Ghost Adventures – The Pioneer Saloon – S08E01

It’s a brand new season of Ghost Adventures and I have to admit, I approach this with a lot of trepidation. I haven’t been that impressed with a lot of their previous episodes. The reenactment theatres are really wearing thing and the overly dramatic way they present their evidence shows desperation. It’s even more blatant that they feel a place is haunted before they even get there. You know, not everything is a portal to darkness or a gateway to the other side. Sometimes a hole is simply a hole and a hole in the wall is a hole in the wall. Even though I’m a bit late on checking out the season premiere, I did just that. And unfortunately, some things never change.

For this episode, Zak, Nick and Aaron head off to the Pioneer Mine in Goodsprings, Nevada. It’s the oldest running saloon, built in 1913 as a mining town. As expected there were plenty of gunfights, prostitutes and stories of woe and sadness.

A card game got out of hand one night and Paul Coski, a cheater, ended up paying with his life. If you’ve ever visited one of these town, like Tombstone, for example, cheating at cards was about the worst thing you could do. I think kicking puppies and kittens was considered a minor offense in comparison. Well, Paul ended up getting shot multiple times and left for dead on the saloon floor. Some people say his spirit is still there.

And then we have the story of Carol Lombard, siren of the silver screen and wife of Clark Gable, who sadly died in a plane crash just a few miles from the saloon. In a miscalculation of altitude, the plane didn’t clear the mountain range and all 22 passengers on board died. The saloon was set up as a makeshift base of operations and the bodies of the dead were actually brought back there. Clark Gable waited at the saloon for news of his wife. It is believe the spirit of Jane Lombard lingers in the saloon. But to contact her, you need to address her by her real name, Jane Alice Peter. Noel Sheckells, the owner of the saloon, says who women asked for her by name and got the answer of "yes" as a response.

Some of the other paranormal experiences include the shadow of a man in cowboy hat, lingering smoke as well as voices. On the surface it doesn’t sound like much and a great many things sound like either wishful thinking or the types of noises you would expect from a hundred year old building. But as we get deeper, I have to admit, those EVPs are pretty impressive for once.

But as we get all the details and back story, those incredibly over used, overly dramatic scenes of blood on the floor, a head vibrating back and forth and other dramatizations to instill that sense of foreboding came out. Please, just stop. It’s frustrating and to me just cheapens the whole thing. Let the story speak for itself, stop the flowing blood imagery and scenes out of a horror movie. No, it doesn’t scare me in the slightest, it just looks plain stupid. And you wonder why no one takes paranormal investigations seriously? How about you take yourselves and the subject matter seriously first.

Zak and Aaron check out the saloon with the owner Noel Sheckells looking for answers about the female crying. They get the response of "Ruby" not Carol or Jane Alice as they were expecting. And when asked how many spirits were there, she quickly gives the reply of two. When asked if Paul was there, the cheater at cards, she indicated "I think so" and "he’s here". These came quite quickly, were short and noticeably clear. So many of their other EVPs are a garbled mess, but these were easily distinguished. This is the first time I would agree with their analysis of what they heard. Who knows who Ruby actually is, but it really does sound like they made contact with her. Is she the one crying? That wasn’t caught. Was she killed by Paul? That would be total speculation. Was she one of the 250 prostitutes brought into town? Again, nothing but a guess. But it does sound like some poor woman is there and may be in distress.

As for other evidence, there are two "linear type anomalies" which to me look like crickets flying around, but Zak swears up and down they have debunked these as bugs, even though we can clearly hear crickets as they try to talk to Paul at the poker table.

And speaking of Paul, they set up a Rem Pod and bring out some drinks to try and talk to Paul. And perhaps it worked since the pod goes off and they get a very clear "whiskey" as to what he was drinking the night he died. It comes several minutes after the question, but the word is still distinct. This might not be Paul and it may not be an answer. It might be some other spirit wanting a taste of the whiskey Zak is holding.

Some other curious EVPs are caught when Zak asks the question, "how many bodies are buried or were thrown in the mineshaft under the saloon. They get a pretty distinct answer of "nine". Are there really nine bodies buried under the saloon? Are they victims of murder or is there something far less sinister to the story? Unfortunately, that’s the only answer we get.

While Zak and Aaron was investigating the saloon, Nick and Billy head off to the Belle Mine since there are claim of activity out there. Of course, the "noises" the owner hears sound more like the sounds of animals, creaking support beams and falling rocks. But the lads go for a look anyway. For the most part they simply risk their lives as they go down 300 feet worth of mineshafts. They hear some noises, but nothing really comes across as unexplained.

The most compelling thing about this episode where the EVPs and I think that’s the first time I’ve ever said that. Unlike the hundreds of others that have been offered up, these actually made sense to me. They were clear, didn’t squeak or squelch and gave an actual answer we could understand. I think this may be the first time they really captured something. Who knows what it is, since I don’t think it’s Carol Lombard or the card cheat Paul, but it does sound like they’ve got a hold of someone…

There is already another show out, I wonder if that evidence is as good as what they present in this one. Minus the "linear type anomaly".

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – Palace Saloon – S13E03
• Ghost Adventures – S08E09 – Mustang Ranch
• Ghost Adventures – Palmer House Hotel – S07E04
• Ghost Adventures – The Exorcist House – S08E07
• Ghost Adventures – Black Moon Manor – S07E05
• Ghost Adventures – Eureka Mining Town – S15E14
• Ghost Adventures – Return to Linda Vista Hospital – S06E05
• Ghost Adventures – Bannack Ghost Town – S09E04
• Ghost Adventures – Samaritan Cult House – S14E03
• Ghost Hunters International – Port Arthur Penitentiary – S02E10