Ghost Adventures – Bannack Ghost Town – S09E04

image Zak, Nick and Aaron head out to Bannack Montana to investigate an old mining town with a checkered past and tales of the paranormal. The mining town was established in 1862 and hundreds of millions of dollars were pulled from the ground. As with so many gold rush towns it was lawless, harsh and riddled with disease. The claims of the paranormal extend from small children afflicted with scarlet fever to a sheriff that caused more chaos than he came to solve. So much in fact that he was hanged by an angry mob.

The death toll in the area is quite high with many children being boarded up in the Crying Baby House to quarantine their disease and the Sheriff is rumored to have killed over 100 men in 8 months. There is also the story of Dorothy who lost her life while swimming in a dredge pond. This has lead many to feel they’ve had experiences of crying children, the sound of footsteps, being pushed or touched and seeing figures moving around.

Things start off with Zak getting very excited at the idea of capturing a shadow forming out of the wall.

Our trio investigate multiple buildings and gets the usual bangs, knocks and footsteps. A lot of this should be attributed to the wood popping as it expands and contracts, although the sounds of someone walking outside on the boardwalk outside the saloon is pretty interesting. It’s quite loud and sounds like a set of heavy boots on wood.

Other evidence they gather includes a couple of voices coming through the Spirit Box. They get the words "hate" and "hurt" right at the same time Zak feels a sense of paralysis at the top of the stairs. This is apparently the same spot where Franciso says he felt someone pushing at his back as though trying to shove him down the stairs. Zak feels this is a demonic energy and feels it may be the corrupt Sheriff, Henry Plummer.

The group brings in a couple of triggers objects – an old style crank phone and very old radio. When Billy cranks up the phone he feels he’s seeing balls of light and energy around him. When Zak and Nick use the radio they feel they get the sound of a little girl saying, "momma".

They also capture the sound of what might be a piano playing in the saloon.

When they split up to check different buildings Aaron gets a couple of words on the Ovilus – Six, Men, Apart. Is this once again referring to them and the sprit of Sheriff Plummer?

While I don’t think they nailed anything solid – I discount the bangs, pops and orbs, they did get some voices that are worth investigating. The footsteps outside, while completely explainable as someone walking or just boards cooling, makes for an interesting sound outside the saloon.

However, there was the sound of piano and the voice. Is this proof positive they captured something? Not really. To me it means there is something worth investigating. I don’t really jump on board with these orbs and streaks of light. Zak can discount lens flare and dust particles all he wants, but that doesn’t make it spirit energy. And while I think the footsteps are neat, I hear those same sounds all the time in my house as the wood handles the heat and cold. It sounds like someone moving around all the time and I know damn well and good there aren’t any spirits lurking in here. Perhaps it is ethereal footsteps, but there are real world explanations too.

So, an interesting investigation with a couple of neat events. Plus, the place is wonderfully scenic with mountains, steams and deer. That makes the visit worthwhile.

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Ghost Adventures – George Washington Ghost – S09E03

image The crew of the Ghost Adventures heads out to New York to investigate a historic site linked with loads of dark energy – the Morris–Jumel Mansion. Between September 14 and October 20, 1776, General George Washington used the mansion as his temporary headquarters after he and his army were forced to evacuate Brooklyn Heights following their loss to the British Army under the command of General William Howe in the Battle of Long Island.

In 1810 the house was then taken over by Eliza Jumel. She was a lower class woman who tried to work her way up in society. She had some interesting political views that caused a bit of a stir in France. She was then asked to leave and returned to her home. She lived in the house until she died in 1865. Eliza is rumored to have murdered her husband Stephen Jumel by not tending to his wounds and ultimately letting him bleed to death.

While certainly historic and this is the location many of the Founding Father’s would have worked at, the "dark energy" just seem like it’s there. Perhaps that’s why they decide to take on another investigation at Katie’s Pub where the owner says he has dark energy and shadow figures lurking in his basement. The bar is supposedly the location where Carl "Charlie" Henry Klein committed suicide using a shotgun. They claim there is a bad vibe and negative feelings, but there aren’t any truly sinister events to support this. Someone did indeed take their life, but the owner claims the place is infested with dark energy.

It’s very easy to sum up this investigation as nothing really happens. Nick handles the Morris-Jumel Mansion while Zak and Aaron check out the bar. The big event for the bar is the black plastic that covers the Exit sign comes down. At the mansion Kinect device flips out and shows some stick figure, which they think is an entity, crawl up Billy’s backside. It’s kind of interesting, but are you really saying you’ve hacked the device that Microsoft built for the Xbox and now you can see the paranormal activity with it?

