I’ll level with you — I’ve spent most of my free time this month watching old episodes of Halloween Wars on the Food Network. In a world that seems to be crumbling to pieces day by day, a low-stakes game show where people carve giant spiders out of pumpkins is the perfect background noise to accompany, well, whatever this is right now.
I watched everything, from seasons 1 to 10. Elvira showed up a couple times. There were pumpkins. It was great.
Now, imagine my shock and dismay when I began the latest season, only to find that not only were there no longer any pumpkin carvers, but the cheesy host from the past several years, Jonathan Bennett, had been replaced by none other than ‘Ghost Adventurer’ Zak Bagans.
Needless to say, I was disappointed by the changes. No pumpkins was one thing, but Bagans had clearly entered a domain where he did not belong. Ultimately, I stopped watching.
However, a while later I got to thinking: If this was my reaction to Zak Bagans on a Food Network TV show, something I could just walk away from at any time, how must ghosts feel when he shows up for a paranormal investigation at their chosen haunting grounds?
All those times on Ghost Adventures when the spirits appeared to lash out. When Bagans allegedly got scratched by a spectre at Bobby Mackey’s Music World. When the otherworldly entities whispered “Zak Bagans” and screamed out in anger.
Then it struck me. Some ghosts probably aren’t always angry. They aren’t tortured souls or malevolent demons. It’s entirely possible they are simply, in those particular moments, frustrated by the sudden and random appearance of ghost hunter Zak Bagans.
Just like I was with Halloween Wars.
In a recent interview with The Wrap, Bagans spoke about his team’s escapades at the Goldfield Hotel, a place they’d visited a total of five times. The ghosts there, he said, were anything but welcoming, becoming more and more hostile with every visit. “It was personal” he told The Wrap, “I mean, there’s only a couple of locations where spirits constantly call our names. There’s something about us that they don’t like.”
It’s as if the ghosts inhabiting that hotel simply are not fans of Ghost Adventures. I’m sure many can sympathize.
More research needs to be done into the possible connection between turbulent spiritual energy and the presence of ghost hunter Zak Bagans. The question is this: Do ghosts react differently depending upon the person or people investigating a specific location?
I feel the answer may reveal yet unraveled mysteries about the spirit world.
Anyway, in conclusion, I hope next year they at least bring the pumpkin carvers back.
