In defense of Ghost Hunters

by Keith McDuffee

Sci Fi

I frickin’ love this time of year. In New England, the air is crisp, the leaves are changing and — at least for old farts like me — I don’t have that pain-in-the-ass thing called “school” to tie my stomach up in knots anymore (ignore me kids — stay in school!)

With this time of year comes Halloween, and unlike Christmas — which seems to last for-freaking-ever — this “holiday” comes and goes too fast. So, as soon as the paper witches and orange-colored bags of candy appear in the aisles of drugstores across the country, it’s Halloween in my eyes.

So, on that note, let’s talk Ghost Hunters.

I’ve said on more than one occasion that one of my biggest guilty pleasures on TV is Sci Fi’s Ghost Hunters. I even fessed up to the fact on SyFyRadio recently. Nobody I know likes this show, and most simply love to make fun of me for liking it. I don’t blame them, though. I mean, come on, it’s a bunch of grown men and women spending nights yelling out-loud for unseen people to speak and measuring the temperature of the air, for crying out loud.

The thing is, whether critics and skeptics believe it or not, I think Jason, Grant and the rest of the GH crew are not putting us on. Some people I’ve talked to think the whole thing is a farce, that the people on the show are knowingly setting up hoaxes for the viewers. Well, dear sir/madam, I cry bullshit on you.

I don’t think for a second that anyone connected with the show is putting the viewers on. There are maybe two cases I can recall watching where I thought maybe someone was pulling a prank on the GH team, but not a person part of the team or crew. The only reason I consider them possibilities is because the evidence caught was a bit too much to believe — hell, even the GH team attempted to debunk the evidence multiple times, on multiple occasions (Eastern State Penitentiary comes to mind).

If you’ve never caught the show before, you might not know that these guys aren’t out to prove the existence of paranormal activity. Rather, they are there to debunk claims made by those who are reporting experiences. And debunk they have, to the point it’s gotta be embarrassing for the people involved to not have noticed. “You mean it was a loose floorboard that caused the door to open on its own? *facepalm*”

It’s not that I necessarily believe in ghosts. I’m simply just fascinated by something clearly odd going on, something unexplained. And, with that in mind and believing that these guys aren’t putting us on, this is perfect Halloween-time fare.

Still don’t believe the show’s not putting people on? OK, here’s what I’m going to do. Next Monday and Tuesday, I’ll be tagging along with the Ghost Hunters as they pay a visit to a very cool area of New England that I’ve passed by many times as a kid. No, really! I’ll interview some of the team and observe things without getting in their way. I’ll report back here with how things went. I can’t wait!

(Update: Apparently it’s not a secret where they’ll be filming. So there you go.)