Noteworthy Blogs: GhostTheory

I have another noteworthy blog to share with you this week: GhostTheory. I’ve had it on my Blogroll for a while, but lately it’s stood out to me because of an article I’m working on. (“Haunted or Hype?” which has spawned more than the original article I hoped to write thanks to all the people I’ve been interviewing for it. More on that later. It’s still a work in progress –or as it stands now “works.”)

At any rate, Javier Ortega and his editors (Joe Ruiz and Gary Popella) are passionate about the paranormal. But they’re also skeptical. They just don’t take evidence at face value –anyone’s evidence.

For instance, Jason and Grant of Ghost Hunters may be the reigning royalty of the paranormal field currently. A lot of people take their evidence and investigation techniques as gospel. Not Javier and his crew. They’re just as skeptical of TAPS findings as they would be of anyone else’s.

And that’s what appeals to me about GhostTheory and why I think it’s noteworthy. Lately I have found myself unhappy with Ghost Hunters. In the beginning Jason and Grant seemed sincere about furthering the field. Anymore, especially with all of their spin-off shows, I feel they’ve sold out. It’s become more about the buck, ratings and fame than the true science. Javier and his guys question the same thing.

Which I think is great. These are the kind of people the paranormal field needs (more of) to keep it honest. They provide a check and balance. Not all is as it seems on TV. Most people know this, yet Ghost Hunters is so popular people have forgotten at its essence it’s just entertainment. Even Javier admitted in a recent post that at first he was “enthralled” by GH when it first came out. But then…

Well, rather than me sum it up, let me share some of the posts which have me applauding this site and what it stands for.

1. Donna Lacroix Talks: Secrets Behind Ghost Hunters – Donna has always been my absolute favorite personality from Ghost Hunters. (I consider them “personalities” anymore rather than actual investigators. The celebrity aspect has just mucked everything up.) This post talked about the info Donna divulged during an interview with GhostDivas. (That’s another thing I liked about this post: it introduced me to the GhostDivas podcast!)
2. Sterling Opera House: No Ghosts There – “You call that evidence? How desperate are papers for stories if they print this as newsworthy?” That’s the essence of this awesome post by Javier.
3. Paranormal State – Caught faking entire show
4. Skeptical Q&A with Chip Coffey
5. Editorial reply: Paranormal State and Chip Coffey – I especially liked this sentence from this post: “The first 36 seconds of the video is proof enough that these guys do not care for the true scientific method.” Even though this post was about Paranormal State, this is what’s been frustrating me about GH: where’s the true scientific method? They want to debunk, started out being the Great Debunkers and sold themselves as scientific investigators, but…where’s the true research? Where’s the experiments? As in being laid out beforehand of how they’ll tackle the place and who is responsible for which facets  rather than just walking around haphazardly hoping they’ll catch something? Where’s the controls? Even though I don’t like Ghost Lab, I have to admit they at least they implement a little more of a “true” scientific method. Not much, but a little. Then again, I have to remember none of these shows are on PBS. It’s all about the entertainment and resulting branding/merchandising, baby.
6. “The Entity” haunting: The True Story of Doris Bither – The movie The Entity, even with its (now) cheesy and unsophisticated special effects, ranks among my Top 5 movies I can’t watch alone. Whether she was really “ghost raped” or not, I don’t know. All I know is the premise of that movie flipped me out. I now believe if she was “ghost raped” she drew the activity to herself. Javier discusses that theory, along with some other ones that have long been posed as well as some new ones.
7. The Entity – Interview with Doris Bither’s son – Touching interview. (Which includes a pic of Brian Harris, Doris’s son, who reminds me a lot of Chuck Norris. I know, completely off-topic, but…I couldn’t help but note that.) A lot of people feel they grew up in a haunted house, but what Mr. Harris endured…well, the ghost abuse was bad enough, but what touched me most was how he had to deal with other kids and people and how cruel they can be.

The above are just a few examples of why I consider this not only a noteworthy blog, but also a great one.

Courtney Mroch

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.