BEGIN
“We’re
a popular show and we make a lot of money for cable television, Lee, but we’re
not that popular that we can just go around destroying video equipment at
random! You’re not a Nine Inch Nails show in the early nineties. Our show isn’t
something that the fans just expect the stage and instruments trashed at for the
end of the episode.”
Lee
Johnson’s hand was still visibly shaking as he tried to grasp the donut shop’s
coffee mug. It was almost twelve hours after the cast of Demon Hunters of Dodge County had abandoned their first ever
episode in the six seasons that they had been on the air. Through the
discussion, the lead investigator of the four men and two women team was trying
to hold his composure while debriefing with his producer, Tim Hobson. Failing
at this, his producer was very irate at all of the actions that had occurred
before and during the incident where his team abandoned the Standall Brothers’
Saloon taping.
“So
you think we staged it? That Gilly just threw his video camera on the ground?
Do you think he’s the kind of person to just spike a camera because he needs to
perform on cue? He’s not the Broncos’ DeMaryius Thomas after a touchdown, you
know.”
“That’s
not what I’m saying, but we both know that the nature of this television ghost
investigation game is to accentuate the ‘action’ when you have something on the
hook and to make mountains out of molehills when you don’t necessarily have
beyond a shadow of a doubt evidence. Whether the activity is there or not, the
show must go on, and we need our equipment in one piece to do that.”
“I
know that’s how it’s been played by the industry and even by us from time to
time, but I assure you that this time was for real. Honest to God. Besides, we’ve
always tried to keep it one hundred, even when the editing and direction called
for something else.”
“You’ve
always been Hollywood, Lee. Sell that ‘I didn’t do it’ shit somewhere else.”
The
muscular, shaved-headed man of thirty years of age continued to defend himself despite
his producer’s protests, saying, “You know that we were in a real active hot
spot. This isn’t chicken shit nonsense or families looking for airtime when
they come up with a good enough story to get a team into their house to make
some spare change. This is more than just smoke. We have raging fire to go with
it.”
At
these words, the producer nodded appropriately that he knew that this situation
had the potential to be different, but he was not completely buying it.
“Besides,
no other team has lasted the night in that place, and there have been many who
tried. Most people are out soon after dark. We made it until 3:15AM before we
had to abandon the shoot. To you, that may be quitting, but to us, it’s a
record with all of the banging, clanging, screeching, and attacks we suffered
before Steve smashed out the back door to get out of a situation we were
literally locked into.”
“I
personally left that door unlocked, Lee. Don’t tell me you didn’t have the
option to just walk out any time you felt the urge.”
“That
door was barred shut, Tim!”
“Then
who locked it?”
“I
don’t know.”
“Well
whoever did it is going to pony up for a new one since that’s another thing
we’re going to have to pay for since you and I both know the Standalls’
insurance won’t touch it or any damage caused by so-called ghost hunting
incidents.”
“The
hell with that. I’ll put a door up myself.”
“And
what’s this about a record before running out? Call it something else, will
you? You’ve done nights at Bobby Mackey’s, Pennhurst, Trans-Allegheny Lunatic
Asylum, and Lizzie Borden’s house plus various other residential poltergeist hauntings
in your 68 episodes. What was here that wasn’t anywhere else?”
“Something
really nasty,” Lee said, staring down his boss. “Whatever was there wasn’t
going to let us stay there until dawn at 6:11AM, much less to come back for
another night of investigation tonight. There was an actual physical
manifestation present, not just some kind of an eerie presence. I saw it with
my own eyes. It talked to me. It attacked me, and I’ll tell you, for something
without substance, that shit hurts when it smacks a person up.”
“So
where’s my evidence other than scars that could have come from your own team? That
shit was played out perfectly on Adventures
with Spirits when the Smith Brothers got caught faking their investigation.
Why no videos and pictures?”
“Because
the creature only appeared when we lost the handheld.”
“What
about the GoPros?”
“The
batteries went dead.”
“Just
like that?”
“You
know as well as anyone in the game that spirits and other evil entities have a
way of doing that to battery-operated electronics.”
“And
what did this evil force tell you that only your crew heard?”
“It
said, ‘I have come to the world again to join forces with the twins, and
together, we will reign in darkness for all of eternity.’”
