Eeeek. Last night I watched a movie on the Discovery Channel that truly disturbed me..... I was terrified, and am not afraid to admit it......

It was called "A Haunting in Georgia" It was about a family (the Wyrick family, they live, or lived not far outside the Atlanta border) that was being terrorized by people that had died around the property they lived - and IMO, they are quite stupid for remaining there. I think I'd rather leave my material items in the house and escape with my life - when people's houses start burning down, you don't see them stay inside do you?

The thing is, many parts of it seem to be undeniably true..... You can actually call the people who were involved in this (or go visit them if you wanted....) to confirm that these things actually happened. Some of these people are respected scientist/psychologist, mediums and psychics.....

I haven't been able to sleep. I feel like I am a 5 year old kid sitting in my room with a nightlight who just got through watching Nightmare on Elm Street.

I figure, well at least this way, if I wind up disappearing or being murdered, you'll know where to point the finger. If you are going to die anyway, might as well leave evidence behind as to who killed you, so you can catch em' (small payback I guess - though I guess killing a spirit that's already dead would be kind of hard). Then there might be witnesses to ghosts for once. It would be a new discovery for the world if it could be almost proven that in some parts of the earth, spirits of the dead do roam about.

And the Georgia border is not that far from me. You peeps probably think I am being ridiculous, but I feel a bit more comfortable now that I have revealed this info to the public! :o :eek:

I don't know why I was stupid enough to continue watching the movie. Now I suppose I will have to wait a few days for this fear to subside.......

Maybe you should go down there, make it a day trip or something to confront your fears. Plus, if the place is real, you'll get a good petrifying. Bring an extra pair of pants with you as well.

Nothing like a good paranormal induced petrifying, oh nooo suh...

What?! Do you think I am trying to get myself killed Pollux? No, if you want to die, then you go down there. Actually, I would probably much rather commit suicide than live in shear horror for the rest of my life, if that stuff was happening to me.

No, if I saw that these "people" posed no threat (other than the severe amount of stress these peeps went through, that was mental, physcially they did have a few incidents where they woke up with burning scratches on their bodies), I would probably just get up in the spirits faces and curse them out. If they can't kill you may as well just ignore them. The problem is that movie left me so unsure about everything.

The primary sinister spirit did not even reveal his identity (though most of the other spiritis had their faces present - assuming the black one with the hooded sweat shirt was a male), or what he wanted from them, other than to scare the sh*t out of them.

Pollux, you are a moderator in the Sci Fi section. I do not know if these include paranormal activity, or just aliens; but I offer you the greatest dare to force yourself to watch this movie at 1AM as I did. You will be coming back screaming here for us to help you, too

Pollux, you are a moderator in the Sci Fi section. I do not know if these include paranormal activity, or just aliens; but I offer you the greatest dare to force yourself to watch this movie at 1AM as I did. You will be coming back screaming here for us to help you, too

Okay, if it's on during the weekend I'll do it, but unlike every motherf*cker that I know I try to get some sleep once in awhile.

Do you think I am trying to get myself killed Pollux? No, if you want to die, then you go down there.

Yes yes yes, I know it'd be absolutely terrifying, but for me at least, I think the sheer terror of absolutely knowing beyond any shadow of a doubt that a hostile spirit was trying to kill me would reall overwhelm most of the circuits in my brain, forcing me to start laughing maniacally, giggling when he scratches stars into by back, gurgling like a baby when he hurls a barrage of knives at me.

I'm serious, actually. If I lived closer to Georgia I'd consider it, I think after getting used to the absolute horror I would turn to comedy to wash the terror away, joking with the spirits, calling him "my quote unquote byotch" amongst other things. I mean, this is all theoretical, I've never been in a situation that warrants that even if I hope to be in one someday.

But, as consolation, I would just say "you don't believe in spooks you don't believe in spooks." Or try to think about women.:cool:

Did they have pictures of ghosts (spirits, whatever)? Are you aware that about 80% of the footage on Discovery channel is fiction? I once sent them a letter about it, but they just said they would "present it to the management".

