I didn’t expect to like Ghost Adventures, yet it has grown on me and has become a show that I look forward to watching.
I don’t know that much about it, but what I do know is it has been on the Travel Channel for a few years and the show follows the Ghost hunting adventures of Zak Bagans, Nick Groff, and Aaron Goodwin. The trio goes to investigate buildings that have reputations of being haunted and they videotape and record their adventures during a night of “lockdown.”
At first I thought the show was all about Zak, but quickly found out that Nick and Aaron are also important parts of the team.
The trio captures some impressive video and audio on their Ghost Hunting adventures but what is the most entertaining about the show is the different personalities of the three guys and how they react to what is happening around them. (They might look very serious in these photos but that’s not how their personalities are on camera.)
Zak is primarily the “On Camera Talent” for the show, and also does most of the interviews and play by play commentary, although he does take his turn at manning the cameras. Zak will vocally taunt an evil spirit or Ghost to come hit him or punch him or otherwise let him know that they are there, yet, when Zak walks into a room full of dolls, he expresses his extreme fear of them! (Clowns apparently frighten him as well.)
I don’t know who writes the copy for the show, but I guess it must be Zak because they claim to not have huge camera crews following them around. The funniest thing about Zak is what I am going to call his “Zak-isms”. At first I thought I was hearing things but after watching numerous shows, I hear him say them time and time again.
For example, in each shows opening monologue, when Zak talks about the history of the places they visit, Zak has recently been saying: “Below and Behold.” Ah…Zak…that’s “Lo and Behold”!
It wasn’t a one time slip of the tongue either, because I’ve heard him say that term in at least two different episodes.
In the episode I watched tonight, Zak actually said: “It kind of struck my eye.” (I think that should have been “caught” your eye!) Now I look forward to whenever Zak talks because I’m waiting to hear the next “Zak-ism.”
Aaron is the Camera Tech and is also the most demonstrative of them all. An episode rarely goes by without him turning the camera lens on himself to show the level of shock he is feeling over what he had just heard or seen. His eyes open up large as well as his mouth as he yells out: “Dude! What the f**k was that?!” One would think a person would become jaded after time but it looks like every episode is Aaron’s first night on the job!
In the episode I watched tonight, the Ghost Adventures Crew were in a Haunted House here in Palm Beach, FL. The guys made Aaron film alone, in the attic, where a medium had sensed a spirit that didn’t like men (and who apparently didn’t especially like Aaron!)
Aaron uneasily asked the spirit questions, about how he had killed himself, all the while admonishing himself out loud for asking questions like that, since he knew what kind of reactions the guys usually got. This time, Aaron got more than he bargained for…After he had asked a series of questions, we actually saw a birdcage that was on the wall behind him, get pushed to the ground! It crashed as it hit the floor and that made Aaron start hurling expletives and hurling himself out of the attic.
Then there is Nick. Poor Nick. The spirits really don’t like him! It seems that in just about every episode, a spirit voice comes through saying that they hate him or want to kill him!
Besides being singled out like that, Nick seems to be the calmest of the group, and in the beginning I never saw him on camera, because I thought Zak and Aaron were on the show alone. Nick will readily volunteer to go off into areas on his own, or like tonight, agreed to be locked into a body drawer, in a Morgue, to see if he could rouse up any spirit activity. Nick ended up getting scared out of his wits as a result of that decision.
The Travel Channel is running a few special episodes where the guys show you their favorite and most famous places they’ve investigated to date. The new season of Ghost Adventures starts on March 9th, and I for one will be tuning in so Zak can tell me how to “Below and Behold” something and I can watch Aaron’s shocked expressions and “Dude-isms”, and I can watch Nick become the most hated human being in the evil spirit afterlife!
Even if the show itself wasn’t entertaining (but it is), the show would be worth watching for the great cinematography and editing that give it a modern, edgy feel. Be sure to check out the new season of Ghost Adventures which starts Friday, March 9th, at 9:00 pm on the Travel Channel.
