September 24, 2009
GH: Benton House
by Stephen
Benton House is a community center on the South Side of Chicago. The team was greeted by Angela Dedenbach, the Director of Programs, who seemed more enthused by the ghost stories than frightened by them. The haunting symptoms were your basic laundry list of footsteps and slamming doors, with the slightly novel addition of a self-extinguishing fire. On the tour, Dedenbach (a wonderful name for a ghost hunting show– sorry!) told our Hunters about a personal experience in which, one morning, she heard footsteps walking up the stairs and into her bedroom. The footsteps stopped, and she looked around to find no one in the room. The cameras cut away before we heard Jay and Grant ask the all-important question: was there anyone else in the house at the time? I'm going to assume that they did ask this question, and it was edited out.
In the art room, Dedenbach told the story of a man who heard a mysterious voice coming out of his radio, even after he unplugged it, saying something about "Gayorg or Gaylord" being hurt there, and that his family had been lied to, and that someone had died in the room. They then visited the gym. Executive director Mark Lennon, in an intercut, described an incident where he and some others were clearing tables after an event and had a feeling of something approaching. They froze and stopped lifting the table, and felt "like [the entity] stepped on the table that we were carrying and just slammed it to the ground."
The team went lights-out and started to investigate, and Jay and Grant (of course!) immediately had a personal experience of seeing a small shadow dart across a hallway (of course!) A pity that Jay didn't have any flip-flops along for it to steal. Anyway, they then moved on to some decent debunking work in Dedenbach's bedroom. They quickly determined that someone walking into the music studio next door sounded exactly like someone walking into the bedroom. I'm hoping that they actually did ask if anyone else was in the house at the time, or else the explanation falls flat.
Then we had Steve and Tango in the gymnasium, where Steve told the story of the slamming table, and adds "a lot of feelings of dread, and being unwanted, and all that stuff." Of course, they broke out the EMF detectors and got readings of around 2 and proclaim the case solved– electromagnetic sensitivity. Regular readers will know that I think electromagnetic sensitivity is at best unproven, despite many attempts to measure it. Steve and Tango sat down, and Steve proclaimed that "if there is something in here, I don't think it's intelligent."
Jay and Grant, in the living room, lit up a starter log in the fireplace. They then left a FLIR pointed at it (to do what?) and found that wiring under the floor was generating high EMF. How high? Don't know– they were using the K2. Kris and Amy then conducted an EVP session in the art room, but left because of perceived lack of creepiness.
Then, Jay and Grant went upstairs to attempt to get a ghost to close the door to the library. I've got to admit that they got me on this one– they cut immediately from Grant asking "Ma Benton" to close the door, to a FLIR shot of the door closing, and then (of course) to a commercial break. After the break, they revealed that the door had been closed by a breeze coming from the room.
Overall, this was a standard second-halfer, with some interesting debunking work mixed with pseudoscience and personal experiences. There was a rushed feel to it, probably because this part of the episode was only eighteen minutes long. I appreciate the debunking work that TAPS seems to be doing of late, but if they're going to explain everything with electromagnetic sensitivity, they might as well be using ley lines or feng shui.
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Comments on GH: Benton House »
Angelayo1970 @ 8:37 pm
Was it just me or did Jason seem impatient with Angela, the director, during the walk-thru? It was sort of embarrassing!
The Doctor @ 10:30 pm
It seems a shame that the only person who might have caught some evidence lately would be Brian Harnois … HE would have been wearing the headcam and could have picked up the "dark shapes" that Jay and Grant seem to be seeing with increased regularity.
Lar @ 6:16 am
Angelayo1970, yes I noticed that immediately.
You can see his "interest," here:
http://debunkthegunk.blogspot.com/2009/09/debunk-after-you.html
There's NO DOUBT this was yet another attempt to increase traffic for an alleged haunted location. Benton House issued this:
" This October our legendary Haunted House returns! Come wander our ghostly halls and experience the unexplainable for yourself… if you dare!!!"
How much effort do they put into researching these locales? What's the criteria? Who decided to haul it from RI to Chicago with paranormal back packs & production crew to investigate a door closing, footsteps, & some teenager claiming a fire was suddenly extinguished in the fireplace?
