This is it. The big launch of discovery+. Here are the exclusive premieres you’ll see on the new streamer beginning on January 4. Shows and specials that can be viewed on Travel Channel are also noted, where applicable.
To learn more about any of the shows or their stars, visit discoveryplus.com.
Ghost Adventures: Cecil Hotel
Two-hour special
Stationed along downtown Los Angeles’ Main Street stands the now infamous Cecil Hotel. The hotel’s checkered past is beset by multiple suicides, murders, devil worshipping and serial killers like the “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez.
It’s also riddled with stories of paranormal activity. The historic building is the epitome of creepy –an inspiration for books, films, and even a season of the American Horror Story series.
Now, for the first time ever, the Cecil Hotel is allowing cameras inside for an investigation of ghostly proportions in Ghost Adventures: Cecil Hotel. The two-hour special is launching exclusively on discovery+.
The Ghost Adventures team – Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin, Jay Wasley and Billy Tolley– begin their investigation retracing the steps of one of the most chilling mysteries of the 21st century: the unexplained death of a young girl named Elisa Lam.
Lam’s body was found in the hotel’s water tower without any explanation as to what may have happened. Her peculiar demise remains unsolved and bizarre elevator surveillance video of Lam has fueled an abundance of theories, including that of supernatural forces.
The team is convinced there’s more to this property, and it might be because of one of its most infamous former inhabitants –killer Richard Ramirez. Could it be that Ramirez’s devil-worshipping rituals opened up the Cecil Hotel to a demonic infestation that could have affected Lam?
As the crew explores Ramirez’s old room, they make startling connections with what may be his dark energy. They experience physical afflictions, including unexplained scratches, and secure some of the most frightening and compelling audio and visual evidence they’ve ever captured.
Shock Docs: Amityville Horror House
Two-hour special
*A special presentation will air on Travel Channel on Friday, January 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT
In 1977, The Amityville Horror book was published and caused a sensation. The subsequent 1979 film adaptation was a surprise box office hit. It was a film that changed everything. It terrified audiences and became a film and story that people continue to return to.
Today, it is the quintessential American horror story based on true events. This is the story of the all-American family that moves into their dream house in the all-American town and experiences the most terrifying demonic haunting imaginable. Demon possession, demon attacks, a portal to hell. A situation so dire, even the church couldn’t help them.
Through archival footage and recreations, the special, produced by 1895 Films, presents the harrowing true story of Robert Defeo, who murdered his entire family in the Amityville house, and the 28 terror-filled days the Lutz family lived in the house.
Ghost Adventures: Top 10
The full series of eight one-hour episodes will be available at launch.
*A special presentation of Episode 1 will air on Travel Channel on Thursday, January 7 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Zak Bagans counts down fan-favorite moments from more than a decade of shooting Ghost Adventures –over 200 episodes! It’s a fun, yet terrifying, walk down memory lane as Bagans revisits the scariest, funniest, and most insane clips from episodes past. He also presents some of the crew’s best paranormal evidence.
Episode 1 – “Top 10: Ghosts Caught on Camera”
Zak Bagans counts down the most memorable ghosts caught on camera, as voted on by the fans. From a shadow figure named Roy to a thermal apparition at Gettysburg, Bagans recounts incredible evidence that proves ghosts are all around us.
Episode 2 – “Top 10: Poltergeist Activity”
Zak Bagans counts down Ghost Adventures’ most compelling moments of poltergeist activity, as voted on by the fans. From a toy controlled by a demon to objects dangerously launching into the air, Bagans shows how spirits have a firm grip on our world.
Episode 3 – “Top 10: Hilarious Moments”
Zak Bagans counts down Ghost Adventures’ funniest moments, as voted on by the fans. From an impromptu sing-along on a trolley to Bagans wooing a spirit, these hilarious bits reveal moments of levity in even the most serious of paranormal investigations.
Episode 4 – “Top 10: Terrifying Possessions”
Zak Bagans counts down Ghost Adventures’ most terrifying possessions, as voted on by the fans. From the Zozo demon overtaking a woman to a spirit engulfing Billy Tolley with rage, Bagans explores the moments where dark entities have taken hold over the innocent.
Episode 5 – “Top 10: Spirit Communication Moments”
Zak Bagans counts down Ghost Adventures’ spookiest spirit communications, as voted on by the fans. From a spirit’s chilling confession of murder to a demonic scream unlike anything ever captured, Bagans presents evidence that the dead can still speak.
Episode 6 – “Top 10: Evil Attacks”
Zak Bagans counts down the crew’s most memorable evil attacks, as voted on by the fans. From chokings to scratches and even punches, Bagans recounts the most heinous paranormal assaults in Ghost Adventures’ history, proving that violence lives on after death.
