Paranormal State

This show was brought up a few times in class, but has yet to really be discussed.

I’ve been a pretty loyal watcher from the beginning, due to the correlation to Penn State University (The Paranormal Research Society [PRS] featured on the show is compiled of a group of Penn State students) and my general interest in ghosts and hauntings.

For those of you who haven’t seen the show, or haven’t devoted much thought to it, here’s a basic synopsis:

[Monday nights, 10 pm, A&E] A team of Paranormal Researchers from Penn State University travel to different locals on the request of people experiencing paranormal phenomena. The show focuses on host Ryan Buell, who’s now working on a second degree at Penn State, as he leads viewers through the process of paranormal investigation. This process commonly revolves around interviewing the victim/subject of paranormal experience, bringing in a renown psychic (more on that later) to flesh out the story behind the paranormal experience, holding a sort of séance at “dead-time” (3:00 am) in which to communicate with any spirit or demon present, and then concluding with usually a blessing placed on the residence and a summary by Ryan Buell.

The show is a half-hour docu-drama, according to A&E’s Paranormal State website.

This mixture of documentary and drama lends to the shows, oftentimes, excessive media effects. These effects include a distortion on Buell’s voice, to make him sound as if he’s speaking into a tape recorder (leads more to misunderstanding than anything else) as well as strangely distinct, possibly volume-altered, sounds that occur during “dead-time” séances. And its half-hour format is effective and possibly necessary since most episodes leave the viewer with very little to prove that they’ve just watched something paranormal occur, but due to the short time-frame of the show, it’s presented almost as if the PRS couldn’t fit in everything that occured. If you’re hooked – like I unregretfully am – this format sucks you in every time.

Some things that do boost the credibility of the show (if anything can) are the two main psychics Buell often utilizes, Chip Coffey and Lorraine Warren. Whereas you might not recognize Coffey’s name, Warren was one of the investigators of the Amityville Haunting case. These two are great, regardless of their psychic abilities; they’re also fun to watch. Coffey sometimes gets possessed and that’s always a treat (there is a great episode where Warren and Coffey are working on a case, Coffey gets possessed and Warren slaps him out of it) and Warren is very sweet and also very old.

Something the show lacks is general clarification. There are often demons or spirits or psychic children, but not so often is the explanation as to why they may exist, how, or what the difference is between something like a demon or spirit. Another thing is Ryan often blesses the homes where paranormal activity has occurred, in the vein of Catholicism. The “why” of this, over other religions and ceremonies, is never discussed.

All and all, if the show isn’t believable, it is personable, and definitely will make you question the next time you see something out of the corner of your eye, or that door that seems to just keep closing by itself.