Why The House in Between Raises the Paranormal Benchmark

Steve Gonsalves says The House in Between is a paranormal game-changer. I think it raises the benchmark –on both paranormal documentaries and investigations.

The Movie

Ahead of my interview with the documentary’s producers, Kendall Whelpton and Steve G., I had a chance to screen the film before it was available to rent or buy. (Which you can now do via at least 26 different platforms, including Amazon. And if you do rent or buy using the link below, thanks. Amazon is one of our affiliates and we earn a small commission at no cost to you.)

I’ve since purchased the movie because it’s one I want to watch again. There was a lot that happened in it, a lot of people that were interviewed, and I want the ability to reference it any time I want.

I also wanted to leave a review on Amazon. As a writer, I know reviews help people decide whether or not to invest in your product, in this case a movie. And like any other product, some people are better suited to buying this product than others.

Why Some Won’t Like It

The House in Between isn’t going to be for everyone. So far the reviews are mostly favorable, but those who don’t like it really don’t like it.

Even Steve said in my interview with him and Kendall that it’s a little bit different than your normal paranormal documentary. You will have your scares and frights that come with the territory, but the presentation is different.

And it is.

There’s less of the irrational and more of the factual. (But there is some of the “irrational,” which I’ll get to.) They go to great lengths to bring in more science and scientists.

Also, it’s as “factual” as you can get with a subject that hasn’t scientifically been proven to even exist.

We still don’t know what ghosts are actually made of –or even if they exist at all. There’s no way to know if all the gadgets everyone uses and claims “catches” evidence of ghosts is really catching that or something else.

In The House in Between, Steve seeks out scientific experts and asks them to interpret certain “data” and “evidence” that has been captured at Alice’s house.

Some of it they debunk, some of it they provide likely rational scenarios for, and some of it leaves them perplexed but positive there’s an explanation for –other than ghosts.

It’s a level up intellectually. It’s got more heart and empathy and research points of reference than your typical paranormal show.

It also doesn’t have scary demons. There is maybe a sinister force, but not a demonic and soul-sucking one like so many of the shows have now become.

So if you like scary religious-heavy demonic fare? This documentary is not for you.

“There’s no crying in ghost hunting”

When I say there’s heart in this movie, there is. Steve gets choked up at one point, then says, “There’s no crying in ghost hunting.”

It’s a poignant moment and really shows his soft side.

But that’s what I liked best about the movie. From the homeowner, Alice, to the people who live in Florence, Mississippi, to the local paranormal investigators involved in the case –like John Bullard and Brad Cooney– the film introduces us to some really likable people.

And what do you do with likable people? You want to like them and believe them.

Interestingly, some of the likable people are reference sources who don’t believe in the paranormal at all. I think that makes them even more likable and believable.

Like Dr. Michael Dennin, Professor of Physics & Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He sees the footage of the ball rolling by itself and says, “Nope. Something had to have caused that.”

I don’t know why exactly, but he was one of my favorite scientists. He seemed very logical and seemed to posit suggestions for finding actual answers.

But my favorite was Mary Alice Hydrick, the Town of Florence Historian Official Record Keeper. She’s the one in the trailer they ask, “Do you believe in ghosts?” She gives them a the-hell-you-say look and says, “Believe in what?”

She reminds me of one of my grandma-in-laws. Fiery and unabashedly speaks her mind.

The Psychic

I don’t really believe in psychics. Not in the way so many of them try to sell themselves. (Meaning all-knowing and all-seeing. Most just desperately want to be “special” and have magical powers.)

However, The House in Between introduced me to a rare breed of psychic who made me stand up and take notice.

Jill Marie Morris didn’t try to sell herself in that pushy way a lot of them try to. She wasn’t dressing to a part. She was just a very every day, ordinary-looking woman who could’ve been anything from a stay-at-home mom to a marketing manager. There was nothing flamboyant or showy about her.

She walked in and started assessing Alice’s house. She didn’t ask a lot of leading questions. Unless they were edited out. Granted, the skeptic in me is still on the lookout for ways they could’ve played into a con.

