Whether it’s Halloween or the Fourth of July, you can find me snuggling up on the couch, cup of warm tea in my hands and watching the cinematic blasphemy that is Ghost Adventures. I LOVE Halloween, spooky things and ghost hunting shows. While I am myself on the fence when it comes to actually believing in the supernatural, there is something so endearing about watching grown men tweak out in creepy buildings while trying to prove the existence of Casper and Co.
I remember the first time I watched a ghost hunting show. I was nine years old, sick at home on a Halloween weekend, browsing the stations on the television looking for something to watch while I suffered. Then I heard it, “My name is Zak Bagans. I never believed in ghosts until I came face to face with one.” Little did I know, I stumbled upon the Travel Channel and they were airing Zak Bagans’ Ghost Adventures.
I was hooked. I was also scared shitless but I was hooked!
I had never seen anything like this before, coming from a family that never believed in anything religious or spiritual, seeing people use scientific methods in attempts to prove something like the existence of ghosts blew my mind. It had never even occurred to me that this was an option. I was also petrified. Having an overactive imagination like many other eight year olds, watching this show for the first time gave me nightmares for a week.
Regardless, I kept going back to watch these shows. Many of my relatives died when I was young, having to come face to face with the reality of death and your own mortality at such an early age can take a toll on you. The conclusion that little me came to after watching this show for the first time is that if someone like Zak Bagans could talk to the demons that inhabited a prison basement, then there was a chance that my loved ones were out there watching over my family and I. It brought me some level of comfort, no matter how scary these episodes were.
Over time, it became a tradition, especially once my brain started to develop and I realized how goofy some of this stuff was, but the weird sense of comfort it brought me never faltered. Snuggling up in a warm blanket and cheesing at Halloween Spooky Specials that the Travel Channel has to offer is a great time and no one can tell me otherwise!
While the validity of the Ghost Hunters findings are questionable at best and their editing style is certainly a product of their time, it brings the nine year old version of me an immense amount of joy when I hear the sultry edgelord voice of Zak Bagans narrate the team’s spooky findings. Maybe it’s goofy and kind of weird but if my inner child finds joy in watching cheesy ghost hunting shows, then so be it.