Episode 7 – “Top 10: Scariest Rituals”
Zak Bagans counts down Ghost Adventures’ scariest rituals, as voted on by the fans. From a spirit board session that targets Jay Wasley’s family to the witch, Lady Snake, becoming consumed by darkness, Bagans shows viewers no ritual should ever be performed in jest.
Episode 8 – “Top 10: Paranormal Experiments”
Zak Bagans counts down the Ghost Adventure crew’s most incredible paranormal experiments, as voted on by the fans. From opening a spirit portal to creating a magnetic vortex, the guys’ ongoing experiments help them to capture more proof of the paranormal.
The Dead Files
Episodes 1-3 will be available at launch on January 4. The remaining 10 episodes will debut weekly beginning January 11.
*A special presentation of Episode 1 will air on Travel Channel on Saturday, January 2 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Former NYPD homicide detective Steve DiSchiavi and physical medium Amy Allan are back on the case. In each episode of The Dead Files, DiSchiavi and Allan first investigate each case separately. Utilizing his detective skills, DiSchiavi interviews witnesses and experts, and researches the history and facts behind each location. Allan, a physical medium who sees and communicates with the dead, assesses the property to identify what underlying entities reside there. Keeping their findings hidden from each other, the team avoids all contact with one another –coming together only at the very end to reveal their shocking discoveries to the property owners, and each other.
Available to Stream on Monday, January 4:
Episode 1 – “The Hunted”
Amy Allan and Steve DiSchiavi travel to Springfield, Ohio, where a man claims a malicious spirit is threatening to destroy his home, his health and his marriage. He fears he, or his wife, will end up dead if the escalating paranormal activity is not stopped.
Episode 2 – “He Lurks”
Steve DiSchiavi and Amy Allan investigate a Fresno, California, home where apparitions run rampant and an evil presence lurks in the shadows. The owners are terrified one of them will end up seriously hurt in this hub for paranormal activity and misery.
Episode 3 – “Marked for Death”
Steve DiSchiavi and Amy Allan head to Glendale, Arizona, where vicious entities have turned a couple’s dream home into a nightmare. With the unexplained activity getting worse by the day, they are terrified their family will fall apart if they don’t get help soon.
Available to Stream on Monday, January 11:
Episode 4 – “The Bone Collector”
Amy Allan and Steve DiSchiavi head to Discovery Bay, California, where a woman claims a paranormal presence killed her father. With her whole family suffering from mysterious physical attacks, she is worried her son may fall victim next.
UFO Witness
Episodes 1-3 will be available at launch on January 14. The remaining five episodes will debut weekly beginning January 21.
*A special presentation of Episode 1 will air on Travel Channel on Thursday, January 14 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Former federal agent and paranormal investigator Ben Hansen is on a mission to uncover the truth behind the country’s most shocking and infamous UFO sightings. With unprecedented access to the archives of Dr. Alan J. Hynek, the chief scientific consultant of Project Bluebook –containing over 10,000 case files, Hansen believes the answers to UFOs in America are hidden in the cases of the past. Aiding Hansen on his quest is Jennie Zeidman, the last surviving operative of Project Bluebook, and Mark O’Connell, an accomplished UFO investigator and former confidant of Dr. Hynek. Together, they will uncover the secrets of the past to shed new light on today’s freshest UFO encounters.
Available to Stream on Thursday, January 14:
Episode 1 – “Secrets of the State”
In 2017, three classified videos of Navy pilots encountering “tic tac” UFOs were leaked. But these were not the first sightings of the strange objects. Ben Hansen digs deep to find out why the government hid all evidence of these extraordinary encounters.
Episode 2 – “Alien Crash Secrets”
Over the past year, numerous UFO sightings have taken place in Kecksburg, Pennsylvania, home to an infamous UFO crash and supposed military cover-up. Ben Hansen heads to the tiny town to find out if the current sightings are linked to the 1965 incident.
Episode 3 – “Alien High Tech”
A startling, new report claims a prominent astrophysicist worked on an aircraft reverse-engineered from the parts of downed UFOs. Ben Hansen aims to find out how the U.S. government got hold of alien technology and where it is hidden.
Check-In
Will you watch when these shows premiere on discovery+ or wait to see if the episodes come to Travel Channel?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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I’ll have to wait for the shows to (hopefully) hit Travel Channel. They all sound so fascinating!
There is an extremely creepy coincidence in the Elisa Lam case –
I think there will be a lot of back and forth cross-over between Travel Channel and the streamer, so I’m sure you’ll get to.