Why real-life ghost hunters hate "Ghost Hunters"

October 30, 2010

TV series about paranormal investigators get huge ratings -- but their hokey science is making them enemies

In butchered Italian, Nick Groff tells the ghosts of Poveglia, a creepy island off the coast of Venice, Italy, to "use his energy." A faint rap is heard. Zak Bagans, his fellow ghost hunter, hunches over and grabs his stomach. It looks as though he may vomit.

"Wha, wha, wha ... what's the matter?!" Groff asks.

"I just feel ... weird," Bagans mutters.

A hiss-like sound -- the noise heard just moments before -- is played back. It was all the proof the two ghost hunters needed.

"I said, 'use my energy,'" Groff says, his tone now professorial, "and then all of a sudden your energy was drawn from your body at the exact moment. And then -- at the same time -- I heard that weeeird voice."

Bagans struggles to lift his head. "It's using my energy," he whimpers.

"Exactly!"

Bagans and Groff are hosts of "Ghost Adventures," one of the most popular programs on the Travel Channel -- and one of about a dozen similar reality TV ghost-hunting shows on television today. Over the past decade the ghost-hunting genre as a whole, led by series like "Paranormal State," "Ghost Hunters" and "Psychic Kids: Paranormal Children," has become a virtual fixture on cable television. The shows follow a basic formula: Everyday Joes -- sometimes aided by a psychic, sometimes not -- travel to supposedly haunted locations, wait for the sun to go down, and spend the night freaking each other out. It may seem hilariously contrived, but it's some of the most popular stuff on TV today.

A still from "Ghost Hunters"
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7d7c82eceea6.jpg[/atsimg]

www.salon.com.../ent/tv/2010/10/30/ghost_hunters

Agreed that this show is alienating real ghost hunter investigators, I tried to watch the show when it first aired and have to agree for the most part it's hokey, they will put anything on just to fill up air space because the show is so popular, why it's so popular is beyond me.

This show reminds me of another one on History International, the Alien Hunters, not sure that is the correct name of the show, couldn't get into that show either, Brimes I thought was once a serious investigator but no more and have given up on him.

People who want serious information do not go to these type of shows to it. Paranormal investigation is a serious topic and needs serious people doing the investigations.

reply to post by Aquarius1


I like the show "Ghost Hunters"...it's fun...it's entertaining...I don't watch it as a documentary.

I'm not a "real-life" ghost hunter nor do I know any personally. But I am going to take a guess as to why these shows are given a little spice.

I would guess "real" ghost hunting is pretty boring and uneventful. Boring and uneventful does not make for good TV...it doesn't even make for a good "educational" documentary.

However, I don't think it is harming anything...if anything it is bringing more attention to the topic...something "real" ghost hunters should be grateful for.

Just my 2 cents.

In my opinion, Ghost Hunters and Amazing Wedding Cakes is stupid and boring, yet these two programs continue on while Persons Unknown and Dead Like Me were discontinued.

Go figure.

reply to post by Aquarius1


I think the "Alien Hunters" show you were thinking of is "UFO Hunters" which wasn't too bad to watch if you had 30 mins to kill, but the guys on the show were super biased and tried pushing their beliefs on the viewers.

Never really watched any of the ghost shows except for Paranormal State, which I was excited for when I saw previews, but when I watched it, was sadly disappointed. Turned me off from the rest of the ghost reality tv.

reply to post by Aquarius1


Its just like the alien/ufo question.

Us who try to talk with a sensible voice are ridiculed for what others believe, who are projected out by the media, as what we believe.

The gov has this sort of thing of to an art. They totally ridicule a subject and the population thnk anyone into it, believe all the same as the media portrays.

Hollywood is all into the occult, but in public in movies they ridicule the subject.

That sums it all up, so anyone outside there circle is ridiculed, as the media has portrayed the subject as something of a joke, while hollywood people are believe in it.

Disgusting that people do not think.

Thank for the correction, the title UFO Hunters slipped my mind..

I have never watched Paranormal State, in fact forgot all about that show, I tend to watch Science shows on Discovery, History, History International and Science Channel.

Thanks for posting.

reply to post by andy1033

The gov has this sort of thing of to an art. They totally ridicule a subject and the population thnk anyone into it, believe all the same as the media portrays.

Exactly, people are not going to believe unless they have experienced it themselves or they are in denial out of fear.