“That’s
kind of vague and weird.”
“I
know.”
“It
doesn’t seem scary enough to drop a video camera or kick out a back door.”
“Words
and phrases are all in presentation, and in the presentation, the demon
materialized and threatened to kill us while it talked about some crazy stuff
with twins.”
“I’m
almost willing to believe that because even your dumb ass couldn’t make that
nonsense up, but c’mon; there’s no context to it. What the hell, Lee?”
“I’m
being honest with you. It was a demon speaking to me.”
“Not
Ralph? A demon threatened to kill you?”
“Yes.
There was no mention of Ralph at all from this creature.”
“And
you’re sure it wasn’t Ralph?”
“I
saw both of them materialize last night, and this wasn’t Ralph.”
“And
you have no video or audio proof?”
“Yes.”
“Sounds
like Occam’s Razor to me.”
“Screw
you, Tim. I’ve never seen or felt anything like what happened in there last
night. I never experienced that kind of an attack before. The EVP we had
earlier said the name ‘Kaldac.’ If I remember Steve’s story correctly, that’s
the name of some bad ass demon, and we do have proof of that.”
“It
said something, but we don’t know what it said. It was a growl of static-y
noise.”
And
with that, the ghost hunter just stared at his producer. Inside his thick black
goatee, his lips seemed to pause in the open position as he held himself back
from threatening to kill the executive.
“Lee,
c’mon. Demons from the ancient Wild West? Are you sure that American Paranormal’s spooky backstory
isn’t just scaring you? I’ll accept angry ghosts, but I’m not ready to call
this a demon just yet.”
“You’re
producing a show about demon hunters, and you’re telling me you don’t
personally believe in what you’re selling?’
“I
believe in whatever video can tell me, and I believe in good television. If you
capture it digitally for all to see, I’ll believe in mermaids, a Minotaur,
pixies, and the Easter Bunny. Let’s just focus on what really happened in
there, Lee. You ran off, and you left the set a wreck. Now, I have to clean up
your mess.”
“We’ve
been to a lot of places, Tim. You’ve said so yourself in the last minute. I’ve
been taunted, scratched, punched, and shoved, but I’ve never had all four
things happen to me at once as I’m also getting bitten up by some invisible
creature. Look at them! Look at this trio of scratches! That thing was mocking
God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.”
Hobson
looked at Lee’s muscular, tattooed arms. Up and down his arms to include near
his shoulders, there were bite marks and those three deep scratches. They all
just couldn’t have been self-inflicted, could they?
“So
you and Margaret weren’t getting frisky, were you?”
“The
bites happened while we were filming on camera, Tim. We do have images of that.”
“But
not the scratches?”
“Yes.
I mean, no, they didn’t happen on camera.”
“It
appears that some of them had to have been caused by someone other than you,
but the video images are grainy, and it goes dark quickly, so I don’t know what
to think, especially without the rest of your group’s dental records to make
sure that things aren’t too identical. Besides, nothing was physically around
you while it was happening, and you were filmed from a distance by Ernie’s
GoPro.”
Lee
looked back at him, visibly disturbed and ready to punch the man in the head.
“So
tell me, what did this demonic physical manifestation look like if you have
nothing to show me from its presence?”
“Like
I said, I can tell you that it didn’t resemble the pictures I’ve seen of Ralph Richards.
Richards was a big, ugly dude with a beard that touched his chest, but this was
a dark, monstrous beast that came out of the shadows.”
“With
horns and claws and fangs?” Tim asked, trying to maintain his seriousness.
“Claws
and fangs, but more sleek of flesh and burly in his appearance. I didn’t see
horns. He was also a hell of a lot bigger than a man. I would say that the
monster had to be at least ten feet tall and imposing over me. Standing under
his shadow, I felt like I was being crushed under rocks.”
“So
how did he protect himself against the heat of the light bulbs when he took
them out? Those things get pretty hot. Did he have oven mitts on?”
As
Tim finished saying that, he was laughing a little bit to Lee’s obvious
irritation.
“That’s
another thing. We had no way to squeeze or cause four light bulbs to implode at
one time to leave the room in blackness. You can check those light sockets and
where the glass crashed. There’s no explosive residue from setups like some
teams have been known to use when they’re staging special effects. You’ll just
find four different crash sites.”
