Ghost Adventures: Serial Killer Spirits

Where does our fascination with serial killers come from? Let's face it, these people have committed heinous crimes, yet we devour documentaries about their lives and deeds. We look at news reports and movies about them and their victims. We might even look at Wikipedia to read all the gory details of their crimes (or am I the only one who does that?). So, when the crew of Ghost Adventures announced earlier this year that they were going to investigate locations linked to 4 notorious (American) serial killers, I was excited, to say the least.

So, this whole month of October I have spent a lot of time on YouTube. I cannot watch Travel Channel - where the episodes of Ghost Adventures are aired in America - here in Spain, so I had to wait until a kind soul on YouTube uploaded the latest episode of Ghost Adventures: Serial Killer Spirits. As you can imagine, YouTube deletes these episodes quite quickly - although they don't seem to be bothered about older ones - so I had to hurry to see them all. But I did succeed and oh boy, I had a really great time!

Let's introduce the 4 episodes. If you are not American or if you don't know anything about serial killers, I will provide some details about them and the locations linked to these criminals. I have to admit that I was very familiar with two of them, the other two I had never heard about. Anyway, let's start!

1. Somebody has to be the first to "earn" the title of the first serial killer (in America): H. H. Holmes. The man himself confessed to 27 murders and only 9 of these could be confirmed. However, there are lots of rumours that Holmes might have murdered as many as 200 people! The location that the crew of Ghost Adventures investigated is a house in Irvington, Indiana, where Holmes murdered a young boy: his remains are supposed to be scattered all over the garden. The house is still inhabited, by the way, and the current owner - a young mother - complains about the dark forces she has to live with.
2. The next episode dealt with John Gacy who is also known as the Killer Clown and who murdered more than 30 young men and boys. Afterwards, he buried them underneath his house. When he was finally caught, he was locked up in the Joliet prison, where he was also executed. A very interesting detail was that Ghost Adventures could explore a part of the prison that had never been investigated before. This prison, by the way, is located in Illinois.
3. Next up, Tacoma, Washington. Jake Bird - one of the very few black serial killers - murdered an unknown number of people with an axe. Moreover, he is also known for the (infamous) Bird Hex; when he was convicted, he cursed 6 people connected to his trial. By the way, the jail where he was imprisoned was actually quite small; from the outside, it looks like a normal house. In the attic is a small apartment where the jailer used to live; nowadays, it was one of the most haunted places in the prison.
4. Last but not least, Ted Bundy, without any doubt, one of the most prolific and intriguing serial killers in America. The location in Bountiful, Utah is a house where Bundy is supposed to have killed one of his victims after kidnapping her in the neighbourhood. Nowadays the house is known for the satanic rituals that have taken place in recent years. It was quite thrilling that as soon as the crew of Ghost Adventures arrived, they were already confronted with strange (paranormal?) activity. 

In general, I liked these episodes very much. It brought back memories of the less recent ones: lots of paranormal activity (both visual and auditive), many scares and much fun. They also test new equipment; I particularly liked the new ghost box (I would actually like to have one of those!). If you are unfamiliar with Ghost Adventures, you have to know that each episode follows the same procedure; introduction of the serial killer and the location, historic information about both, eyewitness accounts of the (supposedly) paranormal activity in the location and then the investigation itself, which takes place overnight. By the way, I'm starting to like Billy more and more; although you see him using different kinds of equipment in every episode, I think he is the one who relies on his instincts the most of the 4 investigators.

The creepiest locations were without any doubt the Joliet Prison and the Ted Bundy house. First of all, the prison at some places was a complete ruin - quite photogenic actually (I still feel the urge to explore those buildings myself). To be honest, I felt sorry for Jay - who is usually very calm and composed - when he got that awful scare in the X-ray room and then ran away. And how odd, that there is actually a person who possesses the brain of John Gacy! Anyway, great location and terrific evidence...

The only thing that I was a bit disappointed about initially was that there is no real evidence linking the house in the last episode with (the crime of) Ted Bundy, especially because of the notoriety of the criminal himself. But, on the other hand, those satanic rituals and the eerie traces they left behind created a very dark and creepy atmosphere indeed, that was almost tangible. This episode became really intense when Zak very unexpectedly locked up Billy in the basement closet; I actually felt relieved when they let him out again... And what really happened to Billy near the end? Anyway, without any doubt, this was one of the better episodes ever!

Later this week, Travel Channel will air the Halloween special of Ghost Adventures, an event I am - as always! - looking forward to, to say the least. I will do my best to watch it on YouTube (sorry, the illegal way again) and write my review as soon as possible. Anyway, on Thursday, I will review another trailer on this website that is connected to my favourite obsession, the Oscars!