Hans

They had video footage of the whole thing. It was kind of like a documentary. The Wyrick family themselves were the actors in the movie. And some of it was actual recorded footage.

I believe the medium they brought in, her name was Amy Allen I think? I think she is known throughout the US for her ablities in these matters (she volunteers her time to help people in situations like these).

You can contact the psychologist there that was involved with it. Also, the media reporter, and there were a few other people. They had pictures (as in those taken from film), some of which were black and white as a few of these people died long ago, of these people. I think Mr. Garrod's (was that his name?) tombstone is still standing in a graveyard not far from the 2 houses.

Trust me, it was very real..... too real. I think I will try and contact Discovery today to get a tape of it, so I can scare all the rest of you sh*tless.

I would go there, in an instant.

How intriguing. :) No fear here. I will deal whith what is, or what is not.

Clarentavious, I move your thread to Parapsychology...:)

You should see "amityville horror" - the most famous such movie, also based on a true story they say. Here is a site about it:
http://www.amityvillemurders.com/

Ok, I hope it gets as much attention here though. I too, would not want to deny the truth of what is going on, on earth - but I don't think I would want to go dealing with evil spirits. Even if that is a fact of life, I think I will just leave that matter alone....... lest you be stepping on some prettttty powerful toes.

Not all of the spirits were evil. When the oldest daughter of the family was like 5 years old, they thought she was spending her time talking to an imaginary friend as young kids often do. Then they thought she might be mentally ill and hallucinating........ then came the terrible reality of it.

It was very disturbing. They had a dog. One time, he was standing the small kitchen, just looking towards the wall, and growling like crazy with his teeth showing, like there was some sort of burglar in the house. But when the family went to see what was wrong with him, they just saw him staring at a blank wall near the refridgerator. A couple of days later he "ran away".......... and never came back. That was like one of the many 100 incidents they went over.

I saw a newer version of the Amityville movie (like the 1990's version) I think. It was about a guy, or young man that killed his family right? On Thanksgiving, it was near NY? But I don't recall much paranormal about the situation (other than that, he walked in while his parents and siblings were eating Thanksgiving dinner, and blew them away with a shotgun, then went to a mental hospital or something).

I don't think I need to be anymore scared than I already am, I might check out the link later.

You have to see the original, the later ones are just spin offs of the first's success (I think).

It will get attention oh yes. :) Do not always fear that it is wrong if your threads come in here. Lots of people who look at the threads.

There are certain places and houses which are "haunted" so to say.
The Amityville horror is such an example, however, it is highly overdone by the movie makers.

I wouldn't call it evil spirits either. Some "presences" are felt as wrong, just utterly wrong. It may very well be that those spirits are in another timezone and somehow interact, still, with this timezone, so to say.

If it feels not good, than go and don't mess with it.

Animals, house pets, are much more sensible for the vibes of those spirits, to give it a name, and react on it. In those cases you better believe the behaviour of the animal and take your distance...:)

So what would you do Banshee? Is this person was known to be evil, like say, the location where a serial killer died, or the spirit of hitler, you wouldn't go challenging or temping such a spirit would you? That is only asking for trouble...... of the absolute worst sort that I know of.

Please tell me more about this.

I think it are disturbed spirits, who died a cruel and sudden death. In most cases it is possible to stand up against evil presences, just by sending them away, and again and again. Showing fear is certainly not the answer. Show selfconfidence and strenght. If you hold your foot down it has a big chance you succeed in sending them away. Not in all cases it works though. There are some damn dark precenses among them. Which truly have evil intentions.

Some places/houses, however, deal with those dwelling, lost spirits who react in the most disturbing ways trying to do harm to the ones who inhabit such a house. It's rather hard, to live with such spirits. Like they live in a different timezone, but can at the same time be present in this timezone.

