As a long-time fan of the original TAPS Ghost Hunters, I was extremely excited about the premier of the new GHI or Ghost Hunters International on SciFi. Now, a few episodes in I’m finding myself more and more frustrated with it. First, you should know that Wednesday nights have pretty much become “family night” as we pop the corn, turn out the lights, and crowd the couches to watch the paranormal investigation unfold. We were thrilled when the original Ghost Hunters from TAPS visited the Lisheeen Castle in Ireland, got followed by wraiths, and visited the Hellfire Caves. The idea of a Ghost Hunters International crew going into old country for a whole season was something we looked forward to all summer. Now the time has come and the season has started.

The first thing we notice is (and I hate to admit this) is lead investigator, Robb Demarest’s overall presence. His stuttering, and Groucho Marks eyebrows make it very difficult to take him seriously, or to find him as a convincing authority. Donna LaCroix is a wonderful case manager, and always a welcome sight on the show, however it seems that each episode of GHI (Ghost Hunters International) finds her getting too scared, creeped out or otherwise emotional. This actually seems to reduce the credibility of the show. The fact that she is most often paired with the newest of the crew, Shannon Sylvia, just seems like a poor decision. There have also been a few cases already where it seems that they are not prepared… the running theme so far has been “oh no my camera (or digital recorder, or thermal camera) just went dead. I understand this could be a symbol of paranormal activity draining the energy from the batteries, but at three locations in a row?

Overall, I would love to see Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson show up for an episode or two to really put the science back into the investigations and help this new crew work out their kinks. I stuck with Ghost Hunters (TAPS - The Atlantic Paranormal Society) when they were just two guys in a Roto Rooter van and the loyalty paid off well. So I will continue to follow the (GHI) Ghost Hunters International crew as well, and trust that they will come around by the end of the season. Maybe if I’m lucky they’ll get an earlier time slot!