Using the paranormal to drum up business

Ghost hunting has become big business with lots of foot traffic coming to places that can support claims of hauntings and possible TV fame for those who can bring the "truth" to light. Celebrity fame and increased business can be yours if you have the right spin. And that appears to be what’s going on with this article and it seems a little to self-serving to me. If a town wants to start up a ghost walk, ghost tour or whatever, then great for them. Spin yarns of the past and nefarious citizens, but this seems like they’re trying to make the place haunted so they can drum up business. They’re pretty blatant about wanting to get more business downtown:

They see it as a way to draw people to downtown, with an attraction that has been popular in historic large cities like London and New Orleans — and even smaller ones, such as St. Augustine and Savannah, Ga.

Stanford said she hopes the ghost tours would bring more people to downtown Titusville on weekend evenings, and that those people would become more familiar with local restaurants and other merchants.

And even the people coming in to investigate are pretty clear they want a TV show out of the deal:

Pettit is doing the work in Titusville for free, and he hopes to use video from the investigations for a television reality series he wants to market. Among cable-TV series with the ghost-hunting theme are "Ghost Hunters" on Syfy and "Ghost Adventures" on the Travel Channel.

If you have a haunted location or want to share some interesting historical facts about your town then by all means, but I’m not sure I agree with the motivation behind this.

Titusville hopes ghost tours scare up some business

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My Favorite Destination Truth Episodes

I’m miss Destination Truth, but I put together a short list of some of my favorite episodes. Pretty much every episode is a gem but here’s a couple that jump to mind. Which are your favorite episodes?

Season 2, Episode 11: Aswang & Haunted Forest

This episode has a much creepier atmosphere than the others. Josh and team head into the forest to investigate ghost sightings. This forest is the site of an alleged 1,000 suicides and is riddled with warnings asking people not to kill themselves. Additionally, there’s a wrecked campsite and personal items strewn around. It plays like the Blair Witch Project, but this one’s real. Incredibly creepy and sad.

Season 3, Episode 2: Island of the Dolls/Lusca

Old tattered dolls can be creepy. Dark, lonely islands can be creepy. Being on the site where a young girl supposedly drowned can be creepy. Combine them all together and you have the freakiest island I’ve ever seen. The place is riddled with hundreds of rotting dolls strung up to trees, poles and scattered on the ground. At any second you expect one of them to come to life and start talking. It’s unnerving!

Season 3, Episode 4: Ghosts of Chernobyl/Sal’awa

Josh is truly risking life and limb for this one; he heads right into the middle of ground zero of Chernobyl. Saying it’s a ghost town is a complete understatement. There is absolutely no human life and the creatures that scurry around on the outskirts are just small animals, but you really get the feeling they’re horribly mutated or "changed" and they’re going to attack. The plot of a scary horror movie to be sure.

Season 3, Episode 6: Chullachaqui/Bermuda Triangle

This episode is hilarious. We all know there are some funky things going on in the Bermuda Triangle and as you might expect, when Josh gets there odd things happen. You know things are off to a rocky start when the roof of your scout plane comes off and you have to yell to your crew to hang on. And that’s just the start. The runways and the coastline are littered with crashed airplanes and as Josh is flying over the island and into the hotspots, he loses all communication with the team and the instruments go haywire. It’s all fun and games until you’re flying through the clouds without instruments. No wonder his team changes so frequently.

Season 3, Episode 13: Haunted Mining Town/The Taniwha

This also one of the creepier episodes. Josh and team go to an abandoned mining town where remnants of the old workers, including children, are scattered all over the place. But the really scary part is the massive cemetery full of unmarked graves and exposed remains. The graves have literally crumbled apart and the skeletons are looking back at you. You see this sort of thing on amusement park haunted rides, not within an old town. Wild stuff!

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Do you believe in the Ouija?

The Ouija as we know it has been around for 120 years and quite possibly hundreds more, with many people staking claim to it’s awesome power to commune with the dead and open portals to the demonic. It’s been the subject of multiple movies and we all know the trouble Regan go into with one. So what’s your thoughts? Is the Ouija a directly channel to evil spirits or just a piece of cardboard with pretty lettering on it?

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Ouija turns 120

Love this!

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See more Ouija inspired Doodles at:
Ouija Google Doodle Do!

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