Haunted Collector – Uncivil Spirit & Revolutionary Ghost – S01E05

Haunted Collector – Uncivil Spirit & Revolutionary Ghost – S01E05

For the first investigation John heads to a home with ties to the Civil War. The homeowner claims that when her now ex-husband dug up a lead bullet that activity started in the house. This ranges from her feeling pressure on her chest to seeing apparitions moving around the house. Her ex-husband claims to have seen an apparition with a bullet in its mouth.

John and Beth wander around the house and when they get to the basement Beth feels ill. She keeps getting worse until she has to leave before she throws up. No real explanation so who knows? Meanwhile the guys are digging in the backyard trying to find a bullet. They eventually find one as well as a buckle and a button.

Since Beth felt ill in the basement and this is the sighting of the apparition John takes the items they found in the yard and puts them downstairs. As they start asking questions about surgery and operations they get activity on the meter. They also get a loud bang that supposedly puts a hole in the wall. And then for some unknown reason they bring the investigation to an end. What for? Stuff was starting to happen?

John takes his newly found items to an expert who says they’re from the civil war and more than likely the bullet was used during a surgery. The soldier would have bitten down on it during an amputation. John decides these items need to come home with him and that’s the end of that. But I have to ask, if the bullet is the problem wouldn’t it still be there as there are probably hundreds of bullets in the ground that have a similar story? If one bullet carries that kind of energy they all would.

For the next investigation John visits the home where a young man, Ken, is the focal point of paranormal activity. He claims to see apparitions and has the feeling of being stabbed and pinned to the bed. As John wanders around the house he makes a really big deal about a lock and a carved Tiki head. He’s basically trying to play the voodoo angle as though that’s the source of the problems. When they do the investigation however they find out that the guest room has high EMF readings and so does the drawer below the Tiki carving. There is all this dramatic buildup including the ominous music and then it all turns out to be nothing.

During an EVP session in the guest room they ask if someone died in there and as if on cue the lightbulb in the lamp explodes. That’s pretty dramatic stuff, right? Well, it turns out to be nothing but a power surge for the neighborhood. All I can say is at least they called the power company to debunk the problem, they didn’t just say it was a supernatural force.

The actual investigation of the house doesn’t turn up any results. They break out the Ghost Box but all it does it make that annoying noise.

With nothing else going for them John decides to look into the Baylor Massacre itself. There is a chance the house is on the site of the massacre. John also finds out the average age of a soldier during this time is 21. When the men were killed in the night they were stabbed with bayonets and pinned to the bed. John instantly draws the connection and claims that Ken in the trigger object for all this activity. John basically says if Ken moves out (which he should since he’s 21 for heaven’s sake) the activity should stop. I suppose we should forget about all those high EMF readings all over the house. We should ignore that perhaps Ken has an overactive imagination and is just having bad dreams.

But as you may expect, when Ken moves out of the house all the problems go away.

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Paranormal Challenge Ohio State Reformatory S01E03

I keep hoping this show will get better so I keep tuning in. Plus, Zak keeps going back to some of my favorite places. But as usual this episode and this set of teams did not impress.

Things did not start of well for the New Jersey Ghost Hunters Society as one member clearly stated he had no idea how to use any of the equipment. I had to cringe at that one. Even if that’s true don’t say it outloud!

Another thing that made me cringe is all the damn fighting between the members of Quest Paranormal Society. After 30 seconds I wanted them all to shut up! Even if that is the way they conduct investigations it’s grating and if I was a spirit I wouldn’t be hanging around to talk to that band of loud mouthed jerks. Honestly these teams were more annoying than the last batch – I didn’t think that was possible.

One complaint I do have which is entirely up to the editors is to turn down the dramatic music. That is insanely annoying and not needed. Let’s cue the horror music and build dramatic tension. It’s cheesy and we all know nothing is going to happen.

But what kind of evidence did they capture?

On several occasion we hear what sounds like a door slamming. Elaine claims she got pushed. None of this is caught on camera though. The team from Quest Paranormal sees what looks like a big shadow cross in front of a light. That was pretty interesting but from that distance it could be anything. It’s an abandoned building so let’s not rule out things like animals that call that place home these days. The New Jersey Ghost Hunters Society gets some interesting activity on the Mel Meter as they talk to the spirits and say their going to leave. It’s hard to say what that device is picking up but something might be going on in there.

When it comes to the big reveal and presentation of evidence I have to say I was one again underwhelmed with what they caught. But before they begin Dave and the judges let the New Jersey team know they need to work on their teamwork, they weren’t familiar with the equipment and didn’t know the history of the location. That was all pretty obvious within the first couple of minutes.

New Jersey Ghost Hunters Society presents an EVP of a groan and “I’m nowhere I can’t be helped”. Their video evidence is a shadow on the wall which is pretty weak and the footage of the Mel Meter going off. Interesting but not really that solid.

Quest Paranormal gets marked down for their lack of teamwork and constant bickering. They sort of knew the history but didn’t really use it. And they understood the equipment but didn’t use it to their full advantage.

The evidence they present is an EVP is someone saying “Mary mo” and a “hello” with the Mel Meter going off at the same time. Their video evidence is a door slamming, although we don’t see the door and a photo of a man sitting. I think they’re trying to make that into something it’s not.

Overall I’m sure if this show is getting better or worse. The teams seem to be getting worse and the evidence is still pretty lame. I think they need to give them more than four hours to investigate. They just start to get a plan together when they have to quit. That would have to be a change in the show and would detract from the drama and excitement I guess.