HollyDolly @ 8:40 am
Never heard of the Benton House.There are a lot of places in Chicago they could check out, like Hull House ,which rumor has it there was a devil baby some poor immigrant woman brought to Jane Addams .I know there is information out there on this urban legend, and there is also i think on http://www.prairieghosts.com a phot of what appear to be hooded figures, like monks in the house, though there never were any monks or nuns associated with the place.I have no idea who decides these public places they check out. If they are going to check some of these places out, then it should be some place which , like Lemp Mansion and Prospect Place and others which have tales of hauntings going back 50 or more years.Or check out the McPike Mansion or what have you, don't just wander around some place cause the owners greased Pilgrim's wheels if you know what I mean.
They ought to go to St.Louis and check out the Lemp mansion which has a reputation of being haunted, long before it ever made any tv shows like MTV's Fear.Lots of places in the US to check out.
At Southwest Ghost Hunters, they have the ghost town of Loma Prieta.In one of the photos you can definetly see a human shaped figure.This is not a night shot, but taken in the afternoon.They had another one of a human figure wearing a hat crossing the road,but I haven't seen that one again, they may have revamped their site. I think the town was in New Mexico or Arizona.
I think Troy Taylor also mentions the Tiedemann mansion also in the Midwest,forgot where. It too has a history of hauntings, and even some bones where found in the house.
M. Roget @ 10:04 am
Once again the question comes to mind- would anyone at Benton House have wanted GH investigating if they'd known they'd end up 2ND in an episode- kiss of death for anything but a hasty debunk? Or maybe the PR rewards really are that swell, & they'd want to be in a GH ep no matter what. I don't mind a good debunk, nor might the folks at Benton House, but hasty & shoddy seems to be the norm these days.
The Benton House segment shows again that GH couldn't even jump a shark at this point- it bellyflopped into the tv pool what seems a long while ago. So disappointing since, like many here, I felt excited about the show's possibilities way back when. Pilgrim's bargain basement production values coupled with a rigid/stale ep formula & J/G's growing indifference to same imo have killed what might have been a pretty interesting science based exploration of the paranormal/hauntings. The prominent display of Jason's SI hoodie advert throughout is just another symptom of overall GH lack of respect for its own show & its viewers.
Ron Martin's review of the ep over @ 411 mania sums it up better that I ever could:
"Reality here is the fact that these guys are no longer in it to find life after death, proof of paranormal or even for the rush of communicating with the dead. They're in it for the money. The show is almost a nuisance to them at this point. I don't blame them. I've never had that kind of money thrown at me, so I couldn't say what I would do in their shoes. As for actual ghost hunting…not really so much on this show, right?
I have noticed in the last couple of episodes how much Kris and Tango have regressed. Kris was never a ghost hunter to begin with, but for awhile there she was picking up on some stuff, now she is a one trick pony and her one trick really isn't that great. Tango – he doesn't even ghost hunt anymore.
Oy.
Fin."
http://www.411mania.com/movies/columns/117196/Ghost-Hunters-Recap-Episode-5.13:-Little-Drummer-Boy.htm
Learjet @ 10:15 am
Evil EMF fireplace floors… The first thing I would of thought you'd get from walking on them would be itchy feet rather than feelings of dread. After all, EMF causes skin irritation, right?
Can you imagine going to a doctor and being diagnosed with EMF foot? Me neither.
Harry @ 1:48 pm
I agree with the comments above—–Jay, Grant, and the crew just don't care any more. The sense of ennui surrounding GH is overwhelming this season.
And why not invest in some head cams if they keep seeing "shadowy shapes" in the dark? Are they too disinterested to even fake halfway convincing "evidence" these days?
GH was fun while it lasted. . . . . .
HollyDolly @ 3:09 pm
I think you are right.Maybe Jay and Grant need Josh Gates production team on
Destination Truth. However, if Jay and Grant want to keep getting money from SYFy, they better shape up and listen to the fans.Personally if it were me, I'd go to SyFy
and tell them they aren't happy with the work pilgrim is doing on the show.
My sister worked for Court Tv before Time Warner messed around with it.
