The Travel Channel just enlisted the expertise of a panel of advisors to come up with ten of the best haunts in the country. Our own Paranormal Pop Culture Expert and host and co-executive producer of Travel Channel’s "Paranormal Paparazzi," Aaron Sagers, was one of the contributors. Also included on the panel were, Lead Investigator for "Ghost Adventures," Zak Bagans; Author, TV Personality, and Paranormal Expert, Jeff Belanger; Video Project Manager, TravelChannel.com, Arthur Hsu; and, Owner, HauntWorld.com, HauntWorld Magazine and Halloween Productions, Larry Kirchner.
Drum roll please! Here are the ten haunts that made the 2014 Travel Channel's Best: Halloween Attractions...
Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor – Long Beach, Calif.
The Queen Mary was built in the early 1930s as a luxury trans-Atlantic ocean liner, but was pressed into military service to carry troops during World War II where hundreds died in and around the ship. This Halloween, the haunted ship is offering its Dark Harbor tours with four new attractions – the Soulmate maze, the B340 maze, Voodoo Village and Monster Midway, which features a freak show, a mechanical monster and a new ride, the Sinister Swings. Travel Channel’s “Ghost Adventures” recently did a lockdown investigation aboard the Queen Mary for the show’s season 10 premiere, uncovering chilling paranormal evidence. So keep your eyes open, because those ghostly apparitions you see may not just be another special effect.
BY AARON SAGERS (originally posted as an exclusive via Blastr) Gotham is already a weird city full of maniacs and mobsters. Normally, Batman and company have it covered, but add monsters or ghosts to the mix, and even they need some outside help.
Enter the Midnight Shift, Gotham City Police Department's answer to The X-Files -- and the team called in to handle cases outside the depth of the Caped Crusader. Led by Detective Jim Corrigan, they debut in DC Comics' all-new supernatural/horror adventure book, Gotham by Midnight, on sale Nov. 26.
Spearheaded by a horror comic superteam of writer Ray Fawkes (Constantine, Batman Eternal) and artist Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night, Ten Grand), Gotham by Midnight spins off from the pages of Batman Eternal but operates independently of that title. And while Bats will be around, because this is set in Gotham, after all, his main function in the book is to liaise with Corrigan.
In this Blastr exclusive, we caught up with Fawkes to discuss the world of Gotham by Midnight, the supernatural sickness that plagues the city, and Fawkes' own connection to the horror genre. And make certain to check out our exclusive peek at the first cover of GBM, along with Templesmith's character sketches for the book.
If you're lucky enough to be in San Diego for the nerdgasm that is Comic-Con, be sure to put the National Geographic Channel-sponsored "Nerd Nite" on your list of "Must Attend" events.
All of the details are on the poster on the right but to break this awesomeness down, the Nat Geo Channel will be hosting the special Comic-Con edition of this monthly event that's is "held in more than 75 cities across the globe." On July 25, from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at the SILO in Makers Quarters, all the cool kids will be joining our own Aaron Sagers along with David Rees ("Going Deep with David Rees") and Professor Ron Broglio, Field Marshal of the Animal Revolution.
There will be trivia, food, music, the presentations, an open bar and conversations about geektastic things. Aaron promises lots of Batman talk... so be there!
Have you even wanted to hang out with Sally, Aidan, Josh and Nora from Syfy's "Being Human?" Well, they are fictional characters so how about Meaghan, the Sams and Kristen? We can hook you up. Before the season four premiere, "Old Dog, New Tricks," airs at 9 p.m. ET next Monday (January 13) you can go to Syfy's Google+ hangout for a live chat with the fab four (they are all expected to be in attendance). Bonus ... the hangout will be hosted by our very own, Aaron Sagers!
The chat starts at 8:30 p.m. ET but you can post your questions on Twitter now using the hash tag #BeingHumanLIVE. Easy enough? Watch the video below for more details and let us know if you'll be hanging out. Need to catch up? The first three seasons are on Syfy.com and On Demand. You can also read Dawn's predictions for Season Four, here.
Syfy has revealed the first 15 minutes of its chilling new series, "Helix" before the double episode premiere on Friday, January 10 at 10 p.m. ET. Read more about what our own Aaron Sagers thinks about the series here and let us know if you'll be tuning in.