Sometimes it is just better to move to another place, though that might not be always possible, due to finances and so on.

I really think these spirits are hurting, suffering and react it off on the people who inhabit their dying place, which in a way is theirs. Thus, the inhabitants/people are intruders, as such, seen by the spirits.

It stays mighty interesting to check such a place/house out to see what is going on there. I have a strange urge to seek such things. Simply. because I want to know whether there really are such spirits there and what kind. And if it is possible to communicate with them. Even with real serial killers, yes. Though that might be a very bad idea.

Most intriging, really...

What is the exact location of the house you saw on television? Do you know?

Originally posted by Banshee
I think it are disturbed spirits, who died a cruel and sudden death. In most cases it is possible to stand up against evil precenses, just by sending them away, and again and agian. Showing fear is certainly not the answer. Show selfconfidence and strenght. If you hold your foot down it has a big chance you succeed in sending them away. Not in all cases it works though. There are some damn dark precenses among them. Which truly have evil intention


If they truly are evil, and they are already dead, then what would they care if you showed self confidence? They would have nothing to fear and wouldn't care if you feared them would they?

Well, I think they do care. It is of importace for them, pestering the hell out of you, while they know you are afraid. Showing fear means you are a willing victim and then you are lost and submitted to their evil games.

But yes, there are real evil spirits among them and then you better be wise and go, no matter what.

Lost spirits, only willing to hurt everyone they can. Unfortunately, nothing can be done against those real evil, "black" spirits.

Filled with hate and looking for revenge and bringing physical hurt to the inhabitants of such places/houses.

Yes, that is rather disturbing. Still, I am highly intrigued. Doesn't say I don't run if necessarry..:)

clairentavious- i really think that if OH MY GOD WHATS THAT BEHIND YOU!!!!!!!

Have you ever seen a ghost? I have, didn't strike me as having evil intent though. And I'm not just jerking your chain

Actually, you can probably call down Atlanta and ask around. The other guy was the pastor of the local church they attended who supposedly cast out a devil - but no his tactic didn't work because the night their family returned from the church, the mother's oldest daughter saw the shadow of the man in the hooded sweat shirt through the window drapes (when she stepped out of the car). His tactic didn't work :rolleyes: damn child molesting priests ;)

You see, this thing gained quite a bit of media attention around there I think. All of the girls at the school the oldest daughter went to made fun of her because she claimed to see spirits.

The media guy, when he went to the house to check it out, when he stepped in the driveway, he saw an "evil presence" in the window and ran back to his car, jumped in, and went speeding down the highway at 80 MPH (which is exactly what I would have done, except I would have gone 100 MPH)

Amy Allen (BTW, she was pretty attractive looking :D ), she said she found 3 negative energy forces there. 2 of them were elderly (likely the spirits talking in the mother's bedroom that would keep her up crying during the night, and the laughing in the shower the daughter heard), and one was younger (no doubt the figure in the hooded sweat shirt).

When she first got there (she had an assistant film her work), she noticed one of the main prescenses there was the caretaker, who was actually good willed (not evil). She said there was a massive wall of dense energy in one place. And, the little girl that was killed in the car accident near by, she said her life force was so strong, she almost thought she was alive. She said this amount of force was very rare.

She didn't know anything about the mother's or daughter's reports (they didn't even meet), the shrink sent her there without any info to test and see the validity of the people's claims.

When she found the negative spirit in the bedroom (the younger man), she actually got uncomfortable and shooed her camera man and herself out the door really quickly back into the hallway. This is quite a thing for someone being a verteran in this field.

She claims the mother and daughter are mediums. The mother also has a younger daughter she had after her first.

The shrink tried to use scientific explainations for the problems. Like finding alot of positively charged ions in one area of the house, which can effect the frontal lobes of the brain and supposedly cause hallucinations. He also said electromagnetic fields, and plates shifting under the ground (those that cause earth quakes) could be contributing to it.

