Paranormal Challenge – Old South Pittsburgh Hospital – S01E08

Here we have another exciting episode in a hospital shrouded in dark history and medical blunders. We have a doctor with a wife that’s murdered, he doesn’t account for his whereabouts and the police drop the investigation against him. We have a child who dies at a young age after being bitten multiple times by copperhead snakes. (This is an urban legend isn’t it?) We also have a maintenance worker who commits suicide on the property, but says he’ll be back.

I’m extremely excited over the judges since we have Ron Fabiani of Paranormal Cops. I liked that show and I liked his method. I like the way he used measurable criteria and his logical approach. I still think his show had a lot of potential. I’m also excited about having Dr. Andrew Nichols, a parapsychologist. His analysis and insight about EVPs and other evidence is so refreshing to hear.

As for the teams, we have Tennessee Wraith Chasers and the Office of Paranormal Studies who are ready to scour this hospital and see if they come up with evidence. So how does it go for them and what do they come away with?

The teams start off quite well, but we have the blunder of Brandon from OPS who goes off the basement for a solo mission and forgets the digital recorder. He was off on his own for around an hour and a half and doesn’t actually stop to do any real investigating. Not only did he forget the recorder, he spends all his time antagonizing. He doesn’t stop to listen. The other gaff comes from Debbie when she starts to get frustrated at the lack of activity and starts throwing her hands up in the air and saying, "this sucks". She shows a definite lack of leadership and patience. I think she soured her team and drained their energy.

The Tennessee Wraith Chasers come across as a bunch of good ol’ boys and while they seem to know what they’re doing, they lack a certain level of organization. Their investigation is haphazard and doesn’t have a logical flow to it. They also don’t seem all that interested in stopping to capture EVPs. They run into a spot, say a couple things, then act like a bull at the gate to move on. Perhaps they were excited, perhaps overzealous, but in the end, their investigation seemed frantic.

What do we have in evidence? In actually it’s somewhat limited. They both present EVPs that are pretty low quality. I do like how Dr. Nichols is reminding everyone of how saying what you think and EVP says biases everyone else who listens to it. They are all expecting to hear that same phrase and will adjust their interpretation to match. The other evidence is a light source near the tricycle. It’s somewhat interesting, but I’m inclined to agree with Ron and say that is an IR reflection. At any rate, it’s not the sort of evidence that leaps out at you.

It was a good investigation, but to me the best part was listening to Dr. Nichols. He very clearly states that people hear what they want to hear and that when interpreting evidence you can’t jump to conclusions. He stresses there is a lot bias at play and people need to guard against it. I’d love to see him show up in more episodes and I’d be keenly interesting in learning more from him.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Asylum S01E01
• Paranormal Challenge – Ohio State Reformatory – S01E04
• Paranormal Challenge – Western Virginia Penitentiary – S01E05
• Haunted Towns – Bisbee Arizona – S01E05
• Paranormal Challenge – Waverly Hills Sanatorium – S01E06
• Paranormal Challenge – Linda Vista Hospital – S01E10
• Paranormal Challenge – Eastern State Penitentiary – S01E02
• Paranormal Challenge – Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum – S01E07
• Ghost Lab – Episode 2 – Tombstone
• Ghost Adventures – Waverly Hills Sanatorium – S04E04