Over the past week, former "Paranormal State" star, Ryan Buell has been making several announcements over on his Facebook page, namely that he has a new comic book hitting stores on November 25. Below is what he posted on November 20:
My first comic book hits stores next week. I love "Power Rangers" so I jumped at the chance to help add to the canon. This issue tells the back story of the green ranger. We all, as kids, wanted to know more about him. So, Saban Entertainment, Stefan and Papercutz allowed me to play god and create his backstory. Oddly enough he looks more and more like me. Mwahahahhaaha! Just kidding. If you're a Power Rangers nerd, give me a shout out! And please buy the issue. I tried to make it funny as hell. And some inside jokes also!!! http://papercutz.com/shop-all/mighty-morphin-power-rangers-vol-2. Here is the description for the comic:
This is the story Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fans have been waiting over 20 years for—the untold story of the origins of Tommy—the Green Ranger! How did Rita Repulsa choose this teen over others to wage war against the Rangers? This is the only place to find out. Note to fans: This graphic novel takes place right before the classic Mighty Morphin Power Rangers episode “Green with Evil.”
The "Paranormal State" team is back, and this time they want to play a game with you. Available today is "Paranormal State: Poison Spring," an iPad game that allows players to join Ryan Buell (and Heather Taddy, Sergey Poberezhny) and the Paranormal Research Society for a ghost investigation.
The game, which was released in PC format last October, is a hidden object game with voice-acted cutscenes surrounding an investigation of "a terrifying supernatural event at Poison Spring State Park, historical site to a grisly Civil War battle." And yes, that was a real battle, fought in Arkansas, and was a notable battle involving the the First Kansas Colored Infantry.
Debuting on A&E in 2007, "Paranormal State" was an early competitor to "Ghost Hunters" in the paranormal investigation docuseries genre. However, it has been off the year for three years. So while this game is oddly timed, it may be fans' best bet for new PRS adventures for now.
Created by A&E, publisher Legacy Interactive -- which is behind TV-inspired games "Twilight Zone," "Ghost Whisperer," "Psych," and "House M.D." -- and Polish game developer Teyon, "Poison Spring" was initially offered as a PC game on LegacyGames for $13.95, then $9.95. On the iPad, the download is free but the "Collector's Edition" unlock (which you'll probably need to play the entire game) is $6.95.
Based on the trailer below, the game isn't the sleekest of designs (and I'm sorry but who approved the digitized version of Ryan Buell, a handsome young guy, which looks like Michael Madsen?) but I cannot comment on the gameplay. Although, it's not a great sign that the support for the game seems pretty nonexistent and the website went dormant for about six months and still haven't added a press release. So this doesn't seem like a game that A&E or Legacy expects to do bang-up numbers, or even show much love for.
But if you've downloaded it and you do love it, let us know and we'll spread the word.
ParanormalPopCulture.com has exclusively learned that Pennhurst Asylum in Spring City, Penn., will be the site of Syfy's Ghost Hunters LiveHalloween show on Oct. 31. The asylum, just 45 minutes away from the Philadelphia airport, was founded in 1908 as a way to deal with the mental and physically ill of society. This will mark the second time in 2011 that the TAPS team will visit the site. The first was investigation was last March's "Pennsylvania Asylum" episode.
Originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Institution for the Feeble Minded and Epileptic, the asylum was founded on at-the-time progressive ideas about dealing with the "defectives" of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Over time rampant allegations of abuse emerged from within Pennhurst's walls. Overcrowding and neglect led to patients being drugged, restrained, locked up and left for long periods as a form of control; patients were also often left to fend for themselves over nights and weekends when doctors or staff were absent. Patient rape and beatings by staff were additionally reported. Focus was placed on the deplorable conditions of Pennhurst in a 1968 five-part expose series by NBC10 news (which you can watch here). The institution was then at the center of a major lawsuit in 1977, which was heard in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1980, that established the constitutional rights of the mentally ill patients had been violated. This was the nation's first lawsuit of its kind. Pennhurst forcibly closed in 1986 and has since become known as one of the country's most haunted locations.
