Haunted Collector Review
John Zaffis is well known among paranormal circles. His museum is well known among paranormal circles. Can his Syfy show Haunted Collector stack up against heavy hitters such as Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures? I say any new show has the potential with the right ingredients to be a success. Does this one have staying power? I think its a bit too early to tell.
I directed my attention to Twitter to see how others were reacting to the premiere. There seem to be two consistencies. One, many were not thrilled with Zaffis' pronunciation of the word "library". And two, some appalled his method of "stealing" a person's belongings. Call it haunted and they'll gladly hand it over. Personally, I wasn't all too bothered by it.
I was, however, under the impression this program was going to be about a team going in to investigate cases where spirits attached to known objects were the cause of paranormal activity or somewhere in that ballpark. It seems to me Zaffis has a bit of tunnel vision. "Energy can attach to objects," he repeated. That's all well and good but doesn't mean it's the cause of a haunting. This kind of bias can get a little old fast. I wish the investigators had...well...personalities. This is a TV show after all. There has to be some kind of entertainment or no one will want to watch it.
There were a couple of things I did like. There was some problem solving going on. Ghost Hunters was big on that until they stopped giving a damn. I also liked the daytime investigation of the residence. I know there wasn't much to it, but paranormal activity takes place during the day as much as it does at night. I'd like to see others come up with some kind of routine investigation that caters to the daytime.
Another thing, the rope tool. I know all the high-tech equipment really helps but old investigating tools can still provide assistance. I know Ghost Hunters pulled out the old flour(?) trick to track footsteps. I don't recall it being a success but at least they attempted to utilize it. Lastly, the follow-up. There was a brief update about the library after their visit. I'd like to see more of that on paranormal TV especially if it's about a residence. They say they follow-up, but we don't always know if the investigation helped or hindered the family's paranormal predicament.
Is Haunted Collector a winner for Syfy? I say if all the kinks aren't worked out then it'll end up in the recycling bin with all the other para-TV failures.
I directed my attention to Twitter to see how others were reacting to the premiere. There seem to be two consistencies. One, many were not thrilled with Zaffis' pronunciation of the word "library". And two, some appalled his method of "stealing" a person's belongings. Call it haunted and they'll gladly hand it over. Personally, I wasn't all too bothered by it.
I was, however, under the impression this program was going to be about a team going in to investigate cases where spirits attached to known objects were the cause of paranormal activity or somewhere in that ballpark. It seems to me Zaffis has a bit of tunnel vision. "Energy can attach to objects," he repeated. That's all well and good but doesn't mean it's the cause of a haunting. This kind of bias can get a little old fast. I wish the investigators had...well...personalities. This is a TV show after all. There has to be some kind of entertainment or no one will want to watch it.
There were a couple of things I did like. There was some problem solving going on. Ghost Hunters was big on that until they stopped giving a damn. I also liked the daytime investigation of the residence. I know there wasn't much to it, but paranormal activity takes place during the day as much as it does at night. I'd like to see others come up with some kind of routine investigation that caters to the daytime.
Another thing, the rope tool. I know all the high-tech equipment really helps but old investigating tools can still provide assistance. I know Ghost Hunters pulled out the old flour(?) trick to track footsteps. I don't recall it being a success but at least they attempted to utilize it. Lastly, the follow-up. There was a brief update about the library after their visit. I'd like to see more of that on paranormal TV especially if it's about a residence. They say they follow-up, but we don't always know if the investigation helped or hindered the family's paranormal predicament.
Is Haunted Collector a winner for Syfy? I say if all the kinks aren't worked out then it'll end up in the recycling bin with all the other para-TV failures.
Comments
I agree with you that I don't know why more investigators don't do daytime investigations - my own ghost is quite active during the day, although I admit that he gets noticeably more so at night. I've asked him why that is, but he stubbornly refuses to explain anything. It's like a prime directive or something.
I think SyFy and HGTV should team up and do a show that combines Ghost Hunters with House Hunters, and call it Haunted House Hunters. People could tour three haunted houses that are for sale, and pick the one with the best ghosts and the nicest jacuzzi tub. I would totally watch that. ;)
As for Haunted Collector, that show suuuuuuucked. Read a review the other night, well, it wasn't so much a review as a collection of people's thoughts from twitter, and it was hilarious.
http://whofortedblog.com/2011/06/02/grandpa-steals-things-a-twitter-review-of-syfys-haunted-collector/
It's basically a string of people screaming "bullshit!" again and again on twitter.
Cool concept, but horrible execution. I've seen wooden posts with more personality than John Zaffis, and they were better at grammar too.
As far as Ghost Hunters not giving a damn anymore, I think that is dead on....they've gotten a lot more into being a commercial success and out of actually helping people that have a trouble haunting. To be fair, though, I think that they pass off most of their home investigations to affiliate Taps groups in the area.
Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts on this review. Glad I'm not alone.
Thank you so much for the entertainment and knowledge
xoxoxo
Whitney Putman
Hanover, Ontario
Canada
Eric and Jessica Dionne who were featured in a recent episode of the show, in fact have their own paranormal investigation/research team. Seems John Zaffis decided to use them as "Clients" in his show, aparrently forgetting the fact that these two people are well known withing the paranormal community. If these people do paranormal research/investigation, why would they need to pretend to be ordinary folks on this show???
See the link for their website, and where it clearly states their names as leading the group.
http://www.sepianc.com/contact.html
About taking the objects, I think they can ask for it back any time they want if i understood one of the episodes.
Sometimes I wonder though if these guys are laughing at us every time we tune in.
Listen up everyone! the only reason why John Zaffis has this show is because he is related to ED & Lorraine Warren!
Ok if an object is causing the haunting that object can be cleansed and kept by the owner, it does not have to be moved out!
Listen Their is a group called THE DEMON DOCTORS who help people all over the world with hauntings!
They have a GOD given gift to cast out demons, entities, paranormal activity!
They have many testimonies on their web page and true case stories to read on.
http://helpwithunwantedspiritsanddemons.com/
I would love to see these guys have a show!! They truly help people and they charge nothing they are FREE! and their clients get to keep everything LOL!
I never really understood the whole removing the "haunted objects" thing either but they have mentioned on the show that if the owners want it back, they'll give it to them. Truth is I don't really give this show two seconds of my time. But obviously other people love it.