There’s more one trick ponies vying for a piece of the pie and that’s a shame. This year, the top four contenders that fit the bill are:
Sam & Colby versus Canada’s Own:
Luke Hutchie and Matthew Finlan’s Ghosting
Sorry, boys, but I’d rather watch this self-aware Canadian comedy. By filming in my hometown and visiting Craigdarroch Castle, they’re helping cement the legacy of some famed haunts. Mixing fact with fiction earns them a strike, though. When they don’t take the craft of paranormal investigation seriously, it’s hard to take the show seriously. At least they have far more charisma than their American counterparts.
Another detail worth noting is that Ghosting is a Blue Ant Studios production. CBC’s own materials bill it outright as a “paranormal comedy.” It’s free on CBC Gem, and season 2, which premiered in March 2025, brought in celebrity guests like Percy Hynes White, Priyanka and Joel Oulette. At the time of writing, there’s no word on whether another season will be offered.
Travel the Dead
Weidman frames this show as a deliberate reaction against the genre’s showier tendencies. She describes it as a raw, no-fluff investigation rather than one of the “over-hyped yelling paranormal shows.” She co-hosts with Heather Taddy, and both women are Paranormal State alumni from the Ryan Buell era (2007–2011). Some episodes are free to watch on YouTube. Anything more recent sits behind a paywall.
SNOOKI: The Paranormal Rookie
Her investigation team includes psychic Kevin Whitaker, occult historian Missy Morrow and tech specialist Todd Thomas. They filmed at several Ontario locations, including Tuckett Mansion in Hamilton. This is the same location Ghosting used for its season 2 premiere, for what that’s worth. For the record, Snooki’s interest predates the show by a couple of years. She was talking publicly about a childhood UFO sighting and alleged abduction experience in late 2024.
There is nothing inherently wrong with haunted tourism, and plenty of people enjoy it. It is simply a different type of programming from a documentary interested in why a place became haunted in the first place. There is a difference between presenting a location because its history and folklore deserve examination, and using it because viewers already know it is supposedly haunted and want to watch someone spend the night.
That is part of why we turn to television to get our spook on. Unlike in Poltergeist, no ghost should be brought home or announce that it’s here. The transmission of photons is just picture data, not a soul learning to navigate power lines and making the mistake of spreading itself thin, metaphysics notwithstanding.
Even as 2026 moves into its final stretch, I firmly believe the genre isn’t dead. It has moved to other services, where the quality can shine or pitter like a stuttering ghost. Specialty networks such as HauntTV can keep old programming running 24/7. There is plenty of content to recycle, while regular broadcasters still make the occasional attempt to cash in on the craze. Snooki and Archive X are at least worth checking out.
While there will always be something, somewhere, all at once, mainstream investors have at least stopped trying so hard. What remains is for those who can’t turn off the monitor and explore for themselves. That’s mostly an observation from me, someone whose interest began with one of Yvette Fielding’s screams long ago. Those early shows may have set a precedent by asking spirits to perform for the camera like monkeys. Realistically, they are under no obligation. At least Arthur C. Clarke had the right idea: make a tale out of it, and they will come. It doesn’t work the other way around.