Official synopsis from Syfy: "Helix" is an intense thriller about a team of scientists from the Centers for Disease Control who travel to a high-tech research facility in the Arctic to investigate a possible disease outbreak, only to find themselves pulled into a terrifying life-and-death struggle that holds the key to mankind's salvation...or total annihilation.
Helix is the product of some of the biggest names in genre television, starting with Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore ("Battlestar Galactica"). Also Executive Producing are Lynda Obst ("Contact") and Steven Maeda ("Lost," "CSI: Miami," "The X-Files").
Paranormal Pop Culture's own Aaron Sagers has joined with the likes of Elvira (Mistress of the Dark), Nick Groff from "Ghost Adventures," Ed and Marsha Edmunds from "Making Monsters," and other advisors to serve as a Best of Halloween 2013 or Travel Channel.
As part of the network's "Weekends To Die For" Halloween programming this month, Sagers suggests you check out Terror Behind The Walls at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, as well as pop into Spooky Empire's horror con in Orlando, Florida. Check out the panel, which you can read online, for the complete details.
They are super-secret agents who sacrifice their identities and dedicate themselves to safeguarding humanity from extraterrestrial activity, all while operating undetected in the background of a society they are sworn to protect.
Starring Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin, Men In Black 3 is the new installment of the science-fiction film franchise in which “MIB” agents routinely save the planet from alien threats. In the latest entry, which is heavy on time travel, agents J (Smith) and K (Jones, and Brolin as the younger incarnation of the character) rely on shiny weapons to get the job done. And to keep the average citizen from freaking out about aliens, they occasionally have to erase memories using their handy gadget, the neuralyzer.
But don’t confuse the heroes of the Men In Black movies with the nefarious men in black suits that occupy a far larger space in the consciousness of people who believe in aliens and UFOs.
The source material for the Men in Black movies was Lowell Cunningham’s early '90s comic book. The comic portrays MIB as agents who track paranormal happenings and murder witnesses to contain a situation - obviously the funny good guys of the movies are a departure from the original.
The comic's treatment hews closer to other MIB theories found in popular culture (and we’re not talking about Johnny Cash or Jacob’s brother from Lost).
The MIB were popularized in Gray Barker’s 1956 book They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers. Barker's MIB emerge in 1947 after a UFO crash in Maury Island, Washington, which coincides with the “Roswell Incident” in New Mexico. These MIB would collect data about UFOs and alien activity and threaten witnesses to keep quiet about what they saw.
Thanks to their uniform of dark suits with ties, sunglasses and hats, American folklore has proliferated the belief that MIB were federal agents. Some stories claim people encountered MIB that were also extremely pale, lacked eyebrows, and used odd speech patterns (in a very Fringe kind of way).
Even the descriptions of not-quite-right MIB - like the diminutive one with the cackle who may have appeared in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, around the time of the Mothman sightings in 1966-67 – convinced believers that if they weren’t feds investigating extraterrestrials, the MIB were aliens themselves.
Other theories within the UFO subculture posit that MIB are time-traveling or inter-dimensional beings popping in to observe (or warn, or control) us. The supernaturally inclined even speculate MIB could be demonic manifestations or Shadow People entities that have appeared to humans throughout history.
Whether they are identified as evil agents, aliens, demons or G-men, the MIB are a recurring archetype within entertainment, and are rarely portrayed as benevolent. As a character trope, they resonate with pop culture junkies because they are the personification of shadowy forces at work. Moreover, they represent a mysterious, yet powerful, “Them.”
Dressed in funereal fashion, with dark sunglasses that prevents eye contact – and thus human connection – they are never like “Us.” It makes sense, then, that some of the best MIBs in pop culture are either alien or inhuman. And when they are human, they are operating outside the law.
If the MIB do exist, they are hiding in the shadows. Still, they can be found everywhere in pop culture, and these are their 10 best appearances.
The film with the tagline “You Think You Know The Story” started to tell me too much in the previews I was being exposed to, so - after the raves I heard about it after its SXSW debut - I tried to tune everything out. This is a movie that the less you know about it, the more you’ll enjoy it. So that’s the approach I’ll take.
What can I reveal about the much-anticipated movie by co-writers Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard, and helmed by first-time feature film director Goddard?
There will be blood. Lots of it. But there will also be gore and unfettered glee. And Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is in it.
