'Ghost Hunters Academy,' Jason Hawes pwnd by 'The Soup'

While it was not "epic pwnage," The Soup blog took the new season of GHA to the mat today with a dose of snarkiness. The blog, not written by host Joel McHale, called leader Jason Hawes an "aged carny handing down his tricks" and a "clean-domed spook chaser." The entry then adds it ain't easy training to be a ghost hunter - which is why it's not called Ghost Catchers -  but a few tips that may help include:

1. Be delusional. 2. Get thwacked out of your mind on hallucinogens. 3. Make sure you're a plumber who wants a reality show and are willing to make a complete idiot out of yourself to get it.

Personally I view any kind of mainstream response to the show - even biting sarcasm - to be good for the GH brand, so I think they'll welcome this.  Heck, I could even see Hawes agreeing to do a walk-on on The Soup. So TAPS fans, don't send McHale hate EVP just because his show's blog poked fun. It's still publicity.

The Night Shift: Day's End

The Night Shift is the on-set diary of Fighting Owl Film's new independent supernatural-adventure-comedy of the same name currently in pre-production in Mobile, AL. Over the course of the next several weeks and months, you'll get an insider's peek at what it's like for filmmakers to craft a new entry of paranormal pop culture from Erin Lilley, a producer and actress on the film.

Day's End

Hoorah! We have reached the magical halfway point! We're finished with day shoots and the first month of filming. I won't say everything has gone smoothly - because it isn't nice to lie - but I will say that the footage looks pretty darn good, and we're mostly on schedule.

That's what's most important, really. Well, that and sanity, but I gave up on keeping my sanity weeks ago.

I say we're mostly on schedule because our final night shoot of May was rained out. It's already been rescheduled, but it was more than a little annoying to have everyone in costumes and makeup, the lights set up, the crew ready to go and an unexpected deluge suddenly settle in for the night. I checked the local weather, the national weather and the farmer's almanac. Not one said anything about a storm. Scattered showers in the afternoon? Yes. Thunderstorms at eight at night? Ummm ... no. Oh, well. That's showbiz, I guess.

We're letting the cast and crew have a short break between the May and June shoots. This gives Thomas time

'Ghost Adventures' Live Blog from Eastern State Penitentiary, Friday June 4

Watch this space because, beginning tomorrow night, I will be joining my buddies the Ghost Adventures GAC team (along with John Zaffis, Mark and Debby Constantino, Dave Schrader and Jeff Belanger) at Eastern State Penitentiary for a live blog investigation with audio, video, polls and interviews. It will be tomorrow, June 4, from 10:30 p.m. -2 a.m. and is not to be missed!

And if you'd like a handy reminder, just pop in your email address below and we'll shoot you a note to tell you when to tune in!

AFTER THE EVENT: If you'd like to watch the replay of the blog, click on the "LiveBlogs" tab at the menu on the top lefthand part of this page.  This will take you directly to the replay, and just hit the "play" icon (as shown here).

Tara Normal: One Panel Preview

Each week at Paranormal Pop Culture, we give you a taste, morsel, delicious crumb and even appe-teaser of a new Tara Normal comic contained in one single panel from the upcoming installment of the adventures the coolest comic paranormal investigator out there. You will be left with many questions (What will happen next? How will Tara get out of this jam? What does it all mean? Why is there gratuitous comic nudity on display??), but few answers - until the next day when you can head over to TaraNormal.com to see the entire entry. We also encourage online harassment of creator Howie Noel at the site and on Twitter @hcnoel. Enjoy!


Tara Normal: One Panel Preview of ...
Case #2: The Men Who Stare At Goatmen, Scene 29

This week, skeptical paranormal investigator Jake Westo - whom we first met in Scene 12 - tries to call an end to all of the craziness with Captain Unknown Soldier.

Will Jake be made a believer after hearing Cap's amazing origin story and early Goatman interactions? Will Jake don tights and become the hero's doomed sidekick ala Bucky?  Will he break out into song and dance, and perform a Broadway revue that sums up major plot points?

Probably not...

BUT find out tomorrow at TaraNormal.com.

Rob Zombie: Heavy metal musician, film buff ... and superbeast?

Rob Zombie is not the devil. At Revolver magazine’s April Golden Gods Awards in Los Angeles, his stage presence was that of a long-haired, bushy-bearded heavy metal headbanger in an inverted pentagram goat’s head tee, but the man speaking now is a calm, soft-spoken optimist and vegetarian.  Although he’s a musician who has added director, illustrator and comic book creator to his resume over the years, he’s more likely to be rejected by the devil than to become a Superbeast. Still, Rob Zombie is a hell of an entertainer.

It’s an exercise of multimedia calisthenics to speak with Zombie about work. Aside from his Halloween franchise reboot and its sequel, or the animated “adult/monster/sex comedy” The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, Zombie is involved in no less than five projects he can talk about. When he picks up the phone in late March, he’s prepping for his “Gruesome Twosome” tour with another theatrical hard rocker Alice Cooper that ran for almost two weeks at the end of April, after which he’ll tour with the Mayhem Festival until August. His February album, Hellbilly Deluxe 2 – the sequel to his 1998 solo album – is still a hot topic, as is the March episode of CSI: Miami he directed and a new comic book, Whatever Happened to Baron Von Shock.