Ghost Hunters 2.22: "17 May 2006"

Case #1: Stone Lion Inn
Case #2: Edgerly House


Am I the only one who feels like the second half of the season has been a lot more fruitful than the first half? Actually, I think they’ve had more happen in the “back nine” than in the rest of the series to date. It seems like they’ve managed to grab more EVPs, for instance, and there’s a lot more talk about “shadow people” than before. I guess statistics don’t lie, since a long drought was sure to give way to something before long!

I tend to be wary whenever the evidence seems to point to a specific interpretation, especially since that only really happens in the movies. So I was struck by the evidence collected in the first case. It really felt like it was too easy to make certain logical connections, which brought to mind how hard it must be to maintain objectivity. So many “pop culture” interpretations must leak in whenever the slightest evidence is uncovered.

This was a rare occasion where I read comments on an episode before seeing it, due to some scheduling and personal issues during the past week. The comments made it sound like Dustin really went into dome deep territory. Well, maybe he did, but it didn’t necessarily make it on-screen. I didn’t find it particularly insightful, especially since I would have assumed that the investigators had considered the implications of their work a long time ago.

On the other hand, if he was genuinely having this moment of revelation in his life, it does add another element of realism to the show. I always felt that Steve’s issues with spiders and heights were aspects that would never be written into a manufactured personality for a series like this. Brian’s confused and confusing issues, if manufactured, are sloppy and slapdash in comparison. It all adds up to a picture that strikes me as genuine.

Anyway, first case:

Like I said before, it feels like a relatively simple story is being told here. The two clear EVPs sound like a child’s voice, and the fact that it seemed to be leading Jason and Grant to that storage closet in the basement (“find me”) suggests that a child was buried there (or worse, died there). And that just feels a little too “Hollywood” to me. Perhaps that’s why Jason and Grant didn’t speak to possible interpretation; I also wonder if the editors cut the episode to suggest that interpretation.

Second case:

If TAPS was the fraud that critics claim, they never would have taken the time to point out the environmental factors at work in this case. Instead of jumping right into the paranormal, they pointed out several sources of altered mental states: chemical agents in the ventilation, a strong unshielded EMF source, and that incredibly dangerous black mold. I suppose some people just react to their own interpretation of what the show and organization is, rather than looking at what they do and how they do it.

Chill Factor: 7/10