Haunted Highway – Silver City Ghost Town and Shunka Warakin – S01E06

Silver City Ghost Town

I usually scoff at supposed "ghost towns" simply because the buildings are so run down, animals are living in the walls, boards are creaking and overall there is so much that can easily be explained away. However, this investigation turned out to be a little different and the things Jael and Devin came across would have scared the hell out of me? Are they all paranormal? Well, that’s the question…

We have the usual stories of misfortune associated with a hotel and the gold rush. We did seem to be missing the story of the jilted prostitute with an unborn child though. That always seems to come up. But anyway, as Devin is walking around upstairs a door swings open. Not really that big a deal, just a broken door knob or loose hinges. He thinks the same thing and checks the door to make sure it’s shut. Just after he walks away, it opens again. Maybe he didn’t secure it like the thought he did. Maybe it settles into some odd groove and then opens.

But next up is the lamp above the door that swings on it’s own. Sure, it could just be an lamp that just gave way. It might do that sort of thing all the time. Hell, it might just be broken and barely hanging on. Combine that with the door and it’s kinda weird.

There is also the rocking chair that seems to start rocking on it’s own. More than likely that was caused by some uneven floorboards and their walking around made one pop up enough to set the chair in motion. I don’t attribute anything paranormal to that one, for the most part.

Then there is Jael getting trapped in the "isolation chamber" in the Masonic lodge. Right after she asks if the spirits want her to leave, the small door slams shut on her. That right there is enough to make you ruin a perfectly good pair of pants. Was that just one hell of a coincidence? Was it some off camera trickery? Does that door close like that all the time and it’s no big deal?

Maybe all these events are just a bunch of coincidences and actually don’t mean a thing. Like I said before, it’s an old hotel, things are rusted, broken, damaged and more than likely no one is actually taking care of these things. Clearly, when we looked in certain rooms they were a complete disaster. Regardless, when you put them altogether, whatever the cause, that is one scary ass place.

This episode was pretty damn awesome.

Shunka Warakin

Once again, this is story similar to El Chupacabra, a creature that goes out, kills animals and leaves their carcases behind. The locals say it’s some sort of conglomeration of multiple animals. Jael and Devin are told to head out onto the plains to find it. So that’s what they do.

Using a goat as bait, they scour the area looking for signs. It’s hard to tell what they’re looking for, but ultimately they find some blood and what looks to be some torn fur from an animal. It does look like something nasty took place out there. They hear lots of howls and get hits in the Flir. Ironically, they just happen to have an RC car with them. Was that planned or was it always in the back of the car? Anyway…

They strap a camera to the car and discover the noises they keep hearing are related to a pack of dogs. And not cute little puppies other, but big, heavy, muscular looking dogs. It’s pretty easy to draw the conclusion that the dogs have at least something to do with the animal killings. A couple of hungry dogs could easily rip an animal to pieces, but if anything came up on them during the act they would just take off and leave the carcass behind. These could be escaped dogs or a pack that has been out there for quite some time. Considering the size of these ranches it would be almost impossible to find them or keep track of them.

It seems the Shunka Warakin has a pretty earthly explanation.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Haunted Highway – Darkman of Standing Rock and Blackstar Shadow Man – S01E02
• Haunted Highway – El Dorado Hell Hounds and Georgia Skinstealer – S01E04
• Haunted Highway – Utah Skinwalker and Ozark Howler – S01E03
• Haunted Highway – Louisiana Swamp Woman and Pioneer Cemetery – S01E05
• Haunted Highway – Bear Lake Beast and Vergas Hairy Man – S01E01
• Haunted Highway – Island of Lost Souls – S02E01
• Haunted Highway – Beast of Bray Road and Tonopah Mine – S02E03
• Haunted Highway – Manchac Swamp and Moonville Tunnel – S02E02
• Haunted Highway – Black Angel and Arizona Domes – S02E06
• Haunted Highway – Lake Murray Beast and The Donner Party – S02E04