He talked alot about magnetics and measured some tempratures in the house and things (because supposedly when the hooded spirit came around, the room would because so cold, the daughter could see her breath). Amy's explainations were much more believable to me.

The whole thing was just very distrubing.

Here

http://dsc.discovery.com/schedule/episode.jsp?episode=23681000

Sinecure, I did see ghosts yes. That is exactly my point. At some moment it is possible to communicate with some of them. Then there is a passage way of natives, right through the house and they do not bother anyone. They just pass through the house.

It is rather peculiar though, 'cause not everyone sees Shadows/ghosts. Some do, others don't, though I never tell, they are there (wherever it is they appear). So, it is not that the people visiting, actually know about these ghosts/spirits.

The spirits here, are very peaceful. It is awesome to may be one of the few people who can see them go by. Undiscribable, really.

It is like they pass by on their own level/timezone, so to say, by lack of the right words. I hope you get what I mean... :)

They are called the Wyrick family

Originally posted by monkapotomus
clairentavious- i really think that if OH MY GOD WHATS THAT BEHIND YOU!!!!!!!

LOL !:D :D :D

Banshee you missed my last post on the first page before this because you were typing your's while I posted mine :confused: I have the link there. Talk to the discovery channel, they can proly send you a copy of the tape

Thanx Clarentavious, :) I will check that out completely. I am really most interested in this.

If it is alright with you, I will be back tomorrow with a reply. It is 08.21am and I need to go to sleep. Have been up all night and rather tired now.

I surely be back tomorrow. Let's go on some more about this. Ok? :)

Banshee,
My parents talk about seeing it all the time in their house. I just saw it once though, out of the corner of my eye, pass right by me very quickly.

I am going to contact Discovery and find out more about the Wyrick family, bet on it. I will let you know what I found out and what response they gave at Discovery...:)

Yes Sinecure, sometimes they appear like a kind of "Shadow". Pay attention to it, good chance you will be able to see something.

It happens more than people know, or what's more true I think, people are not willing to admit it out of fear others might call them crazy or delusional.

And that is a real shame.

See you people later on the day, first sleep. Even the typing gives problems at he moment...:p

Oh, did I mention how attractive Amy Allen was? :D She was quite nice. She was dressed in all black (guess that comes with her profession), even had long black hair and black rims to the metal on her glasses :D And she was nice. She did a good job of expressing herself. She talks well. And I think she helps people in these situations for free as she wants to study these things and help people get out of these bad situations (maybe she has another source of income).

She looks like she might be about 30 years old. Mmmmmm, what an attractive woman :D Guess I just thought I'd mention that. Somehow I don't think most guys would want to be involved with someone like her, they would probably consider her a real weirdo. Being in the business she is, I'm not sure she wants a man though :(

Even if the movie were based on fiction (it's not, but let's say it was), it was just terrifying. The way it was filmed. The voices, the camera angles, the music, just everything about it. Scared the living daylights out of me. I think I counted 5 times that my hair stood up on my head and I got chills in my spine. And now I brought my dog into my room (which I am not supposed to do because of my allergies) so I can get some sleep. Maybe she will be a good guard dog. At least alert me if a spirit is there, then I might be able to dart out the window really fast :D

I checked the website, looks like it'll be playing at 2PM this saturday. I'll do my best to watch it, looks interesting.

As for this whole spirit business, I'd like to put my open minded yet mildly skeptical conjecture on the whole subject. I hope those of you on both sides of the paranormal spectrum would think me a moderate, neither a prissy skeptic or an all believing...er...believer.

I was talking to a friend a few weeks ago, with another friend, it was dark, we were on the beach, and gradually our conversation drifted from that of our liberal political views to that of the paranormal. My friend is a self proclaimed wiccan, a religion he says is much older than the rest (I'm unsure of this) of them, and one he not only believes but regularly questions (something I think everyone should do from time to time, no matter their religion). He eventually got to the point of telling me of how, in the corner of his eye, late at night just after he had been doing his homework, he had seen, for only an instand, a dark shape, humanoid, with two white glowing eyes. Of course, when he turned to look at this apparition, it was gone.