The Run For Your Lives zombie 5k and obstacle course coverage continues! Check out this CNN video (produced by Meg Pearlstein) which shows a little more of the zombie apocalypse fun run. And keep an eye out (around the 1:20 mark) for a shout out from ParanormalPopCulture.com's Aaron Sagers.
Within popular culture, there exist guides with the express purpose of wreaking havoc and unleashing hell on humanity. While the Kindle, iPad and Nook might have a killer effect on the book industry, these are books that are very industrious at killing.
For instance, in the supernatural comedy series Todd and the Book of Pure Evil - now in its second season on cable horror network Fearnet - a group of teens at the Satanist-controlled Crowley High battle the forces of a mysterious tome that grants wishes with sinister twists.
After witnessing the dark powers of the book and the control it holds over the weak and needy, metal head Todd (Alex House), Jimmy the Janitor (Jason Mewes of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) and a gang of high schoolers become determined to end the Pure Evil plague. The result is a series that has the charm and wit of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but with more of a raunchy, at-times awkward humor that appeals to die-hard horror nerds.
But Book of Pure Evil is far from the only that sits in the devil’s stacks. Therefore, what follows is our list of the most harmful books of verisimilitude within pop culture that contain information not to be checked out. After all, while reading is fundamental, it can also be fundamentally dangerous.
Perseus and Pegasus take on Kronos, courtesy Warner Bros.
BY AARON SAGERS
There’s more clash but not much wrath in the latest sword, sandals and demigod flick, Wrath of the Titans.
Once again starring Sam Worthington as Perseus, half-god son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), the sequel to the 2010 pseudo-Greek mythology Clash of the Titans remake focuses on Worthington as a fisherman father attempting to live a life of peace with his son Helius (John Bell). But Perseus the Kraken-slayer is called back into action when Papa Z is betrayed and captured by his Uncle Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and half-bro Ares (Edgar Ramirez) in a plot to zap the daddy deity of his powers and resurrect uber-god Kronos.
Supposedly the human and godly race were already in danger of extinction by giant magma-man Kronos before the Hades/Ares team-up, so why the big K needed their help is sort of lost in the (lack of) details. But the thrust of the movie is that Perseus has to assemble a god-killing weapon and fight his way through mini-bosses (chimera, Cyclops, Minotaur, machai, oh my!) before a big showdown with Kronos. Along for the ride is another half-god Agenor (Toby Kebbell), Andromeda (Rosamund Pike) and Hephaestus (Bill Nighy).
BY AARON SAGERS
(Warning: The Walking Dead season finale is discussed in this story. There be spoilers here.)
Courtesy AMC
Glen Mazzara is not afraid to rack up a sizable death count. The show runner and executive producer who assumed leadership duties of AMC’s hit zombie drama The Walking Dead after Frank Darabont was unceremoniously dismissed last summer, Mazzara has made a mark on the show by not being afraid to kill off both a zombie child and major characters.
For instance, while last fall’s first half of Season Two was criticized for moving too slowly, the show ended with a mid-season finale that showed missing child Sophia (MIA for six episodes) show up as a zombie, who was swiftly put down by lead survivor Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). Then, beginning with the show’s Feb. 12 return, the power struggle between Rick and Shane (Jon Bernthal) reached a fever pitch after several figurative head butting sessions and one literal one when the latter planned to execute his bestie/frenemy, only to have Rick kill him off first. When Shane immediately resurrected as a ghoul, suspicions were at last confirmed that death, not a zombie bite, is enough to become infected.
Of course, all this happened right after the voice of morality, Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn), lost his stomach for apocalypse politics when a walker freed by ragamuffin Carl (Chandler Riggs) dined on his intestines. Season Two also showed fan favorite Daryl (Norman Reedus) become a slightly more lovable chief interrogator, pregnant Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies) become more manipulative, and T-Dog (IronE Singleton) still quietly flying under the radar.
Oh yeah, and did we mention a massive hoard of zombies is heading straight towards Hershel's farmhouse for a Night of the Living Dead-esque smackdown?
On the heels of all this, Mazzara spoke to a group of reporters, including Paranormal Pop Culture, to discuss Sunday night’s Season Two finale (March 18, 9 p.m. ET on AMC) which he co-wrote with Executive Producer (and The Walking Dead creator) Robert Kirkman. He also spoke about Season Three, character deaths and introductions, and the divergence from the comic book source material.
