Haunted Case Files is the supernatural investigation series I’ve been waiting for. Thankfully, T+E and Our House Media have brought it to the me. Listen, I like those other paranormal shows recounting the spooky experiences witnessed by everyday folks, but there’s always something missing because these people don’t deal with this stuff every day. The people starring in Haunted Case Files? Experts.
Debuting Saturday on the specialty channel—and a spinoff of Paranormal Survivor—Haunted Case Files tells the personal stories of real-life ghostbusters. Episode 1 begins in Lansing, Mich., in 2011, as homeowner Agnes and her family are terrorized by an unseen force that escalates from footsteps and phantom voices to eggs being thrown around. Enter paranormal expert Karlo Zuzic and his 300-plus investigations, whose research reveals Agnes’ son, Gary, took his own life years before. Was Gary the one responsible for the antics in his mother’s home on the anniversary of his death?
Thanks to excellent recreations and eyewitness testimony, Haunted Case Files has an air of authenticity missing from shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures, two programs that use jerky camera work and post-production antics to ramp up the drama, resulting in frustratingly anemic evidence of the paranormal. That’s not the case with Haunted Case Files; a crystal-clear recording of a voice saying “Gary” can be heard on Karlo’s recording made during the house inspection.
The second story, involving the ghost of an axe murderer in Villisca, Iowa, is equally interesting. The murders of eight people are recalled over 100 years later when investigator Alan Tolf and his daughter, Anna, approach the home where six of deaths took place and capture compelling photographic evidence that they’re not alone. Then the Tolfs venture inside…
The result? A dramatic, sometimes downright scary series that goes a long way to convincing me spirits are around us.
Haunted Case Files airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on T+E.