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!

Parawize Talks - Embark on Your Journey to the Truth

An invitation to open your mind to the possibilities.

According to a 2005 Gallup poll, 3 out of 4 Americans believe in the paranormal. Is their belief based upon evidence? Are there any dangers to paranormal belief? Has reality television influenced the public?

On November 12, 2022, Paranormal Daily News (PDN) launched Parawize Talks. These talks were developed to bring open discourse about the paranormal, parapsychology, and Psi to the public. The newly launched Parawize Talks brought together four thought leaders for an impactful and thought-provoking four hours. PDN will bring more thought leaders who are prominent in their fields to deliver more educational content, raise funds for research organizations, and support organizations in the field.

Jock Brocas, is the founder of Paranormal Daily News, an author, and a renowned evidential medium. He explains that these talks were inspired by the PDN team. The idea was to forge a greater relationship between science, academia, and spiritual thought for the public. Together, Jock and Craig created Parawize Talks. The idea is to share an examination of the truth by bringing awareness to various topics in the paranormal, parapsychology, PSI, and the afterlife. This will help bring complicated subjects to the public in easy understandable formats.

This series aims to sow enough seeds in your mind to compel you to keep asking questions. It is so important not just to accept the perceptions proliferated by uninformed voices. It is your invitation to avoid accepting everything at face value. Parawize Talks will offer you different perspectives, even competing ones, that are unified by a commitment to seek knowledge. You will decide the truth for yourself.

Dangers of the Paranormal - Awareness, and Empowerment

Jock Brocas kicked off the sessions. He dove head first into the question: do we need to be cautious when seeking knowledge or becoming involved in the paranormal? In Jock’s opinion, the answer is yes. Through years of experience as an evidential medium. Jock states that many people are driven by curiosity, while others are driven by a need to comfort their fear of death. Despite the underlying motivation. Those who probe into the paranormal are all looking for answers they haven’t been able to find in the material world around them.

During his talk, Jock declared his commitment to serving others and particularly, to helping those in spiritual crisis. Jock also cites cases where the family was left in turmoil and how mediums and investigators have a ‘Paranormal Bias. Jock is the author of the book Deadly Departed. He wrote the book to give awareness and empowerment to anyone working in the paranormal.

He believes that there is a moral and ethical obligation upon all mediums and paranormal investigators. Jock postulates that when they are called in to help those who are in spiritual crisis, the mediums and investigators should operate with the highest of ethics, and integrity. Jock pointed out that often, families who seek help from a medium or a paranormal investigator are sometimes left worse off after an investigation because they have not exercised due diligence nor fulfilled their duty of care. In his opinion; there may be many who are looking only for phenomena to support their next book or television show.

According to Jock, education is the answer to moving safely forward with seekers and practitioners alike.

A Conscious Universe

Craig Weiler, the science editor at Paranormal Daily News, explored the nature of our reality as a conscious universe. Can materialism and idealism coexist? Craig shared his opinion by putting forth an argument that they can’t coexist because the materialism framework has an inherent constraint. In reality, it doesn’t allow for an understanding of the paranormal.

“There is no way at all to prove a truly physical universe without injecting meaning into it… without consciousness.” - Craig Weiler

If we can’t step outside of consciousness to examine the universe. Then it is not possible to prove a material world suggested Craig. He spoke further about a world based on ideas and topped it off with a page out of quantum physics called “entanglement”.

If you want to find out more about the concept of a conscious universe, read Craig’s recent article on PDN: Your reality is in fact, a conscious universe.

Lessons in Humility

Darby Orcutt, professor, and researcher at North Carolina State University is well known for his work where Science meets the Strange.

Professor Orcutt delivered a session that highlighted the need for humility. He encouraged everyone to look at the world through collaborative and alternative lenses, rather than through an egocentric perspective.

“Building our plane as we are flying it.” - Darby Orcutt

Professor Orcutt went on to speak about the current efforts in genomics, parapsychology, and more. These efforts have resulted in key research and development to advance the creation of a microchip that can read and write information to the brain.

