There is no escape...

From reality TV.


People who know ZFJ know that I like TV shows that catch ghosts on video, take still shot photos of things that are obviously ghosts and otherwise prove their existence by whatever means necessary.

I am currently watching "Paranormal Challenge".

What is "Paranormal Challenge" you ask?? Well my dear reader, I think this question is best answered by taking a journey into the past with good ole' ZFJ...a journey to a time when things were pure.

I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a few years ago and I was home on a Friday night in late summer-- Yeah?? So what? Anyway....So, as I was saying, I was home on a Friday night and was flipping through the channels looking for something that would further enforce the period of relaxation I was having. I hit the Travel Channel and much to my delight, I discovered "Ghost Adventures".

Life changed.

My life rapidly changed from the things I witnessed on this TV show where Zak Bagans, a muscle-bound menace and Ghost Hunter, ERR, *ahem* excuse me, he is a "Paranormal Investigator", and his crew Nick and Aaron go hunt down ghosts and demons around the globe. Turns out Zak is also the glorious founder of the show. My excitement was exceeded only by my accelerated faith that ghosts did in fact exist, as evidenced from the Ghost Adventures TV Show!! I knew it. My jaw dropped as I could not believe the visions captured by the Ghost Adventures crew during their journies into hardcore "underground" haunted places. There were shadow figures getting caught on cameras, "EVP",s (Electronic Voice Phenomenom, aka "Disembodied Voices"), obvious ghosts lurking around and caught in still photographs and many other noises and stuff. Not to mention, Zak goes around the "lockdown area" taunting, challenging and talking shit to these ghosts and demons that are inhabiting the "lockdown area" to the point that it made me feel safe in my own home. Tension. Suspense. Fear. Terrifying music. I naturally rejoiced upon my discovery of this TV show that was exposing real ghosts to the world and general public. Indeed, A show that proved I was right and that ghosts did in fact exist! I didn't sleep much that night. Mostly due to the excitement of this new TV discovery, and the realization that ghosts were more than likely floating around my house.

But Everything in life had suddenly become clear.

Next season was different though. It almost seemed like this whole thing wasn't real anymore. It was like they were acting or something. Zak was more jacked up and muscle-bound than ever, "lockdown areas" were getting more mainstream and sensationalized while Zak, Nick and Aaron, "The Crew", hammed it up maybe a little too much? No, definitely too much. They would suddenly flip out, get "sick" and "possesed" as they allegedly felt a spirit float by. Or sometimes they claimed it flew through their body....Ooooooooooh....They made scary faces with their eyes popping out and varied other broken looks as they feigned confusion and possession from the wandering spirits. However, they still managed to catch many ghosts walking around on video, still recorded many disembodied voices, took still photos of things that were obviously ghosts, and other weird stuff was also caught on video.

But something wasn't "right" and things didn't feel as clear as they once did.


And tonight, as I relax once again, I decide to check out the Travel Channel. There a find a show airing called "Paranormal Challenge" and I happened to tune in right as they were reviewing video and other evidence from a team of Ghost Hunters that I did not recognize (mind you, I know who all of the celebrity Ghost Hunters are). It was then I saw Zak Bagans. He had a few other people around him, seemingly in consultative and/or advisory roles and I didn't get it right away....they were comparing video from opposing Ghost Hunter teams......then, as if waking from a dream, I realized that Zak Bagans, the legendary Ghost Hunter and founder of Ghost Adventures was the distinguished host of A REALITY GAME SHOW THAT PITTED GHOST HUNTING CREWS AGAINST EACH OTHER TO SEE WHO CAN GET THE BEST EVIDENCE!!! What. The. Fuck??

Please read this excerpt from Wikipedia:

"Paranormal Challenge is an American paranormal competitive reality spinoff television series that premiered on June 17, 2011 on the Travel Channel. The series was created and is hosted by Ghost Adventures lead investigator Zak Bagans, who challenges ghost hunters from all over the country to go head-to-head in a weekly ghost hunting competition to gather paranormal evidence by spending a night in haunted locations in the United States. New episodes air on Fridays at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on the Travel Channel."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranormal_Challenge


Well now. I guess I'm just old fashioned but it seems to me that something as serious and important such as Ghost Hunting probably shouldn't be dumbed down and commercialized into a competitive reality show for bragging rights. Going forward, I can't see the ghosts and demons at the various "lockdown areas" "playing ball" anymore. I don't think the ghosts are going to appreciate being slighted in this manner. I don't think they're going to take kindly to being treated like some afterthought by the competitors and the host of this reality TV show. I think they will strike back with decisive proof that they should not be "slept on" like the competitors and host of this show are currently doing, and I'll be watching...waiting for it.

Gosh, was I rambling there?

Nope. All clear....no rambling back there, just re-read it...that was well written indeed, anyway. Zak Bagans, like my good friend Kevin "Ace" Demaria once did, raised me from the depths of hell when I needed it most. But unlike Kevin "Ace" Demaria, Zak Bagans dragged me right back to hell the first chance he got.

My faith is tested still.


~ZFJ