What's interesting about the choice of Pennhurst for the live show is that the location hosts a Halloween haunted house attraction. Even though the Pennhurst campus takes up 112 acres with more than 20 buildings, it would seem the haunted attraction could provide unique challenges to securing the investigation site.
The first time TAPS investigated Pennhurst, Grant Wilson reported hearing a disembodied voice saying "Spring City;" Jason Hawes and Grant both saw a shadow figure; Adam Berry and Amy Bruni heard dragging noises; audio was collected of a voice saying "go home" along with an EVP of a giggling child. Whether the ghosts of Pennhurst exist or not, the tragedy of this location was all too real. Pennhurst has also been featured on Ghost Adventures in 2009 and Paranormal Challengein 2011.
What do you think about Ghost Hunters investigating Pennhurst for Halloween? Do you think there is a better location? Will you watch? Who would you like to see as a guest investigator? Do you want to see Josh Gates back as a host? Sound off on our forums.
As you probably heard, Ghost Hunters are kicking off their summer season tonight at 8 p.m. with an hourlong investigation of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. To tease the event a little, we thought we'd share a couple images Grant Wilson sent our way.
The first is the control tower of Pearl Harbor, which Wilson tells us was "untouched since the attack."
The second, is of Hangar 79. Wilson says look closely and, "you can see the bullet holes in the windows from the Japanese Zero planes strafing the building."
Also, an interesting fact about the GH Hawaii episodes (which also include some guests like Josh Gates): They were being filmed during the tragic Japanese eathquake and tsunami last March. The TAPS crew actually was on alert, and had to take cover in an old Frito-Lay factory during the initial tsunami warning, when Hawaii appeared to be in danger.
"Ghost Hunters, Syfy’s longest-running original reality series, has been renewed for an eighth season. Since its 2004 premiere, Ghost Hunters has spawned two spin-offs (with over 200 episodes among the three series), cementing its place as the #1 paranormal franchise in cable. 20 all-new episodes for season eight are slated to premiere on Syfy in 2012.
On Wednesday nights at 9pm for nearly seven years, Ghost Hunters has set the standard for paranormal series, offering viewers spine-tingling cases from the files of TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) - led by Rhode Island plumbers Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson.
To date, season seven (premiered February 2010) has attracted 1.1 million Adults 25-54 and 1 million Adults 18-49.
The next episode of Ghost Hunters airs at a special night and time: Wednesday, June 1 @ 8pm and features an hour-long case in Hawaii. Guest Josh Gates (Destination Truth) joins the team as they investigate paranormal claims at the Pacific Aviation Museum in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The museum’s original plane hangars stand as they did on the fateful morning of December 7, 1941, and still bear the bullet holes and bomb craters from the attacks that precipitated U.S. involvement in World War II. Visitors and employees alike have reported several startling experiences at the museum, suggesting that the site’s history has made it a hub for paranormal activity.
Ghost Hunters is produced in association with Craig Piligian's Pilgrim Films and Television (Dirty Jobs, The Ultimate Fighter, My Fair Wedding). Piligian and Thomas Thayer, along with Rob Katz and Alan David, serve as executive producers."
Ever since Ghost Hunters ushered in the era of reality-TV paranormal investigative shows in 2004, the genre has been booming. Every network seems to have aired its own ghost hunting show, and a formula of nightvision shots, gadgets and jargon has emerged. It is no surprise, then, that the popularity (and formula) of these shows is being pushed into a new direction - away from reality TV and into scripted fare, specifically horror.
Premiering Friday, April 22, at the Tribeca Film Festival, Grave Encounters, directed by "The Vicious Brothers" is such a film. When the crew of a ghost hunting show, led by Lance Preston (Sean Rogerson) is locked down with its small team in the abandoned Collingwood psychiatric hospital, they're filming one another as they seek proof of hauntings from the institution's dark past. But when the team begins to encounter activity, they learn too late that the building itself is alive and isn't ready to let the investigators go.