This March, a convention of ghost, monster and
alien hunters will gather in Gettysburg for an exciting, unparalleled
paranormal event.
Phenomenology 104, the largest paranormal convention on the east
coast, launches March 22 for the fourth annual gathering of the most
diverse collection of the field’s celebrities and authorities. With
appearances by paranormal celebrities Kris Williams, Ben Hansen, ChipCoffey, Dave Schrader, Chris Fleming, Patrick Burns and our own Aaron Sagers, the event allows fans to
investigate famous haunted locations with the stars, and is the only
convention of its kind to deliver the full spectrum of well-known
paranormal experts.
Editor's note: Here there be spoilers. If you choose to read ahead, you might learn a few things about Being Human.
BY AARON SAGERS
Pellegrino as Jacob, courtesy ABC
If the apocalypse does occur in 2012, it’s a safe bet that Mark Pellegrino is somehow involved. As an actor, he has played multiple roles so significantly tied to the survival or obliteration of humanity one can’t help but wonder if his agent is reading the Book of Revelation in between scripts - or if Pellegrino might actually perform on a stage at the end of the world.
Pellegrino is not a god, but he has played a few memorable ones on TV. He is respected for notable roles like Rita’s wife-beating ex Paul on Dexter; Gavin Q. Baker, a flamboyant attorney to cops on The Closer, a character worthy of his own spinoff; Tom Dempsey, an old-school mobster on Castle. But the actor is better known as Jacob, the godlike protector of the Island on mythology-heavy Lost. Other viewers know him better as Lucifer, the fallen archangel-cum-devil on another mythology-heavy show, Supernatural - a role he just returned to on the Feb. 17 episode "Repo Man" as a vision to Sam Winchester.
Still others might know Pellegrino best as Bishop, the undead (and later very dead) leader of Boston vampires on Syfy’s reboot series Being Human. In Being Human, which airs Mondays at 9 p.m., Bishop is yet another character in Pellegrino’s rogues gallery with a god complex. Bishop has designs on wiping out much of the human race, and turning the remainder into slaves. And because death can’t keep a good bad guy down, Bishop returns in tonight’s episode of Being Human to torment his vampire son Aidan (Sam Witwer), who is experiencing a bit of parenting problems himself
Mark Pellegrino joined us over the phone to discuss Bishop’s return, his career as angels and demons, and even his love of video games, zombies and a possible role on The Walking Dead.
The scene early on in The Woman in Black when a little girl gurgles up a mouthful of brilliant red blood then promptly croaks pretty much sums up the entire movie for me: A bit hokey at times, but spooky fun.
Starring Daniel (erstwhile Harry Potter) Radcliffe, and directed by James Watkins, The Woman in Black follows Radcliffe’s attorney Arthur Kipps – still consumed with grief years after his wife died giving birth to their young son - as he journeys to an English village to settle the estate of a recently-deceased woman. Aside from its wealthiest resident Samuel Daily (Ciaran Hinds) who takes to the young man, the townsfolk are unwelcoming to Kipps, and repeatedly attempt to dissuade him from visiting the woman’s mansion on a marsh.
Of course, Kipps does go to the mansion, and while there he begins to hear rattles, creaks, footsteps and see things that come standard with any good haunted house. Meanwhile, the spike in the already-high death rate of kids in town coincides with Kipps’ experiences at the estate. Instead of actually being thrown a bone by the village people, and maybe getting a few tips about the mansion’s pissed-off ghost hellbent on vengeance for past wrongdoing, Kipps has to unravel the secret on his own.
Based on Susan Hill’s 1983 novel, and produced by the resurrected horror company Hammer Films (in conjunction CBS Films and Cross Creek Pictures), Woman is an old-school gothic thriller where unrelenting terror and gore is absent but startles and creepy ambiance is plentiful. Instead of being a modern, deconstructed frightfest, the film pays tribute to classics where perpetually gray English weather, drafty rooms and long, dark hallways could set a mood without irony.
Sure, the shifty-eyed, suspicious townspeople could easily be promoted to an angry mob in a monster movie, and a couple of the jumps are akin to those viral video cheap shots. But Watkins successfully conveys that shadows are not your friend – and that just because you see someone oozing out of the darkness doesn’t mean that’s when something is going to happen. Still, he sometimes lets his camera linger a little too much (we get it, porcelain dolls are creepy as hell) and there are some logistical holes in the eponymous woman’s overall motivation. As far as Radcliffe’s performance in his first big non-Potter film, his Kipps is in a near-constant morose funk throughout the flick, but he does a fine job acting opposite shadows and silence.
