Supernatural And Paranormal Reality Television



Supernatural and paranormal reality television is a relatively recent phenomenon. Most people have never associated the supernatural and paranormal with reality at least in contemporary society because of religious intolerance of what could be considered otherworldly, different, or demonic. It was only the 1990s and 2000s that these shows really took off. Before that, there were scripted fictitious shows about the supernatural and paranormal, but there were never reality shows about it. One skeptic may simply say that it was because people didn't believe in it seriously until modern times.



The bewilderment of average viewers at the supposed reality of supernatural events recorded on television is a fixed constant that ensures people tune into these shows. People from all across the United States, whatever their ages, become transfixed into these shows at one point in their life. The phenomenon, however, started with the younger generation with MTV's Fear in the year 2000. Reality show participants were put into situations that had paranormal occurrences going on around them. Other shows investigate the possible realities of certain locales where there are said to be hauntings, paranormal happenings, or events that have taken place that cannot be explained by science. Celebrity Paranormal Project involves celebrities and investigations of scary places. Scariest Places on Earth posts the challenge to merely survive the investigation. There are movies based on this concept like House on Haunted Hill which also premiered on MTV which has as its premise a group of strangers having to stay overnight in a haunted house. That idea is a particular sub-genre of reality television in which the group of strangers, celebrities, or participants test themselves against the dangers of the house. Paranormal State and Ghost Hunters have a different premise all together. They gather a group of paranormal researchers and have them engage haunted places to seek out paranormal activity. Fear Factor and Scare Tactics are not exactly supernatural or paranormal, but they work in the genre of using the illusion of the supernatural and paranormal to scare audience members. There are certain stylized elements that appear in most of these shows like night vision, hand held camera footage, weird angles, subtitles, surveillance-style filmmaking, rapid fire editing, and unpleasant soundtracks. Ghost hunting was also compared to other genres which hint at the real thing but don't come close to being pure reality like professional wrestling or soft core pornography.



Ghost Hunters International is a particularly popular paranormal reality television show that often appears on the Sci Fi Channel, now branded as SyFy. It follows a group of ghost hunters that travel around the world visiting the world's scariest places and recording their results. The series came out in 2008, and it visits the world' most legendary places as far as hauntings go instead of being limited to some locations in the United States. This is like Ghost Hunters on steroids, and it began broadcasting in HDTV in 2009.



All of these shows are factual representations or investigations of actual phenomena that is purported to be supernatural. Some people believe it is staged because supernatural events have never been proven to occur, but these shows still have a stark difference between fictional shows having to do with ghosts like Ghostbusters or Scooby Doo. These shows really try to catch the supernatural on film, and the turmoil that the cast members are placed under in these frightening situations is interesting enough to keep people watching.

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