The Shadow of Doubt

This week the Paranormal Research Society is in New Jersey helping a mother and daughter living in an old creepy doll museum.  The house is thought to be haunted at once by a soul collector and a doll collector. Interestingly, the woman who purchased the house also has a creepy doll collection.  Demons and ghosts bother me not, but a creepy doll…*shivers*

Paranormal State investigators Chad Calek & Ryan Buell arrive for the client interview. The homeowner claims the paranormal experiences started when she began home renovations. She sees shadows, has the feeling of being watched and has even felt as though a female spirit gives her feedback on her home renovations.  Now that’s a ghost I can use around the house  >:-)

The client’s 10 year-old daughter has heard scratching on the walls in one bedroom.  She says she sees a woman in a  black dress with a head injury walking around.  She’s also seen a shadowy figure walking around in the backyard outside of the bedroom window.  Psychic-medium Chip Coffey confirms this when he does his assessment.  He picks up on two spirits, a female and a male.  Coffey says the woman spirit calls the male spirit the “soul collector.”

A phone interview with the client’s ex-boyfriend reveals that he too has seen outlines of a man walking around in backyard. [insert foreshadowing music here]

The investigation begins.  Instead of dead time, The PRS gadget gurus decide to use a strobe light to help heighten Chip Coffey’s psychic experience. Does the Paranormal Research Society enjoy flaunting all their ghost paraphernalia or does Coffey have a psychic handicap?  Steeped in his psychedelic theta trance, the psychic contacted a male whom they think might be the client’s ex-husband.  Ryan Buell asks him to show Chip how he died.  The entity conveys to Coffey that it died by strangulation. Later, they have a second interview with the client who reveals her ex-husband committed suicide in 2003 by hanging.  He suffered some form of mental disturbance prior to his suicide with episodes of what sounds to me like manic depression/bipolar disorder.  The client described disturbing past incidents between the two of them.  While she was pregnant with their daughter, he once spoke to her belly and said “I love you baby,” then looked up at the mother and said “but I fucking hate you.”  The PRS client said he would have episodes of complete shutdown of all emotions followed by periods od guilt-driven normalcy.

They PRS team investigated the basement trying to provoke the soul collector when they (and the TV cameras) saw shadow movement and heard some shuffling.  And that’s about it.  The show concluded with the client having a symbolic closure;  burning the husband’s suicide note.  She still reports seeing/feeling the presence in the house, but is no longer afraid of it.  

I think Paranormal State makes the story line much more interesting than other paranormal shows…however, they definitely use the kookiest investigation tactics.  So, in the spirit (pun intended) of men who buy Playboy “to read the articles,” I like Paranormal State for the story lines.  That’s my skeptical story and I’m stickin’ to it.