'Haunted Collector,' 'Hollywood Treasure' renewed

Syfy announced today that it would be renewing Hollywood Treasure for a six-episode season, and Haunted Collector for 12 eps for summer 2012.  Congrats to John Zaffis and Joe Maddalena.

'Haunted Collector' & 'Hollywood Treasure' Finale sneak peek

To get the holiday weekend off to the right start, how about some sneak peeks at the season finales of John Zaffis' Haunted Collector and Joe Maddalena's Hollywood Treasure?

Kicking off at 9 p.m. on Weds, July 6, on Haunted Collector, Zaffis and his team are detecting outrageous readings on their EMF reader near a wall of swords. They suspect it could be because there’s something electrical in the wall behind the sword but that doesn’t seem to be the case which makes the sword even more suspicious.

On the season finale of Hollywood Treasure this Wednesday at 10 p.m., Maddalena and team go head first into some props and masks from Walking Dead. Multiple masks that were used on set are being donated for them to auction and Joe even gets a surprising rise and scare from the items.

'Haunted Collector' John Zaffis on Syfy show, paranormal museum

BY AARON SAGERS

With John Zaffis' new show Haunted Collector just days away from its June 1 premiere, I spoke with the paranormal researcher about his work, the new series and his paranormal museum. Listen in to the audio clip or check out the transcripts below.

'Haunted Collector' sneak peek

In this new clip for John Zaffis' Haunted Collector, investigator Brian Cano goes digging under a house and finds ... something.  The show premieres June 1, 9 p.m.

John Zaffis on royal wedding cursed ring

The royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton is less than 48 hours away and whether most Americans like it or not, it is going to be the pop culture event dominating the weekend.

In the United Kingdom, the excitement over the wedding is likely hardwired into the culture after several centuries of caring about the royals.

Stateside, however, the appeal is slightly more complex. We don't have a good enough celebrity scandal to focus on. And perhaps there is the appeal of a fairy tale wedding, which a few people love. Plus, Princess Diana was always popular with American media, and her funeral did pick up good viewership over here, so there's a good chance a lot of people will tune in - not like there will be much else to watch on TV since every major U.S. network has reporters covering the story in London (CNN has 125 of them there).

Still, since this will be a pop culture event, and this is a pop culture site, we thought we'd add our two cents (pence?) to the big day - especially considering the obvious paranormal link.

There has been much talk over Kate Middleton's cursed engagement ring.  The ring, an 18-carat sapphire encircled by 14 diamonds, cost about $60,000 in 1981 when it was originally given by Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer of Wales (for inflation junkies, that's approximately $145K in 2011). History now tells us things were troubled between Charles and Di for a long time due to his ongoing relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles. Diana eventually stopped wearing the ring because of Charles' affair with Camilla, and after some very public comments, the couple separated in 1992, with a divorce following in '95.

So was all the nastiness in Charles and Di's enough to stir up bad juju around the ring? Moreover, is there still a powerful energy attached to the ring that may affect William and Kate's marriage?

As part of some research on an unrelated story, we recently consulted with paranormal researcher John Zaffis - known as the "Godfather of the Paranormal" and host of Syfy's upcoming show Haunted Collector - on the matter of curses.

John Zaffis to star in 'Haunted Collector'

For fans and enthusiasts of the paranormal, John Zaffis is something of a legend. Known as the "Godfather of the Paranormal," he is a noted researcher, religious demonologist, nephew to famed investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, and has been involved in some of the most intense ghostly and inhuman paranormal cases out there (including A Haunting in Connecticut).

Zaffis is the author of Shadows of the Dark, has been on countless installments of paranormal pop culture, and beginning June 1, he will be leading his own show on Syfy - Haunted Collector - along with his son Chris, daughter Amy and paranormal investigators Beth Ezzo and Brian Cano. The show will follow Zaffis' team as he tracks down "possessed possessions" such as paintings, guns, jewelry and antiques to be stored in his museum.

(As someone who has been in the museum, I can attest to the fact that it is a creepy, yet amazing, site to behold.) 
Within the paranormal reality-TV genre, there are a lot of "stars" who emerge out of nowhere, but Zaffis has this stuff in his blood and has been in the investigative field for decades. And to receive a blessing (as in approval, not prayer ... although he knows some people who can help with that, too) from him means something significant.