They had their own production crew,as well as used vendors for production work.Like the case in California during the Robert Blake trial where the camera man got the shots of the guy trying to shoot the lawyer who was ducking around a tree.
If they didn't like a vendors work, then they didn't use them again.
oops, got to run to the post office for work here so hold that thought.Bye.
Angelayo1970 @ 6:54 pm
Don't joke, Learjet…I've had EMF foot a few times. Not pretty…(and frankly, every time I looked at my feet I got nauseous and felt anxious and paranoid!)
hammer1 @ 9:13 pm
Can't agree more on their (Jay's especially) evident apathy in the latest episodes. Does anyone have word on what the "true believers" are saying on the Taps 18+ board, and other places? Even some of them must be wondering what is going on.
I only read this site for GH stuff, so as not to lose IQ points.
The Doctor @ 10:40 pm
@hanner1 –
After this episode I was tempted to find out also, so I took a run around the TAPS18 forum.
This episode had the second worst number of postings, and the great majority seemed to be focused on Cheetos, Dorritos, and Cats.
One big ho-hum – It appears there were about a half-dozen regulars, but no one who seemed to care very much about the show.
I almost feel sad for J&G – they appear to have had a hobby they enjoyed and probably spent years wishing they could visit such-and-such a place or were able to buy such-and-such a ghost hunting gadget without their wives blowing a fuse.
Like the guy who had fun whittling on a stick who hits the lottery and finally buys the lathe/sander/drill/router super combo – then learns he has no talent whatsoever for woodworking.
ghostgirl74 @ 12:54 am
We interrupt our regularly scheduled investigation to bring you this shameless plug for…
THE SPADLING INN
Now back to our program!
(I'm wondering why no one else has made a comment about Jay's sweatshirt. I laughed out loud when I saw it!)
The Doctor @ 1:48 am
Jay's hoodies have been mentioned here in another thread
… but let's get it straight …
Is it the SPADLING INN, the SPAULDING INN or the SPALDING INN ?
… easier to just consider it the SPIN
The Doctor @ 1:53 am
@Lar -
"Who decided to haul it from RI to Chicago with paranormal back packs & production crew to investigate a door closing, footsteps, & some teenager claiming a fire was suddenly extinguished in the fireplace? "
On the same basis, DT would have hauled them to Antarctica and come back with a more interesting program.
Learjet @ 9:46 am
@ Angelayo1970. You're right! OMG, I've just developed EMF foot after warming them in my electric bunny slippers! It's not a pretty sight! http://yfrog.com/0ffootnj
Angelayo1970 @ 12:20 pm
Wow Learjet…I got nauseous and anxious JUST LOOKING AT THE PHOTO!!
Sabrina Knizner @ 1:50 pm
No, you're absolutely right! The first thing I noticed was Jay's "Spalding Inn" shirt…yet I had no idea what the Spalding Inn even was. Maybe it'sa foreshadowing for an upcoming show? However, if it is a plug for something non G.H. related, I say, come on guys
Angelayo1970 @ 3:24 pm
Sabrina, it's the name of the inn that Jason and Grant own. Shameless promotional tactic if you ask me.
J. Allen @ 1:38 am
To be fair, they've always had a propensity to advertise their personal pet projects, like the TAPS Paramagazine, which subtle suggestion consists of huge posters on their office walls every time we see them meeting for a new case. They've worn TAPS merchandise most of the way back, too. I knew that if I saw a TAPS shirt on Grant, Jason or Steve, it was going to be on the website for sale.
As for TAPS themselves, they're tired, it's obvious by now. There's no heart like there was in the beginning. It's all rote and routine. Shame, really. They were fun to watch.
JohnGalt @ 12:27 pm
The Doctor – Excellent analogy! I think that may be it. It started off as a true love of J/G – then took off more so than they ever could have dreamed. And, along the way, what they started out doing with passion has now just become a tired, stale cliche-filled "package" as inspired as a Happy Meal.
All good things end – Would "The Prisoner" have been as awesome if it ran more than a limited schedule? "Twin Peaks" failed in it second year.
All that's left for GH is to see itself parodied on "Family Guy".