We are a country captivated by ghosts. It isn”t something that started recently. I know that people have been enamored with all things ghostly throughout time. But, it is apparent, based upon a quick monitoring of the television channels that you can tune to on your cable system or satellite dish that there has been a recent spike of interest in the paranormal.
Of course, CBS has had the hit series for several seasons called “The Ghost Whisperer,” which is scripted and doesn”t make any boasts about being real. The interesting proliferation of ghost programming, though, has developed in the reality television genre. Here is a list of ghost-seeking shows that I am aware of: “Ghost Hunters,” “Ghost Hunters International,” “Paranormal State” and “Ghost Adventurers,” plus two more that were added just during the month of October, “Ghost Lab” and “Extreme Paranormal.”
Next month the TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) folks, who star in the Ghost Hunters franchise, have another television program making its debut. It will be called Ghost Hunter Academy. Two of the popular ghost trackers will teach their techniques to others.
Also, during this month, a low budget movie, in the same vein as the “Blair Witch Project,” stormed through the country. The movie is called “Paranormal Activity.” Initially, it was being shown in just a few theaters across the country. Television commercials hyped it as the “scariest movie ever,” and requested that people let them know if they wanted to see it in a full, national release. Of course, that happened and it skyrocketed to the No. 1 movie in the country. Not bad for a movie filmed in the director”s home for about $15,000.
I moved to Atchison, Kansas 20 years ago to become the publisher of the Atchison Daily Globe. The publisher before me had been murdered in grisly fashion. He was shot-gunned twice in the face. The crime has never been solved. Other murders in Atchison were never solved, either. When I left Atchison in 1993, there were no ghost stories or tour of haunted locations. Now, there is an hour long show on the Travel Channel about how it is one of the most haunted towns in America. You can”t knock a town for jumping on the ghost bandwagon to create more publicity and tourism. I have been told that the ghost of the murdered publisher is one of the spirits that haunts Atchison. I”m glad I left before he decided to return to his office.
Personally, I have never been a big believer in ghosts, even at Halloween. There are more than enough living people out there to be scared of. They keep me from worrying about the dead. But, my daughter is a huge fan of some of the reality ghost-seeking shows, so I watch them with her sometimes. Usually, during the entire show there is little evidence provided to cause me to believe that paranormal activity is real. For the most part, I think the shows capitalize on the personalities of some of the cast members. You get to like them and you want to see what they are doing in the next episode, whether they catch a ghost, or not. But, I will admit there have been a few episodes in which images occurred on video or sounds captured on the audio recordings that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
My wife tells a story that a very level-headed nurse she used to work with shared with her. The nurse said that late one night an apparition of her brother, who was a soldier off at war, came and sat on her bedside. He told her he just wanted to say goodbye. The next day, she was informed that her brother had been killed in action. You won”t get me to say that ghosts don”t exist.
Gary Dickson is the publisher and editor of the Record-Bee. Contact him at gdickson@record-bee.com