“At
least you got that moment on camera before the darkness came. The shattered
glass and shock on all of your faces were awesome moments. They will be great
for commercials, and we can milk that for viewership.”
“I’m
glad you approve of at least some of what we’ve given you.”
“I
do, but I know that you’re the best in the game we’re playing, and I should
have a hell of a lot more quantifiable evidence than what you’ve given me. Because
you ran like little bitches, I don’t. Now, we have to go back and shoot more
historical footage around town and perform post-investigation interviews to get
42 minutes out of this mess of a show.”
“That’s
easy enough. There are a lot of interviews with the people in town and our crew,
and there is stuff from a lot of the other local teams. Besides, you can film
the scene’s aftermath and get all of that on tape.”
“You’ll
go in and do that? You aren’t too afraid?”
“I’ll
go in during the daylight with a lot of people around. I’m afraid, but not too
afraid to do that.”
“Lee,
why don’t we just cut the crap and go back next weekend if you’re too scared to
do it tonight? The property owners are still willing to let us in; in fact,
they’re desperate for Allison to do her take on an exorcism or to use her white
witch magic on camera. We can give the fans more. We’ll make it a two-part
episode and milk your fear as a rematch against evil for the end of the season.”
“Next
week is Daylight Savings Time. An extra hour of darkness after the Witching
Hour isn’t exactly my idea of fun. That’s more time to get really messed up by
whatever this beastly thing was. Richards, we can handle, but not this Kaldac
demon.”
“If
you agree to this, Lee, The Paranormal
Network is going to let us go live, extra cameras and additional people. Maybe
we can convince some other groups that ran out to join you. I’ve already been
on the phone with Arlen Hooper. This could be the big time for all of you. Even
Allison has never been involved in something as intense as this, and she’s
banished some nasty ghostly things. We can be kings of the hill in the ghost
hunter business.”
“Well,
that sure sounds like great television, but let me tell you from an insider’s
perspective that it’s either that or we could be dead. Then it doesn’t matter how
rich I am. Like Tolstoy said, in the end, all I really need is about six feet
of ground to make my home. I want to be alive for my fame when I’m living the
good life of riches and all that goes with them. I don’t want these moments of
notoriety to be posthumous.”
“The
door is open either way, Lee, but just remember that you assholes owe me a
video camera. You also need to get the Standalls a back door regardless of your
decision. That comes out of your paycheck. They’re not looking for a cheap
screen door either.”
“We
may owe you a video camera and have to secure the rear entry of the saloon, but
we can get the money by doing a show somewhere else. Maybe we can shoot the
Calhoun Plantation in North Carolina again. That was very active, and the
Calhouns will happily have us back, too.”
“We’re
not in the business of advertising haunted house amusement parks for Podunk towns
in the middle of nowhere.”
“We
would be if they paid or were close enough to a town of size.”
“Yeah,
but they’re not willing to pay enough to cover our travel expenses. Besides,
the site was only active with static-y EVPs and unexplained noises. There
weren’t even good growls there, let alone clear words from beyond. What’s more,
other groups are in and out of there all the time. Nobody who is anyone gets
chased out of there. Girl Scout troops go there for fun. You guys need to up
the game. There’s only so long any show will last if it’s not treading new and
‘dangerous’ ground.”
“I
don’t know, Tim. I just don’t know. There’s gotta be ‘safer’ dangerous ground.”
“Quit
being a bitch about this, Lee. Take some time to get yourself together, and
we’ll talk about this Tuesday when Maggie gives you your man card back.”
“Two
days isn’t going to change my mind, asshole.”
“A
lot can happen in two days. Meet me here on Tuesday at noon with your team.
Until then, you can stay in the motel and relax. It’s on me, even after your
disrespect.”
“You’re
gracious.”
“I’m
a realist. Think about it. Talk to your team. I’ll see you then,” Tim stated
and walked out to Lee’s hostility and still shaking hands consuming him from
within.
NNNN
Every
episode of Demon Hunters of Dodge County
began the same way. The loud metal music performed specially as a favor by King
Diamond expressed exactly what the fans were going to get. The appearance of
the six crew members one by one until their picture came across as a group presented
them as a mix of pro wrestling combined with the paranormal as a grudge match
between good and evil.