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Haunted Collector – The Sanitarium & Firehouse Phantom – S01E04

For this episode John investigates a house that sits on the site of a former sanitarium. The owner claims to see apparitions walking around the house and has felt hands pushing down on her. The claims go so far as to say a little girl was scratched repeatedly by an unseen force. Judging from the stories it sounds like a whole lot of activity is going on.

Aimee talks to a witness who sets up the old sanitarium like it was from a horror movie. People would go to there but would never be seen again. Groceries were never delivered there. And there was an ill tempered woman who kept people away. I’m surprised there was no mention of a swamp creature.

As John and Aimee investigate the house the digital recorders keep cutting out when they go near an old poor table. This doesn’t happen once, or even twice, but multiple times and with different recorders. Unfortunately, nothing really comes of this. I was expecting all sorts of things to happen in this area but all they got was the word "suffer" when they got the recorder working several feet away. Was the recorder malfunctioning? Is there something sinister in that corner? It seems like we were set up for a whole lot of nothing with that one.

For some reason John wants to have a look in the crawl space and sends Brian in there to check it out. He finds some broken glass that ends up being the remnants of a poison bottle. Keep in mind poison bottles were very common during this era. Mice and other rodents carried horrible disease so people laid out the poison like Pez candy to get rid of them.

The bottle is what John takes to his museum and puts under glass.

The Firehouse:

Next John investigates a firehouse in Pueblo Colorado (a town I used to live in) where there are reports of fire trucks driving themselves. They’ve also had several veteran firefighters die while on duty and there is a report of a boy falling down the fire pole.

The fire truck story sounds a bit suspect so it was good to see John debunk that. That model truck could shake violently as it idled and could release the brake. Obviously the truck could then take without a driver.

The team uses something called the Ghost Box which I assume is the same thing as the Spirit Box we’ve seen used on Ghost Adventures so frequently. As it runs Brian and Chris feel they’re talking to William who used to work there. William wants to speak with John. Unfortunately when they get him the conversation is pretty much over. They get the word "blaze" and not much else.

As they investigate they come across a bookshelf which has a broach in it. It’s a mourning broach and could have been worn by a widow of a firefighter. They feel this is the item to take out of the station and off it goes to John’s museum.

There were some interesting aspects to this episode. I really liked the debunking they did with this one. They didn’t take the story of the truck at face value and when they saw the little cars had moved while investigating the home they checked to see if the floor was level and found out it wasn’t. I still think the daytime sweep is something other investigators need to take up. Checking out the location by day seems like a pretty smart idea.

The thing I didn’t like is how the items John felt were the source of the problem were handled. Both of these items point to a problem I brought up before. All John does is put a glass cover over the. Why couldn’t he do the same thing for the owners and give the items back? Sure, giving a broken glass bottle back would be pretty pointless, but that broach belonged to someone and is a symbol of their loss, it seems like they should treat it like the heirloom it is and leave it in the firehouse not display it as some haunted trinket.

I still don’t understand why these items are the source of the problem when John can store them just fine with no ill effects.

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Paranormal Challenge – Eastern State Penitentiary – S01E02

Another Paranormal Challenge and another episode that left me scratching my head and wondering who these people were. But it was Eastern State Penitentiary which is such a cool location I had to tune in and watch. Considering all the past investigations I was hoping these two teams were going to walk away with tons of usable evidence. In the end what they had was exceedingly light.

Once again, the two teams left me wanting. One comes across as a madcap group of jerks while the other seems nervous and confused. I don’t like these kinds of matchups. You know, just do the damn investigation, this posturing and acting like your some rebel with a cause is pointless.

As usual, the group that acts the toughest ends up looking like the biggest morons. Scott W. looks like a reject from the Village People with that guard hat on and doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing. He has some grand ideas but can’t seem to actually get anything done. His team seems lost and inefficient the whole time.

The Mel Meter is going off all the time but I don’t really think that qualifies as anything. It’s an interesting device but I don’t know that I have any confidence in it. I mean, what is it really showing us? I do have to say I liked Sharon and her mocking tone as she walked down the cellblocks. I like her "I’m just a girl down here by myself" attitude.

The main excitement of the night was when Tony, who was down in The Hole, starts freaking out and hauls ass out of there. Did he have a panic attack or did something happen? It sort of looks like he worked himself up and his mind started playing tricks. I was expecting some evidence to come from that but I don’t think it did.

Anyway, the investigation didn’t turn up much even though there was lots of banging and odd noises in the dark. However, there is obviously water on the floor so are they just hearing running water or drips? Are those sounds just one of the many animals I’m sure lives in that abandoned space?

And speaking of evidence what they presented was pretty lame. About the only thing interesting was the "Hell no, I don’t think they know how to suck" EVP. I didn’t really hear that whole phrase but the word "suck" does sound like it’s in the mix. It’s not overwhelming stuff but not too bad.

The other evidence of the "help me", "just leave" and crap visual evidence presented by Northampton should have just been thrown out. They were grasping at straws there. I didn’t hear anything in their audio, and video evidence of an apparition and some sort of bubble made me laugh.

Overall this was a pretty disappointing episode again. These teams don’t seem to know what they’re doing and they aren’t actually accomplishing anything. I still think this is a neat idea but there is something missing … oh yeah, evidence. Perhaps they will come up with two teams who are more interested in finding evidence or debunking  than in pounding on their chests.

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