''A Haunting'' is an American

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...

television series that depicts eyewitness accounts of alleged possession, exorcism, and ghostly encounters. The program features narrations, interviews, and

tic re-enactments based on various accounts of alleged

experiences at reportedly

haunted Haunted or The Haunted may refer to: Books * ''Haunted'' (Armstrong novel), by Kelley Armstrong, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Cabot novel), by Meg Cabot, 2004 * ''Haunted'' (Palahniuk novel), by Chuck Palahniuk, 2005 * ''Haunted'' (Angel novel), a 200 ...

and mostly residential locations.

Overview

''A Haunting'' originally began as two feature-length specials, '' A Haunting in Connecticut'' and '' A Haunting in Georgia'', which were developed by Allison Erkelens, who also served as head writer. The specials were executive produced by Tom Naughton and Nicolas Valcour for

New Dominion Pictures New Dominion Pictures, LLC. (also registered as New Dominion Pictures Virginia Beach or New Dominion Pictures Virginia) is an American television production company based in Suffolk, Virginia and mainly specialized on producing documentary, realit ...

. Based on strong ratings, ''A Haunting'' became a weekly series on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...

in the Fall of 2005 and was produced by Larry Silverman. The series has featured several alleged

encounters, including traditional hauntings,

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in Media (communication), media such as comics, video ...

ic activity,

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to re ...

attacks, possessions, and cryptic visions. The series covers incidents from various locations mostly in the United States, but five episodes are set in international locations around the world, these are Canada,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, Ireland, and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

. Episodes may be set in houses, apartments, farms, commercial areas, and even vast outdoor regions. Most episodes present several accounts of paranormal experiences through cinematic re-enactments, which are accompanied by commentary from eyewitnesses and investigators themselves. According to Silverman, the show's writers search for stories and then filter out accounts with enough substantial content. He has further added that the episodes are strictly based on the accounts of victims, although the Discovery Channel did compel the show's producers to sanitize certain case histories due to their graphic sexual and violent content. Billy Bean, whose real-life experiences were first featured in the episode "House of the Dead", claimed that the show's producers left out some of his story and that "some of the content was altered." Episodes within the series follow a frequently recurring pattern, in which victims of hauntings begin noticing peculiar incidents that gradually become more frequent and bizarre. Denial is most often the first reaction. As the situation escalates, however, and every possible conventional explanation is explored and found wanting, they either contact a paranormal investigator, a member of the

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

, or a spiritual

medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation * Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium ...

for assistance. In some cases, victims are able to successfully resolve their paranormal issues, while in others, victims are forced to vacate their residence. Certain episodes have also featured commentary from famed demonologist and

clairvoyant Clairvoyance (; ) is the magical ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or physical event through extrasensory perception. Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant () ("one who sees cl ...

Ed and Lorraine Warren Edward Warren Miney (September 7, 1926 – August 23, 2006) and Lorraine Rita Warren (; January 31, 1927 – April 18, 2019) were American paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent cases of alleged hauntings. Edward was a ...

, who have actually investigated some of the cases featured on the series. The episode "The Dark Side" was dedicated to the memory of Ed, who died in 2006.

Episodes

Broadcast

The show originally aired from August 6, 2002 to November 9, 2007 on the

, which produced four seasons of 39 episodes. After nearly a five-year

hiatus Hiatus may refer to: * Hiatus (anatomy), a natural fissure in a structure * Hiatus (stratigraphy), a discontinuity in the age of strata in stratigraphy *''Hiatus'', a genus of picture-winged flies with sole member species '' Hiatus fulvipes'' * G ...

, New Dominion productions began producing new episodes of a ''A Haunting'' in 2012. The show's fifth through eighth seasons were broadcast on the

Destination America Destination America is an American cable television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The network carries programming focused on the culture of the United States—including food, lifestyles, an ...

channel, which aired between October 12, 2012 and March 20, 2016. As of the show's ninth season, it aired on the TLC Network, where it premiered on October 21, 2016 and ended the following year on October 30, 2017. In 2019, the show's tenth season premiered on

The Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...

. After a two year hiatus, the eleventh season of ''A Haunting'' debuted on December 31, 2021 on the Travel Channel as well as Discovery Plus.

DVD releases

Timeless Media Group has released the first 7 seasons on DVD in Region 1 for the first time. On October 14, 2014, Timeless Media Group released ''A Haunting- The Television Series: Special Edition'', a 9-disc box set featuring seasons 1-6.

Films

Gold Circle Films Gold Circle Films is an American independent film production and sales company, mainly focusing on horror and romance films founded in 2000 by former co-founder of Gateway Computer, Norman Waitt Jr. Titles released by Gold Circle include ''White ...

created two feature-length movies based on cases featured in ''A Haunting'': ''

The Haunting in Connecticut ''The Haunting in Connecticut'' is a 2009 supernatural horror film produced by Gold Circle Films and directed by Peter Cornwell. The film is alleged to be about Carmen Snedeker and her family, though Ray Garton, author of ''In a Dark Place: The ...

'' which was released in 2009, and '' The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia'', released in 2013.

References

External links

* * by New Dominion Pictures * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haunting, A 2002 American television series debuts 2007 American television series endings 2012 American television series debuts 2019 American television series endings 2000s American anthology television series 2010s American anthology television series 2000s American drama television series 2010s American drama television series English-language television shows Television series about ghosts Paranormal television Television series featuring reenactments Destination America original programming Discovery Channel original programming TLC (TV network) original programming 2000s American supernatural television series 2010s American supernatural television series American television series revived after cancellation Television series by New Dominion Pictures