But overall these locations seem completely harmless. Zak and Nick both endlessly say there is bad energy and how they feel nauseous, or how it’s heavy, or whatever melodramatic term they want to use, but as far as evidence goes and not just feelings or an act their putting on, they don’t capture anything. A bag tearing off a sign isn’t the paranormal. There were no glasses thrown like the owners claim. There were no apparitions of Eliza appearing on the veranda as claimed. Maybe the spirits didn’t want to come out and play that night, but to me this is a whole lot of hype and no substance.

Eliza Jumel
Morris–Jumel Mansion

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Bates Motel – Season 2 Premiere

image For the Season 2 premiere of Bates Motel we catch up with Norman 4 months after the murder of his teacher Miss Watson. Norman has no real memory of the events after the dance that took him over to her house nor does he have any idea where he got the pearls he keeps playing with. But, the life of Miss Watson isn’t all it appears to be and we get the impression her past has more blemishes than her prim and proper demeanor would have us believe.

But apart from Norman sinking into depression and obsession about his teacher we have Bradley who’s gone over the edge quite literally. Her tether to the earth has pretty much snapped and she finds herself on the ledge of a bridge. Alas, there is no one there to catch her as she makes her leap of faith. This lands her a plum position at the local sanitarium. After her therapy she’s released, but she quickly goes over the edge another way.

It appears that Gil is intertwined with Miss Watson and perhaps the death of Bradley’s father – the fiery accident we saw in the first season. Seems Miss Watson enjoyed the company of Bradley’s father and Gil was none to pleased about this.

After some of the saucy details are revealed we find Bradley’s over at Gil’s house trying to learn the truth. It seems Bradley is pretty persuasive with a gun and one hell of a shot. Gil meets with a "premature" end and his brains meet the window. Bradley has severely stepped in this time by not only committing murder but by shooting the head of the drug cartel. Oh the wrath that will be coming.

But fear not, she has a desperate plan and ends up in the doorway of Norman’s room asking for help. His boner for Bradley all but assures he’ll do anything to help her.

Quite a riveting start to this new season. Mom is beginning to worry that Norman had something to do with the murder, a murder Norman has no recollection of. Sheriff Romero starts to wonder about Norman and his odd behavior. Bradley is off the deep end. And once again it seems that Dylan is the sane one in the family. And with Gil out of the way, is he going to step into the role of head of the organization? Lots of things in motion in this opener. Looks like we’re going to learn a lot about Miss Watson and the "cartel" of the city. Norman will more than likely have some sort of breakdown so who knows will meet their end at his hands. And Norma will be so overbearing as to make someone snap. This should be one hell of an amusing season. I almost shudder to thing where this will lead us.

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Hannibal – Season 2 Premiere

image The new season of Hannibal starts off with a bang, or rather a massive take down brawl between the lead characters. Not to give anything away, but we see Hannibal and Jack locked in mortal combat with dozens of blows being landed and some near misses with the cutlery. It ends with what looks like a fatal wound, but we immediately jump to 12 weeks earlier and get on with the story where we left off with Will incarcerated and suspected of killing multiple women. Of course, this leaves us wondering, was this a real fight sequence or was this some sort of dream sequence from Will? As we quickly learn, Will suspects Hannibal is behind all the crimes and set him up. He recalls Hannibal doing things to him, but can’t swear any of it’s real. In fact, he doubts anything is real anymore. Has Hannibal manipulated him or is that what he wants to believe?

While Will is trying to sort out his issues we’re also on the trail of a new serial killer that’s taking victims and preserving their bodies with some sort of shellac. Their bodies are discovered at the dam of a river and since Will is behind bars Hannibal steps in to help with the investigation. Through the sophisticated suit he’s able to think like a serial killer and offers his own insight. Little do they suspect.

We also see some tensions between Hannibal and his own therapist Dr. Maurier. There’s an usual past between these two and a lot more than meets the eye. The way things come out, Maurier is aware of Hannibal’s tendencies and at one point may have even been the victim of his wrath.

Will is determined to prove Hannibal isn’t what he appears but obviously he’s working against the clock. The FBI is about to wash their hands of the whole affair and let the prison system have Will. But he won’t be the only one going down. Jack and Alana will face a stern ass kicking since they left Will work out in the field knowing he was unstable.

I have to say it’s a damn good start to the new season. We have a ton of information thrown at us and plenty of details to make us wonder how it’s all going to turn out. The fight scene at the beginning really makes you wonder how we’re going to get there and of course was it all real? We should have a very entertaining, dark and suspenseful season on our hands.

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