The
first face on the screen was Lee Johnson, the lead investigator. He was a burly
dude, but something inside him always seemed to betray a certain fear when the
scare factor jumped up to the next level. He was known to scream threats at
ghosts to taunt them, but when he seemed to be retaliated on, he was the first
one out of the room. Tim knew about this, and he directed the editors to create
an almost comedic presence with his team leader’s video presence because of it.
Nevertheless, something in Lee wanted to prove his mettle when the chips were
down. He wanted to be brave, but he just never had his shot. For this, he felt
like a man on a mission balanced with a tiger trying to deny his own stripes.
Stuck between Hollywood’s version of good television and his own fear to
confront deeper challenges, he came off more as a wimp than a warrior. This was
something that always nagged him to the core.
Next
was Margaret “Maggie” Constantine, the co-lead investigator and girlfriend of
Lee. She was a beautiful raven-haired expert in the world of the paranormal;
however, she never smiled much, and she definitely took every situation as
being far more serious than it usually was. Often accused of having resting
bitch face, the industry blogs referred to her as a “handful” and a
“ballbreaker,” but at the same point, they expressed how she was the most
talented ghost-hunter member of the group other than Allison Hoffman. For this,
many people felt she should be the team’s true leader. As compared to the rest
of the team, she seemed to be able to identify and relate many other groups’
scenarios that mirrored what they were getting into, and for this, she was
definitely more than capable of helping the group to get out of trouble before
they got into it. However, as the team never really got into deep trouble, she,
too, was waiting for her real chance at fighting the real dark entities of the
world.
As
for the rest of the crew, Hoffman didn’t want to serve as the leader due to her
independent nature, nor was she wasn’t trying to be a leader with her
suggestions. Her job was to fight the demons head on with borderline exorcism
techniques and full-on white magic. Nobody else in the group understood how to
do this. As to her exorcism techniques, she was quick to note that the only
reason it was described as “borderline” was because she wasn’t sanctioned by
the Catholic Church. Thus, for both of these “powers,” the most intense
attacking / defensive skills that the Demon Hunters employed came from her. As
a result of these skills, she served as the team’s demonologist and resident
medium. Allison was also the oldest member of the group at 64. Despite the fact
that she was going gray, everybody knew not to mess with her because they
weren’t as tough as the demons and poltergeists that she had stared down and
grappled with on other shows she had been on. From Ghostly Intruders to Poltergeists
of Texas, she had been on at least twenty different shows as a cast member,
guest, or an assistant. She had also toured the country on the lecture circuit,
so when Hobson hired her on as part of the group, it was quite the coup. It
also cut into a big chunk of the additional funds that they earned when they
got six extra episodes for Season Three. Nevertheless, she did bring in the
viewers and the sponsors, so she pretty much paid for herself. Since being
involved with The Demon Hunters of Dodge
County, she never really got the chance to shine in the same way she did
when she was in Poltergeists of Texas.
The events on her final episode of that show happened at a haunt in San Marcos,
Texas. There, a particularly angry specter left her in the hospital for the
better part of a week, but she rebounded and moved on to the Demon Hunters’ show
as tough as ever. You can’t keep a good woman down, even when a poltergeist hurls
her over a second floor railing and onto a coffee table in the living room.
Steve
Sanford appeared next on the credits. Billed as the technology specialist, the burly
African American man knew how to use the tools of the ghost hunting trade.
Whether measuring room temperature, collecting EMFs & EVPs, or utilizing
night vision, he was a pro with all of the routine gear that the crew would
need, and he was known to always have interest in the new stuff, too. Sanford
also dictated computer and photographic protocols for how he wanted the group to
be seen by the audience. Despite his “do this; do that” approach, he was very
gracious, and the team and audience loved him. In fact, when his scenes played
back for the television audience, he was the most popular member of the core
group, as much for his handsome looks as for his knowledge of technology and ghost
hunting. Other teams had requested him to drop ship and come across to them as
a key member, but Sanford’s childhood friendship with Lee kept him from
betraying his commitment to the Demon Hunters, even for a huge salary increase.
Guillermo
Rivera was the only smiling member of the group during the opening credits. Affectionately
known as “Gilly,” this Puerto Rican man was shown laughing as he brandished his
movie camera as the video specialist and constant recorder of the group’s actions.