However, in my interview with Steve and Kendall, and in the movie itself, they do stress that they went to great lengths to use a psychic who had never been to the house before and who didn’t even know where she was going until the minivan driver pulled up to the house.

That was actually one of my favorite parts of the interview. It starts around the 15:40 mark.

Anyway, I liked Jill Marie and felt her drawings added a different touch.

Alice had used psychics in the house prior to Steve G. getting involved. Steve wasn’t key on using a psychic necessarily, but Alice wanted another one and Steve did his best to accommodate her wishes while still trying to maintain investigative integrity.

The Evidence

As one reviewer on Amazon put it, there really is very little evidence aside from thumps, a ball that sometimes rolls down the stairs, and doors opening on their own.

There’s an assortment of trigger items on the stairs, from a doll to a baseball. I’d have been more impressed if the doll had suddenly flopped forward and tumbled down the steps. I’m less impressed by the baseball.

Basically the scientists that they showed the baseball rolling footage to also said there’s likely a reason. Maybe it was a hoax and the ball is magnetized. Maybe there’s a wind of some sort. One even asked, “Was there an earthquake?”

Steve wanted to see if the ball was somehow magnetized or if compressed air could move it. It didn’t react to a magnet and to move the ball you had to be right on it with the air compressor.

But what about vibrations?

This is one part where I feel they didn’t do their due diligence. It very well could’ve been a little earthquake.

Mississippi is near the New Madrid Seismic Zone and does get earthquakes from time to time. Very minor and not very frequent, but according to Earthquake Track they’ve had 12 in the last 365 days.

In August 2019 there was even one not far from Jackson, Mississippi. Florence, where Alice’s house is, is a suburb of Jackson to the south.

Is it possible the vibrations from some of those earthquakes were just enough that it sent the ball down the steps? Or is there something else –construction, some other industry that causes ground-rattling jolts nearby– that could cause just enough vibration to jolt the ball?

It might also explain why her upstairs door slams sometimes.

Or maybe that has to do with airflow? I’m not sure.

As far I know, they didn’t investigate the possibility of earthquakes or compare any of the times the ball moved to earthquake reports.

Also, Kendall is near the stairs when the ball moves at one point. It’s actually near the end of the movie. Even though they had a contractor out to make sure the house was level, could movements trigger vibrations that send the ball rolling?

I think yes and if they dig a little deeper, they may debunk the rolling the ball.

But what’s up with the doors that were caught moving in the chandelier’s reflection? (Which was a very astute catch, by the way.)

Not sure, but that’s also among the reasons I think this movie needs a sequel.

UFOs?

Alice was able to live with the weird activity in her house until one night where there was a very bright shaft of light that showed up in her room. It unnerved her because she didn’t feel quite alone after it was gone.

Steve doesn’t believe there’s UFO or alien activity in her house. It could be she’s near a portal of some sort.

I’m not sure why that seems more plausible to him than UFOs, but Richard Estep said something interesting when I interviewed him for the Paranormal Day Paracon about an elephant parable.

One person is investigating the elephant’s leg and thinks the elephant is a tree. The other is investigating his trunk and thinks it’s a snake. The other is investigating some other part and thinks the elephant is something else. They never realize they’re each examining a small piece of a greater whole.

Estep feels that’s the case with the realms of the paranormal. We’re quick to compartmentalize when in fact we all may be experiencing parts of the same bigger thing. Alice’s haunted house may have some kind of out-of-this-world connection…or it might not.

Overall

I loved the way this movie was filmed, the feel of it, the experts and sources used, and that it’s thought-provoking and trying to tweak the approach to the investigation and the analysis of it.

It was thoughtful, insightful and intriguing.

There’s a little bit of everything: mystery, true crime, the paranormal. I think it’s really, really well done and I hope to see more movies like this from Robot Ninja Media –or any other production company really.

The only thing that’s missing is demons. For me, that’s perfect. But if you like that side of things, don’t spend your money on this movie. You will wish you could get a refund.

But if you’re more serious about the paranormal and more inclined to think about how to get actual answers to some of the mysteries plaguing investigations, you will like this movie.

I give it five out of five skulls.