March 20, 2008
GH: Attleboro House
So we start off with what looks like a juicy premise: Four generations of this family have experienced paranormal activity in their house, dating back over 100 years. The house at some point was split into a duplex and now one generation lives in one of the units and their oldest daughter's family lives in the other unit. TAPS describes it as a 2-for-1.
To make matters more interesting, the reports are numerous and varied. In one case, the little girl woke up the household in the middle of the night screaming that there was a man in her room. Her father struggled with the door when attempting to enter, it was as if someone was holding it shut, and when he finally did enter his daughter was pointing in the corner saying there was a man standing there.
In the other household both the husband and wife had been reluctant to mention an experience they'd been having, until one of them did and realized they'd both been seeing the same thing: While they sat watching TV they would see a little boy watching them out of the corner of their eye, when they turned to look he wasn't there, but on looking back at the TV they could still see him. The wife said she could see him plain as day.
So with all of this we're definitely in for some excitement, right? Nope.
And while I normally applaud Jay & Grant and the whole Ghost Hunters team for going into a place with a very strong reputation and not finding anything, this reminded me a little too much of the McArthur's House investigation in that they seemed to decide ahead of time that the best thing for the family was if they didn't find anything. In fact, so far this season nearly every investigation has had an uncanny way of turning out exactly how the TAPS team seems to think would be best before even setting foot on the property.
Some things that I found particularly odd:
1) Jay & Grant attempted to debunk the husband & wife's little boy sightings by driving a car past the house at different speeds. Just in case when the wife said she saw a boy standing still clear as day watching her, she might have really meant that she saw lights and shadows moving around the room.
2) They hear a noise in the kitchen and rush to investigate. They determine that one of the floor boards is loose and when someone steps on it it rebounds which causes the refrigerator to shake and then the stuff on top of the fridge shakes, causing the noise they heard. Nice theory, except no one was in the kitchen stepping on the floor board. I'm not saying that a teapot rattling is paranormal but at least come up with a theory that actually applies to what was witnessed.
3) This is perhaps the most bizarre, perhaps the least. While Jay and Grant were sitting in the living room in one of the units asking a spirit to make itself known they hear a bell ring. Jay is sitting on a sofa opposite the sofa Grant is in, hears that the noise is coming from near Grant and asks Grant if he made it. Grant says no. Now, this bell was dangling on a cabinet door easily within arms reach of Grant — Grant even leaned over and swung the door a little to test if maybe it was just loose and swung by itself, he didn't need to get out of his chair to make that bell ring.
Now, I'm not saying Grant did it but Jay seemed to be going out of his way to claim it was supernatural. Despite the overall theme of "nothing to see here" Jay brought up the bell ringing to the family during the reveal, made it a point to say that the door couldn't have moved on its own and when evaluating the possibility of human interference — deliberate or accidental — Jay said, "The problem is, nobody was over there."
So when it comes to nobody being in the kitchen, the teapot is rattling because somebody stepped on a board, but when somebody is sitting right next to a bell that rings, "nobody was over there".
At this point, Season 4 is really starting to wear thin on me. It's as if TAPS is going out of their way to lose what little credibility they had left. All I can say is I'm seeing a number of patterns these last bunch of investigations that I don't like at all and I'm very disappointed. I'd hoped maybe it would improve after the necessary evil of opening the new season with a bang, but although the sensational element is gone, the team itself is stuck in bad-investigator mode so far as I can tell.
Filed under Ghost Hunters, Posts by Logisti
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Comments on GH: Attleboro House »
Ghost Rider @ 1:12 am
Grant! Say it ain't so, buddy. Say it ain't so.
I've been really trying to give the guys the benefit of the doubt on some of the more dubious Grant-related "events", but tonight's shenanigans at the Attleboro home was enough for me. I really didn't want to think the worst of Grant, but I don't believe for a second that it wasn't him that rattled the bell in the living room. And if you ask me, his hoaxing has been going on for a long time. Such a shame because I personally love the concept of the show and the whole TAPS gang, but, in the end, it's all about integrity and credibility and GH has lost theirs…
/.02
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Jef @ 3:56 am
This whole episode felt like weak sauce to me. The schtick with driving the car back and forth past the house reminds me that if the Ghost Hunters are really serious about debunking then they might go to greater efforts to create the sort of conditions the "ghosts" were seen in as opposed to just playing in the dark.
Why not roll the car past the windows with the wife or husband present and say "is that what you saw?" or tinker with something and find out "is that what you've been hearing?"
As is, are their explanations any more valid than the claims of the family? Sure, they discovered that if they stepped in a certain spot on the floor it made a noise and rattled the teapot but is that THE noise or just A noise?
But the last two episodes have been less then impressive. I know I'm not the only one that thinks so since the preview from next week seemed to show a moving picture frame. As far as the context of that particular incident we'll have to wait for the episode, but it surprised me to see a "money shot" in the preview.