Grave Encounters is not the first film to use ghost hunting shows as a basis for scares (Ghosts Don't Exist is another). However, the "found footage" indie movie is the first to accurately capture the aesthetic and feel of investigative shows, which is what makes the film so intriguing. The opening sequence of the reality show, along with the "walk through tour" and eyewitnesses, is so spot-on it looks like the newest program on a cable network. The characters use much of the same equipment and expressions as televised investigators, and the behind-the-scenes segments speak to the "reality" many suspect behind reality-TV. And Rogerson, whose character is a composite of Zak Bagans and Ryan Buell, does such a masterful job as an obsessively inquisitive, fearless lead investigator that he could have a future on a ghost show if acting doesn't work out.
Allison Scagliotti of Warehouse 13 will indeed be joining Josh Gates and Co. in Ireland for the four-hour, first-ever live Destination Truth investigation.
So instead of focusing on our flaws and foibles, we will choose to gloat a bit because if para-fiend Meat Loaf thinks two out of three ain't bad, then we think he'd say the same about three out of seven.
UPDATE: As of March 8, Syfy announced Allison Scagliotti will indeed be joining DT Live.
We've been hearing rumblings about this for some time now, but it is now official: Destination Truth is going the Ghost Hunters route and doing a live investigation on March 17, 2011.
Since this will be airing on St. Patrick's Day, it's only natural that host Josh Gates travel to Ireland for his season premiere to search for the legendary banshee of Duckett's Grove Castle. Gates returns to Ireland only a year after he investigated leprechauns in Doolin. The episode was also the show's most-watched episode, which may explain why Gates is going live there.
Paranormal investigator, 28-year-old reality-TV star, author, former Penn State college student, bisexual celebrity; chances are good that however you choose to label Ryan Buell of Paranormal State, you're partially wrong.
Like the paranormal, it is hard to define and explain Ryan Buell. Long before Buell was a TV ghost buster, he was a college student from Sumter, SC, at Pennsylvania State University, where he studied journalism and anthropology. Then, in December 2007, the founder of the college’s Paranormal Research Society became a celebrity when State premiered with 2.5 million viewers. Since then, the show has remained a contender amongst the reality-TV paranormal docudramas, and began its fifth season Oct. 19 with 1.4 million people tuning in.
The success of Paranormal State, which airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on A&E, is attributable to a variety of factors such as adept cinematography, high production values, creepy settings and a rotating cast of compelling characters that has included twentysomething investigators Sergey, Heather and Psychic Kids star Chip Coffey.
Yet the main focus of the show has always been on Buell. That focus on a brooding young man who has had a lifelong fascination with the supernatural and has been investigating since age 15, and with personal demons - as in a literal demon he believes was stalking him – has earned Buell countless fans and more than a few critics.
Now it’s his chance to respond. In his new biography, Paranormal State: My Journey into the Unknown, Buell discusses, in his own words, his upbringing, Catholic faith, and the beginning of PRS and the show – as well as his revelation as a bisexual man, which has earned the book coverage in the mainstream press. But for Buell, who sits down after a book signing to chat at the Stone Rose lounge in Manhattan’s Time Warner Center, it’s a chronicle of his backstory and the show’s first season. He says the book is less of a memoir and instead largely documents a life transition between college and adulthood
“It's really only a sliver of my life,” says Buell. “I was graduating but was still in school for another degree. We were starting to realize we are getting older and about ready to leave college in another year or so; that's when the show comes along.”
Buell adds that his life changed right at the moment when he “was contemplating having a normal life for a change.”
Are you a fan of Paranormal State, and a bigger fan of lead investigator Ryan Buell? Then you're in luck, because now's your chance to pick up an autographed copy of Buell's new memoir, Paranormal State: My Journey Into The Unknown. Here's how:
This week, we'll be interviewing Buell about the new season of Paranormal State and about his book - and we want you to be a part of the interview.
First, click on an advertisement to the right. Next, send one question for Buell to contest@paranormalpopculture.com with your name and mailing address. We will collect all submissions and randomly select as many as possible for Buell to answer. If your question is selected and Buell answers it, then you win the kewpie doll.
Twitter option: You may also follow editor @AaronSagers and direct message the question to him to be considered.
Fine Print: Keep it clean and original. Any inappropriate or standard biographical questions already likely to be asked in the course of an interview will be discarded. Giveaway only applies to U.S. residents 18 years-old and older. One submission per person please. Giveaway winners will be announced on this site next Wednesday Oct. 27.
