I'm so behind on blogging! I actually have 4 other books to post about AFTER this one. Oh well, I'll try to get one tomorrow, and two on Tuesday as I don't work at all on Tuesday and should be done grading for my online teaching job for the next 2 weeks by then.
So, I remember when I heard Ryan Buell was going to be writing a book. I was very excited. And the date in the computer at work kept getting moved back. Finally, this past September came, and it was released. And I, well, I was broke, and couldn't buy it right away. Then, I bought it, but because of reading for the Gateway nominee list, I wasn't quite sure when I could fit it in. But it was the first book I picked up to read after all the Gateway nominees were read. And I really have to say I enjoyed it.
I do love Paranormal State. Some people have said it is boring, and I can see their point. No, it is not all sensationalized like the Ghost Hunters show is. But, that is a reason I can't hardly watch Ghost Hunters, but love Paranormal State. When something happens on Paranormal State, you see it, and don't doubt it. There have been some really spooky episodes. This book goes through all the episodes and cases from the first season. The first thing that really stood out to me was learning about where the term "dead time" came from. Dead time is the time on the show when they go to different parts of the house/building, and try to communicate with the ghosts, or find evidence. So, you would assume, dead time, means communicating with the dead. It's usually around midnight, often around 3 am, the time which is said to be opposite of when Jesus died on the cross and the time when evil comes into the world. But, this is not where this name actually came from on the show. To Ryan and the rest of the PRS staff, it meant turning off all cell phones and other electrical equipment that could cause false readings or noises to occur and blow any chance of real evidence.
It was very interesting to hear about things that you didn't get to see on the show because of trying to fit it all into the half hour time slot they have. So many more details, or evidence to the contrary of an actual haunting.
The other entry I really enjoyed reading about was when Christopher Moon was on the show and brought the Frank's Box. This was neat to me because I have attended two separate ghost hunting classes and weekends with Christopher Moon, and he really got me interested into the scientific aspect of ghost hunting. All the stuff he talked about at the weekends, or most of it, really made sense based on the things we know about physics and the physical world. Now, this Frank's Box. I totally agree with several of the things Ryan and the other PRS members said about this in the book. First, Chris tends to immediately interpret what is heard out of the Box. Whether people agree or not, I think everyone should hear what they think, then compare. My thought on Frank's Box, it uses radio waves. And knowing, again with physics, that radio waves just keep going forever, there are waves bouncing around out there all the time, why does it mean it is a spirit, and not just what is coming through that area at the time? I have great respect for Chris Moon, don't get me wrong, this just brought up my questions about the Frank's Box. I would still definitely attend a ghost hunting weekend in Iowa with Chris Moon again.
Anyway, if you are a fan of the show, or ghost hunting in general, this is a very interesting book in my opinion. I do love that Ryan Buell is a fan of many of my favorite things as well, Buffy the Vampire Slayer being one of them, his dog is named Xander, after one of the BTVS characters. I do not enjoy always reading Buell's very liberal political views on Twitter. But hey, that's his opinion, and I have mine, and differences in political opinions to me, is not a good reason to not like or be friends with someone, so, I just read past those for his ghost related posts. Now I'm just waiting for the show to start up again. Hoping this season isn't already over, that there will be more episodes coming up in the next year.