-NOW-

This friend of mine has BEEN a friend of mine for upwards of six years I believe, and I do trust him a lot more than just the average person. So, in a pre-conclusion, beyond the shadow of a doubt, my friend believe's he's seen something. Of course you don't have to trust my opinion if you don't want to, but here it is.

In conclusion, I would have to say that it is possible that he merely saw something out of the corner of your eye, he had been awake for awhile, whatever. That seems to be the problem with some sightings of ghosts, the fact that they are seen in the corner of the eyes suggests that they may have been mistaking one thing for something else. That, or they could be lying

Simply put, the other possibilty for my friend in particular is that he saw something. I have to say that right now, from my viewpoint, (to reiterate) I believe he is telling the truth, so there are really only two possibilities. That he saw something, or that he thought he did but didn't. Me, personally? I think he saw something paranormal, because I trust him, he's been in this religion of his for awhile, and there is a lot of evidence out there, a lot of truth, that points to the possibility of something beyond modern science.

There's my take, I guess. Be skeptical when dealing with these things, but open too.

Discovery is contacted. E-mail's been sent to see what they come up with. Also I've asked for a copy of the tape from the broadcasting. (or is it broadcast :p ?)

Now I hope I will get an answer pretty quickly...:)

By the way, Clarentavious, how did you sleep? Dreams or nightmares about it? Sometimes it can leave a rather frightening impression for days...

I probably slept about 3 hours total. I slept for 1 hour, woke back up, went to sleep 5 mins later, then woke up an hour later, I think a cycle about 3 times.

I was itching in bed and my clothes felt dirty, but I was too scared to take a shower :o

If you tape it on Sunday, during the credits they have all of the names of the people who contributed to the film. I think you can contact the company that helped publish it.

I think broast cast refers to network television (non cable). Of course, the Discovery Channel is not on normal TV. It if like if you have a traditional anntena attached to your TV instead of a cable wire/box. But I don't know for sure ;) :D

It might be an idea to turn up the radio. Then, sounds which you didn't notice before but now do, because of the TV show, may disappear to the background and makes you sleep some better.

Take a shower and tell yourself that there is absolutely nothing there, why you should not take a shower.

Fear/uneasiness is the most common "thing" to play on your imagination.:)

Sorry to hear it is bothering you so...

Reading helps, too. Might I suggest Steven King?

Yes, Bag Of Bones in particular. :D

Though, may you want to watch a nice, cool movie, I highly recommend Rose Red... :p

Do not let this thread die!!! We peeps of the world need to find out once and for all if spirits do really roam about in some places.

I've realized I can't live my life in fear, so I am trying to get over it :p

Okay, then. I'll keep it alive. Like I'm doing now.

Oh no, this thread is not going to die. :) I am still waiting on an answer from discovery and I will do some search for this case. It is really intriguing

Also I shall look for other case, which have resemblesess(? spelled correct?) with the case you described, Clarentavious. Bet on it. I am not forgotten about it, on the contrary. :)

May be that I am not that much online, as I have other things which ask my attention too, outside the internet. But the search for truth continues...;)

what are you so alarmed about?

ok- bad dead guys come back and terorize one family in Georgia
so what...

don't understand the source of your fear

Bad guys come back? No, I do not think this is so. I think they've always been there.

Why don't you tell your story, Avatar? :) I think Clarentavious has not read about what you experienced. Anyway, it is interesting enough to write it down once more...:)

Well, I hunted it up. :)


Originally posted by Avatar
I was 7 years old then.
We lived in an old summer house by the Baltic sea.
Different strange things happened there.
Things started to dissapear and almost every evening you could hear sounds as if heavy furniture was pulled from one side of the atic to the other (there was none there and the atic was too small to put any large furniture in it) . But I agree that it could be explained with some magnetical fields or smth like that.