Destination Truth fans rejoice. Not only do we offer you a super sneak peek at the new DT episode, "Haunted Island Ruins," but we also want to share the panel interview with Josh Gates at last week's Syfy Digital Media Tour.
Gates talks with our own Aaron Sagers about movies, and what movie replica Josh would love to get his hands on through the new show, Hollywood Treasure.
In this Thursday's episode at 9 p.m. on Syfy, As the team "scuffles through the desert they come across footprints as a full moon sets in. They enter a cave to try and cure their curious appetite but may get more than they bargained for in the end."
Buell's announcement is a non-revelation for many in the paranormal entertainment industry who already knew about his orientation. The show debuted in 2007, and is one of the top-rated paranormal investigative shows on television, trailing Ghost Hunters. Four seasons have aired and a new one begins later this year.
In the past, show producers have admitted to outlining the show and creating character story arcs, and have stated they were hoping for a romantic relationship to emerge between Buell and a female cast member. Moreover, the show does draw a younger, predominantly female audience.
So the big questions: Will Buell's admission affect the show's ratings positively or negatively? Will you be more or less likely to tune in? Will he become more or less relatable as a lead character on the docu-drama? Is this just a stunt to help drive book sales and pick up media attention (which is clearly working)?
After all the attention being used up on bigfoot and Chupey the Chupacabra, the Mongolian Death Worm finally gets its due in a new - dare I say, epic? - original Syfy movie.
As dedicated crypto fans, and Season Two Destination Truth viewers, already know, the terrifying MDW (not to be confused with the refreshing MGD) is a 4-foot-long beasty in the Gobi Desert that fires electricity and secretes acid.
Although Syfy is promoting the May 8 movie as based on a DT case, the plot synopsis is just a bit different:
It's only a week away from the 100th episode of Ghost Hunters - you know, the paranormal pop culture franchise that launched the reality-TV ghost craze - and the party machine is rolling for the big night. More details have emerged about the investigation of Alcatraz (show here in a pic by Ben Peoples) and live "interactive" event hosted by Josh Gates on Weds, March 3. Here's the word about the event straight from Syfy, and two promos for it are embedded below for your enjoyment.
On Wednesday, March 3, join Jason, Grant and the rest of the TAPS team as the Ghost Hunters celebrate their triumphant 100th episode with a LIVE audience from the legendary Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center. From 9-11pm, the team will present their first-ever investigation at Alcatraz as well as take a look back at the most shocking and spine-chilling moments the hit series has caught on tape over the past five seasons.
Josh Gates (Destination Truth) will host the event, which will feature investigators from all three Ghost Hunters teams gathered together for the very first time. Jason Hawes, Grant Wilson, Steve Gonsalves, Dave Tango, Amy Bruni, Kris Williams (Ghost Hunters), Barry Fitzgerald, Robb Demarest, Dustin Pari (Ghost Hunters International), Susan Slaughter and Karl Pfeiffer (Ghost Hunters Academy) will take the stage and get the chance to talk directly with the fans, answering audience questions from in the studio and Syfy.com.
Throughout the show, Josh will also reveal some surprises coming up in the Ghost Hunters franchise!
As always, Syfy.com will serve as the ultimate Ghost Hunters destination online, linking viewers to all of the action in the studio in real time. The site will host an interactive center helmed by investigator Britt Griffith, where fans can log on throughout the evening to be a part of the broadcast. Viewers will be able to ask questions of all participating TAPS members, leave comments and feedback, participate in polls, read up on Alcatraz history and more!
Then, at 11pm, the show continues online with an exclusive post-broadcast streaming event, “Ghost Hunters Alcatraz Live Extra,” also hosted by Josh Gates. This 15-minute extension of the live episode will feature a Q&A panel with Jason, Grant and the rest of the TAPS team answering viewer-submitted questions from Syfy.com.
Looks like Jason, Grant and the TAPS team will be celebrating their hundredth in style. Syfy sent a late Wednesday afternoon announcement that Ghost Hunters will be returning March 3, 9 p.m., with a sixth season kickoff at Alcatraz prison which will also be the show's milestone episode.
