I love “Ghost Adventures.” I have seen each of the 26 seasons through roughly three or four times and have watched all of their specials and spin-offs: “House Calls,” “Screaming Room,” “Horror at Joe Exotic Zoo” — you name it, I’ve seen it.
Last Wednesday, Oct. 2, “Destinations of the Damned With Zak Bagans” premiered on MAX, HBO’s streaming service. This five-episode miniseries from the Discovery Channel follows a film crew as they explore haunted locations all across the world.
But here’s the catch — Bagans is not a part of that crew. Instead, he narrates every episode. This is where the show started to lose me.
This film crew contains none of the cast from the original show and we are not even introduced to them throughout the whole series. If one of them happens to feel or see something, their name is written on the screen.
Now, of course, the show is not called “Ghost Adventures: Destinations of the Damned,” so I guess it makes sense; however, if Bagans is a part of it, I want to see the others as well. In every other spin-off or special, it is the core four: Bagans, Aaron Goodwin, Billy Tolley and Jay Wasley.
It’s very frustrating that Bagans is not a part of this crew yet uses “we” and “our” when describing a situation. He simply relayed this information and narrated it.
What really got me though was the fact that there are no actual investigations! These 40-minute episodes are more like History Channel mini documentaries. While I do love the way they conduct interviews, these are just ghost stories told in the actual setting with a sprinkle of some psychics here and there.
Don’t get me wrong, the stories are definitely interesting, but if I’m watching a show involving Bagans, I’m expecting to see a spirit box or EMF Meter being used. In most of these episodes, they don’t even stay on-site after dark!
I can’t even list all of the locations they went to in this series either. Even though there are only five episodes, some episodes just abruptly switch locations in the middle of the story. The titles of the episodes are no help either. A classic “Ghost Adventures” episode is descriptive and tells you right where they are, but these are brief and broad, like “Cursed Shores” and “The Devil’s Doorway.”
The most significant issue for me, however, lies in the information. While doing my own research on some of these locations and legends, I found out that in the very first episode, “Buried Alive,” the information presented comes from no reliable source.
“Buried Alive” takes place in Armero, Colombia, which was the site of a terrible, heartbreaking natural disaster in 1985. Of the 30,000 residents, more than 25,000 were killed by the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano.
What ties this to the paranormal is a local legend dating back to 1948, when a priest named Pedro María Ramírez Ramos was murdered in the streets during a moment of political unrest. Since that day, the town of Armero has been said to be cursed, and that is why the eruption was so devastating.
Throughout the episode, Bagans repeats the quote, “No stone will be left upon my tomb in the town of Armero,” thought to have been told by Father Ramos. But there is no verifiable evidence of this having been said. Of course, it is cited as an urban legend that has been passed down through generations, but the show acts like it is 100% proven. To make matters worse, Bagans says this quote differently a few times throughout the episode. For a show that wants to prove to people that the paranormal exists, I really feel like they should use credible sources and accurate information.
I cannot even pick a favorite episode, as all of them felt so bland and not like the “Ghost Adventures” I know and love. I give a generous one star for the concept, but save yourself the time and just watch something else.
1 / 5 stars
ajones11@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @GACrewFans, X
