Stranded, the show.

Last night I watched Stranded, the new show on SyFy. I am not sure about it yet. I liked it, I loved the location. I think I will just have to wait and see.

The premise is that people are dropped off, stranded actually, at a haunted site. This group was on an island for 5 days in a haunted hotel. Things did happen, and sometimes they were investigated and sometimes not, depending on the level of fear in the participants. The location was good, the coverage (hidden cameras, etc), was excellent, and the premise is fun. The downside is that you don't get to really hear the EVPs collected (or the one last night was really faint), or see any evidence collected. It is more a show about people's reactions than haunted sites.

I do have to say it very much interested me on another level. The teacher, and the person in me that earned the psychology degree, were very much fascinated with it.Many times people want to go on these forays, thinking they either have watched all the ghost shows and this is not going to be bad, or that they are a skeptic (like one of the participants last night), and so it will be a piece of cake.

First let me say that most people are skeptical of what they fear. They don't want to believe something for a specific reason, not just because they are a walking, talking version of Dr Sheldon Cooper. They don't want to believe something can be standing over them , watching them, and walking around their attic at night, so it becomes the dog, the wind, the old creaking house.

The human interaction and reaction part of things, is pretty predictable after 4 plus years of psych study and work, but it was still fun to watch it happen.

The gal who was the so called "skeptic", was the most afraid, upset, and panicked person there. True skeptics wouldn't be scared, they would be showing you how that board fell because it wasn't propped up against the wall securely, or the window slides shut hard and fast, that is why it closed. She quivered, cried, and yelled for the man in the group to come and stay with her.

It makes good TV, but may not be for the strict "ghostie" types. I know a panicked person in your group at a site is entertaining for a few minutes, then that usually turns to annoying. You can't ghost hunt with a crying, quivering, complaining person....heck you can't even get decent EVPs. They talk constantly out of nervousness and subconsciously they are talking to make sure that they can't hear the voices that may be whispering in their ear. They can even cry, scream, and make themselves literally ill. It makes for an very unproductive and frustrating hunt at a certain point.

We make sure we take new folks where they can be in a large group, where people aren't paying a bunch of money (no one wants their $100 night at a haunted location ruined), and where they can learn to use different equipment in different settings. We train, and we never leave anyone alone. People can freak themselves out.

I thought the show was good, and it is certainly entertaining, but it is NOT a show to watch to learn about ghost hunting.It may not even be for the ghost show people, because it is about human reaction, not ghosts.




Peshaui Wequashimese




(C)2013 Dr R M Wolf. May not be used, copied or reproduced without prior written permission.