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Lil D @ 6:55 am
Ghost Rider - I agree! All the sudden a bell rings near Grant, and he makes a big show about having to lean over the couch to reach it… It's a ploy I'm just not falling for anymore. Give me something real.
I also got a little annoyed when Jay said he would sit in that one corner of the private residence to see if there was any "feeling" there. You can't measure feeling! That drives me crazy. Why didn't they just set up a camera or tape recorder there as well - in order to validate any claim Jay might have made.
Jef, I like your idea about having the people who actually experience the possible reflections see the car lights driving back and forth, etc. That way they could either feel better - if the possible haunting was debunked - or say, "that doesn't look anything like it." Then TAPS would have to try again.
I also agree with you about these last two episodes. I'm not impressed - I need more.
I'm just throwing this out there - does anyone know anything about the supposed exorcism from the first season that did not air? Is SciFi ever planning on it, or would it be on a DVD?
The reason I ask is that I think that could provide some insight into TAPS - do they act like the idiots on Paranormal State or they skeptical of the supposed possession?
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Wes @ 8:16 am
The bells ringing was highly suspicious - the bells were behind the open door - how did Grant know immediately that they were the source of the noise unless he previously knew they were there?
Have to agree that some of the things we're seeing as evidence points to Grant more than it does to ghosts.
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CrowTRobot @ 8:57 am
Grant, Grant, Grant. Why is the camera NEVER on you when something happens around you? To be fair though, he may have moved, or even just touched, the cabinet door and didn't realize there were bells on it (I mean: Bells? Why? But I digress…) so, in his mind, he really didn't make the bells ring. Still, for Jay to say no one was over there isn't quite true.
The sound in the kitchen. That puzzled me as well. Supposedly, there was no one in there to step on that loose board. (And now that I think about it, that is one heck of a loose board to rattle a refridgerator AND the stuff on top of it just on the rebound. But again, I digress…) "Me and Grant" just seemed to quick to debunk and move on.
Actually, Jef, I thought they were going to debunk the shadow with the carlights. In one of the camera shots, there was a fire hydrant that looked to be just outside, or very near, the house. I turned to my wife and told her that's where the shadow's coming from - but apparently not. However, they drove by in a van. It would have been interesting to have a car drive by to see if it's lights, closer to the ground, would have hit the hydrant at a better angle to cast the shadow.
Oh, and regarding the promo for next week showing a moving picture frame - my first thought was that we just saw more action in a two-second promo than we've seen in two and half episodes. But my next thought was that if it turns out to be some lame joke or trick played on one of the members - I may be done. I'm already about to the point that I'm going to stop scheduling things around Wednesday night.
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Logisti @ 10:51 am
Actually, if I stopped watching GH I'd still be booked solid Wednesdays. At 9pm alone there's Mythbusters (Discovery) and MonsterQuest (History) also on besides GH. 10pm holds Smash Lab (Discovery), UFO Hunters (History), Destination: Truth (SciFi), and Master Blasters (Science).
If it weren't for my DVR and the 12am, 1am, 2am reruns of some of the shows, I might actually have a life on Wednesdays
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Ronin1220 @ 1:01 pm
This one was very disappointing. You're right, they did seem to decide the outcome ahead of time. And once again, Grant is nearby when something questionable happens, just like last week with the 'face' only he saw. Not to digress too much, but can't they rig up some small shoulder cams or something so that these supposedly impressive events might get caught on camera for once? A face would be a heck of a lot more convincing than the occasional shadow.
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J. @ 1:42 pm
So once again Grant is the suspect of another potential hoax.
Like I asked in the Moving Lamp post, why do we still give TAPS the benefit of the doubt?
I know we don't have any concrete evidence of Grant hoaxing something — unless the camera crew did actually catch him doing some hoaxing and Pilgrim/Sci Fi have kept the footage under wraps — but what does your mind tell you is going on? Is it something paranormal, or is it something shady?
Good ol Occam and his Razor should be applied here also, not just with evidence. When it is, what is your conclusion? I know what mine is. Let's stop beating around the bush and call things like we see them.
We should not be letting this show, or any other like it, influence us — or worse yet, decide for us — on whether or not the paranormal/ghosts/supernatural exists. There are too many problems with this show to conclusively say: "Yep, ghosts exist and TAPS just proved it with that evidence." Aside from a few interesting pieces of evidence TAPS has actually managed to obtain, they haven't gotten any irrefutable evidence of the paranormal have they?
It's fun and interesting to discuss the show, but will they ever capture that solid piece of evidence that we can all agree is truly paranormal? As the skeptics say, I doubt it.
So, I say forget the TV shows. If you want to know whether ghosts actually exist or not, find your nearest local haunted house and go investigate for yourself.
That's the better way to come to your own conclusion instead of sifting through evidence offered by a TV show where the credibility and honesty is called into question time after time.