While all of the members of the team had GoPro cameras mounted to their
helmets, Gilly was the man who filmed the routine on the spot actions of the
group with a handheld camera. He also sat in with The Paranormal Network’s editors and Steve Sanford when they were discussing
the best footage to use for the actual on the air episodes that would be played
out for their hundreds of thousands of routine viewers. His filming was always
first rate, and the storyboarding / editing process was slick and easy when he
took over the computer to bring an episode to The Paranormal Network. This skill combined well with his being
second to Steve Sanford in technical equipment and electrical troubleshooting.
His quick grasp at understanding new tasks made him very useful on a lot of the
group’s investigations.
Finally,
the last member of the team, Ernie Lackey, was the historian and junior
investigator. He was also the only non-American member of the group, as he
hailed from Bury St. Edmunds in England. As the newest member of the team, he
replaced Tracey Lynn Slater when she left at the beginning of the current
season to have her first child. He had worked with the team on earlier
episodes, but he was never a consistent member until the necessity to fill in
her vacated spot came to be. There was no point endangering babies that weren’t
yet born, and it seemed like Hobson was pushing Lee to move toward more
difficult assignments that yielded more results than garbled EVPs and
historical information that never played out well on screen. Prior to this
show, Lackey did have some experience with a show called Those Who Bring Fear to Ghosts, which was a hardcore approach to
ghost hunting. This team reckoned themselves as a crew filled with men who were
willing to wrestle or exorcize spirits, so they did a lot of taunting while
coming out with a lot of “bruises.” Their leader was a former priest named
Dante Lassard, who had also studied exorcism for years. However, he had never
been able to perform it until he got on the show. Just like Hoffman, he was
also disavowed by the Catholic Church. After his first ritual, he seemed to
average an exorcism every other week. Sometimes, this got a little much for the
team and the audience, so Lackey was ready to jump ship when the opportunity
came. Nevertheless, he did like some of the more challenging haunts that his
former team went on as opposed to the routine, safe stuff that the Demon
Hunters were drifting toward.
From
their beginning, the group had always worked well together, and when the
opportunity came to investigate the Standall Brothers’ Saloon in Eureka,
Nevada, the crew felt that they had to jump at the chance. Just like having the
same opportunity as a bull rider would get when he went to take on Bodacious,
the Standall Brothers’ Saloon represented a serious opportunity to get in on
some real poltergeist action. Besides, Tim made sure to hint how the crew of Those Who Bring Fear to Ghosts was
looking to get in on this site’s action as well. This just couldn’t be allowed
to be, so he called a meeting with the men and women to discuss the proposal.
The
bar itself had been built in the early 2010s, which led to some early
questioning as to why it was so plagued, but as the crew of American Paranormal found out, it was
built on the land that a brothel and saloon named For the Love of Silver stood
on. The name, it turned out, had a double meaning. Silver was the last name of
the madam who ran the saloon and it was also the main occupation that brought
10,000 people to this town in the middle of the Nevada desert when it first
grew out of desert rock. However, for all of the possibility that the town once
had, only 600 or so people remained when the ghost investigators started to
come out to interview the current proprietors, ghost enthusiasts, and historians.
In
recent years, the Standall Brothers’ Saloon ideally represented an opportunity
for travelers on the Loneliest Road in America to stop and get gas or food or
lodging on their way to California or Denver. This road, Highway 50, had many
small towns like Austin and Fallon, as well as a slightly bigger town in Ely,
but it was the Loneliest Town on the Loneliest Road, which needed a reason to
bring back the glory days of 125 years ago. Five years ago, that was what caused
Tyler and John Standall to take a chance at building a mega entertainment
facility and casino in the middle of a dried up desert. For a state looking to
promote tourism across areas not named Las Vegas and Reno, they were all too
happy to publicize this restaurant and the small casino that operated inside of
it.
“What
could go wrong?” the town’s mayor, Stewart Compson, once said in what became
the most ironic statement in the town’s history.