As such, Zaffis is one of my first resources when I'm looking for background and theories on all manner of paranormal activity. He is also a hell of a funny guy.

I don't know what the finished product of Haunted Collector will look like, but if you're interested in a show spotlighting a true heavyweight within the paranormal, you'll be tuning into Syfy on June 1.

-Aaron Sagers

'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).

'The Haunting in Georgia' in pre-production

Following the $77 million commercial success of (critically panned) supernatural horror flick The Haunting in Connecticut, Lionsgate's follow-up/companion piece The Haunting in Georgia is in pre-production with an August start date for a 2011 release. So far we know Tom Elkins is directing David Coggeshall's script.

The Haunting ... movies are "true stories" loosely based on Discovery Channel's A Haunting series, available on DVD, varies from creepy to cheese. The show took off because of the excellent John Zaffis and Warren-led Connecticut case.

The Georgia synopsis, which sounds pretty dang close to Connecticut, is:

Shortly after moving into their ideal new home, a couple grows concerned when their young daughter begins encountering mysterious strangers that no one else can see. The couple's greatest fear is realized when they themselves begin to witness terrifying phenomena in and around the house, providing clues that could unlock a chilling mystery that has remained a closely guarded secret for generations.

Mark Twain's ghost encounters

To mark the Twain lecture (pun intended) at Samuel Clemens' house this evening by Dustin Pari (aka "The Paranormal Rock Star") and John Zaffis (aka "The Godfather of the Paranormal"), it seemed like a good idea to discuss the author's connection to the paranormal.  Not only is Twain's house in Hartford, CT, is supposedly haunted by his daughter Susie, but maybe Twain himself decided to stick around after his death. 

After all, the great American author was fascinated by ghosts and wrote about them on more than one occasion. For instance, in The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, he even wrote that, "I heard that kind of a sound that a ghost makes when it wants to tell about something that's on its mind and can't make itself understood, and so can't rest easy in its grave, and has to go about that way every night grieving." If that's not the account of an author who knew about ghostly sounds, what is?

So, if you're fortunate enough to attend the lecture tonight - and even if you're not (although tickets are still available) - get into the spirit of the Twain house by reading this March 1866 article from a San Francisco weekly called The Golden Era, where the author relates an encounter with mediums and ghosts:

SpookTube? Paranormal TV channel to launch on Web

Sometimes a great idea comes along that makes us ask ourselves A) This doesn’t already exist? B)Why didn’t we think of this?

That’s the thought process we had when we heard about the Paranormal Television Network, which is coming soon to an Internet near you. The Web-based, viewer-driven channel is spearheaded by superstar paranormal researcher John Zaffis and Laura Kimberley, executive director of the International Paranormal Acknowledgement Awards, and Marc Tetlow, the CEO of Ideal Event Management.

Tentatively scheduled for a July 24 launch, PTN will offer global content and approach the paranormal field “not just from the scientific approach, but the spiritual approach,” says Kimberley.

“We want to take everybody out there around the world, no matter what category [under the paranormal umbrella], showcase them, and give them that platform … It’s going to change the way things are viewed.”

While Kimberley says she can’t discuss the exact lineup yet, they’re looking at show demos sent in to the Web site, and they hope to include paranormal music videos, comedy and documentaries - along with the educational aspect sometimes left on the cutting-room floor of some paranormal pop culture. And if the banner of the PTN site is any indication, it looks like Kimberley and crew are going to be embracing the fun of paranormal so often overlooked.

For John Zaffis, a noted demonologist and nephew of Ed and Lorraine Warren – the paranormal investigators of the Amityville case – this is “one of the very few ventures with the media I’m comfortable with.”

Zaffis has already discussed his work on the Discovery Channel and “Unsolved Mysteries,” and his cases have been the basis for movies like “The Haunting In Connecticut.”

He says one aspect that excites him about his PTN involvement includes discussing the possessed possessions he has in his private museum. “I want to move forward with my museum show. Once a week I’ll be talking about one or two of the objects in the paranormal museum. It’s going to be me speaking directly about the item.”

Keep posted as more details emerge about PTN, but if Kimberley is right and “TV eventually is going to be all on the Internet,” then we’ll continue to kick ourselves for not thinking of this idea first.

-as