I am constantly inspired by readers who leave comments. Just the other day, Israel Carrasco (has a fantastically funny one-liner comedy blog) asked me what examples on ghost hunting shows rang true for me. It made me have to stop and think about those moments when watching the tons of ghost hunting shows, I felt a chill of familiarity run up my spine. So, here goes:
“Ghost Adventures” (that was not a mistype—I meant “Ghost Adventures”) Virginia City, NV
The 2-hour documentary that kicked off the show shocked me. Not because of anything particularly exciting they were doing. The guys didn’t even know shit about haunted places at the time, but something they caught on film bothered me greatly. I walked away with a Patterson-Gimlin feeling in my belly. I saw something too extraordinary to be real and yet something about it rang true. Near the end of the documentary they captured on film a poltergeist activity. Whether this was genuine or not (many still debate it), it was so very close to poltergeist activity where I grew up that, I actually had to walk away, take a moment to calm down my initial reaction and come back and see it again. A brick flew and a board fell down. It was the way in which it all went down that brought me a flashbacks of poltergeist activity and the random burst of energy that is necessary. For me, it felt like a fine example of a poltergeist outburst.
“Ghost Hunters” Cashtown Inn, Gettysburg, PA
On this episode, Jason and Grant heard the distinct sound of booted footsteps. It gave me shivers all over. I hadn’t heard that sound since I was a teen! As well, someone seemed to sit down on the sofa beside Jason and he felt the weight of it. I too had a similar thing happen a few times as a kid. During the night, a picture frame on a table moved in a manner that was similar to movement of objects where I grew up. The entire episode gave me a déjà vu.
“Ghost Hunters” Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, CO
The breaking glass on Jason’s night table did not impress me. I had the heater turn on near my glass of ice water near the bed and it cracked. I’m not surprised. What did seem very familiar was the knocking around in the closet and the door opening and closing. This was a scenario that seemed quite feasible.
A lot happens on ghost hunting shows that is questionable so far as a real haunting feature goes, but occasionally they come across something that makes me have to replay it many times over. I’d be curious to hear from any of you who have experienced phenomenon which episodes or scenes rang true for you.