If you want to be a citizen scientist and become involved with Professor Orcutt’s work, [find link]

Behind the Scenes - Loyd Auerbach, Keynote Speaker

Professor Loyd Auerbach is known as Professor Paranormal. 40+ years experience in Parapsychology as an investigator, educator, and researcher. He is the author and co-author of 9 paranormal books. Loyd is also the president of the Forever Family Foundation and teaches online for the Rhine Education Center.

Professor Auerbach was born into a life around media, television, radio, and film and spent much of his childhood behind the scenes. This awareness and familiarity stayed with him when he entered the study of parapsychology and into a different type of “behind the scenes.” During his session, he described Parapsychology as studying the experiences of human consciousness inside and outside the laboratory, including ESP, psychokinesis, and other abilities, and evidence for survival of bodily death.

Professor Auerbach describes how apparitions use non-sensory perception to interact with the world while humans connect with apparitions using extra-sensory perception.

“There is a split between what is shown on television and what Parapsychologists know.” - Loyd Auerbach

He directs our attention to how using a piece of technology doesn’t equate to doing a scientific investigation. Further, he reveals that witnesses are the most important part of an investigation, that is, human experiences of whatever is going on.

Reality Television

Professor Auerbach explores how reality television, like ghost-hunting shows, misrepresents how the study of Parapsychology is actually carried out and driven by the desire to entertain and raise ratings. Given the competing objectives between parapsychologists and television shows, he acknowledged that he has turned down and been turned down for shows. Although the shows may be unscripted, they are directed and edited to suit the purposes of television producers and networks.

Professor Auerbach circled back to the need for ethics and a duty of care to the witnesses who are experiencing phenomena. He stresses that there is a risk that a made-for-tv type of investigation could inflict more harm than good on those witnesses. Moreover, these shows may be shaping our beliefs about the paranormal and ourselves. According to Professor Auerbach, “We are a lot more than the media tells us.”

You can watch the Parawize Talks

If you missed the event and would like to watch the talks in your own time, these talks will be available within the new premium para network that will be launching soon. Of course, if you have already purchased the talks, you will be given free access to them, and you can log into the host service to watch the replays.

Join Us For Monthly Parawize Talks

Join us for the next leg of the Parawize journey by signing up for the PDN Newsletter. You’ll be the first to be notified of the next Parawize Talks live and interactive session with an early bird discount.

Premiere Documentary Series ‘Ghost Notes’ Mixes Music, Magic and Mystery

Lovers of music, magic, and mystery are in for a supernatural treat with the launch of GHOST NOTES, a deeply engaging, new documentary series that deftly fuses the mystical worlds of paranormal phenomena and music.

Believed to be the first of its kind, Ghost Notes is the collective brainchild of three self-styled, paranormal explorers: Ohio-based musician and tattoo artist Chad Wells, his wife Michelle Wells and Chad's band-mate Aarika Watson.

"I’m surprised that a documentary series like this hasn’t already happened," said Chad. "Music and the paranormal are extremely interlinked. When we feel the music, it feels like magic is happening - you get vibes and chills. The same thing happens in a spooky room or historic place."

"I’ve read interviews with Keith Richards from 1967 and he talked about how none of us really write the music. We just put up the antenna and catch what comes through. That’s an older outlook from a lot of musicians but it’s not talked about much. We want to take credit for what we have written but a lot of the time it just writes itself." Chad Wells

Music Channels of a Different Kind

Chad and Aarika are both vocalists in the Psychedelic Rock band Cricketbows and the acoustic offshoot Wells & Watson.

"As musicians on stage, it’s very tribal," explained Chad. "We create a massive electromagnetic field around ourselves with amplifiers, guitars, stage lighting. We kind of put ourselves in a box that allows for a flow-through of whatever you are opening yourself up to. That’s why we can get on a stage and play together and not have to think about theory or where it’s going. We just make it up as we go along and create fully formed songs with verses, choruses, and bridges. When we write music, we often just improvise and words come out that I wouldn’t have sat down and written myself - so that’s coming from somewhere."

