormal

Ghost Hunters Live Halloween 2008

I finished the live Halloween special over the weekend and for the most part it’s pretty entertaining and keeps your interest. Unlike the Stanley hotel which seems to have plenty of ongoing activity, Fort Delaware was definitely creepy with atmosphere and it’s imposing presence, but the overall activity was rather absent.

There were some good moments in the tunnels were Grant seemed to hear voices and had something tugging on his jacket. There also seemed to be the occasional knock and something happening off screen, but generally the place was quiet.

Josh does an excellent job of hosting the event. His quick wit and ability to improvise to the onscreen activity is fun to watch. Steve Valentine shows a curiosity about the events and asks questions about the equipment, history and events of the Fort. He seems like an eager student with amusing comments sprinkled in.

Amanda Tapping and “The Miz” seem generally interested in the Fort and exploring the paranormal. Amanda follows along through the entire program, asking questions, heading into the tunnels, and immersing herself in the environment. The Miz wants to see or experience something and seems to get a little disturbed after several hours of not seeing anything. Unfortunately he gets paired up with Joe and Kristyn who, in my opinion, are crappy investigators and were a real distraction for the show. Maybe she was being told to, but Kristyn is constantly trying to get Miz to talk about wrestling and his career. Even Joe keeps bringing it up. Perhaps that was part of the promotional deal, but it’s so annoying and completely detracts from the mood of the evening.

But putting that aside, Joe and Kristyn are the worst part of the event. Their hunting style is juvenile at best and just like the Waverly Hill investigation last year, they are unpleasant to watch, moody and act like being at the Fort inconveniences them. Honestly, take them off the show. They spoil the mood and their offerings to the show are non-existent. Perhaps even the Miz got sick of their shit since you don’t see him during the last hour of the program. Maybe he got tired of their nonsensical babbling and decided to find something else to do. I know there is no way in hell I would hang out with those two for 7 hours.

Steve and Tango seem to get a little silly as the night wears on and spend a little too much time goofing off than investigating. They don’t seem to be following their normal investigative style. You can easily see that their antics could be covering up noises or responses they might otherwise hear. Not that I take all this paranormal stuff so seriously that they can’t have some fun on Halloween, but I guess if you’re there you should be trying to find some evidence or at least debunk a few things.

There are several technical issues with the show, but that is somewhat to be expected with a live show, especially one from a truly remote location. I’m sure those will all be corrected for the DVD to be released next year. Again, it lacks and true defining paranormal moment. The big activity is an odd voice telling the group “You don’t belong here” and some tugging on Grants jacket. The Fort didn’t really seem to have that much activity, but the show is still very neat to explore and I’m sure the GH team had one hell of a time walking around it’s dark corridors on Halloween.

Technorati Tags: , ,

Other Articles of Interest:

Ghost Hunters Halloween Live 2008


In case you missed the live Halloween episode of Ghost Hunters at Fort Deleware, here it is in 4 parts. There are a few audio and video quirks, but that is due more to live television than the file itself – at least I hope so. The quality is good and there is plenty of fun to be had watching this massive 7 hour event.

I haven’t watched the entire thing yet, but in a similar vein as last year, there is a little too much goofing around and trying to be amusing rather than investigating the Fort. Again, I’m disappointed in Kristen and her antics of trying to showcase the ECW wrestle “The Miz” rather than focusing her attention on the investigation. I had the same complaint for the Halloween episode last year where she seemed to spend more time trying to show how smart she was and belittling the “Hunt for the Hunter” contestants than doing her job as an investigator.

Josh is great as usual as host, adapting to the live scenario with good humor and clever wit. I’m glad they got him again; he keeps everything moving and keeps it interesting in the quiet times.

It’s fun stuff to watch, so if you missed it live the other night now is your chance to get you downloadable copy.