I listened to Art Bell's annual Ghost 2 Ghost show last night on Coast and he had some amazing callers that are very believable, some of the callers from past shows really freaked me out, you know that were telling the truth about their experiences by hearing their voices, there aren't that many good actors out there.

Originally posted by Aquarius1
Exactly, people are not going to believe unless they have experienced it themselves or they are in denial out of fear.

Exactly. Hollywood is all into the occult, but they give you shows that ridicule it why?

i personally do not care what others think, but man it is annoying that others claim they know what i believe in by watching tv ridicule the subject.

Like stanton friedman says, have these peopel actually looked into the subject.

Like i could talk about alot of subjects that to do with this with others, but i could not care what they think. Its like you say, if they do not experience it they will never know.

Just like males do not know what child birth is like, as we never do that. I do not claim to know what women go through in that.

But on the occult topics, people claim they know all about it, lol, and have never experienced nothing.

reply to post by andy1033

Like stanton friedman says, have these peopel actually looked into the subject.

Stan isn't one of my favorite people but he is right, most debunker's they put on TV have not done any investigating, they are just mouthpieces.

Dr. Brain Weiss of Many Masters, Many Lives fame went on a television show years ago and the debunker of all people was Carl Sagan who did a poor job of debunking the subject of past lives, Dr. Weiss took him aside and asked him if he had looked at the material and Sagan said no, Weiss told him that he wasn't being scientific by not looking into the subject and coming on a show to debunk something he knew nothing about, Sagan agreed with him. This kind of thing is typical, another person comes to mind and that would be Phil Klass who never did any research.

Dr. Weiss was to guest on another TV show and the only reason he agreed to do the show was he was promised that they would not bring on a debunker, well comes showtime and they trotted out a debunker, Weiss walked off the show, the producer said you can't do that and he said who is going to stop me, I don't work for you. Good on Dr. Weiss

reply to post by Aquarius1


While I agree that the shows are hokey and gimmicky I have to say that at least some of them pretend to be skeptical. I remember a time when Jason from Ghost Hunters almost refused to call any place haunted even if they caught a handful of evidence there. They even spent time debunking certain things. So while the shows may be staged at least some of them remind people to be skeptical.


For a time I went through my own phase of ghost hunting, I'd get friends together and we'd go out with the hopes of finding some evidence... While I'm not a big believer in the paranormal and I view it very skeptically ghost hunting can still be a fun thing to do with friends and I've experienced some pretty weird things both on and off investigations. That doesn't mean it was ghosts though


I used to watch Ghost Hunters religiously but after the third season I realized something - if their evidence of the paranormal was so solid where were all the REAL scientists? Shouldn't legitimate science be beating a path to their doors. After all actual proof that human beings survive death in a non-physical form would be Nobel prize winning stuff.

I used to watch it every Wednesday night. I'd watch the reruns and then the new shows. On Halloween, it would be on the TV all day. BUT BUT BUT then I found information that showed how some of it has been faked. Man ... I was disapointed. Now I don't know what is real with them and what isn't. Sad, sad, sad me!!

Personally, I like "Ghost Hunters". It is what is . Entertainment. Its also informative to a degree in that it opens up and explores some locations that many people have never even heard of. They have also investigated 3 locations that I am personally aware of and that makes those shows even more fun to watch.

Above all, they have encouraged some people to discover a new hobby and these folks will then spend their money on equipment and travels to some of the same locations featured on the show. Mansfield Reformatory in Ohio is one place that continually sells out its tours. Nothing like a little boost to some local economies.

I'm not to crazy about the Zach guy on of the other programs. He's a little over the top IMO. To each his own. I'm always a sucker for a good ghost story. In my neck of the woods Franklin Castle is all the talk when it comes to a good haunting. I would love to see TAPS pay a visit here. The place has quite the storied past.

reply to post by Titen-Sxull

I used to watch Ghost Hunters religiously but after the third season I realized something - if their evidence of the paranormal was so solid where were all the REAL scientists? Shouldn't legitimate science be beating a path to their doors. After all actual proof that human beings survive death in a non-physical form would be Nobel prize winning stuff.

The evidence is solid and there are scientists looking into it, but you won't see them publishing their findings, there is a problem with losing their funding and jobs, also being ridiculed by their peers.

One of the major problems with this phenomenon is that it isn't repeatable, not like you can summon a ghost on demand.

