Why Do You Watch Paranormal Reality Shows?

They seem to be everywhere on television over the last decade or so. Paranormal reality shows like Ghost Adventures, Paranormal Lockdown, Ghost Hunters (and the many spin-offs), etc. These shows come on and seem to almost be guaranteed hits for the channel airing them. Why is that though? Why do so many people flock to these shows that have produced VERY little precious evidence warranting their continued existence, let alone the success they see. Here are my reasons for watching at least some of these shows (I was never a fan of Ghost Hunters myself - the premise was just too stupid - plumbers by day/ghost hunters by night. When were they sleeping?).

We just love the unknown

This is one reason I watch these shows. I live in central Arkansas and, well, outside of the Dover Lights and the occasional folklore story of Bigfoot in the Ouachita Mountains, we don't have a lot going on here. I mean, the house used in the introduction for Designing Women is right up the road from me (about 15 to 20 minutes away depending on traffic) but that is far from paranormal. We have Hot Springs, a town formerly run by gangsters, about 45 minutes away from me where they have haunted tours and such but nothing really happens other than what the organizer arranged (sounds like knocks and such). Again, not all that paranormal.

This is one reason I watch these shows. Take the show that is on right now, Ghost Adventures (this was my first foray into these shows), the episode playing right now is them investigating the Bell Witch Cave. I had never heard of this location so it is completely new for me. Apparently, the Bell Witch Cave is closed to the public so it would not be a place I could visit anyhow. Yet, through Ghost Adventures, I can check it out from the comfort of my own home (the cave doesn't appear to be very inviting and somewhat dangerous).

These shows have a strong sense of "what is just around the corner" in this location? Whether it be a boat, home, prison, cave, etc. The feeling of something is just off in the darkness is strong, probably the biggest reason these shows do so well with viewers.

Considering they are often in places that they can turn the lights on it dumbfounds me. I understand they are going for that "what is around the corner" feel and the lights being on in that room would cause a shadow to be cast and possibly ruining the mood. Still though, seriously. Turn the lights on guys. This could help with "artifacts" and such in the video, and it would be less annoying to viewers. We own color televisions for a reason.

When they get a voice coming through, they seemingly shut off the equipment

This could be editing out of several minutes of nothing coming through but it is infuriating to be watching a show and all of a sudden they use a device gets voices coming through answering questions only to see a film cut happen and they turn the machine off. I know, this is probably the power of television and just some unconnected scenes being spliced together to keep the show flowing but it is sometimes jarring.

Still, it is quite cool to watch the team members hold a device and then ask a question which is mysteriously answered with one or two word responses. It can be wild sometimes. Especially the shows that include a female investigator on the team as they seem to get the more "violent" responses from these mysterious voices. Again, that "unknown" factor at work here and another reason I watch these shows. It seems Ghost Adventures does this the best out of the shows I watch. They often have a cameraman away from the investigators who are holding the device and show orbs seemingly flying into the machine BEFORE the answer comes back. Interesting to say the least.

They are travel shows for horror fans

Sure, channels like Travel Channel (which airs Ghost Adventures) are all about showing off destinations with hosts traveling there and detailing their experiences. More often than not, the excursions are focused on food or entertainment in an exotic location. That is fine if you are into that kind of stuff. For me, I would rather know more about the seedy underbelly of such a location (even Las Vegas has horror stories). These paranormal investigation shows are almost like travel shows for people that are into more than just watching a show in a new location or eating a food that we would never touch back home.

Travel shows are hot. That may be why paranormal investigation shows are hot too. Most of these shows go into deeper detail about the town around the location, the history of the location, etc. This is interesting stuff to me, a chance to learn about stuff that other shows will not touch - such as deaths, horrible acts that happened or a haunted location nearby could ruin an otherwise good show about a beach resort.

Scooby Doo conditioned us to like these shows

Think about it, Scooby Doo is probably the original paranormal investigation show. I know, it was animated and it was always a person behind the "paranormal" activity. Ignore that though. How many people that watched Scooby Doo thought about paranormal investigation as a viable career path? I know I did. I think this is part of the reason these shows are so popular today - it is ingrained in viewers between 30 to 50 years old (which is probably smack dab in the demographic of people watching these shows). I don't know many 20 somethings that spend much time watching travel shows, though I know a lot of 40 to 50 year olds that enjoy watching travel shows, and many of them watch these paranormal investigation shows.

Scooby Doo did this to us. I hope Hannah Barbara is getting some kind of royalty off all of these shows that built off their foundation. At least a donation to their favorite charity or something as a thank you for conditioning the audience.

Money is an issue to traveling

This is a big reason I am more of a fan of these shows than I am someone that gets out there and experiencing a lot of this stuff first hand. Let's face it, fuel is expensive (even at 12 year lows as I write this it gets expensive to travel on a whim very far). This is a problem I am sure I am not the only one to face. Also there is that pesky day job so I would be limited to locations I could reach, investigate, and travel back home in a weekend or less. Not to mention getting permission to investigate a lot of these locations because almost all of them are privately owned and, well, would you want people just traipsing around your property at all hours of the day and night? I wouldn't.

What is your reason for watching these paranormal reality shows?