Paranormal Thanksgiving

My third episode with Ryan and the Paranormal State team airs this Sunday, November 28 at 9 PM!  The episode, entitled Paranormal Homecoming, was actually my second investigation, but through the magic of television and all is appearing now.  It’s kind of like The Beatles releasing Let It Be last, even though they recorded Abbey Road afterwards…

For this one I flew down to Ryan’s home town, Sumter, South Carolina to join the PRS team.  It was a homecoming for Ryan, and a lot of fun to see his old hang-outs, including the massive high school, but an extremely sad case.

The investigation centered on the tragic murder of Tony “TJ” Darrisaw, a 12 year old boy killed Halloween 2008 while trick-or-treating.  He rang the doorbell of a drug dealer who’d been attacked in his home the year before.  Convinced he was being invaded again, he opened fire with his modified AK-47, killing TJ and wounding his brother and father.  Now some witnesses claim to have seen a child’s spirit in the neighborhood.

Seeing the patched bullet holes to the right of the door was the most chilling moment I’ve experienced while shooting.  Not frightening perhaps so much as deeply sobering.  Sad.

While we were attempting to contact spirits in a graveyard across the street, two police officers pulled up. At first I thought the police had taken us for rampaging teens, but they knew the show and wanted to see if we needed anything.  It wasn’t the best of neighborhoods, and the officers were very impressive.  I’m always humbled by people who, by career choice, put themselves at risk for the sake of others.

The cemetery itself was very eerie.  Many of the graves had electronic lights that came on at night and looked almost like frozen fireflies stretching off into the distance.

As for my own far less self-sacrificing efforts, in a totally geek moment, I had my first experience with an EMF detector and managed to find a power line running alongside the street. 

I haven’t seen the edited show, but my PRS bud Coalin Smith tells me I’m in at least one sequence, researching at the local library with Eilfie Music.  Don’t know if it made it into the ep, but at one point Ryan has an experience and I bravely decide to check beneath the piece of furniture where it occurred.

Speaking of what makes it into an episode or not, I want to extend my kudos to the hard-working producers, crew and editing team.  Way back in my college days (during the reign of the pharaoh Imhotep) I’d shot a video that left me with about 24 hours of tape to edit.  It took me months to cobble two hours from it.  These guys put together less than half that out of 48 hours or more of raw footage – on a weekly basis.

Anywho, this is the last of the cases I’ve been on to date.  Paranormal State continues shooting through January, so I may be invited along for more.  Meanwhile, though, give your loved ones a hug and have a Happy Thanksgiving!