Scariest Places on Earth

I normally don't write in, but I worked on Scariest Places, and these people were truely scared out of their wits. The hard part was taping what they were scared of - hence most of the footage is of them just screaming - but a couple of them got so scared they pee'd their pants. Imagination, maybe. But these people were not faking. They saw something, and yes, they were scared.

In recent years we have lost Unsolved Mysteries, Sightings, Haunted Lives, Paranormal Borderline and several more good shows which discussed true ghost stories. Hosted by Linda Blair and narrated by the creepy voice of Zelda Rubenstein, this show is definitely going to give you nightmares with its shaky angles, out of focus shots and provoking images as it goes in search of ghosts through some of the most haunted houses and edifices on the earth, and takes families to some of the most frightening places in the world to find spirits more unnerving than anything in the movies. Even if you don't believe in such things, this is the show for you.

I have seen some episodes of this series.

Most of the episodes are questionable and based on second hand eyewitness accounts and there is absolutely no attempt to get a balancing neutral/critical opinion. It is the paranormal equivalent of Von Daniken.

I noted a particularly laughable episode on "ghosts of the colosseum" where a pyshcic with a lenghth of string comes to the conclusion that he "can feel" a ghost somewhere in the dungeons and finally "it" leads him to a street (somewhere else) where "it" was apparently buried. I mean who the hell is this guy and how do you know it is true? Then there are a whole bunch of "paranormal investigators" with infrared scanners and electromagnetic detectors claiming they see ghosts and presences everywhere and we just have to take their word for it.

There are pics caught on cam of people running scared when they "felt" the presence of a spirit. These people have been already hyped up by being told the place is haunted and there is a ghost waiting for them somewhere. There is no effort to go back and analyse what happened or interview the people involved. All the episodes follow this pattern: shallow and full of tricks.

I caught this show on the reruns and could not believe what I was seeing. Being involved in film and a part-time paranormal investigator I found this show an insult. An insult to any serious Paranormal Investigator and an insult to anybody with an IQ over 20.

Knowing how television is made I could see all the old tricks prop masters have used over the years. Stupid face cameras with lights on them shinning directly into the victims faces, so their eyes cannot adjust to the darkness.(An old trick)

The adding of a Newcastle radio DJ who cries "Murder, death, evil!" and passes himself off a informative person. He is there to wind up the families, g them up for the night ahead and plant the seed of fear.

Cheap editing is the only thing stopping the viewing audience not seeing the crew banging and pushing things over.

It promised much and delivered very little. Check out Most Haunted it is much slicker and probably has half the budget.

This puts the field of Paranormal Investigation into game show mode. A crying shame. Wonder weather it was worth those two priests saving young Linda Blair in the Exorcist. I think not!

"Scariest Places On Earth" is a fun little spookfest television show that's been running for about five years now, on and off. Each episode features usually one to three segments on some supposedly haunted, extremely creepy locations. In each segment, we are given the grim history of the haunted location, and one family or group of people goes to visit the haunted area at night, and see what they can experience, and if the place is really haunted. Well, scary stuff happens on every episode, so it has me questioning whether or not it could be rigged, but nonetheless, these creepy locations and the disturbing history behind them are good enough to be featured on television. I have to admit though, I'm pretty sure a lot of events that occur are staged. Besides that though, this show is pretty scary. I remember watching this back when it first aired in 2001, and it scared the hell out of me.

Hosted by legendary horror actress Linda Blair ("The Exorcist", "Hell Night") and narrated by Zelda Rubenstein (in her creepy, raspy voice), "Scariest Places On Earth" is an all-around fun and scary television show that is worth watching solely for the creepy locations that are displayed and the history behind them. Everything from haunted castles, prisons, old houses, asylums, college campuses, amusement parks, catacombs, and many more creepy locations are featured on the show, and each of the segments are very well done. It's too bad they haven't continued the show on much anymore, I'm glad that ABC Family makes it part of their "13 Nights of Halloween" special, but I wish that it was still a regular show. One thing is for sure though, this show has done a good job at rounding up some genuinely scary places. 8/10.