The Woman in Black won’t have you running out of the theater, or keep you up at night, but it’s good for a few scares and a lot of spooks.
So you think transforming into a werewolf is ugly business? Try joining a new series as a recurring love interest/lycanthropic character originated by another actor on the British source material. As if that's not quite enough of a challenge for an actor, add in the fact that the showrunners for this re-imagined series plan to go in a completely different direction than the original show, and your character could get a silver bullet in any episode.
Still, as tough as that seems, Kristen Hager isn't concerned. Already an accomplished actor with film and TV credits including I'm Not There, AVPR: Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem, Wanted and the MTV vampire show Valemont, Hager is loving her new digs on the Syfy network's Being Human - werewolf changes, threat-of-death and all. Though she hasn't quite moved in and begun paying rent on the house of werewolf boyfriend Josh (Sam Huntington), vampire Aidan (Sam Witwer) and ghost Sally (Meaghan Rath), she is the show's fourth roommate as nurse Nora.
Similar to actress Sinead Keenan, Hager's counterpart on the British version of the show, Hager plays Nina as a suffer-no-fools smart-ass who manages to fit in with the menagerie of monsters quite well as a formidable foil. But Hager ups the level of sexy toughness with Nora, and her character arc in Season Two appears to focus on her anger and reluctance to join the crowd of the cursed - while also dealing with the joys of a supernatural pregnancy.
Paranormal Pop Culture caught up with Hager to talk about her role as Nora and joining the trio of actors for a second season filled with beastly action, as well as how she has managed to spend so much time in the paranormal world with aliens, zombies and cute vampires.
As the vampire character Aidan in Syfy's 20-something horror drama Being Human, actor Sam Witwer breathes new life into the undead. Sure, Aidan can walk in the sunlight, but aside from that, he's an old school vamp- a sexy, dangerous, super cool American cousin to that famous Transylvanian Count.
Being Human - which begins its second season on Jan. 16 at 9 p.m. - is based on the BBC drama of the same name about a vamp, werewolf and ghost who live together as paranormal roommates trying to regain a sense of their normal lives. Rather than a direct facsimile of the popular British show, the stateside Human has become its own beast. Not only have plotlines diverged greatly from the source material, but Witwer and castmates Sam Huntington and Meaghan Rath have made the show theirs.
However, with all the vampires sucking up audience attention in pop culture lately, the 34-year-old Witwer may have the largest hurdle to jump as an actor on the show. Not only has he been required to break from the character of Mitchell (the vampire played by Aidan Turner on the BBC show), but the actor from Glenview, Ill., had to develop a vamp that withstands comparisons to Bill and Eric, Stefan and Damon, Lestat and Louie and more. But after crafting unique characters on popular shows such as Battlestar Galactica, Dexter, Smallville, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (and the Star Wars: The Forced Unleashed video game), Witwer has proven he has a talent for creating identities.
Instead of making Aidan a self-loathing romantic ala Robert Pattinson's Edward, or an unrepentant bloodsucker like Colin Farrell's Jerry in Fright Night, Witwer has done this by utilizing shades of both to create a nuanced character. He plays Aidan as a man with an addiction, and as a monster who is trying to rediscover his humanity.
Witwer spoke with Paranormal Pop Culture at Atlanta's Dragon*Con about the direction of Aidan in the second season of Being Human, as well as opening up about his role in those other well-known geek culture franchises. He even breaks big news about his involvement - and non-involvement - in AMC's The Walking Dead, reveals his thoughts on the firing of Frank Darabont and talks about the zombie plotline that never was!
Like many hikers and campers, Cliff Barackman enjoys spending his free time in the forest, trudging through trees and listening to the surrounding sounds of nature. Unlike most hikers and campers, Barackman isn’t seeking tranquility so much as he’s pursuing a monster that is either an enduring myth or a missing link. Barackman is a sasquatch hunter on Animal Planet’s Finding Bigfoot.