But
who could fault him for his excitement? Nobody “sensible” believed in historic
ghost stories, and the land that the saloon was situated on wasn’t doing
anything for anyone, so why not turn it into a fifty-television screen bar and
entertainment complex to encourage people to stay in town overnight? With that possibility
would come more gas stations, restaurants, and even a motel right across the
street at what would become an opportunity for truckers and tourists to take a
load off for the evening and walk across the road to enjoy their evenings with
one-armed bandits and two-armed women. It was a win-win situation for everyone
until it seemed to be attracting a reputation of fear and spookiness, which
came right out of its historic past and into the town’s politically
apprehensive present.
When
the town and the complex appeared on American
Paranormal, the Standall Brothers’ Saloon’s status as a place for ghost
hunters and fright seekers alike to visit was cemented, much to the chagrin of
Compson and many of the other Nevada tourism and elected powers that be. This reputation
just wouldn’t bring in the tax dollars that they hoped for despite the fact
that some officials were showing numbers associated with the Extraterrestrial
Highway in the south. On another sad note, it wasn’t what the Standalls had
hoped for when they put up seven figures of their own money to open this
entertainment mecca, and they were desperate for Compson and others to make
things happen.
But
they did nothing to help out. Nevertheless, the Standalls’ pleas did bring in
ghost hunters.
American Paranormal
was the best fright information show on television since it represented an
oft-watched documentary effort to explain in fifteen minutes or so of a one-hour
show exactly what left this or any other place as haunted as it was. The story
they told of the Standall Brother’s Saloon was incredibly eerie and horrific, but
it was in no way as complete or as dark as it actually happened to be when the
fear was being implanted live from this stretch of dirt. Nevertheless, it was
told well with dramatic music to back it up, so it represented a chance for Tim
Hobson to bring his crew the offer to go into the most sought after video
experience in town. What’s more, they were going to get this opportunity before
the other television ghost teams might have a chance to bag this experience for
themselves.
“Guys,
this is the big time. We have to do this,” was the e-mail all of them received,
so they quickly assembled together with their stuffed suit of a producer to
talk about the opportunity.
“Ladies
and gentlemen, I bring you cinematic gold,” Tim said.
They
stared at him, and he smiled back.
“Welcome
to the next level,” he said as the group drowned out his theatrical attempts in
lots of local microbrewery IPA and lager.
“It’s
going to be a long one,” Steve whispered to Gilly.
“It
always is with him,” the Latino man whispered back.
NNNN
“You
know that if you don’t take this, both the Those
Who Bring Fear to Ghosts team and the Spectral
Assassin crew will be up there, and you know they’ve been kicking our ass
in the ratings all season.”
“I
know, Tim, but you have to admit that this is something we should prep and be
ready for,” Sanford stated. “Besides, the Spectral Assassins are only enjoying
a bump in the ratings because they’re new. They have no real skills or
personality. They’ll be history in a year.”
Lee
looked toward Tim, and he echoed Sanford’s hesitance by stating, “We could use
more people and at least a few days to be on site during the day to figure out
exactly what we’re going in for. This isn’t as easy as the Jones house was when
we went in and found the spirit of the woman who had Alzheimer’s disease. All
we had to do there was move her to the light and sage the place.”
“Guys.
Guys. American Paranormal has done
the hard work. They’re going to lend us extra footage that they took. That’s
the great thing about being on the same network. We’ll just use better music
when we re-edit it and add in some takes of people running out with their tails
between their legs,” Tim replied on command.
“But
how much footage did they record of the actual site?” Steve asked.
“It
doesn’t matter; the Standalls filmed everything and even sent me blueprints and
photographs. We’re 100% ready.”
“So
tell me. What is the complete story on this? I know bits and pieces, but,” Margaret
started to say.
Gilly
looked at her and spoke instinctively.
“It’s
a long one, Margaret, so you all want to sit back and listen.”
They
followed his advice and listened attentively to all of his words as he started
from the beginning of the tale.
“In
1878, the Ford Silver Mine was making quite the profit on silver in the area,
and then by 1879, it wasn’t. The men at the company couldn’t figure out what
was going on to cause this. They were still finding lots of ore with silver in
it, but somehow between the smelting and the selling of the end product, there
was never as much as there once had been, let alone was expected to be.”
From
there, the story left everyone in the room riveted as it played out to a
captive audience and a producer who loved the entertainment value and the
dollars that it would bring.