Chad, Michelle, and Aarika recalled experiencing paranormal phenomena and other influences as children. When they began to share their personal stories, so began their collective experiences of undeniable paranormal activities.

"We’ve had so many strange, unexplained things happen in and around the Cricketbows band and in our personal lives," said Chad. "Michelle and Aarika would often find themselves on some little adventure in the back of a venue we were playing, or at a studio, we were recording at, and together they birthed the idea of doing a paranormal show."

Ghost Notes Sneak Peek

The Ghost Notes pilot episode introduces the show’s concept with an exploration of a reportedly haunted former speakeasy in Dayton, Ohio, uncannily attached to Chad’s business premises, Wells & Co. Custom Tattoos.

The investigation team conducts an experiment with a Spirit Box - a research device used for contacting spirits through the use of radiofrequency and white noise. It is believed that spirits can manipulate this energy to relay messages and answer questions.

"I think it (Spirit Box) allows Michelle and us to get into a place where her brain is interrupted by the white noise and puts her into a natural meditative or trance state without even trying. And there’s the sense that happens where we kind of just feel the right direction to go with the questioning. It tends to work in a way similar to automatic writing. Michelle is not hearing our questions or sensing what we are feeling. She is giving us something which is automatic. Like nature, it looks like wild chaos but as you come in, there’s order there."

The pilot episode also features Wells & Watson perform and record two songs; one is akin to a "Stream of Consciousness" improvisation based on cryptic graffiti found on the wall of the speakeasy; the other a cover of the dark, 80's closet classic "Silent Running", originally recorded by Mike + The Mechanics in 1985 (now streaming).

Incidentally, the first word the Ghost Notes team picked up on the Spirit Box was ‘success,’ which also happens to be the first word of the first song that Cricketbows played together as a band. An encouraging start to an extraordinary journey that is a clear-cut case of 'definitely meant to be'.

An Amusing Twist

"The problem with this whole thing for me is that I am 100% a skeptic," said Chad, "which is a good thing. But I can also feel myself getting swept in the drama of those moments of, ‘What was that? Was that a knock on the wall?’ I almost had a hesitance of going into this in case I was proven wrong - or proven right."

However, Chad has a completely open mind when it comes to the realm of the collective consciousness or energies that are available to everyone. "We try to feel our way and use our intuition. Even though I am a big skeptic, I was raised by a mother who was into numerology, astrology, etc so I see synchronicities everywhere, I see numeric clues everywhere, I can hear a word and it triggers my intuition. But Michelle and Aarika have it better than I do."

While many TV shows, books, and movies have conditioned us to believe that the paranormal realms are all dark, scary, dangerous places, the Ghost Notes team has had largely positive experiences with their new spirit friends and look forward to seeing where their unfolding destiny will take them. They are also respectful of the places, people and beliefs they encounter, apply safety and protection measures, and proceed with caution.

"The (Ghost Notes) show is not just for the sake of a show," said Chad. "It’s for the sake of our personal, spiritual and artistic growth. We would love to take this coast to coast and experience different places and different things. A big part of it for us is creating in those spaces. That’s why it’s important to put ourselves in new places to continue to create and explore things that are interesting and fascinating."

Ghost Notes Team: Aarika Watson, Chad Wells, Michelle Wells

Coming to a Streaming Platform Near You?

The Ghost Notes team’s long-term goal is to produce a weekly series but will initially aim for twice-monthly episodes to ensure quality content. And you never know - Ghost Notes may eventually find itself on a streaming platform near you!

In the meantime, if you know of a haunted place that you would like to see investigated, the Ghost Notes team would love to hear from you: ghostnotesparanormal@gmail.com.

Watch Ghost Notes Pilot on YouTube - Ghost Notes

Follow Ghost Notes - Facebook Instagram

‘Silent Running’ - Wells & Watson - YouTube Spotify Facebook

Cricketbows - cricketbows.com Facebook Spotify