We tiptoed very gingerly into Syfy's new Paranormal Witness, which follows Ghost Hunters on Wednesday nights, because "recreation" shows -- no matter how well intended -- generally are of such cheesy acting and production quality that they undermine the story they are trying to tell. It's very difficult to deliver the punch of "real" when "real" is very clearly not what's on the screen.
I have been astonished, however, by the story-telling power Paranormal Witness has been able to deliver via a blend of contemporary on-screen narrative by the real people involved in these "true" creepy tales of the paranormal, along with generally very well produced and acted dramatizations of the events being relayed. (See TMR's Steve Eramo's interview with Paranormal Witness producer Mark Lewis.)
This Wednesday's episode is entitled "The Haunting of Mansfield Mansion," wherein a woman's bargain bid is accepted on her dream home, a rundown Connecticut mansion. As she begins to refurb the three-story, nine-bedroom manse, she disturbs something embedded in the property, which turns out to have been a mental asylum where patients were abused and neglected: you know, the usual stuff of hauntings and personal horror.
How many times do I have to tell you this, people? ALWAYS research the history of creepy old mansions available at bargain prices before you sign the papers. Damn.
I have been astonished, however, by the story-telling power Paranormal Witness has been able to deliver via a blend of contemporary on-screen narrative by the real people involved in these "true" creepy tales of the paranormal, along with generally very well produced and acted dramatizations of the events being relayed. (See TMR's Steve Eramo's interview with Paranormal Witness producer Mark Lewis.)
This Wednesday's episode is entitled "The Haunting of Mansfield Mansion," wherein a woman's bargain bid is accepted on her dream home, a rundown Connecticut mansion. As she begins to refurb the three-story, nine-bedroom manse, she disturbs something embedded in the property, which turns out to have been a mental asylum where patients were abused and neglected: you know, the usual stuff of hauntings and personal horror.
How many times do I have to tell you this, people? ALWAYS research the history of creepy old mansions available at bargain prices before you sign the papers. Damn.