With its second season premiering Jan. 1 at 10 p.m., the show follows the Bigfoot Field Researcher’s Organization (BFRO) as they chase down leads, examine supposed evidence and attempt to track down the most famous cryptid. Produced by Ping Pong Productions (the same company behind Destination Truth), the show stars BFRO founder Matt Moneymaker, research biologist Ranae Holland, commercial fisherman James “Bobo” Fey and Barackman.
But Barackman isn't an eccentric monster hunter type. Originally from Long Beach, Calif., he's a career educator with a music degree who has taught fourth, fifth and sixth graders. He's also a jazz guitarist and teaches lessons, but has always maintained a passion for science. But Barackman's interest in Bigfoot came more from pop culture than from science. He says, like all little boys, he grew up loving monster movies with Godzilla and werewolves, but it wasn't until he saw documentary shows like In Search Of in the 1970s that he became excited about the possibility of a "real" monster in the woods. He says it hooked him "pretty deep," and when he was in college he would spend time between classes reading up on the sasquatch. The research led to Barackman becoming interested in the creature on a more cerebral level and he began to think of Bigfoot as not just "fun and quirky and weird," but also as real and believable. This research also led to him making a name for himself in the field, and attracting the attention of the show.
Barackman spoke with Paranormal Pop Culture’s Aaron Sagers about Finding Bigfoot's second season premiere, which has the team visiting the source of a well-known video (within the Bigfoot community) that might show a baby sasquatch climbing a tree in the background. Instead of just taking the video at face value, the team attempts to recreate the footage – which involves a dedicated Barackman attempting to climb a tree with just his arms, along with bringing a baboon into the wild to test whether its calls will be met with the cries from a ‘squatch. Barackman also discussed how Bigfoot has impacted his personal life, and shared his thoughts on other paranormal phenomena and how his work might also mean the downfall of the beast he’s pursuing. (After the jump)
Editor's Note: Erin Wolf is a blogger for Nerdsburgh. She joined a Paranormal Pop Culture event to report about what happens on a "ghost hunt." This article appears courtesy of her site.
BY ERIN WOLF
Smoke billowed out of the nostrils of the two gargoyles that sit atop the entrance gate of the 142-year-old Eastern State Penitentiary, bathing our small group in a fake, hazy fog. Terrified patrons flitted past us and flooded the sidewalk, excitedly swapping stories of their experience at the penitentiary’s unique version of a super deluxe haunted house called Terror Behind the Walls.
It was 11:00 on Nov. 12 and the last haunted tour of the Halloween season had finally come to a close after a special encore "haunt," post-Halloween. As teenagers ran squealing into the street and employees with makeup stained faces headed home for the last time this year, I couldn’t help but look around at all the commotion and laugh a little; for I knew that the evening’s real “terror behind the walls” had yet to begin.
In honor of the 20th anniversary of Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary’s haunted attraction Terror Behind the Walls, there was a first ever two night event of intimate ghost hunting (with groups no larger than 7 people in the massive site). The paranormal investigation was hosted by ParanormalPopCulture.com’s Aaron Sagers and Kris Williams of Ghost Hunters Internationalfame.
Once the prison had been emptied of all staff and straggling teenagers, our motley crew of ghost hunters reentered through the courtyard and gathered in the rotunda which, if you look at a diagram of the Penitentiary’s spoke and wheel architectural design, can officially be described as the “heart” or “nerve center” of the entire compound.
The group was abuzz due to reports from Friday night’s ghost hunt. One “investigator” claimed his head was touched by a ghost. Another said his digital audio recorder caught an EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) saying, “Get out!”
The night hadn’t even begun and already I was looking for the door.
Our large party was quickly divided into three smaller groups each headed up by one of three lead investigators: Aaron Sagers, Kris Williams and Frank "Dr. Spectre" Cinelli. Special guests of the event also included Jackie Gordon from Season 15 of The Bachelor and Season 2 of Bachelor Pad as well as Tony Bruno from The Fanatic 97.5.
Prior to Saturday, I had assumed that the other “investigators,” excluding our resident experts, would be civilians and mostly amateurish ghost enthusiasts like myself. Boy, was I mistaken. While there were several newbies in this small group, I had barely gotten the lens cap off my camera in Cellblock 10 and already a fellow ghost hunting partner had set up various paranormal sensors and recording equipment all over the dilapidated cement floor. (Kris even jerry-rigged one of the devices to continuously record with the aid of simple penny!)
