Ghost Adventures - Scaring Up The Truth

THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN BY: ARTEMIS DAI from Gothic Bite Magazine

For those with the passion, there is no greater mystery than the unknown, the thrill of the hunt, the exploration of a rare and unique location and the chance to communicate with those that have gone on to the other side.

Is it the science of the unknown or is there more that drives the professional and the amateur hunter today? Some might say that ghost hunting is the ultimate thriller, real life in the moment rush of adrenaline. 

Paranormal research dates back to the nineteenth century. A prolific Ghost Hunter of his time, Harry Prince, wrote Confessions of a Ghost Hunter in 1936 and the Fox sisters were communicating with ghosts in 1840!

Today, the thrill for hunting ghosts and communicating with the paranormal has exploded due to television reality shows and the easy access to all of the new high tech tools of the trade, which can be bought at retail stores like Best Buy to online moguls such as Amazon and eBay. Today, people want the science as much as they want the genuine terror of being touched, talked to or haunted by the things they cannot see.

Looking for Ghost Adventures

Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin, Jay Wasley, and Billy Tolley are the four musketeers breathing life back into an age-old science. These four EMF (electromagnetic frequency) detector toting ghost hunters are the investigators of Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures series.

Ghost Adventures premiered on the Travel Channel in 2008 and is still considered to be one of the highest rated paranormal adventure reality shows now in its 15th season according to ranker.com.

The show features four friends who have all had personal experiences that led them into the field of paranormal investigations. These four now travel the world searching for answers to the nagging question many ask. What comes next? Where do we go when we die? Zak Bagans' Ghost Adventures have had explored Dracula’s Castle, the Winchester House, and Preston Castle.

Fame and Ghosts

The crew has invited some famous names from all walks of life to spend time on their adventurous lockdowns with them, from Rapper Post Malone to Fangsmith and Endless Nights co-founder Father Sebastiaan.

The series as even earned a spin-off of sorts with Zak Bagans' Haunted Museum and Deadly Possessions, which boosts some of the most haunted items from the show's adventures including Doctor Kevorkian’s van and Bela Lugosi’s cursed mirror.

These guys have come a long way from hand held tape recorders and phone apps, and the Ghost Adventures team seems ever on the lookout for new tech that will help answer that daunting question: what comes next?

Robotics Engineer Bill Chappel is often coming up with new methods and new equipment to try to see through the veil. Moreover, uses the show as an on the move laboratory for his paranormal experiments.

The series has had several skeptics challenge their finders, methods, and technology. The crew has had their fair share of skeptics and critics as well, but all that comes with being in the limelight.

While no one is sure if Zak Bagans considers himself Gothic, his black attire and collection of deadly possessions suggest he’s not part of the ordinary everyday mundane world. Despite some criticism and muckraking, the show shows no signs of slowing down.

As long as there is a question, fans and skeptics can rest assure that Zak and his posse will continue hunting for the answer.

Catch Ghost Adventures Saturday nights at 9 p.m. EST on Travel Channel. Alternatively, if you are from Canada, you can watch Ghost Adventures, Saturday at 9 p.m. EST on DTOUR Channel.

Artemis Dai

The Werewolf Trials — A Horror Story

Back in the late Middle Ages and early Modern period, witches were being hunted down. It didn’t matter if it were true or not. If someone didn’t like their neighbor, they could be accused of witchcraft.

That started the witch trial time period. And like that wasn’t enough, werewolves emerged. And the werewolf trials began and that is a horror story.

Werewolves Native from Switzerland

The Valais (now part of modern Switzerland) witch trials were often held. Though small in quantity still present. A part of those trials had to do with werewolves. The accusations were often known as wolf charming, werewolfery, wolf-riding and lycanthropy.

It was at the end of the sixteenth century that Peter Stumpp, a German farmer, was accused of actual witchcraft, werewolfery, and cannibalism. The many accusations must have inspired more than one person. Because many were captivated by the persecution. It even brought the monstrous trials to its apogee.

The most hunted werewolves were known to either speak French or German. Maybe it was because France was a welcoming place for everyone. Known to have certain freedom others and a little looser than other places. Maybe Germany was still known for practicing paganism leading it to be an easy target? Who really knows what the reason for could’ve been favoring those two languages.

What is very overawe is the fact that it lasted from the early fifteenth century and only lost its popularity by the eighteenth century. That is three hundred years of most likely false accusations. People have been tortured and died in horrifying ways. Only for lies and beliefs that were being spread about them.

What has been documented reveals that places such as Bavaria and Austria were the two main villainous countries. Those were where the witch and werewolf hunt and trials lasted the longest. Amazingly enough, the accusations of wolf charming stuck until the late sixteenth hundreds. The final case believed to have been in the early seventeenth hundred.

Nordic Werewolves

In Nordic countries, near the Baltic gulf, the practice of paganism was still very common. Those people would not believe in Satan and neither would they believe in witches. However, when the time would come where people would suspect werewolf activity. Those people, called Baltic, would refer to the witch trial model known to the religion practiced.

When Baltic people would accuse others of causing hurt or damage. It had to have been caused in the shape of a werewolf. Then the authorities would treat the case like a witch trial and proceed with the torture a witch would undergo.

Document records of the time stipulated that at least eighteen cases, between the sixteenth and seventeenth century, were werewolf trials.

The stories of those accused often referred to the werewolf itself as being “wolf skin”. When unused, they would hide it under a rock. Despite saying they were not turned voluntarily. Often revealing they were poisoned or offered something to eat. The people were still accused of committing evil which resulted in torture.

The ones being accused did not reveal themselves to have been dealing with the devil. However, through torture, their words were being adjusted to what the authorities desired to hear. It resulted in them being executed.

The Netherlands were no exception to the mistreatment of werewolves. They associated it with witchcraft. For four years, between 1591-1595, many people were being accused of witchery. Those brought torment on people and even some committed suicide. Probably gentler than going under torture.

Statements Through Torture

There are cases with names of entire “packs” of werewolves and families.  All accused of being werewolves or of both being werewolves and witches. It has you wonder how it started and why they would admit it.

Were they true werewolves.  Were they admitting it all under torture? Maybe there was no way around being released as falsely accused. Then those people decided to give a good scare to the villagers.

Whatever the reasons were for those people to tell their story. Either true or not. I believe the authorities were torturing them needlessly. It was simply so they would say the words they wished to hear. Maybe not to feel guilty for having killed and tormented someone innocent. Some were as young as twelve years old.

Follow next week for The Case of Peter Stumpp!

The OCD Vampire,
Alexa Wayne