HSB Recommends: Ghost Adventures

Yes, HSB is back after an unscheduled hiatus in which Robin & I both pulled off long-distance moves. We are now reunited under one roof. The combined power of our snark and pop culture knowledge could probably be harnessed to power small pieces of industrial equipment, but unfortunately my poor grasp of physics makes it difficult to capitalize on that. Instead, we just watch Ghost Adventures. And behind-the-scenes videos of Ghost Adventures online. And read Ghost Adventures fan fiction.

Ahem.

 What is Ghost Adventures, you might ask? Oh, I don't know, only the best show on television.

Ghost Adventures Crew (L to R): Nick Groff, Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin

Ghost Adventures is a reality show about the exploits of a crew of paranormal investigators who travel around the country (and sometimes even internationally) to be locked down in haunted locations. Armed with their cameras and a wide array of electronic equipment (you know, for science), they spend the night in some of the spookiest places imaginable, hoping to capture evidence of paranormal activity.

But let's be honest: if that's all that Ghost Adventures was, it wouldn't really stand out among the slew of haunted travel shows currently airing. What makes Ghost Adventures so special?

May I direct your attention back up to that picture of the Ghost Adventures Crew? Their introduction is long overdue. (Rhyme!) 

Nick Groff is an investigator. He's the serious, level-headed one. Nick rarely loses his cool, even when stumbling around in the dark, creepy places he often finds himself. Thus, when he does, it's awesome. The guy was once locked in a morgue. Respect.

Aaron Goodwin is the equipment tech. As he was hired for his technical know-how and not his sangfroid around ghosts, he's easily the jumpiest of the three. It is not a true episode of Ghost Adventures unless Aaron shouts "Oh my God!" and makes his classic Aaron face. (Which, oddly, I cannot find a picture of. Drat!). 

And then there is Zak Bagans, investigator and host. How to begin with Zak? If you had showed me a picture of Zak a few weeks ago and told me I would be giving this question serious consideration, I would have been, at best, perplexed. Zak is the leader of the group, highly given to taunting ghosts that he thinks are bullies and making all sorts of wild commands. ("Do some voodoo magic on us!" was a particular highlight of the second season.) He is unquestionably bold, although some of his wackier demands often leave me in hysterics. I think what it boils down to is that, despite all his bravado, I find him incredibly endearing. He may look like a big macho man (with those arms, oh my), but it's not too hard to see the goofy guy beneath the tough exterior. Especially when he, say, runs away from a snake. Adorable.

So take those three guys, then imagine them in every variety of spooky locale: abandoned hospitals, asylums, prisons, schools, and even your everyday haunted house or two. They take what Zak describes as an "emotional" approach: researching the people who once inhabited these places and then calling upon what they've learned to try to connect with the spirits they think could be trapped there. They always talk to the locals, who are usually goth teenagers or old guys with distinctive facial hair. Their actual investigation often involves a lot of yelling, and occasionally trigger objects (a noose left dangling where a man once hanged himself, for example). (Also it seems to require a lot of masochism on Zak's part, but that's neither here nor there.) 

Using their equipment, they proceed to take video, infrared photographs, electromagnetic readings, and digital recordings; they even have a nifty ghost-to-English translator that uses some sort of change in frequency to produce words. (It may sound like I'm making light of the latter, but it seriously has produced some of their most interesting evidence). Sometimes the garbled EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomena, or, as they often say, Phenomenas, bless them) or so-called orbs (small balls of light that often resemble insects or some sort of reflection) inspire nothing more than me rolling my eyes. And sometimes they capture some genuinely creepy stuff: moving objects, inexplicable shadows, more distinct EVPs.

I came into Ghost Adventures hoping for a little bit of extra spookiness to add to the week leading up to Halloween. I ended up watching three seasons in that week, and if I'd had more, I would have watched those, too. I love it for its sheer entertainment value, from the silliness of watching the boys (and yes, they're really boys at heart) dress up to reenact the gunfight at the O.K. Corral to the enjoyable frisson that I feel when I see things I can't explain. And despite of any fun I might poke at the show, I have to say that I believe in the supernatural more strongly now than I did prior to watching it. So well played, Ghost Adventures Crew. I can't wait to see where you go next. 

Ghost Adventures airs Fridays at 9 E/P on the Travel Channel.