Kris (our small group’s first guide) then instructed us to “go dark,” which meant - to my horrific dismay - that we were all to extinguish our lights and wait in the pitch black creepy Penitentiary cellblock for ghosts of dead inmates and guards to communicate with us.
As it turns out, investigating ghosts isn't just about being scared but about pursuing facts and collecting evidence (although being scared is definitely a fun part of the experience!). Beyond what you see on television, professional ghost hunters spend hours patiently waiting, baiting and sometimes provoking spirits to contact them. Once set up in our cellblock with the audio recorder rolling, Kris asked several questions of the lingering spirits in hopes of eliciting a ghostly response. It seems that the pros, in addition to a lot of patience, incorporate a great amount of empathy and sensitivity when addressing the dead in the hopes of provoking a potential interaction. But such sensitivity is not to be mistaken for disregarding skepticism or blindly accepting all things as being ghostly.
A healthy dose of skepticism coupled with concepts of scientific discovery are almost necessary for any paranormal investigator in the difficult art of proving the existence of ghosts. In order to confirm contact, several methods of experimentation are often implemented during an encounter to generate the most conclusive results. Proof beyond personal experience is the onus of the investigator when it comes to ghost hunting, and once out of the dark hallways and into the comforting light of day, it’s hard to believe what you can’t prove.
As an example, Kris, Aaron and Frank are all pretty adamant skeptics who weren't quick to label anything as haunted or call phenomena ghostly. While they pursue the paranormal in their jobs, they were more likely to call things "weird," "creepy," or "hard to explain." This was both surprising and refreshing. Although guests paid for tickets to experience the paranormal - and it appeared that everyone did have some sort of experience and went home happy - the investigators were never pushing ghosts on others.
And although I spent the majority of my time in Eastern State Penitentiary sitting in the dark, wringing my hands and looking out for talkative ghosts, I did have one encounter. Despite my desperate attempts to remain an observer, Aaron Sagers (our second small group guide) insisted I participate in an experiment designed to incite any prison spirits that may or may not be present. He suggested that I, alone, take a long walk to the end of a particularly spooky Cellblock 4 which was reported to possess groups of "shadow people." Although I was quaking in my boots, from both the cold and sheer terror, I put one foot in front of the other and braved the darkness (and the malicious lingering spirits?) all the way to the end of the cellblock and back.
Aaron informed me when I returned to the group, “I don’t want to alarm you but some people in this group said it seemed like an unidentifiable shadow was following you on your way back down the hallway.” Awesome. Creepy living dudes I can handle but creepy stalker ghosts? Maybe, but only if he looks like Patrick Swayze.
The investigations continued late into the night and ended with groups venturing into even more sinister sections of the Penitentiary including Death Row and The Hole. I didn’t return home until almost 4 a.m. in the morning, but the dead don’t sleep and neither do ghost hunters.
Thanks to The Eastern State Penitentiary for successfully scaring me all evening long. From the five consecutive haunted attractions inside the Terror Behind the Walls tour to allowing our gang of ghost enthusiasts to invade the halls of the prison and poke figurative sticks tauntingly at the dead inmates; it was a wonderful and entirely unique experience.
Thanks to Aaron Sagers and Kris Williams for hosting the event and if I ever encounter a ghost in the near future and want to talk to it, at least now I’ve got a couple of good conversation starters.
(additional reporting by Aaron Sagers & Amy Kates)
Whether you're planning a Halloween party, or just want some spirits to get in the spirit for any holiday, there is an extensive selection of grown up beverages with a certain supernatural flavor. Drink up these paranormal-inspired alcoholic drinks, and don't forget to let us know what we missed so we can add more to the list.
(Special thanks to Morria Karraz of Yankee Spirits in Southeastern Mass. for assisting us with the spirits hunt)
This is likely the most popular, and obvious, choice when beginning this list. Frozen Ghost Vodka, with it's flashy site, scary intro and it's biography entitled "ghost story", embodies what one would think of when mentioning paranormal liquors. The water that the vodka is made from originates from a Western Canadian spring with a sinister past. This beverage is an ice cold, crisp drink distilled six times, and if you don't mind that a previous land owner froze to death in that water many years ago after being murdered by a jealous neighbor for his pure H20, and that his ghost still overseas the spring, then cheers to you! The bottle is also super cool looking.
