TV Jots

Take a Walk on the Other Side

It’s time for more paranormal shenanigans when Sci Fi Channel’s popular reality staple Ghost Hunters returns tonight at 9pm EST for its fourth season, followed at 10pm by the relative newcomer Destination Truth, which launches its second season.

I had the opportunity to sneak a peek at the premieres for both series, and I’m happy to report that fans of each show can look forward to more of the familiar perplexing investigations audiences have grown to expect.

Ghost Hunters begins the night with a visit to Buffalo, New York’s Iron Island Museum. It looks just like a too-big house to me, but the structure is actually a converted church where the dead and departed seem determined to remain. Head investigators Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson arrive on the scene with their trusted TAP team and van-load of equipment for another one of those nighttime stakeout sessions. Afterwards, they give their client a thorough account of their intriguing discoveries, so get ready for some very disconcerting audio material.

Next, so-called truth-seeker Josh Gates does a similar routine with his own team of investigators and equipment, but with a much more exotic flair. They first travel to gorgeous Queensland, Australia — a vacation in itself — in search of Yowie, probably more familiar to many people as the one and only legendary Bigfoot. Just saying the name makes me laugh out loud and think, “Aw c’mon! Get real!” But investigate they do, with earnestness.

Then, Team Gates is off to even more exotic Malaysia to get the inside goods on an abandoned mosque that reportedly houses an evil spirit. How do we know the place is haunted? Well, the spirit has a penchant for doing eerie things like turning lights on, although the building has no electricity.

I admit that would freak me out a bit, too, and if nothing else, I’ll always envy people who get to visit places like Australia and Malaysia during their myth-busting adventures. How do I get a paying job like that?

Ghost Hunters‘ “Iron Island” premieres at 9pm, followed by Destination Truth‘s “Yowie/Haunted Mosque” at 10pm.