Crazy Ghost Huntin' Fools

Currently in Earphones: "Cleopatra" Soundtrack by Trevor Jones.

Now you all know that I'm a skeptic and follower of folk like James Randi and Robert Todd Carroll. So don't all collapse in disbelief when I say that I've recently gotten hooked on the show "Ghost Hunters."

I remember my fascination with "the paranormal" went all the way back to my young years, when I would check books out on cryptozoological creatures and scare myself silly. I also remember a brief interest in the schlock-tastic show "Sightings" hosted by Sci-Fi back in the day. It was strange, because I didn't particularly like that trapped animal fear that one could get so easily worked up to, hearing stories of things that skulked through the night. But I kept coming back, probably because of the strangeness of it all.

Indeed, I remember that it only took one similar "Ghost hunting"-type show (probably also on Sci-Fi) a number of years back to freak me out and swear off it for near good, and this was broadcast in the middle of a bright, sunny day.

So honestly I was as surprised as you are when a few days ago I started watching selected episodes of "Ghost Hunters" on YouTube, and found that I actually was enjoying it. Let me preface this by saying that what they do find is still questionable, but what really turned me on to it was...

A. 99% of what they find is "There's nothing here" and
B. Specific things usually are debunked fairly quickly.

Apart from their genuinely creepy Ireland episodes, these two aspects hold true for pretty much every season they've done so far. Even if they believe in the paranormal, I find the two founders of the show, Jason and Grant, the best men I could imagine doing this sort of thing. For one, they're both plumbers for a living, which goes far in helping debunk any weird noises and (I would imagine) gives them a very down-to-earth personalities. I really liked the Queen Mary episode, and I paraphrase...

(Jason and Grant are being shown the engine room)
Guide: "We know that NONE of these machines are functioning, and THAT one STILL makes noise. This PROVES that there's a ghost here who EVEN NOW is making his presence known!"
Grant: "Ma'm, do you even know what that machine is?"
Guide: "Well, no..."
Jason (to Grant): "Shenanigans!"

(Later, Jason and Grant are looking at it with a thermal camera)
Grant: "Yep, it's a hot water heater.......aaaand it's still functioning."
Jason: "Knew it."

And they do this nearly every episode, sometimes even getting debunked by their fellow investigators, who are pretty sharp themselves...

Steve: "Yeah, so that thing your thermo-cam saw on the staircase?"
Grant: "What the hell was that?"
Steve: "That would be the banister."
Grant:"Ah"
Jason: "What about that split second image of a guy, clear as day?"
Steve: "That would be you accidentally getting Grant when you swung your arm around...there ::indicated camera-man's separate footage::"
Jason: "Ah"

And if I have to pick one quote that I loved (in a similar vein as the above) from a scene of footage review....

Brian: "DEAR GOD, WHAT WAS THAT?!?"
Steve: "A bug."
Brian: "...Oh yeah!"

Once again, this is not to excuse the stuff that they find and take as "real" evidence, especially the EVP's they're so fond of using (I suspect pareidolia and some as-yet-unknown effect as the causes of these aberrations). But overall, I appreciate that time after time, they find nothing, and are perfectly fine with it.

I'll save my rant for later about how the amazingly annoying, unreliable, jumpy, and overall ratfink Brian Harnois is the worst thing about the show, as I have a Latin midterm staring me in the face.

Enough, More Later.
- James