The Dead Files Review: A Must Watch for the Paranormal Curious

I have pretty much always been interested in the Paranormal, mostly because I really and truly don't understand it. I was raised in a Christian home that taught against the paranormal, putting it into a demonic light.....which may very well be true. I don't know, and I'm truly not sure that anyone really knows. I can't say whether I truly believe in it or not, but what I can say is that I LOVE a good paranormal show. Now, notice I said a good paranormal show. I recently came upon a really good series called The Dead Files. It is probably one of my top 5 favorite tv shows ever. I have since made sure to have my dvr record all the episodes because The Dead Files is currently in it's 3rd season so I'm playing catch up.

"Amy Allan has grown up seeing and speaking to dead people on a daily basis – often horribly disfigured dead people. So, when you see actual fear on Amy’s face, you know it’s time to be completely terrified. I’ve seen that look many times, and it always sends a chill down my spine. I’ve watched Amy take on the voices and mannerisms of dead people speaking through her, and listened to her disclose information that she’d have no other way of knowing. I’ve seen her describe murder victims she’s spoken with to sketch artists who then draw perfect renderings of those people. And I’ve witnessed Amy accurately reveal how and when a now-deceased mother tried to kill her entire family. Then, Amy pointed to where the spirit of that woman was staring down at us from the top of the stairs.
After these experiences, I still have no explanation whatsoever of how Amy does what she does, other than this: Amy Allan communicates with dead people.
I get cold chills from watching ghost-chasing shows, but working with Amy on The Dead Files has been an eye-opening and often terrifying experience that still keeps me awake at night, wondering what secrets my home is hiding" - Jim Casey creator of The Dead Files

I've sat and sometimes suffered through many attempts at a good paranormal tv show. When I saw a preview of the show The Dead Files, I knew I had to watch it. The Dead Files is a series now in it's 3rd season, featuring Amy Allan who is a physical medium. Her interest in the paranormal came about at the young age of 4 when Amy claims to have had her first encounter with the dead. More specifically, the entities she refers to as "shadow people". She states in one episode that she is still very scared of shadow people even in adulthood because when she was 4 they tried to kill her by convincing her to bite on an electrical cord.

Amy's abilities have been long used in her work with private investigators, police agencies, and she has performed over 300 investigations in both private homes and businesses. In her own words she not only can see the dead, she can also speak to them and occasionally takes on their role and relives their death.

Steve Di Schiavi is a NYPD retired homicide detective who devoted over 2 decades of active service to the city of NY. He partners with Amy on each case by going behind the scenes (apart from Amy) to get the facts and information on the properties, owners, and any crimes that may have been commited on the land, homes or businesses. He does this by interviewing, researching libraries, old newspapers, and police records. Through each episode Amy and Steve work separately, Amy on the paranormal side doing her walkthroughs of the properties, and Steve doing the detective work. They don't join together until the end of the show for the reveal.

After Amy does her investigative walk through, she finds a sketch artist to sketch a picture of the one dead person who stuck out the most to her, on occasion she's done 2 sketches. At the reveal her and Steve both meet with the clients to reveal and compare their findings. Amy will even compare her sketch to any photos that Steve has found and brought to the reveal. Many times the resemblance is uncanny, however on occasion, they won't be a match.

Once they reveal their findings to the clients, Amy will then let them know whether it is safe for them to continue to stay at the residence, or if they need to leave. Most of the time it is deemed safe as long as they have the house cleansed and what not. There have been a couple of episodes when she was like "get the hell outta here and don't look back".

I've watched a lot of tv shows that try to give you that scare factor as far as the paranormal, but many times I've come off just feeling disappointed, and bored, and not convinced in the least. The Dead Files is an obsession to me. I think it's more than likely because it's not simply ghost hunting with little machines. You can see the fear sometimes in Amy's face as she is looking at these dead people and even though you can't see them, her face is so convincing, and it puts fear into you as well. I am actually watching the past episodes online, and I can say I have NEVER watched any tv show online. I can say now that The Dead Files is now my guilty pleasure.

Previously aired episodes of The Dead Files come on the Travel Channel Thursday nights at 10pm CST, and on Friday nights at 10pm CST and 12 midnight CST. The next NEW episode will air on November 30th, 2012 at 10pm CST titled "The Soul Collector". If you are like me and want to play catch up, you can find all the past full episodes from Season 1,2 and 3 on the Travel Channel website.