But then one night I was sleepin in my bed. Mother was sleeping in the room beside..Father was in the states...Suddenly I woke up at some 3 o'clock (judging by the light or the lack of it) from a noise of footsteps. Those were footsteps of a long and heavy man in boots roughshod with steel. Heavy footsteps with a metalical sound. From one side of the house to another... I was sleeping at a room by the corridor, mother was in the adjected room with a door to mine.
I was scared, and ran to my mothers room. She was awake and was listening to the footsteps too. We had a gun by the bed, but it was so spooky, I felt fear in the air. Then the hell broke up...."it" started to break pottery, dishes, glasses, windows. Judging by the sounds...It was like all house was being torn over. All what could be broken was being broke. All the time my mother heard that also. ......it went like that for some 20 min.... Then it stopped and the footsteps were gone...At the time it was breaking everything, he continued to walkk from one place to another.....

In the morning we went with a thought that we have to clean up the house now....But nothing was broken! not even scratched....a virtual sound? or maybe a sound from the past- have no idea.....

whatever it was, I think it was quite angry...demolishing everything as he did..

So please- what is a logical explanation to this.
I wasn't the only one who witnessed it.

And in a few years we think of going back and living there...first we are going to tear thatt house down in the first place though

A friend of mine and I watched Mothman Prophecies. An eerie movie indeed. After actual research using indifferent sources, we found it to be a huge exaduration of the truth. HUGE. Take comfort, chances are, the only things that can hurt you are robbers, escaped lions and fast moving vehicles.

When I was a child I used to see dark 'shadows' pass by out the corner of my eye.
As Banshee mentioned, it was almost like they were just 'passing through' in their own little world.
Mediumship, clairvoyance runs through my mothers side of the family - grandmother, aunts, cousins etc. They are all level-headed people who don't make a big thing of it - it just 'is'.

Here is a question I hope someone can answer.

How would one differentiate someone with eg: schizophrenia (auditory voices/ hallucinations), to those 'sound' people who profess to hear spirits?
I work in Mental health, and have always been fascinated with the difference. It's a tricky one.
Thanks
:)

dillusion vs wishful thinking?

You know, I find sceptics incredibly boring people. It seems if there is no proof to something then some people immediately debunk it.
I do not consider my family to merely 'wishful think' about seeing spirits etc. They are educated successful people in their own right. This is why they keep fairly quiet about their 'sensetivities about certain things.
Because you don't understand it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Not everything is black and white. There are many shades of grey in this world.
I think the world is going through a 'spiritual' (not religious) cleansing of sorts. Everything is connected, and we are rediscovering parts of our brain that have been 'lost' through the centuries which enable us to use our 'natrual' abilities.
So there!!

For once in my life, I wholey agree with this fine article witten by a member of CSICOP.

Perhaps it will help you and I am not making fun of you as some others have done. We all (in ghost research) should know and be compassionate to people's fears. That shock-u-mentary was very poorly done and in what is now the 'standard' for ghost 'productions. Very dissapointing.
:(

Haunting Mockumentary Reaches New Lows
A media review submitted by Tom Flynn.
September 23, 2002