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Logisti @ 2:45 pm
J, to be fair as CrowTRobot pointed out Grant could have touched the door a few minutes earlier and maybe the cabinet door was slowly springing back into position, at some point causing the bell to ring — It doesn't necessarily have to be a hoax.
My big issue with that situation is simply that rather than acknowledge the possibility that maybe Grant had touched the cabinet door earlier, or maybe Grant repositioning himself on the couch caused a breeze or a vibration that caused the cabinet door to sway a little, he went out of his way to *NOT* acknowledge those possibilities, even to the point of denying anyone was near the cabinet when we saw Grant was within arm's reach.
So maybe Jason's odd denials "doth protest too much" revealing that he secretly knows or suspects Grant does what we think he does, or maybe it's because he's afraid people will immediately think Grant did it and he's not smart enough to realize that his protestations create *more* suspicion instead of less.
Or maybe he is just not smart enough or simply doesn't care enough to do a good job investigating, doing critical analysis and keeping his facts straight. Frankly, we've seen plenty other evidence to support this explanation so far this season
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Todd @ 10:04 pm
Jason just looks tired lately. I'm wondering if he is going to be able to keep this up much longer. As his kids are getting older and the show demands more on his time and life, I wonder if he will be able to keep it up.
This may be part of why it seems they are getting "lazy" on this. Grant appears just as gung-ho as he was in the beginning of the series. But Jason has lost some steam.
They have slacked off on debunking. Places they used to say, "We just can't say it's haunted," get a more vague generalization as residual haunting (meaning it could happen, it just didn't happen when we were there).
GH has lost its luster. But we can hope that they are holding the good stuff for pre-hiatus episodes.
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Dixie @ 9:52 am
why didnt they turn the TV on. & try to see how that may have played into the shadow. Didnt they say it happens when watching television?
Also, why does alot of things happen around Grant….lamp, chair, bell…
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Logisti @ 10:08 am
Dixie, I'd say probably 95% of all the experiences reported to TAPS during these investigations have happened either while it was light out or with the house-lights on. In the rare case there's been someone who was awake in the middle of the night and saw a dark figure in their doorway, bedroom or hallway, but everyone else had their experience in fair-to-excellent lighting conditions.
Yet, TAPS insists on turning out the lights when they investigate. We discuss this as the main topic of our first podcast, actually and before that it's been bothering me since the show first aired. They *never* make an effort to reproduce the conditions during which an experience occurred if it involves turning the lights (or the TV) on.
Why?
I don't know for certain. My guess is it's to make the investigating more fun (and spooky) and also to make it creepier for the audience at home.
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numyer @ 10:36 pm
Another snoozer. It seemed like this was going to be a wild place from the description of past activities.
I didn't understand the car driving either, a shadow of a passing car would have to be pretty creative to mimic a boy peeking over the couch. Or was that not what the description was? Sometimes I think the passing on of the information about the case between the members goes like a game of telephone. Later in the investigation an investigator will be describing the reports of activity and it seems altered from what the homeowner, etc, said they saw. I have thought this a number of times.
I didn't get the loose floorboard explanation either, unless they are basically admitting camera crews, sound men and such are floating about all over the investigation area, thereby I guess we can discount ANY noises from the next room we here.
Then of course "the bell" which "nobody was near", except Grant who was easily in reach of it. It was practically right next to him which made me skeptical of why he actually took ANY time to discover where the sound came from.
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Robbin @ 10:49 pm
This investigation was another weak one. They gave a half hearted investigation of the little boy, car lights some on, really? The bell thing could have happened by itself or it could have been disturbed by something or someone. Not impressed. My big issue here is the floor board in the kitchen. There was no one in there when they went in. Why was this dismissed? Is it just poor editing, they are making you believe that no one was there when someone actually was? Frankly I was bored. Whoever made the comment that Jay looked tired was right.
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Mike @ 10:32 pm
So you guys on here complain that things are hoaxed when they find stuff and then when they say that a place isn't haunted, you claim that there is activity. Make up your minds on what you believe.
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Logisti @ 12:05 am
I believe that it's rather silly to generalize about "what you believe" because everything is case-by-case. Are you suggesting it's not possible for one incident to be a hoax while another might be real?
It seemed obvious to quite a few people that they were practically ready to call the last two commercial locations they visited "haunted" before even walking in the door. It seemed equally clear that they were ready to call the last two homes they visited "not haunted" before they even started investigating.
But it's not about whether the place was haunted or not. It's about their shoddy investigating.
It's about how they claimed the sound from the kitchen was caused from someone stepping on a loose floorboard — even though there was no one in the kitchen at the time. It's about how Jay claimed no one was anywhere near the bell when it rang when we clearly saw Grant sitting right next to it.
However, I suppose there is one blanket idea you could say flows through all of this. We don't believe everything is hoaxed, nor do we believe everyplace is haunted. What we believe, at least recently, is that TAPS isn't very good at their job.
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