Originally posted by FlyersFan
I used to watch it every Wednesday night. I'd watch the reruns and then the new shows. On Halloween, it would be on the TV all day. BUT BUT BUT then I found information that showed how some of it has been faked. Man ... I was disapointed. Now I don't know what is real with them and what isn't. Sad, sad, sad me!!

You should do what i do, just never watch them period. Hollywood wants to ridicule everything in this subject of paranormal, while they all believe.

Just do what i do nad not even watch them, i have never watched 1 ep of those shows, and anyone could tell you the rubbish they speak on them, or the gimmicks they do.

Like the recent paranormal movies 1 and 2 have not watched one sec and will not, the films are garbage meant to be garbage, while hollywood believes in this stuff.

Sounds like sour grapes to me. They just couldn't figure out a way to market themselves before these other ghost chasers did, or they're not telegenic enough to pull it off.

I mean, it's not as if they don't get the same basic results: Indecipherable EVPs. Goofy orbs and odds shadows. Zero "proof."

They need to stop whining and just open a franchise or something and at least get some of the money before the public gets completely bored and goes back to bending spoons for entertainment.

reply to post by Aquarius1

but you won't see them publishing their findings, there is a problem with losing their funding and jobs, also being ridiculed by their peers.

I don't believe in the censored scientist stereotype. If someone looks into the evidence and finds it stands up to scientific scrutiny than they would have no problem publishing such findings and becoming the most famous scientist to ever lived. Proving life after death would be the biggest scientific discovery the world has ever seen and would create an entirely new branch of science. Pseudo-scientists and con-men psychics like those seen on TV would be out of a job and in would come the PhDs

One of the major problems with this phenomenon is that it isn't repeatable

This may be true of most hauntings but some hauntings are said to repeat over and over again. Some hauntings are even specified to a certain time of night in a certain location. So while most ghostly phenomenon might not be repeatable some just might be.

Also if ghosts are just people in a different form they might retain some of the habits they had in life.

I don't mind Ghost Hunters so much, or Paranormal State for that matter, but I do agree that alot of what i see on the tube as far as paranormal leaves much to be desired. I have known quite a few 'real life' ghost hunters in my life, helped a few here and there, and the methods I see on Ghost hunters are not that much different. Thw work is incredibly boring sometimes walking around for 3 or 4 hours in a small house while seeing and hearing nothing but your own voice. I can see why this wouldnt work on a television show. That is why on a normal episode in the past in was 2 8 hour long investigations packed into an hour of television with commercials. You only get about that much excitement in 8 hours. Very boring work.

reply to post by youdidntseeme


They do it with any subject that that is to do with the paranormal. Just ask jordan maxwell,a dn others, hollywood is obsessed with occult stuff.

All sports stars are there with there good luck charms, and all other things.

Every subject in the paranormal needs to be ridiculed as they only want them inside there circle to know and travel that road.

I agree with the poster above, Real life ghost hunting has got to be boring as hell.I enjoy the show Ghosthunters,I find myself debunking most of their catches,lol.In the end it's a show and they need to spice it up, but from time to time I believe they do happen to catch some things unexplainable.Have you guys seen the St. Augustine Lighthouse episode?Good stuff, I can't explain some of the footage,also there are independent hunters accounts that back up the claims.
Like I said in the end it's a show. I believe if you spark peoples interest,you will get answers.How can that be a bad thing?

Originally posted by flyingfish
I agree with the poster above, Real life ghost hunting has got to be boring as hell.I enjoy the show Ghosthunters,I find myself debunking most of their catches,lol.In the end it's a show and they need to spice it up, but from time to time I believe they do happen to catch some things unexplainable.Have you guys seen the St. Augustine Lighthouse episode?Good stuff, I can't explain some of the footage,also there are independent hunters accounts that back up the claims.
Like I said in the end it's a show. I believe if you spark peoples interest,you will get answers.How can that be a bad thing?

There are alot of good finds on the show. Unfortunetly so many people are looking for the 'smoking gun' in all types of paranormal research to prove to the world that xyz exists. It is also hard to watch a show that has been formatted for television and think that anything that you are seeing is 'real.' It did represent a change in the paranormal community to me, because although they are 'believers' and have had experiences themselves, their first task is to try and debunk or find normal circumstances for any paranormal event. Before them I had become disillusioned with the paranormal field where everything needed to be proof. That sound, its a ghost, those orbs, its a ghost, that dream, must be a ghost. I welcomed the refrshing change of pace for myself and hope that other do as well.