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John heads down to New Mexico to investigate the Backside Ale House with alleged haunted activity. There are claims of shadow movement while in the women’s restroom, beer taps that open on their own and gas burners that turn on by themselves.

John fixates on an old detonator used in the coal mines. He casts an inquisitive eye over the tomahawk and the old whiskey jug as though thinking how they might look in his collection. John immediately jumps on the idea that the tomahawk must have killed people and is therefore evil. By this same logic all hearses are haunted and evil because they’ve carried the deceased.

The idea that the detonator caused people their lives is equally as illogical. It may have caused explosions that killed people. It may have trapped workers. Then again, it may have done none of those things. John is making massive leaps of logic and causation. This is truly assigning cause and effect regardless of how the items are related.

When it comes to the taps pouring beer when no one is around would have nothing to do with pressure in the line I’m sure. Same with the knobs on the stove. There is no way pressure could push them open. There is no way it could be the work of faulty equipment. Clearly this has to be the work of the paranormal.

John then heads down the road to the St. James Hotel where guests are running out in the middle of the night because of all the activity. People claim to get attacked and thrown over the railing. They’re seeing faces in the mirrors and the owner wants some answer before he gets run out of business.

The investigation at the St. James Hotel is a complete farce. Not a single experiment John does has any merit whatsoever. There are dozens of causes for a glass of water to get cold not the least of which is something we like to call "ice". I’ve never seen this type of experiment done before and it just happens to get an effect in the exact spot John puts it in. What are the odds?!

And the odds of someone getting a nosebleed in New Mexico are unheard of. Clearly that is the work of spirits and has nothing to do with dry air and dust.

Honestly these experiments are as bad as the ones we used to see in Ghost Lab. John’s like of thinking and methods of inquiry are sketchy at best. This show is turning into a comedy with each new episode.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – Winchester Mystery House – S05E04
• Haunted Collector – Emmitt House Ghosts and Shadow Intruder – S03E05
• Haunted Collector – Haunted Bayou/Library Ghost – S01E01
• Haunted Collector – Stirring the Dead and Ghost Writer – S02E06
• Ghost Adventures – Old Town San Diego – S05E03
• Ghost Adventures – Lizzie Borden House – S05E05
• Haunted Collector – Enfield Horror and Masonic Spirits – S02E11
• Haunted Collector – Uncivil Spirit & Revolutionary Ghost – S01E05
• Haunted Collector – Haunted Mansion and Ghost Mill – S02E01
• Ghost Adventures – The Queen Mary – S10E01

For this second outing John and his team head to investigate a home where a mother is having problems with objects moving and noises. The client has lost several family members over the past year so unfortunately death has been a fixture in her life for awhile. She shows John some of the places where activity has occurred and shows several items her mom was close to. She was very interested in figures of angels. John also checks out the painting and other furniture. He seems to have a roving eye like a guy at a garage sale.

They also investigate the bedrooms where a music box might of interest. They decide to set up an experiment for that night where baby powder is poured over the floor to see if they can capture footprints. Unfortunately the team commits one of the classic blunders and walks right through the baby powder. Definitely getting an amateur vibe off that move.

John says he picked up an EVP during the night which they happen to capture near the music box. When they play it back to the client she immediately says it’s her mother. Purple flowers doesn’t seem to correspond with anything they were talking about but it means something to the client.

Since the EVP was heard near the music box John takes it to an antique dealer to learn more. It’s an old item but there is nothing especially unique about it. Of course a music box is a personal item so it would have sentimental value. Based on that John feels he needs to remove it from the house.

The next investigation sees John going to a home littered with all sorts of animal carcasses. The owner claims he hears all sorts of things and his son constantly wakes up and is scared to sleep alone. Not to be rude, but if I had to sleep in a house full of dead animals and shark mouths stapled to the walls I probably wouldn’t sleep either. The house is looking pretty scary right off the bat. Tone down the taxidermy and the young fellow might make it through the night.

They sweep the house and get spikes from a cane that is hanging on the wall. But just as quickly as they get the reading it disappears. And then comes back again. This makes John suspicious so off it goes to the dealer. It turns out to be a cane gun which was somewhat unusual for the time but not unheard of. As you might expect there was a shooting involving a cane gun in the same area where the cane was bought. No surprise that the gun needs to be removed from the house. But John doesn’t stop there he takes some shark mouths out of the son’s room. Even though nothing is really recorded in conjunction with either of these items he wraps them up and takes them away.

Now that we’re two episodes in this show has me scratching my head. As I said before I like the research, I like the daytime investigations and taking baseline readings. However, this whole taking stuff out of the house seems like the work of a guy who just wants to build a collection of cool stuff for his museum. I mean who doesn’t want an old cane gun?

But the other major problem is that (according to his website) John takes these items out of the house and does a binding ceremony on them. That basically calms down the energy and then he stores them in a case if the energy is still too high. That being said why can’t he do that for his clients? Why can’t they do a binding ritual and keep their stuff? And if it’s still too dangerous then wouldn’t this museum of his be insanely dangerous for people to visit? Wouldn’t his very life be in jeopardy with all that negative energy? If it’s safe for him to be around and the public at large then why can’t the owners be around them now that they’re clean? That whole part just doesn’t make sense to me.

