Ghost Hunting Becomes A Media Phenomenon
By Penelope Combs
London -- For many years we have searched for the truth about what lies beyond death, and if spirits truly communicate from beyond. Europe has been fascinated with this notion for centuries, but not until recently has there been technology to verify such evidence.
A public frenzy began in 2002 when Virgin Media's Living cable television channel launched a paranormal investigation series called Most Haunted. Living has launched a whole new genre of paranormal programmes such as Crossing Over with John Edward, 6ixth Sense with Colin Fry, Scream Team, Jane Goldman Investigates, Dead Famous, I'm Famous and Frightened! and Most Haunted, the network’s top-rated show.
We now can watch professional investigators research ghosts and other spooks on our telly, computer, or mobile. Paranormal invests have now become a form of entertainment in ways in which we could never have imagined, using technology once only available to Scotland Yard or 007. Thanks to “reality” television, the viewer has a sense of confidence that the presenter is showing us what is really happening… or not!
Dr Ciaran O'Keeffe exposed Most Haunted segments of being fake, saying its viewers were being deceived by "showmanship and dramatics" in an interview with The Mirror. England loves controversy, and presenters from Most Haunted became the center of attack from the tabloids. This of course only fueled ratings for the show, as well as many copy-cat spin-off shows around the UK and the world.
Big budget television programmes always open themselves up to some sort of acting, as pressure to keep ratings up is always the bottom line. Although there are other investigators and producers who take the paranormal world much more serious, and have found other ways to distribute their work.
Enter Aylesbury-based ghost hunters the Soulseekers, a husband and wife team who have made a lot of news lately with their new project. Soulseekers is also a paranormal investigative series, however rather than television, the internet distributes their programmes to millions. What began as a local invest of the house they lived in, became SarahJane O’Neill and Gil Martin’s big break into to the media world.
The duo put together a dedicated group of paranormal researchers to back up their plans, including technical specialist Woody Wood and former Most Haunted resident historian Richard Felix. The team went out on various haunted invests such as the famous Derby Gaol and Ancient Ram Inn. Running their personal video equipment and spook detectors, the Soulseekers added a real sense in the word of “reality” to their work, without any big budget pressure from a network.
Co-producer Gil Martin knew he was on to something, and took things to the next level by contacting an old friend in the States, multimedia company owner Guy W. Giuliano. Soulseekers began cranking out “mobisodes” (a shorter version of a full episode) of their various invests over Giuliano’s Digital Syndicate Network (DSN). The mini shows became quite popular, generating thousands of downloads from all over the world, a better audience than just a local television outlet.
I asked Guy what made him take a chance on such a questionable genre? “One of the main reasons people download content on the internet is simple… curiosity” said Giuliano. “Gil sent me amateur videos of his investigations, and I knew they were’nt staged! Pretty scary stuff that kept me up a few nights, I figured what better way to showcase this content… than distribute it online.” The idea panned out as thousands of curious viewers downloaded Soulseekers, and provided Giuliano content for his other distribution platforms. “We just released Soulseekers for iPod and other mobile outlets, there is so much more out there besides just TV.”
Veteran ghosthunter Richard Felix (also co-owner of Derby Gaol) recently stated his views about the project, "I think people would prefer reality rather than “Scooby-Doo” ghost hunting. Reality is far more interesting and fascinating. I think the world is ready for some serious paranormal research" said Felix.
SarahJane and Gil also have observations about their soul-seeking success, "we have had an excellent response from the public. Our site traffic has increased dramatically, more people contact us regarding ghost hunting, we did a news segment for British Forces Broadcasting Services and have appeared on CNN World News." said Martin.
Our fascination with the unknown continues to grow, and with the help of the media, we can only see this phenomenon continue to grow. The fine line between realty and entertainment is quickly beginning to merge, so this genre must stay on it's toes, or become yesterdays news.