Haunted History – More History than Haunts

       “America is often haunted by its past, which explains why ghost stories have always been an integral part of this nation’s oral history.  Viewers will visit some of the darkest, scariest corners of the country – from the battlefields of Gettysburg to the exact spot of the Salem Witch Trials.  Each episode will flash back to horrific events that transpired at these locations, while speaking with local historians and authorities on present day paranormal activity.  Find out for sure if these tales are truly fact, fiction or something else entirely.” – History.com

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       The basis of Haunted History is that each episode takes a location or event, and describes both the history of it and the paranormal activity surrounding it.   I hadn’t seen commercials for the new show until that day, but with glimpses of Gettysburg, Salem Witch Trials, and a teaser of “America’s first serial killer”, I was instantly excited to catch the first episode airing later that night.  I was disappointed when Charles Manson was the much clichéd topic of the pilot episode, but wanted to give the show a chance regardless.  As a horror fan, I’m really on the fence on how I feel about this show.  In all honesty, I’m having a hard time writing this review.  It’s better (much, much better) than I’ll Haunt You When I’m Dead, but like that show, it could use a little work. 

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The good…

       Haunted History certainly lives up to the “history” part of its name.  While I’m familiar with the story of the Manson family, I never bothered to delve more into the details surrounding their crimes.  It was interesting to hear more about Manson’s personal background and how he acquired his runaway pack of vagabonds. Even more so, I was surprised to learn a few things as well.  For instance, although I knew Manson was concerned with a race war known as Helter Skelter, I had never known that it was a Beatles song.  (Which I then Googled during the show but can’t quite understand how he created a race war out of those lyrics.)  I also learned about his friendship with Beach Boy Dennis Wilson, and that he was most likely trying to seek revenge against Terry Melcher for a failed music career the night he dispatched his followers to the Tate residence. 

 

 

The bad…

       Unfortunately, Haunted History doesn’t exactly live up to the “haunted” part of its name.  The show’s main focus seemed to be placed on the history of the crimes and not enough on any of the paranormal claims on the 4 locations they were discussing.  So while the show was interesting and informative, it completely failed to spook me like I was expecting it to.  The worst blunder of the show was when camper and eyewitness Michael Channel showed a photo he had of himself at Barker Ranch, the Manson family’s last residence.  The image is of him against a dark background, with an orange figure standing to his left, presumably the spirit of someone involved in the Manson murders.  I’m by no means a skeptic of the paranormal, but the apparition appears to be the exact same size as Channel himself, and standing in the exact same position.  To me, this paranormal evidence looked like a development malfunction or the result of really bad retouching. 

 

       Aside from the lack of scares in Haunted History, I had directorial issues with the episode as well.  The first episode featured interviews with some of the men involved in the Manson murders, such as police force and paranormal investigators, as well as the one with Michael Channel.  Then there were dramatizations and crime scene photos, with one of the interviews running in the background or a narrator highlighting an aspect of one of the crimes.   While this might sound like it would add variety to the show - and really, what else could the show be comprised of? -  the dramatizations and photos became very repetitive throughout the hour long show.  To their credit, they could be considered brutal for those that are faint of heart, but they began to feel overdone and unnecessary after that length of time.  These narrations, interviews, dramatizations and photos seemed to follow no real order, and would switch back and forth between topics.  There were a few times I thought they had forgotten about a topic, only to have it picked back up a few minutes later.  This was especially apparent when, mid episode, they decided to explain who Charles Manson was and attempt to explain why he might have become the violent man that he did.  I’m certainly not a film or television director, but shouldn’t that have been done in the very beginning of the episode, or not at all?

 

The verdict…

       My main complaint with this show, if you couldn’t guess by the title of this article, is that Haunted History is based more in facts than in horror, at least with the pilot episode.  While I was disappointed that the first episode was dedicated to, I at least learned a few new things about the topic, so the show definitely did its job in that sense.  While it may not be the spooky good time I was hoping it would be, I’m still looking forward to checking out the rest of series.