halloween fright fix

there is something for almost every type of traveler on the travel channel's program line-up. for foodies, there's anthony bourdain and andrew zimmern who travel the globe sans spatula and taste local cuisines (alive, crawling or otherwise); for girls just looking to spend the weekend somewhere to unwind, there's samantha brown to offer fun travel tips.

for those more inclined towards the occult, there's the british-made "most haunted", where a team led by yvette fielding journey to haunted locations across england and hold seances in an attempt to catch spirit activities on camera. their team consists of a medium, film crew, a historian, a parapsychologist who injects (or at least tries to) logical explanations to any disturbing phenomena captured on film. these people inspect the place at daytime then return at nightfall to spend the entire evening with flashlights, nightmode-ready cameras and gadgets that measure energy levels in any given area the way the fictional "ghostbusters" would.

sounds like "the blairwitch project," doesn't it?

they always sound authoritative when calling out to spirits. maybe it's their british accents. it's like mary poppins herding a flock of ghosts. they better respond, or else...they'll be grounded. wait, they already are, in a manner of speaking. and then they'd always end their show with a thoughtful, yet foreboding "until next time...sleep tight!"

one of the things i looked forward to in the philippines come halloween time was the special episode of "magandang gabi, bayan." i remember making sure the lights were all on while watching the show, especially in the living room where the television was. their reenactments would be so realistic, i would stay wide-eyed in bed later at night and have a hard time sleeping. but then, its host noli de castro became vice-president, so someone else replaced him. eventually, the show bid its final "good night" to the public.

and now comes a fledgling blairwitch-mannered show on the travel channel called "ghost adventures." i raised my eyebrow, thinking, "okay, who are these "most haunted"-wannabes?" three young white guys with their own videocameras. their modus operandi: locking themselves in a haunted location from dusk till dawn and document any spirit activity with their equipment.

i decided to watch one episode last night. i also decided that the group leader, zak bagans, was actually hot(♥!)...and fearless. he welcomes the viewers to his show by sharing that he fell into this "occupation" when he had a real ghost encounter, converting him from a non-believer. in last night's show, they went to a haunted music bar called "bobby mackey's music world" somewhere in kentucky where one of two satan worshippers allegedly beheaded his girlfriend as sacrifice. the head was thrown into a well which led to a nearby river. the establishment was built over this well which was accidentally unearthed by a maintenance person who found a decapitated skull in it. according to the stories, the well actually served as a "portal to hell."

reports of shadowy sightings, bodily scratchings and even demonic possessions have lured these ghost crusaders to this place. they began their nocturnal "adventure" by taunting the spirits, openly inviting them to "hurt" them. sweet jesus! well, zak regrettably got what he asked for, because later on, while walking in one of the rooms, he would feel a "burning sensation" on his back. his two companions check under his shirt and would shockingly find scratch marks! you'd think he would then run off and bang on the locked doors, but instead he got angry and taunted the spirits even more.

"who did this to me?! why don't you scratch me on the face?"--he yells into the darkness.

good lord, i like your face scar-less just the way it is!

watch a snippet of this episode here! (and take a peek at his sexy back, haha)

at the end of the show, they showed footage of this scratch encounter to a local exorcist who warned them of "playing with fire," and reminded them to keep his number close.

could any of this be real or rigged? i had a hard time trying to sleep last night, that's for sure.