Ghost.Hunters.Live.Halloween.2008.1of4.PDTV.Xvid-SER
Ghost.Hunters.Live.Halloween.2008.2of4.PDTV.Xvid-SER
Ghost.Hunters.Live.Halloween.2008.3of4.PDTV.Xvid-SER
Ghost.Hunters.Live.Halloween.2008.4of4.PDTV.Xvid-SER

Technorati Tags: , , , ,

Other Articles of Interest:

Ghost Hunters – Waverly Hills Sanatorium

It’s about time this damnable DVD came out. It was supposed to be released on Sept. 2nd, but I haven’t actually seen it available until this weekend. Which is of course why I bought a copy.

For Halloween last year, Jay, Grant and the team went out to the Waverly Hill Sanatorium for a 6-hour Live broadcast of the show. The DVD is only 3 hours from the program with Josh Gates and the host and presenter.

For mood and ambiance the show is great. They crawl around in the dark in a location that couldn’t have a more turbulent past. As a tuberculosis hospital the death count is as high as 63,000 with dozens of stories about sick patients, employees would couldn’t take the strain and of course the infamous “body chute”; a tunnel which was the main route of taking the deceased patients out of the hospital and to the crematorium. With 50 or more people passing away each day, the chute was used hourly and the turmoil is easily understood.

As far as activity goes, it’s a little more hit and miss than the Stanley Hotel. They have plenty of personal experiences, but there isn’t that much tangible evidence. Everyone sees shadows and figures moving, as well as hearing noises, but they aren’t caught on tape for the rest of us to see. In fact, The Reveal is only a few seconds long as they have almost no evidence to show after all the time they spent. So it is haunted? The raw data says no, since nothing was captured, but the personal experiences make the place seem active with unrest. Hard to say on this one.

On the whole this extended episode is fun and entertaining. There is plenty to see and look for and just the general atmosphere makes the place creepy and unnerving. There are only two segments which threw me off.

This Hunt for the Hunter contest is something I was completely lost on. Where did these people come from? I didn’t see a single episode that related to this contest in anyway. Confusing, but not that big a deal. A few new faces on an investigation on that size is fine. But the little segment of Kristyn and Heather interrogating this guy Patrick was just plain awful. They are rude, and condescending and turn the investigation in a childish bout of Sorority hazing. They don’t even know who this guy is and they start talking crap to him about how he only wants to be on TV and he doesn’t even understand the paranormal. When he does make a slight mistake with the video camera, they mock him and treat him like a complete idiot. Even though it only goes on for about 5 minutes it’s so distracting I wish they would have left it out.

Overall the show is pretty entertaining even if there isn’t that much paranormal activity. I’m sure I’ll be watching it again as we get closer to Halloween.

Technorati Tags: , ,

Other Articles of Interest:

Destination Truth

I had my first viewing experience with Destination Truth and I have to admit I am impressed. Josh is a lively and animated host who goes into an area with a skeptical mindset with the intent of finding the truth, whatever it may be. It’s a fun history lesson, an unusual travel guide and adventure narrative with a host who seems to really love what he’s doing.

If you remember decades past the Leonard Nemoy narrated “In Search Of…” then you have some background into Destination Truth. Josh and his team go in search of mystical creatures, myths, legends, spirits and all sorts of other things that inhabit, haunt or terrorize. They literally travel the world looking to debunk or prove the existence of water creatures, jungle man, death worms and killer bats, just to name a few.

In a very down to earth style, much like Ghost Hunters, Josh listens to the stories and then he and his small team try to explain prove or disprove its existence. I’ve only jumped on board for a couple of shows, but I am already drawn in. Josh’s style is fun and exciting. He wants to learn the culture, sample the food, and he gets right into the thick of it. Josh has no problem eating the fried caterpillars, friend spiders or scuba diving at night.

It’s fun stuff and I’m looking forward to seeing more. Hulu has parts of Season 2 available, but I don’t see any mention on Amazon as to when a DVD set might be coming out.

Other Articles of Interest:

Recent Comments

Advertising