A Haunting in Georgia, 2-hour "special documentary." Produced by New Dominion Pictures, executive producer Tom Naughton. Viewed on Discovery Channel, Sunday September 23, 9:00 - 11:00 p.m. Eastern. Will be rebroadcast frequently.
With A Haunting in Georgia, the docudrama/mockumentary* genre reaches new lows, both in its credulous treatment of the paranormal and in the way it further muddles the already-murky truth standards of the re-enactment documentary form.
The story. An Ellersie, Ga., family claims to be undergoing extended hauntings at their home. At age three, Heidi Wyrick met a stranger she called "Mr. Gordy," who became her constant companion. No one else could see him; the family took years to decide that Mr. Gordy was more than Heidi's imaginary friend. At six and a half, Heidi awoke with apparent claw marks on her cheek. A year later her father Andy woke up with similar gashes on his torso. Meanwhile the visions continued: not just Mr. Gordy, but a man with a severed hand and a shadowy figure with a hooded face. Mr. Gordy and the one-handed man were discovered to be long-dead past residents of the area: how could Heidi have known anything about them? Unsolved Mysteries did a piece on the Wyricks in 1994. Heidi's sixteen now, and the visions are still coming. Her younger sister and her mother, Lisa, sometimes see things too. Amazingly, the family never moved. Instead they went to parapsychologist William Roll, who chalked up the apparitions to "place memories" triggered by positive ions produced by a nearby earthquake fault. The makers present this as a "scientific" explanation! Dissatisfied with Roll's counsel, the family consulted psychic Amy Allen, who detected several spirits, one of them evil, another a "protector." Finally, after almost a decade of manifestations, the Bible-believing Wyricks thought to involve their church, undergoing a bargain basement exorcism while New Dominion's cameras rolled.
A Haunting in Georgia purports to tell the Wyricks' story as a two-hour mockumentary. New Dominion crews spent fifteen days filming the family and picking up background shots. Like the same producers' Discovery series The New Detectives and The FBI Files, Haunting relies heavily on fictionalized re-enactments. Purists decried the technique when shows like Unsolved Mysteries pioneered it, but it's become depressingly standard today. As New Dominion's police procedurals show, historical accuracy (which, admittedly, can get expensive) is a low priority: The FBI Files famously re-creates crime investigations from the 1970s in which agents have 17" Gateway monitors on their desks, use cell phones, and drive Dodge Intrepids. Still, the form retains a rule or two, especially this one: give viewers enough clues to know when they're viewing a re-enactment and when they're viewing the real participants. On The FBI Files, the fully-dramatized cinematic segments are clearly re-enactments with actors, while present-day commentaries by actual participants are shot news-style, with superimposed titles identifying their talking heads. (Usually you can't persuade the actual participants to stoop so low as to re-enact themselves.) Episodes usually close with mug shots of the actual offenders, whom viewers can compare to the actors who portrayed them.
That's the last vestige of cinematic veracity that still adheres to the making of made-for-cable documentaries, and A Haunting in Georgia throws it in the compost heap. The entire program was shot in a uniform fictionalized cinematic style, with actual participants and re-enactors mixed so wantonly that you can't tell them apart without a scorecard. Unfortunately, this being a cable show, the scorecard (the end titles) flashed by too fast to read. But there were a couple of screenfuls of credited re-enactors - this despite the fact that most Wyrick family members played themselves. Most footage was apparently shot at the actual Wyrick home where the manifestations allegedly took place. And that's part of the problem - with the Wyricks re-enacting their alleged experiences of ten years ago, seven years ago, and a couple of months ago, and all of it shot in a uniform style, it's impossible to guess where reality lets off and the fictionalizing begins. Obviously little Heidi at age three and age six had to be played by child actresses. But the others? Was it the real William Roll or an actor? The real psychic, or an impersonator? There's no way to tell. The talking heads and the re-enactors are the same people, and no one gets an identifying super that would say, "Okay, viewers, this is the real Amy Allen."
With this departure from established mockumentary technique, viewers lose their last platform, however rickety, from which to tease perhaps more-reliable participants' claims from the less plausible re-enactments. Ironically, it may serve to degrade the program's verisimilitude. Viewing A Haunting in Georgia without any advance research, I assumed that everyone on-screen was a re-enactor. Only after some Web research did I learn that the makers had shot so much footage at the Wyrick home with the real Wyricks. And only then did I begin to consider that it might have been the real William Roll, the real Amy Allen, and so on. Haunting's makers have actually managed to underplay the most unique aspect of their production, its unusually lavish access to actual settings and participants.
I don't think the folks at New Dominion mind. It's pretty clear that they hunger to move out of the documentary "ghetto" and into something more filmic. Haunting feels less like a re-enactment documentary than a TV-movie with heavy voice-overs - a cross between Blair Witch Project told in the third person and The Amityville Horror on an even lower effects budget.
Sadly, another casualty of this final step beyond documentary form is that the makers felt no obligation to include critical comments by skeptics. In Haunting's two solid hours, the broad assumption that hauntings happen is never challenged. The narrator intones breathtaking claims like "Science has proven that strong geomagnetic fields are associated with ghosts"** without a questioning rebuttal, or even a backward glance.
Whatever one may think of the Wyrick family, average viewers can't help but come away with the impression that ghost-hunting of the Hanz Holzer magnetometer-held-high school has a solid scientific basis. And oh yeah, psychics work too.
Haunting passes faster if you keep a mental catalogue of the numerous anachronisms and continuity flubs. Mother Lisa Wyrick doesn't age a day -no effort was made to change her appearance or wardrobe for the scenes set when daughter Heidi was a child. Then again, maybe Lisa stays youthful because she's so thrifty - the camera keeps poking into the parents' bedroom: Lisa's worn the same plaid nightshirt for almost a decade. Maybe that's what drew her to Dr. Roll, who visited Heidi as a child and returned years later, still wearing exactly the same late-1990s sportcoat, dark-colored shirt, and tie.
Despite its ludicrous aspects, A Haunting in Georgia merits skeptics' serious concern - and the attention of anyone who cares about the documentary form's power to transmit genuine knowledge (or harmful misinformation). Haunting presents highly questionable paranormal claims as fact, and does so in a "newish" way that will discourage many viewers from expecting any skeptical rejoinder, or from finding its absence remarkable. By eroding the already-porous boundaries of documentary technique, Haunting undercuts the last stylistic clues most viewers can rely on to estimate the possible veracity of any given shot or sequence.

