For better or worse, validating anyone’s hope that we remain on the mortal plane after death is a dangerous game. And while there’s no shortage of unexplained phenomena to explore, when will it end? Interest remains high, but it’s tough to know what’s worth watching on streaming, broadcast TV or elsewhere.
What I offer is my changing taste as I seek out new life and new civilizations, boldly going where no one has gone before. Okay, this isn’t Star Trek, but that’s how I feel when I cast the net and there’s not much good stuff to haul in.
Productions that treat the subject seriously are getting harder to find. That’s why I still return to fond standbys such as Eli Roth’s History of Horror, Leonard Nimoy’s In Search Of… and Allaynah Miles’ Beyond: The TV Series. More modern material has always been hit and miss. Rather than catalogue every paranormal programme available, I’m focusing on what might be called the secondary market: stories supported by written precedent. These programmes cover locations or cases with value beyond a haunted reputation. The paranormal becomes part of the story instead of the only reason to visit. That’s why I’m supporting these shows over others.
Haunted Discoveries
The original series follows the American Paranormal Research Association into historically significant locations and personal cases. Alvis and Gatollari are both Ghost Hunters alumni, and what they do better than other programmes is play together as a team.
Their expansion to YouTube suggests the future lies beyond traditional broadcast models. Haunted Discoveries: Family Spirits and documentaries produced through Black Hollow Pictures show that this style can thrive. It’s also worth noting that Family Spirits earned a Gold Telly Award for Craft Editing and is available free on Tubi.
Black Hollow recently announced that it had wrapped filming on its feature documentary, Ghosts of the Gold Rush. The crew visited California’s historic Gold Country to make the film authentic, and it will be worth watching as their next step. While Death Valley may tell no tales, one thing is certain: the film will head to streaming after its local screening on Nov. 13.
Uncanny
The format began as a BBC Radio 4 series and BBC Sounds podcast in 2021, before moving to BBC Two in 2023. It works because every episode pits a believer, parapsychologist Evelyn Hollow, against a professional sceptic, Ciarán O’Keeffe, a veteran of the UK scene. That gives Robins company instead of leaving him to referee alone. Since 2025, it has been paired with a companion aftershow, Uncanny: Post Mortem. The fandom is deep enough to support its own annual convention, UncannyCon, returning to Birmingham in 2026.
The programme treats the paranormal more like a mystery or detective story than a conventional overnight ghost hunt. The question isn’t whether the crew can capture a ghost on camera. It’s what can be established about the experience and whether plausible explanations exist for what witnesses report.
Archive X: Unexplained Phenomena
It’s confirmed to debut on SundanceTV, AMC+ and All Reality, and will run through early November.
The archive itself makes the premise worth watching. Rather than begin with another allegedly haunted building and build an investigation around it, the series can examine how unusual experiences have been documented, interpreted and researched over time. If the finished production follows through, it could occupy the same intellectual territory that makes independent paranormal documentaries more compelling than conventional ghost-hunting television.
Expedition X
Although the quality has deteriorated over the years, this show is like comfort food for viewers who want a teeter-totter between scepticism and a screamer. Torres is great at that. Despite her claims of being a seasoned investigator, I don’t think my eardrums will ever be the same. Yes, it’s a gut reaction, but after a while, you’d think she’d have some tolerance for the unusual happening before her eyes. Her field résumé isn’t made clear, while the previous host is at least verifiable, making those seasons better than the current ones. So why keep watching? As long as the locations are new, this show makes for a better travelogue and test itinerary than a spookfest.