Two new paranormal TV shows are changing the landscape of ghost-hunting shows

A few months ago, I joined a team of paranormal investigators, visiting haunted locations for the first season of a brand-new indie ghost-hunting show called Inhuman Beings. This month, we launched a Kickstarter to finish Inhuman Beings and a paranormal documentary series called New Blood. The two shows aim to present a new outlook on the supernatural, showcasing the esteemed specialist in the occult, Michelle Belanger. Her expertise has been previously displayed on several publications such as Paranormal State, Portals to Hell, Conjuring Kesha, among others. Locations have been chosen for the first season of a brand-new indie ghost-hunting show called Inhuman Beings. This month, we launched a Kickstarter to finish Inhuman Beings and a paranormal documentary series called New Blood.

Inhuman Beings

Each episode of Inhuman Beings features a different location with a reputation for high strangeness. Rather than trying to banish ghosts or uncover demons, we approach the unknown with a sense of curiosity, keeping an open mind and looking into ghosts, UFOs, cryptids, the fae, and more.

We use some traditional paranormal investigation techniques, experimenting with REM pods, spirit boxes, a Kinect SLS camera, and an Ovilus. But we also get weird, trying out remote viewing experiments, using dream sigils to communicate with entities, and following our curiosity as far down the rabbit hole as we can go.

That led us to some strange places. During production, we found ourselves crossing a remote river to visit land ruled by the fae, exploring a strange castle with a mysterious past, and investigating the most haunted building in a small town.

As the team’s paranormal researcher, I dug into the locations before filming and was floored by how many anomalies had been reported in each spot.

In one episode, we venture to the area of the original Loveland frogman sightings, along the banks of Ohio’s Little Miami River. While doing preliminary research, I couldn’t believe how much lore was concentrated in one small area and how interconnected the different paranormal phenomena were there.

I had heard the famous 1950s story about a man encountering strange, frog-like humanoids—one of whom carried a wand emitting sparks—but the more research I did, the more reports I found about local sightings of UFOs, cryptids, aliens, and ghosts.

That was my first hint that things were going to get a lot stranger than I had expected. However, I was not fully prepared for the firsthand experiences we had when we arrived at the site and engaged in conversations with the locals, conducted our own experiments, and gained a true understanding of what the place was truly like.

New Blood

Much of the cast and crew of Inhuman Beings are also in New Blood, a longform docu-series about modern-day vampires.

In New Blood, a series of synchronicities leads witch and host of paranormal podcast Follow the Woo Fen Alankus (she/they) to move from LA to the spooky Midwest. There, she conjures an investigative film crew to document a secret society of vampires.

They delve into the mysterious world of vampires while staying in a haunted Airbnb. The experience, which involves visiting sacred vampire ritual spaces, braving the creepy woods of Ohio, and performing out-of-the-box psychical experiments and spells, changes all of them. Season one was a wild ride, and the next phases of initiation have already begun for the team.

The Kickstarter and team

Michelle Belanger (he/she/they) and Fen Alankus (she/they) have gathered a top-notch crew of film professionals and paranormal investigators. That includes historian and medium Stephanie Bingham (she/her), who has been featured on the CW’s Mysteries Decoded, Destination America’s Paranormal Lockdown and SyFy Channel’s School Spirits; tarot/oracle reader Tigresse Bleu (they/she); filmmaker, forager, and hedgewitch Aubrey P. Archer (they/them); and photographer and skeptic-turned-believer Taylor Brown (she/they), and me.

More than 100 hours of footage have already been shot for these shows, and both shows are slated for release in Fall/Winter 2023.

With the Kickstarter funding, the team will finish up the first seasons of both shows, start pre-production on the next seasons, and more. Backers get rewards like magically imbued Ouija planchettes, Bigfoot and Pride Demon T-shirts, subtle-body portrait readings, bonus and behind-the-scenes content, executive producer credit, guest spots on their shows, and more. Spread the word and help bring this fresh paranormal project into the world!

The Vanishing Hitchhiker

Urban legends are a type of modern folklore that typically circulate through word of mouth or online media. These stories are often presented as true accounts and usually involve a shocking or mysterious event or circumstance. One of the most popular urban legends is the Disappearing Hitchhiker.