Notes
* For terminological clarity, docudrama means a program shot in an entirely fictionalized cinematic style, but which purports to tell the story of real events. Mockumentary means a program shot in a faux documentary style which uses latter-day re-enactments to supply narrative material for which actual historic footage is unavailable or would be impossible to obtain.
** Not an exact quote, I'm working from memory but trying to convey the sense of several bald statements that claim clear scientific support for extremely dubious statements about paranormal or fringe phenomena.

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It is rather peculiar though, 'cause not everyone sees Shadows/ghosts. Some do, others don't, though I never tell, they are there (wherever it is they appear). So, it is not that the people visiting, actually know about these ghosts/spirits
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My house has a ghost in it that I have seen. I was in the washroom runging my water for my bath and I felt that someone was standing behind me. I turned and saw a dark figure standing in the door way looking at me, or looking my direction. I looked away to turn the water off and when I looked back it was gone. I have also, many times, walked into the living room and hall way and had the doors open and lights turned off and on. I have never felt that this ghost is a harm to us. Its just there.

Last year I had a friend move into this house with me. I hadn't told her about the ghost I had seen, but after a few months of her living her she came to me and said that she had seen a figure of a woman a number of times in this house. If I'm crazy at least I'm not the only one.

I would say that with said spirits it depends heavily on religon. I suppose if you want you could look up some ancient runes of protection, but then you get into a whole other sccarrryy thing.

I watched this show last night on TLC; I was wiggin'!! Sorry, but if it was me, I think I woulda gotten the heck outta Dodge.

I think the creepiest part was the 'phantom' whose face was never shown; I assume it was a male, but I guess you couldn't be too sure huh?

The next creepiest part was when it ended and Heidi said, Well...some things are happening still that I just don't even talk to mama about - kinda makes you wonder.....

I don't feel frightened, but it will stay with me for a long time.

sorry in reply to Banshee who said something along the lines of why show them fear blah blah, erm evil ghost shall we call them... feed off fear it empowers them.
thats all i wanted to say for now lol.:bugeye:

Thanks for joining our forums just to thread necromance and to add nothing.