TV Review: Ghost Hunters International 2.02 – Skeleton in the Closet

REVIEW: Ghost Hunters International 2.02 – “Skeleton in the Closet”
Original Air Date: 15 July 2009
Rated: TV: PG

On this episode, Summer has to open her big mouth real wide and eat her words as the GHI team not only investigates and debunks, but does not declare either location haunted! Hope she’s hungry!

The first site is Castle Český Krumlov in Bohemia, Czech Republic, and this place is colossal. The compound is so big (5 courtyards, 43 buildings, on 15 acres), I had to bust out the thesaurus to find a word that would work to describe it.

A local paranormal researcher gives Robb, Dustin, and Barry the tour, pointing out the hot spots (one of them being the oldest still-running theatre in Europe). This whole place is just beautiful. They also climb about a zillion stairs to get to the top of a tower (where a White Lady has been seen) that I would need a Sherpa to climb.

So the team set up, pair off, and start the investigation. Fairly standard throughout the night. Best part was Brandy and Joe with the “possible” saint in the closet.

She sounded freaked out to be that close to human remains. Apparently, she was put off that a “possible” saint would be shown such disregard, being stuffed in a depository and all. I guess the remains need to be shown more respect because she’s a “possible” saint; had it just been a regular schmoe, perfectly fine place to store them.

While Robb and Joe are going through one of the buildings, he shares a bit of his childhood, proclaiming his mom taking “them” through abandoned houses was “fun.” I used to have pool parties all summer break for fun as a kid. Clearly, he and I have different opinions on what the definition of “fun” is. Also, I love how everyone’s faces look in the night vision cameras. Makes for great screencaps.

Of course, the thermal image the preview would have you believe was “unexplained” was debunked by Dustin and Brandy on the spot. I hate when they do that in previews. PSA, TV people: it doesn’t make us want to watch the show more, it just pisses us off. On their way back down the hill, Barry calls them back up for extra help in the Summer House. It’s a surprise party for Brandy’s 25th birthday! God, I felt so old. At first, I was all appalled that they’d waste time on a party when they’re supposed to be “investigating.” Then Robb reminds the viewers that a lady ghost is supposed to show up when there’s a party there. Personally, I think they just wanted to eat cake (in the dark) because cake is awesome.

They end up with three bits of evidence (a video clip of a flash of unexplained light and two audio clips), with one audio clip seeming like it could have been made by a rat or mouse knocking over the recorder. It was in a pit area where dead bodies were sealed up, and it is a really old castle. Not too far out of the realm of possibility that a rodent of some kind would have been there even if you didn’t see it. The client seemed satisfied even though they didn’t proclaim the site haunted.

Clear on the other side of Europe (in Barry’s homeland) is the second case, the Rathlin Manor House on Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland. The island is the site of the first Viking raids, and the entire island is said to be haunted. Room 6 of the manor actually had an exorsicim in it! There are loads of personal experiences here from what the caretaker tells them, and Robb’s hoping they have a good chance of catching some evidence.

Same process: set up, lights off (I still don’t understand why they investigate in the dark), pair up, and look for ghosts. Barry tries to get the landlord to show his ghostly face by laying some coin down, but nothing happens. He says he heard the coins move and that he saw something, but they don’t get anything on tape or audio.

There was a little fake out moment here. Robb and Ashley are working a room, with Robb filming Ashley on a handheld. All of the sudden, the auto focus can’t focus on her. At the time, he’s convinced it looks like some kind of mist is between the two of them. He gets all excited by this because they were asking for something to make contact with them. During the analysis of the footage, you can tell the auto focus of Robb’s handheld is focusing on the light of a different DVR camera. Easy to get caught up in the moment when you’re talking to dead people in the dark.

In the end, they don’t have anything to show the client. They debunk one of the personal experiences they were told about during the tour, and the sounds of a woman’s voice people were hearing (supposedly, it’s a bird — that cap up there is the caretaker’s “Are you seriously suggesting we’re all stupid enough to mistake a bird for a woman?” face). You could totally tell the client looked a bit put off by their lack of physical evidence, which is sort of understandable. They didn’t call these guys out for nothing, and she obviously already believed the place to be haunted and wanted proof from an outside source to back that up.

I’m left with the same question this show (and its parent series, Ghost Hunters) always leaves me with: How can you conclusively state a place is either haunted or not when you only spend one night there?