Paranormal State S04E06 – Dark Practice
I don’t want to sound mean or insensitive, but this episode was nothing more than a woman who hadn’t come to terms with her husband’s suicide. The first thing that struck me was, if you have bad feelings about a house from the very first day you get there, why would you stay? And why do the clients always hold back the truth? Why do you call someone in to supposedly help you and then lie to them about what’s going on?
Brenda feels that a dark hooded figure stalks the house and that it drove her husband Jim to his death, although she hold off on telling that until the very end. She hears walking, sees shadows and hears loud gunshots. The activity apparently happens every night and she barely gets any sleep because of it. We come to find out Jim had a medical practice and that he lost several of his patients in the house. We also learn that he committed suicide in the house. Even more, we learn that Jim had a first wife who was killed in a car accident while he was in the car. And that she may have dabbled with the Ouija. (And as we know, PRS frowns on the Ouija since printed cardboard is a gateway to hell).
But what does this have to do with the investigation? Well nothing actually, because Ryan and team don’t find anything paranormal going on in the house. What we do have is a grieving widow who seems to be harboring a great deal of guilt about her husbands death. Her visions of the paranormal come across as more related to Brenda trying to justify her husbands actions than any sort of real activity in the house.
What does the team suggest? They have Father Bob Bailey come in and tell the entity to move on. And with that, everything stops.
I’m really going to have to chalk this one up to psychological and emotional distress. Anyone else?
Other Articles of Interest:
- Paranormal State S04E02 – Invitation to Evil
- Paranormal State – The Lurking Man – S05E09
- Paranormal State – Bedroom Eyes – S05E13
- Paranormal State – Shadow Caster – S04E09
- Paranormal State – Do Bad Things – S05E10
- Ghost Adventures – Upper Fruitland Curse – S14E08
- Paranormal State – Haunted Homecoming – S05E13
- Paranormal State – Darkness Falls – S04E08
- Paranormal State, seeing the demonic in a box of Cracker Jacks
- Paranormal State – Paranormal Detour – S05E07
Ghost Adventures – Clovis Wolfe Manor
Zak and team head to the Clovis Wolfe Manor in California which some of the residents claim is a "black hole" of dark energy. It was once a stately manor but when the family hit on hard times the house was taken over and converted into a sanatorium. Like many others of it’s time, it had the best of intentions in helping patients, but in reality it served to cram them into rooms, chain them to the floor and toilets and neglect them to the point of festering sores. As you would expect, many of the patients died from this abuse. There are even reports of patients turning on each other and two murders are documented as having occurred there.
Right from the beginning the EMF meter spikes and the group claims to hear voices, especially one of a little girl. The claims of the paranormal are pretty widespread and varied. Voices, footsteps, shuffling feet, people being tugged, hair being pulled and even one worker who claims to have been pulled back into a crawlspace and another who thinks the spirits might have tried to push him down the stairs have all supposedly taken place here.
So what evidence did they find? They claim to have recorded multiple EVPs not the least of which was the "want … your energy …" We know it’s important because it consumes half the screen for several seconds as Zak tells us so. It’s an interesting claim but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. As always, I’m not even sure that’s what it says.
Zak claims to have quite an experience in the crawlspace where he hears this voice and then feels fingers around his neck as he trying to get out; very similar to the experience felt by one of the workers who was tugged by the ankles. (Hey, you asked for that one, don’t freak out).
But the big news for this investigation was the new ultraviolet camera they brought in which allows them to see different parts of the light spectrum. They tried it out in the basement of the house after Zak hears "want your energy" and feels the hands around his neck. With the rapid-fire switching back and forth between cameras it’s a little hard to tell what’s going on, but they claim a purple mist enters the room and spreads itself over the floor where the voice recorder is. Also, it takes a position on the couch for a short while before heading out of the room.
It’s interesting stuff, but since this a brand new piece of technology with no benchmark as to how a room should look under normal conditions and what kind of things they should ignore I can’t get too excited over it. Maybe this does open a window to see spirit energy, or perhaps it’s just another way of looking at car lights or drafts. It’ll be interesting to see if this camera makes it’s way into more episodes. Since this is probably the end of the season (GA usually does just 8 episodes a season) we’ll have to wait and see what they do with it.
Once again a sad and fascinating location where good intentions go bad and the tales of patient abuse extend through the decades. Haunted or not, the people who live in Clovis hang rosaries and crosses on the gates of the property to try and offer peace and comfort. The owner and those who visit feel the place is alive with the energy of the past.
So, that purple mist in the basement, conclusive evidence of the paranormal? And did Zak have some hands around his neck as he tried to get out of the crawlspace?
Other Articles of Interest:
- Ghost Adventures – The Viper Room – S14E10
- Ghost Adventures – Lechtworth Village – S05E06
- Ghost Adventures – Palace Saloon – S13E03
- Ghost Adventures – Tooele Hospital – S04E26
- Ghost Adventures – Thornhaven Manor – S08E10
- Ghost Adventures – Pennhurst State School and Hospital
- Ghost Adventures – Ashmore Estate – S05E01
- Ghost Adventures – Rolling Hills Asylum – s04e02
- Ghost Adventures – Prospect Place
- Ghost Adventures – Poveglia Island
When will the Ghost Hunters be exposed?
It seems there’s a lot of evidence mounting that indicates the Ghost Hunters team may be taking some liberties with their investigations. A lot of analysis has been done since Halloween 2008 when Grant was supposedly pulled in all sorts of directions by an unseen force during the live investigation. Since then, many people have gone back to review their footage to see if their claims match the evidence. Some, are even going back to the very first episodes where they claim to have gotten some of their very best evidence.
