AI kicks my ass. There’s a video on YouTube which I’m not going to link or name because it’s bullshit. And anything over one hour in length with an AI narrator is indefensibly criminal.

It does, however I hate to say it, involve a scandal and banned episode of the stupid Discovery Channel show Expedition X.

Hmm. Already leaving? Go ahead, I wish I could, but I’m the asshole who has to write this crap.

I think that giving the location of the episode’s “investigation” that you’ll either be familiar with the story already, or you’ll search for it.

Here’s the skinny: the team, with Josh Gates involved, goes to investigate a haunted wooded area. It’s infamous enough, and for no good reason, but at least it isn’t Aiokigahara, the “suicide forest.” I couldn’t even stand reading about that place after two awful movies. Besides, Gates has already been there, supposedly. I can’t say for certain since filming anything there is forbidden. Discovery does not strike me as having the guts to film a half hour segment, paying for the permission to do it, doesn’t strike me as something SyFy, History or Discovery would do. Especially since that segment showed “remains” of a human being and “evidence” as to who they may have been in life.

My shorthand has been to regard shows like this as “hey, it’s television,” but that’s because I’ve swallowed the hook too many times, and then figured out paranormal TV is full of sheep dip.

The video about a banned episode may be more of the same. The only evidence I can find seems to be on Reddit and Facebook. That’s not a solid foundation for any conspiracy theory, and I hope we can agree on that, if nothing else. Besides, you know that you have to research much more diligently now that AI is working in every level of news and entertainment.

Citing one source on social media, if you’re going to reference it, has to be backed up by real, solid evidence from more than one source.

There are no other sources for the sensational Facebook posts and subsequent videos on YouTube. Discovery would, if it really had banned an episode, have revealed the reason by now. I cannot even imagine how much email they’ve gotten over this, even though it’s their fault for producing episodes of shows that include pseudoscience and absolute, undeniably fake content.

Being a good storyteller is fine,but carries with it a responsibility to be truthful. And so far I’ve only found one host who takes that responsibility seriously: Peter Laws. His channel Into the Fog accomplishes master storytelling with painstaking research, and he comes across as sincere, with a presence that holds one’s attention in a solid grip.

Peter even went back to the Amityville haunting that chased George and Kathy Lutz out of their home in record time. The Lutzes protested their depiction in the Anson Mount book and in both movies, especially the second one, a remake with Ryan Reynolds. That version had George Lutz becoming violent, something he took great offense to, and rightfully so.

The research Peter Laws did for that episode has convinced me that terrifying things really did take place at 112 Ocean Avenue, and not only that, but that subsequent owners, although denying so, had also explained frightening events.

It showed me that the conspiracy to collude with mount and an attorney were false, and that the family was truly traumatized.

So much so that signing movie rights may have been a decision they weren’t able to properly consider. After my siblings and I appeared on Donahue, we signed such a contract, and it was a mistake.

Not only was the studio responsible for a particularly horrible Amityville sequel, but it turned out that no sponsor would even consider such a horrible movie about a family abused by both parents. The nature of the crimes alone were enough to call the idea they were pitched impossible to make without turning audiences away.

Besides, appearing on Donahue’s show and signing the contract made me feel dirty and cheap. Like a sellout for money. I’m sorry I took part in it at all. I believe it took away from our credibility.

There’s only one person who I would want telling my story, and that is Peter Laws.

I have reached out, but I’m concerned that there’s too much material for him to do anything with. But at least I chose the best.

As for all ghost hunting shows on TV and video, not one of them is remotely believable. And a YouTuber who pranks and ridicules his own audience, like Zak Bagans, is a red flag. He’s getting rich from the credulity of his audience, and there’s a special place after death for liars. God help him.

Josh Gates lost his own credibility in the first season of Destination Truth, and faked content infuriated me. I hate being lied to, and my rule of “hey, it’s television stands to this day. But that rule extends to YouTube as well; I’ve even found beloved hosts like Mr. Ballen embellishes the stories he tells or leaves out the truth, one being just as deceitful as the other.

I hate dishonesty.

As for Gates, while people may take Zak Bagans with a grain of salt, or a five pound bag of it, it’s guys like Gates who have earned my most acid enmity. I don’t watch any of those kinds of shows anymore, but I did get one nugget of insight from Jason Hawes. I asked him if he had found that there is a connection between PTSD sufferers and a sensitivity to paranormal phenomena. His answer: yes.

Not that I needed vindication, but I did feel better.

Now, I’d like to introduce you to Peter Laws and his unseen assistant, Steph. This channel and these people are a breath of fresh air to a guy who was suffocating. I always look forward to new episodes. Inarguably the best channel on the entire site. One day soon, I’ll raise a glass of scotch in their honor.

Thanks for coming over, and letting me be a small part of your life. I honestly love you.

The latest from Into the Fog with Peter Laws. Warning, some may find content disturbing.