The Commercialization of Ghost Hunting
9/11 brought death back into the forefront of American minds. It is no coincidence that ghost hunting and paranormal media took off during the 2000s and 2010s, with a sudden influx of what would go onto be popular and long-running ghost hunting media airing only one to two years later. As people struggled to reconcile In an evolution of the medium figure, ghost hunting shows, with all their silly gimmicks and grainy videos, offer a kind of second-hand catharsis. They assure the viewer that there is life after death, that even after death a person can be saved. This increased interest in death, the afterlife, and bringing peace to the unsettled dead seems to be making a resurgence, with older ghost hunting shows being revived for new seasons (Carlin, 2018: Montgomery, & Montgomery 2014).
Ghost hunting’s turn towards the mainstream created a celebrity culture among ghost hunters and paranormal investigators. It was at this point that ghost hunting began to reject the gendered connotation of the field. In the past, the paranormal had been the realm of women, usually girls. Today it is populated by men who are thrill seekers, often playing the antagonist towards the entities they seek out. This turn towards aggression and hypermasculinity allows men to compensate as they explore what was once a female-dominated subculture (Greven. 2014).
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As paranormal investigation shows grew in popularity, investigators became TV personalities. The entertainment value of these shows grew to rely upon shock, fear, and constant tension to keep their audiences watching between commercial breaks. Ghost hunting has always been a performance, leaning into absurd and bizarre, but as the market became saturated with ghost media this intensified to provide more excitement and often took a turn towards the irreverent. As the audience and intention of that performance has changed, so too has ghost hunting media Carlin, Abigail. 2018: Dale et al 2014: Eton 2015) .
Ghost hunting television and media are never relegated to science and spiritualism, but dip into genres of adventure, true crime, comedy, history, and, most bafflingly, home improvement.
Legend Tripping: Monetizing Morbidity
Legend tripping and ghost tourism have become an industry in America. Ghost Hunters from across the country will take trips to infamous sites like Gettysburg, the LaLaurie house, Alcatraz, and other sites of atrocity. The dark history of these places is part of their mystique. Ghost tours blend location, history, sensationalism, emotion, and ambiguity to create an enticing story that leaves legend trippers with more questions than answers. These tours are often the precursor for further independent paranormal investigation. Ghost tours are often led by a Ghost Hunter or a team and incorporate paranormal investigation into the tour, as we see in the image below (Hanks 2016: Bucior 2020: Dicky 2017.).