The investigation, which is being billed as "epic," is the show's biggest case so far, and will feature the Ghost Hunters International members Barry FitzGerald and Dustin Pari.
According to Syfy, the Alcatraz case will be presented on within a live, 2-hour interactive fan event hosted by Destination Truth’s Josh Gates. Gates will then return on Wednesday, March 17 with a St. Patrick’s Day leprechaun hunt in Ireland for his season premiere. Truth will also feature guest investigator Kris Williams from GH.
After dealing with demons, ghosts and poltergeists, you wouldn’t think the stars of Syfy’s “Ghost Hunters” would be bested by group of Colorado kids. Still, while investigating the case of a little boy haunted by dead celebrities, Jason Hawes wet his pants – and Grant Wilson, Hawes’ co-star of the supernatural reality-TV show, experienced much, much worse incontinence issues – before running out of the house screaming, all the way back to their homes in Rhode Island.
Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, meet Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of Comedy Central’s “South Park.” In the Oct. 7 episode, the two co-founders of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) – the paranormal investigative group around which the Syfy show is based – were spoofed.
Far from being offended or incensed, Hawes and Wilson say they loved being made fun of alongside Michael Jackson and Billy Mays by a show notorious for taking the pulse of a zeitgeist before giving it a shot of adrenaline. Although the ghost hunters weren’t involved with the making of the episode and didn’t lend voices to their animated counterparts, they helped promote it through their very active Twitter feeds and TAPS fans responded by pushing “#ghosthunters” to a popular “trending topic” of the day.
With the new fall TV season officially begun, it would appear the trend in paranormal pop culture is still scaring up interest. No fewer than seven shows, three of which are returning for another season, are premiering in the next few weeks on network TV. Thursday is shaping up to be the biggest of para pop nights with four shows, so supernatural superfans might want to clear out space on the DVR.
(These don't include the shows rolling out in November and December, which include the reptilian alien remake V in November, along with new episodes of A&E's Paranormal State and the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures.)
Eastwick ABC, Wednesdays at 10 p.m. Premieres Sept. 23
Normal breakdown: In the seaside village of Eastwick, three very different women discover bewitching talents they never knew they had.
Paranormal take: Based on the John Updike novel and the 1987 movie, the series is about the supernaturally-inclined ladies who hang with devilish dude. The trailer is spiffy enough and could be Charmed for 30-somethings. Then again, it could also be Desperate Paranormal Housewives.
Flash Forward ABC, Thursdays at 8 p.m. Premieres Sept. 24
Normal breakdown: When the world’s population is given a glimpse of their future due to a mysterious global event, it forces everyone to come to grips with whether their destinies can be fulfilled or avoided.
Paranormal take: The concept of a global blackout where everyone sees their personal future six-months down the road (a possible future or not?) is engaging, but can it remain so for an entire season? With Lost wrapping up its run next winter, ABC needs a mythology-driven drama (but one that doesn't drive that audience insane). The clairvoyant experience won't be enough - nor will the disasters resulting from the blackout - so the payoff better be big, scary and rolled out quickly.
The Vampire Diaries CW, Thursdays at 8 p.m. Premiered Sept. 10 Normal breakdown:Two vampire brothers - one good, one evil - are at war for Elena's soul in the small town of Mystic Falls, Virginia."
Paranormal take:Yes, it's yet another high school vamp entry in paranormal pop culture, and yes, there are clear similarities to the Twilight saga. But this show is based on L.J. Smith's series from the '90s and is helmed by Kevin Williamson (Dawson's Creek, Scream). And based on the first episode, it's a fun, scintillating soap fit for the The CW. I'm betting we can expect more blood and actual vamp action than you might get from Twilight - and hopefully more character development.
Supernatural CW, Thursdays at 9 p.m. Premiered Sept. 10 Normal breakdown:Sam and Dean Winchester are following in their father's footsteps, traveling the country and hunting down evil forces. Paranormal take:Now entering its fifth season, Supernatural is a road trip/horror show about two monster-hunting brothers driving straight into an angels vs. demons armageddon. The season appears to have the boy patching things up a bit, just in time to fight off Lucifer. For those devoted fans who have been following the show for some time, crap gets real this season. But it remains to be seen whether it's enough to attract new viewers to the mythology-heavy cult fave.