If you have a look at these two articles over at Haunt Jaunts you’ll see several of the clips people are talking about and some questions you should consider as you watch the evidence for yourself.
Thoughts on Ghost Hunters Faking Evidence
The Faked Footage Ghost Hunters Doesn’t Want You to See
Further, we have the somewhat vague but interesting comments made by former Ghost Hunters case manager Donna LaCroix. While she didn’t say any faking had taken place, she did make comment about unusual editing, that people need to think for themselves and that everyone is out to stab you in the back. Not exactly the hometown atmosphere you would expect.
It would be naïve to think that there’s not millions riding on the success of Ghost Hunters. With it’s "humble" beginnings as two blue-collar plumbers who investigate the paranormal into the now multiple franchises, with a slew of copycats, there’s big money to be made. And clearly Jason and Grant have made a few dollars along the way since we all know they bought the Spalding Inn together. There’s a lot on the line to keep people watching.
If you go back to those first episodes, Jason disputed just about every piece of evidence and said it would be hard for him to rule something as haunted unless he had conclusive proof. Now? He labels everything as having paranormal activity, skipping the use of the word, "haunted". Is the evidence any more solid? I don’t think it is.
So is the Ghost Hunter franchise taking a few shortcuts to make good television and keep people interested? As they admit, they’re dealing with something that you can’t inherently prove. Can they really be accused of faking something that most people don’t believe in anyway? Are they pulling strings and setting up scenes for the paranormal to appear? Considering the grainy green glow of the camera, how hard is it to trace something that isn’t there or have people fill in the dots to make something appear? People will believe what they want to believe. No one is actually being charged for their services, right?
Did they skip 2009’s Halloween special to let the fervor die down since everyone would be watching with hawk eyes to see if there were any shenanigans and they just didn’t want to risk it?
It seems like calling their evidence into question is not just an isolated incident anymore. Are they walking a very fine line and it’s only a matter of time?
Real evidence of creative license?
Other Articles of Interest:
- Ghost Hunters – Season 1 – Rating – Too Damn Funny!
- What happened to that Ghost Hunters Live DVD?
- What a difference a year makes … It’s time to say goodbye
- Ghost Hunters Halloween Special 2009
- Ghost Hunters Halloween Special 2009 – It’s On!
- More on Ghost Hunters Live Halloween Special
- Ghost Hunters – Live From The Stanley Hotel
- Ghost Hunters Live Halloween Event at Buffalo Central Terminal
- Independent investigation of the Spalding Inn
- What’s with all the secrecy?
Ghost Hunters International – Hitler’s Ghost
So the team kicks off the relaunch of the season with an attempt to track down Hitler himself. But not in Berlin, but in Argentina where it’s rumored he escaped to after he faked his death at the end of the War. In a now rundown hotel it is claimed that Hitler spent a great deal of time with other members of his party. It’s also claimed he had reconstructive surgery to change his appearance and then supposedly blended in with the natives. Hitler, hanging out at the beach sipping fruity drinks with umbrellas in them? Seems unlikely that’s for sure. But putting all this crazy conspiracy theory aside, let’s get to what happened.
First, I’m excited about GHI coming back. While I don’t think they’re paranormal investigations are any better than anyone else’s, the places they go are amazing. Who wouldn’t want to visit Dracula’s Castle or Castle Frankenstein, or churches overrun by Satanic cults? Their European destinations have an incredible history which is the part I enjoy hearing about.
So what did the team actually find? They claim to have gotten lots of footsteps walking up down the halls. Rob gets hits off the meter as he asks questions. And while asking questions there are loud bangs and the sound of a door shaking.
The big evidence is a photo of what looks to be some sort of alien sitting on the bed. There does seem to be some sort of blob there, but it doesn’t look human. Of course, the picture happens to coincide with a fair amount of light glare from the opposing camera.
So was there any evidence of Hitler? Nope. He’s not in the house. Maybe he was out by the pool or planning his next coup somewhere. But honestly, just about everything in this episode can be explained. The photo is a trick of light, as just about all of them are. It’s an interesting shape but I don’t put much stock In it.
The sound of boots walking? It’s an old building, that could be anything. We know for sure there are birds nesting in the place. If there’s one animal you do see, there’s dozens you don’t.
And the lights on the meter as Rob asks questions? You can always discount that as an electrical short, faulty battery or just the device acting randomly (I’m not saying that’s what it is though). It was really about the only interesting thing that happened, but I don’t think it’s enough to hang an entire investigation on.
The rattling of the door? Nearby trucks, trains, planes and buses could all make the door shake.
As with any old building a lot of the sounds they’re hearing seem rather normal. The meters lighting up was pretty interesting, but I find it odd that whoever is holding the camera can’t seem to focus or hold it steady long enough to film the meter. When Rob is getting activity the camera is shaking wildly and the meter is continually going off the screen. And if it is on the screen, it’s constantly trying to refocus so you still can’t see it. Have you people never heard of a tripod and manual focus? Set the damn focus and leave it!
It was a neat location and it was fun to see the GHI team back in action. Hitler was a no show, but they did their part to add some more mysticism to the hauntings of this Argentinean hotel.
Other Articles of Interest:
- Paranormal Challenge Ohio State Reformatory S01E03
- Killer Contact – Vlad the Impaler – S01E02
- Ghost Hunters Buffalo Central Terminal
- Another false start for Savannah hauntings
- Ghost Hunters International – Quarantine Station
- Ghost Hunters Season 4
- Ghost Hunters International – Port Arthur Penitentiary – S02E10
- Haunted Towns – Fall River MA – Lizzie Borden House – S01E07
- Haunted Collector – Lakeside Terror and Pythian Secrets – S03E09
- Ghost Hunters International – Duran Sanatorium/Rose Hall – S02E13
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