Further I think their assumptions and connections are somewhat flawed. Shark teeth have negative energy? A cane gun that may have nothing to do with a murder decades ago is the source of problems in your home? A music box is rousing up the spirit of your mom and she’s causing problems? I mean really these things seem a little farfetched.

I’m not sure if I like this show or not. Part of me likes the line of inquiry but the other part things this is a way to get your hands on some cheap antiques…

Other Articles of Interest:

• Haunted Collector – Uncivil Spirit & Revolutionary Ghost – S01E05
• Haunted Collector – Haunted Bayou/Library Ghost – S01E01
• Haunted Collector – Cigar Bar and Childs Play – S03E02
• Paranormal Lockdown – S02E11 – Scutt Mansion
• Haunted Collector – Slaughterhouse Ghosts & Supernatural Sword – S01E06
• Haunted Collector – Emmitt House Ghosts and Shadow Intruder – S03E05
• Haunted Collector – Haunted Seminary and Ghost Games – S03E11
• Haunted Collector – Hollywood Haunted and Gold Rush Ghost – S03E10
• Ghost Stalkers – Whisperers Estate – S01E01
• Haunted Collector – Ghost Tavern and Terror House – S02E09

 

SyFy has spun up yet another show on the paranormal called Haunted Collector which features the work of John Zaffis and his family as they try to help people cope with otherworldly events. I’ve been intrigued by the idea of the show but after watching the first two episodes that have aired I must admit I find several flaws.

John has grown up with the paranormal and has been around it just about his entire life. He studied demonology under the guidance of his aunt and uncle, Lorraine and Ed Warren. Yes, that Lorrain Warren of Amityville Horror and Paranormal State fame. That connection alone makes me a little skeptical but let’s put that aside for now.

What John does is investigate locations with paranormal activity and looks for the source. The angle here is that he believes objects are responsible for activity and by removing those objects you remove the activity. He believes that objects become haunted or contain spirit energy. Certainly a different take on things. Although we did see some of this in the very early episodes of Ghost Hunters and Paranormal State.

This first episode starts with John and his family visiting a home with activity. I do like the idea of the daytime sweep where they check for EMF and other unusual things during the day so they can take baseline readings. This is something we haven’t seen the other shows focus on. It was also interesting that they did EVPs during the day as well. Everyone does them at night as though that’s the only time spirits come out. Again, I like the idea of them working during the day and spending more than just one day at a location.

As they investigate the house during the night they pick up something odd on the thermal imager. They see a big blue cold spot on the wall. To try and discover the source of the problem they end up in the crawl space. Seeing there is no renegade pipe or AC unit they decide to start digging. And what do they find? Yep, a metal box. The chain of events leading to this box seems a little too coincidental to me but I’ll run with it.

And what’s in the box you ask? Why a gun of course. They just happen to find some gun in a little metal box under the house. John figures this is the source of all the problems and goes to a gun dealer to have him check it out and give some details on how old it is. The team makes a connection between the gun and some shooting.

The homeowner of course wants the gun gone so John takes it back to his museum for safe keeping.

For his second outing John heads to an old library with claims of activity that is scaring the kids. There are lots of noises and things bumping around. John and his team once again check out the building by day and try to get a history of the objects they find there. These items include a large stove and a typewriter in particular.

The typewriter is interesting since they get EMF readings off it. Somewhat odd for a manual typewriter to give off EMF spikes. They decide to set up some experiments to watch it which includes hanging some string in the room to detect movement as well as 4 IR cameras. They don’t collect any real evidence during the night but they feel the typewriter is the center of the problems so John goes to have it looked at by a dealer. It’s a very old unit and would have been quite expensive. Of course letters were the main form of communication during the time. I’m not sure why but John feels taking the typewriter away will solve the paranormal problems.

After these items are removed the clients claim the activity has dropped off. I find some of the show very interesting while some of it seems a bit too oddball. First, I’m not too much of a fan of an object becoming possessed with dark energy. While we know a tiki can possess the Brady family while they’re off in Hawaii I’m a bit more skeptical when it comes to this sort of things happening to other people.

Second, John and his team make some pretty big leaps in logic. A gun buried under a house that has no connection with the owner and that could have come from anywhere and a typewriter several floors up in a library are the causes for paranormal activity? I’m not quite seeing the correlation.

So far I have mixed feelings. I like some of the techniques. I like the research based approach. I’m not sure the findings are very solid though.

Let’s see what this next episode brings.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Haunted Collector – My Mother’s Ghost & Paranormal Predator – S01E02
• Haunted Collector – Uncivil Spirit & Revolutionary Ghost – S01E05
• Haunted Collector – Stirring the Dead and Ghost Writer – S02E06
• Haunted Collector – Slaughterhouse Ghosts & Supernatural Sword – S01E06
• Haunted Collector – Haunted Villa and Spirit Springs – S02E03
• Haunted Collector – Haunted Seminary and Ghost Games – S03E11
• Haunted Collector – The Sanitarium & Firehouse Phantom – S01E04
• Haunted Collector – Burning Spirits – Ghosts of the West – S01E03
• Haunted Collector – Hulbert House and King House – S02E02
• Paranormal Challenge – Ohio State Reformatory – S01E04