Ghost Hunters 2.18: "19 Apr 2006"

Case #1: Mike Dion’s Case
Case #2: Willard Library

We’re approaching the mid-point of the “back nine”, to coin an industry phrase, and so far the action has been pretty low-key. The same thing happened earlier in the second season; a lot of minor incidents with personal experiences, capped with something that was definitely worth talking about. This had some more interesting elements to it, but still nothing particularly substantial.

It’s interesting how each investigation is given a particular flavor, and how episodes are constructed as if a certain theme is in play. For instance, I would call this the “existing evidence review” episode, because in both cases, TAPS was shown going over the evidence submitted by others rather than generating evidence of their own. And the analysis of that evidence, however short, paralleled the experience of the TAPS team in each location. I’ll give the editors credit for that nice touch.

That said, I wonder if SFC would consider, based on the relative success of the show, adjusting the format to allow more episodes. Here’s the idea: instead of cramming two investigations into one hour, focus on one investigation per episode, keeping the total number of investigations intact. Just on the basis of the second season, that would be something like 40 episodes in a given year! (OK, maybe not practical, but it would at least satisfy my desire to have more substantial investigation footage and less worry over renewals!)

On to the first case:

Some critics will inevitably point out that Grant wasn’t on camera when he was supposedly struck by this unknown assailant. They will also point out that most of what happened was personal experience, which they will say was dramatically faked. I don’t buy that, because Grant’s reaction felt genuine. When these guys “act” for the staged conversations, it’s pretty damned obvious, and Grant looked seriously uncomfortable leading up to that attack.

I love EVPs (which is why I really enjoy the Haunted NJ Podcast), and considering how often Grant says they are recorded, I wish we could hear more of them. Notice how this house, with credible EVP recordings by the homeowner, had something going on. (And that’s even accounting for the breath looped in so the audience would think it was recorded.)

Second case:

Oh, look, another famous haunted site. What are the odds that the evidence wouldn’t pan out? Once again we have an example of a team that doesn’t conclude “ghosts” as soon as something odd happens. Yes, they consider possibilities, but then they rule them out systematically. And here we have photographic evidence that Jason and Grant could explain away rather easily. It might be that something is happening there, but with all those windows and stacks, it’s very easy to get odd shadows and the impression of movement.

Chill Factor: 6/10