Ghost Hunters Trends [Haunted Headlines]

After Halloween simmers down, ghost-related news reports tend to be ho-hum, and not worth sharing.

However, as I’ve been studying post-Halloween trends, a few interesting points emerged:

Searches for that silly ghost elevator (prank) video surged 5000%  in the past month.  So far, the YouTube video has had 37 million views.  Obviously, people are interested in “good scare” videos, no matter how ridiculous.

Likewise, interest in the Ghost Hunters’ Halloween episode surged 5000%.  That’s an annual event that always attracts viewers, and — clearly — fans were still interested even after the show had aired.

In fact, though some people have expressed disappointment with the Ghost Hunters series since Grant Wilson left the show, Ghost Hunters remains a steady leader among ghost-related searches at Google.  During the month of November 2012, in addition to the searches I mentioned above, the following phrases showed dramatic increases at Google’s search engine:

• “amy ghost hunters” – up 450%
• “ghost hunters live” – up 450%
• “jason ghost hunters” – up 160%
• “kris ghost hunters” – up 90%
• “ghost hunters 2012″ – up 90%
• “ghost hunters grant” – up 70%
• “grant wilson” – up 50%

Who’s missing from those GH-related search surges?  Steve Gonsalves, Dave Tango, and Ashley Troub, for starters.  They don’t attract the same sensational interest the others do.  (I don’t know Ashley, personally, but if I were worried about a haunting, I’d definitely want Steve and Dave included in the team.)

And, wherever the Ghost Hunters team shows up to film an episode, the location is always in the news. Here’s information about Rochester, NY’s Rundel Library, from the late November 2012 show.

Rundel Library ‘Ghost Hunters‘ To Air Wednesday Night on SyFy …

rochester.ynn.com11/28/12

There’s been many stories over the years about strange goings-on at the Rochester Public Library that employees decided to call in paranormal investigators to take a look. The results will air on the SyFy Channel Wednesday …

“Ghost Hunters” Investigate the Central Library – City of Rochester

www.cityofrochester.gov11/20/12

That is the question that the cable TV show “Ghost Hunters” seeks to answer in the episode “Due Date with Death,” featuring the Rundel Library Building. The show will air on Wednesday, November 28 at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. …

You can also listen to a related interview with the library’s head of Historical Services, and a city historian, and read some juicy history, as well.

And, for people who can’t get enough Ghost Hunters episodes, the show will be back for a ninth season…

‘Ghost Hunters‘ ninth season to premiere on Syfy on January 16 …

www.realitytvworld.com11/13/12

‘Ghost Hunters‘ ninth season to premiere on Syfy on January 16. Ghost Huntersviewers won’t have to wait long between the reality series’ eighth and ninth seasons.

Finally, Syfy’s 2013 lineup is making news.  (I think Notorious Hauntings might be the show with the Salem Witch Trials episode, but I’m not sure.  They haven’t told me anything, yet.)

Syfy greenlights new paranormal shows – cancels ‘Ghost Hunters International’…

www.paranormalpopculture.com11/28/12

The channel announced in a press release today that it greenlit Ghost Mine, Stranded and Notorious Hauntings – three new paranormal-themed reality shows to premiere in the first part of 2013. According to Syfy, the shows …

So, Ghost Hunters’ popularity seems to continue, along with the rants of detractors.  It looks like Paranormal Witness and Haunted Collector have survived the critics and are now championed by Syfy as rock-solid successes.

However, many people seem to be speculating about the futures of GHI, Destination Truth, and Fact or Faked.