Imagine driving down a dark road and seeing a man (or woman) standing on the side of the road. There is light rain. You pull up and ask him where he is going. He asks for a ride to his girlfriend’s house, which isn’t far from where you are heading. You tell him to hop in the passenger side. Then you make some small talk about the weather and the town. Furthermore, you drive for a few minutes, but when you look over again, the mysterious hitchhiker is gone.

Variations of a Classic Urban Legend

The vanishing hitchhiker is a classic urban legend that has been circulating for decades. The story typically involves a driver who picks up a hitchhiker on a dark and lonely road. The hitchhiker is often described as being a young woman dressed in white or a soldier in uniform. The driver talked to the hitchhiker while driving, but when they arrived at the hitchhiker's place, the hitchhiker was no longer there.

Traced back to the early 20th century, this legend has retold and adapted in many different forms, with variations depending on the location and culture. Most accounts involve supernatural or paranormal elements, such as the hitchhiker being a ghost or spirit.

There are different narrative versions about the hitchhiker's identity, including a young woman who perished in a car accident on the very road she's hitchhiking on and a soldier seeking a ride back home after dying in combat. Sometimes the hitchhiker leaves behind a physical object, such as a scarf or a piece of jewelry that the driver later returns to the hitchhiker's family, or the driver goes to the address given by the hitchhiker only to discover that the person they picked up has been dead for years.

Image: Coco Parisienne, Pixabay

Hitchhiking Horror Stories

While the vanishing hitchhiker story is often presented as true, there is little evidence to support the idea that it is based on actual events. Instead, it may be more likely that the story evolved as a cautionary tale, warning people about the dangers of picking up strangers on the side of the road.

Hitchhiking was a common mode of travel in the 1960’s, especially during the hippy movement. People opted for hitchhiking to travel long distances without the high cost. Commercial air travel was still quite new and expensive in that era and generally reserved for businessmen and wealthy people while bus and train travel were more common but also quite pricey.

Unfortunately, hitchhikers made for perfect victims. Usually alone and far from home, they made excellent targets for violent crime. Multiple serial killers reportedly targeted young female hitchhikers; one of the most famous stories being that of 15-year-old Mary Vincent. She was attacked by Lawrence Singleton after accepting a ride in his van to her grandfather’s house. Singleton assaulted her multiple times then cut off her arms cut off with an axe, leaving her for dead. She managed to survive the ordeal after walking three miles with her bloody stumps raised above her heart to decrease blood loss.

Men are not any safer. The movie There is Something About Mary uses humor to show that even a man can be in danger when picking up strangers off the side of the road. By the late 1980s, hitchhiking had all but vanished. So why is this still one of the most popular urban legends?

New Stories Continue To Emerge

In recent years, the disappearing hitchhiker legend has continued to evolve and adapt to changing cultural norms and technologies. For example, there are now versions of the story that involve ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft, with passengers reporting picking up a hitchhiker who vanishes from the back seat.

While hitchhiking is no longer used as a common mode of transportation, we can now order our own stranger to bring our intoxicated selves home. As children, we were told to not get in a car with a stranger. Uber and Lyft now allow you to order your own stranger to pick you up and there have been many incidents of assaults stemming from ridesharing. In 2019, Samantha Josephson, a student from University of South Carolina, was raped and murdered after she got into a car that she believed was her Uber driver.

There are several theories about why the vanishing hitchhiker legend has persisted for so long and become so popular. Some suggest that the story taps into deep-seated fears and anxieties about death and the unknown, while others argue that it serves as a warning about the dangers of picking up strangers.

Despite there being little evidence to support the idea that the vanishing hitchhiker legend is based on actual events, it remains a popular and enduring urban legend, with new variations and adaptations continuing to emerge.

Urban legends commonly play on people's fears and anxieties, such as fears of strangers or the unknown, and can spread rapidly through social media and other online platforms. While many urban legends are generally harmless, some can be harmful or even dangerous if they inspire people to take unnecessary risks or engage in harmful behaviors.

References

Student killed after taking car she mistook for Uber was victim of 'heinous' acts, prosecutor says (nbcnews.com)

Brunvand, Jan Harold. (1981). The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their Meanings. New York: Norton. ISBN 0-393-95169-3

Vanishing Hitchhiker - Oxford Reference

How Mary Vincent Survived A Horrific Abduction While Hitchhiking (allthatsinteresting.com)

Further Reading

Tsunami Ghosts - Tales of Loss and Grief