By Managing Editor: Amber Lee Carnahan

Many of the paranormal shows on television, which add up to quite a few, tend to blend together with their similarities. There’s a certain limit to how creative ghost hunters can be. Ghost Adventures, however, uses unique techniques and procedures when ghost hunting that distinguishes them from the overwhelming horde.

Ghost Adventures is a Travel channel reality series that follows three investigators- Zak Bagans, Nick Groff, and Aaron Goodwin- in their quest to gather evidence of the paranormal. Prior to their show, they filmed a documentary-styled independent video in which they investigated in and around Virginia City, Nevada. While not as engaging as their current paranormal series, the documentary started their career in ghost hunting and is responsible for the progress they’ve made on television. Since this film, they have aired eight seasons, each episode dealing with a new area and a new set of paranormal experiences.

In the competitive world of ghost hunting, each group needs a special quality that makes them different than the rest, and the first thing I noticed that caught my eye was that they didn’t have camera crew following them around. I felt a smaller group made the experiences seem realer and possibly scarier. The episode would contain the three previously mentioned investigators traveling to a supposedly haunted location and participating in a “lockdown.” In a lockdown, they take a small amount of equipment into the location and have an owner or manager lock them in the building, where they will stay and investigate in the pitch dark until they are released at dawn. The fact that it’s just the three of them makes it more suspenseful.

Another technique they use is experimenting with new types of equipment. For example, they often use a machine called the Spirit Box, which shifts through several different radio stations at a high speed, which supposedly allows for spirits to communicate. Other devices they have experienced with include different cameras designed to see in different light settings. This has, on more than one occasion, allowed them to capture evidence of figures that couldn’t be seen by the naked eye.

While the Ghost Adventures crew may be unconventional at times, they are still very entertaining to watch, even to someone who might not believe in the paranormal. It’s not necessary to believe in ghosts or demons to be able to enjoy the show, since their dramatic responses are enough to keep the episodes entertaining. It is worth it to give the show a shot, whether it’s to learn about different places through their traveling or to have a chance to glimpse some ghostly activity. For either reason, Ghost Adventures can be a fun way to spend the afternoon.