Ghosts on TV: Paranormal State

A&E debuts new ghost hunting TV show!

Paranormal State

Paranormal State is a new half hour series on Arts & Entertainment television. The paranormal TV show follows the lives of Ryan Buell and The Paranormal Research Society of Penn State University. Paranormal State chronicles the exploration by the group of mysteries, hauntings and ghosts.

Most of the group on Paranormal State seems to be college kids who have an interest in the supernatural. In each episode, they attempt to help others who are experiencing unusual events in homes, churches and more. An interesting description of Paranormal State and the difference between it and the TV show Ghost Hunters is expressed best on the blog by Ryan Buell, himself:

"We're not 'Ghost Hunters.' Why would you want a carbon-copy of another show? This show is about the people who are experiencing paranormal phenomenon and they have nowhere else to go. Almost all of them have involved some assortment of counselors, psychiatrists, doctors, neurologists, etc. They didn't find any answers. They brought us in as a last resort. We DO CONDUCT research on the case, but the show focuses on the human and story element."

"So if you want to take something out of this show, stop waiting for 'the reveal' and think about how you would handle these clients and how would you have helped them cope with their experiences?"

The theme of Paranormal State has a religious/spiritual flavor behind it. Some have criticized the show because of this. Ryan explains further:

"Some of the criticisms have been on us using religion and spirituality, proclaiming that we've gone back to the Dark Ages. Okay, let's play fair for a minute. IF we were truly dealing with the demonic, what the hell is a scientist or a thermal camera going to do to help the family?"

"We try to conduct as best of an investigation as we can. But if a client wants the spirit to leave the premise, or if they feel they are being harmed by something, what can scientific evidence do at this point to stop it? We do our best to rule out mental illness, lying and other physiological factors (like hallucinations) before filming the investigation. We've also made more of an effort to show some of this in future episodes.

However, there comes a time when we've gone as far as we can with investigative tools. We then turn to the client's spiritual beliefs to try and bring a positive atmosphere back in to their lives. There is nothing wrong with a positive, spiritual belief system."

Check out a trailer video of one of Paranormal State's investigations: Paranormal State Video
You can tune into Paranormal State on A&E Monday evenings at 10PM EST.