Here in the UK, TV-based ghost hunting really began on Hallowe’en night in 1992.  The BBC broadcast a “mockumentary” called Ghostwatch which appeared to be an actual live event investigating ghosts in a residential home.  It even featured a helpline which actually worked, although the first thing callers were told was that the show was not real.  This programme was so scary that it became the first TV programme to cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in children, according to the British Medical Journal.

Years later in 2002, the UK got its very own regular ghost hunting programme which included ACTUAL live events: Most Haunted. Described as a “documentary / entertainment” programme, many complaints were made to the regulator Ofcom about theatrical effects and fakery but Most Haunted was cleared of deception of its users due to the fact it is an entertainment show.  One of the cast members of Most Haunted is parapsychologist Dr Ciaran O’Keeffe, who famously ‘outed’ medium Derek Acorah by feeding disinformation on made-up ‘spirits’ during an investigation (“Rik Eedles”, an anagram of “Derek lies” and “Kreed Kafer”, an anagram of “Derek Faker”).  Both of these fake spirits went on to ‘possess’ Derek Acorah during the recording of the episode.

Most Haunted continues to attract large viewing figures but it is definitely classed as entertainment rather than genuine paranormal research.  With lots of poorly lit shots with the camera never quite at the right angle, coupled with the shrieks and screaming of the crew, it’s hard to take it seriously.  Added to that the fact that every single location they visit appears to be rife with spiritual activity, it’s wise to take it all with a big pinch of salt.

Two US-based shows are popular in the UK: Ghost Hunters and Paranormal State, which Ghost Hunters being my personal favourite of the two.  I do admit though that I haven’t seen very many episodes of Paranormal State, so please do feel free to leave a comment below and tell me I’m wrong!  My initial impression of Paranormal State is that every witness statement is taken as fact – there’s no checking for natural explanations for the various events, or even checking for evidence that the events are actually taking place. I believe in any paranormal investigation, great emphasis must be placed on ruling out EVERY possible ‘normal’ explanation before something can be described as ‘paranormal’.

Ghost Hunters, on the other hand, is focused largely on “debunking” reported paranormal activity – i.e. attempting to find normal explanations for seemingly paranormal incidents. Despite that, they have more than their fair share of ‘evidence’ being captured, from ghostly EVPs to opening/closing doors and objects being moved.  Unfortunately many of these could potentially be explained away too and you can never be sure of quite how genuine ANY TV show is.  One popular ‘party trick’ in Ghost Hunters is to have a torch which has been tampered with so that it’s SUPER easy to switch on just by tapping the back (to make it easier for the spirit).  My issue with that is that it’s placed on the floor, so what’s to say it isn’t vibrations from footsteps that’s turning it on?  A recent live event in Ghost Hunters was particularly controversial as investigator Grant’s jacket was shown to be pulled up – looking very much like it was on a string. 

So, is TV ghost hunting a threat to the credibility of paranormal investigation? I think we have to remember that these TV shows are categorised as entertainment, not documentary. Anyone who takes part in real paranormal investigations knows that, half the time, absolutely NOTHING happens – and that wouldn’t make good TV entertainment viewing. We watch TV ghost hunting because we want to scare ourselves with sudden loud noises, unexplained activities and spooky dark buildings – if we want to watch real paranormal work with the lights ON, we’ll turn onto the documentary channels. Therefore, I don't believe that TV ghost hunting is any more of a threat to the credibility of paranormal investigation than any of the many alternative forms of entertainment (movies and books) that are also widely available - as long as the public are aware that these are for entertainment and are not documentary!

(Hub 6 / 30 for 30 Hubs in 30 Days Challenge)