Fringe Fox, Thursdays at 9 p.m. Premieres Sept. 17 Normal breakdown:The FBI's Fringe Division formed when Special Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) enlisted the help of institutionalized "fringe" scientist Walter Bishop and his son, Peter (Joshua Jackson), to save her partner and lover from a mind-bending death. Through unconventional and unorthodox methods, the Fringe team imagines and tests the impossibilities while investigating unbelievable events, macabre crimes, and mystifying cases involving pyrokinesis, neuroscience, cryonics, genetic engineering, astral projection, and other fantastical theories.
Paranormal take:Fringe had a slow build, but The X-Files-lite show hit a stride without getting too swallowed in an impenetrable mythology. Created by J.J. Abrams (Lost), Fringe hit it out of the dimension with a parallel reality revelation and Leonard Nimoy in the first season finale. If it continues to build on the freakiness without losing the quirky humor, the show will have the stuff to win the Thursday paranormal pop wars.
Ghost Whisperer CBS, Fridays at 8 p.m. Premieres Sept. 25 Normal breakdown:Melinda Gordon (Jennifer Love Hewitt) has a gift - she can communicate with earthbound spirits or ghosts who cling to the living because they have unfinished business in our world preventing them from "crossing over" or going into the light ... Melinda navigates between the dead and the living with her sometimes chilling, sometimes heart-rending and sometimes amusing actions as an intermediary between the ghosts and those they haunt.
Paranormal take:At the end of the last season, Melinda got her dead hubby back after he took over Sam's body and they all eventually worked out the details and got hitched - again. This season picks up five years in the future where her son is starting to show abilities that exceed hers. The new season sounds like a more compelling , darker turn for the show when a whole new realm of spiritual beings is revealed. Typically the introduction of a kid to a show is the first sign of approaching jump-sharking territory, but this time it actually sounds like a good move.
Medium CBS, Fridays at 9 p.m. Premieres Sept. 25 Normal breakdown:Medium is a drama inspired by the real-life story of research medium Allison Dubois (Patricia Arquette), an extraordinary young wife and mother who ... has gradually come to grips with her extraordinary ability to talk to dead people, see current events and the future through her dreams and read people's thoughts. Dubois works as a consultant to District Attorney Manuel Devalos, using her psychic abilities to solve violent and horrifying crimes. Paranormal take:After five seasons with NBC, the show was canceled and picked up by CBS. So the show has a lot to prove with this sixth season. To do so, it flashes forward (it appears to be a theme with fall para pop) four months to Allison out of a coma and back to crime solving. But if CBS wants to prove the show is worth saving, there's a lot of work to be done. Maybe a crossover with Ghost Whisperer would help.
Yesterday we interviewed Josh Gates - monster hunter, paranormal investigator and all-around nice guy.
As far as the crypto field goes, Josh has got it all: The respect, the mainstream appeal, the money, the women, the power (OK, so I'm purely speculating on the last two). The point is, he's a smooth operator while Emerson Wild is ... not so much.
Still, Emerson looks like a far better monster hunter than I, and his regular Joe (and regular schmoe) appeal and sense of humor makes me hope he sticks around.
Starring Zack Finfrock, Emerson Wild: Monster Hunter is a new web series about a dude who has the calling to trap the big bad beasties of the para-world, but still has to live with a roommate and pay rent.
So far there is only one episode to the show, but it looks cool and if it continues down this way, it could click as a solid Ghost Busters meets Spider-Man paranormal pop culture entry. Kudos to Tubefilter for writing about it first.
, you're partially wrong.
, Buell discusses, in his own words, his upbringing, Catholic faith, and the beginning of PRS and the show – as well as his revelation as a bisexual man, which has earned the book coverage in the mainstream press. But for Buell, who sits down after a book signing to chat at the Stone Rose lounge in Manhattan’s Time Warner Center, it’s a chronicle of his backstory and the show’s first season. He says the book is less of a memoir and instead largely documents a life transition between college and adulthood
fans rejoice. Not only do we offer you a super sneak peek at the new DT episode, "Haunted Island Ruins," but we also want to share the panel interview with 
