Post by drweir on Aug 24, 2005 14:32:22 GMT -5
In 1992, the BBC aired a special on Halloween night that was a live investigation of a haunted house. It was hosted by Michael Parkinson and Mike Smith, and investigated on location by Craig Charles and Sarah Greene, all of whom are well known BBC personalities. The home in question was inhabited by a mother and her two daughters, who for some time, had been terrorized by a ghost they called "Pipes" for the sounds often heard banging on the water pipes. The investigators brought with them sensitive cameras and equipment to capture any ghostly activity and to maybe help the family in their dealings with Pipes. Nobody knew for sure if Pipes would show himself. For all they knew this could go down as badly as Geraldo's Al Capone vault fiasco.
But that was not to be the case. As the special progressed, things did indeed to go bump in the night. Spots appearing from nowhere on the carpeting, noises coming from under the stairs, and lights going off unexpectedly. And as it heated up, a phone number was posted on the screen for callers to relate their own supernatural stories. But the callers were telling fearful tales of things going awry in their own homes at that very moment. After a sound recording of the voice of Pipes, the hosts of the show began to realize they had unwittingly opened up a seace across the airwaves and that Pipes was responsible for the distubances described by the callers. And as Pipes gained national power, he also started terrorizing the hosts at the BBC studios, with lights popping and exploding, cameras and equipment swinging and rolling across the floor, and strong wind currents blowing everything around. Eventually possessing the reporters themselves.
Everything I just described was scripted. It was a complete work of fiction. It was shot weeks earlier but aired to appear live and real and made even more realistic by the presense of the BBC reporters. It was a Halloween joke. But to those who didn't know better it was real and caused a short panic similar to Orson Welles' famous War of the Worlds radio broadcast. It was blamed for at least one suicide and was supposedly responsible for post traumatic stress discorder in some children and even caused some pregnant women to go into labor.
I really enjoyed this spookshow. I cannot imagine how scary it would have been had I thought it was real myself. For one thing, Pipes makes many quick appearances during the special, sometimes reflected in glass or seen standing in the background for a brief moment. This effect is chilling and for those who miss him, there are websites showing screenshots of when he materializes. It was made even more realistic by the use of the call in phone number. That was a real phone number. Callers were told the show was fake but were allowed to share their scary stories as well.
Somehow I managed to never hear about this but now that I have I'm glad I got to see just what scared the hell out of so many people back in 1992. It reminds me very much of the frightening movie Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County, which, for the record, is the scariest movie I've ever seen. But that's another review.
But that was not to be the case. As the special progressed, things did indeed to go bump in the night. Spots appearing from nowhere on the carpeting, noises coming from under the stairs, and lights going off unexpectedly. And as it heated up, a phone number was posted on the screen for callers to relate their own supernatural stories. But the callers were telling fearful tales of things going awry in their own homes at that very moment. After a sound recording of the voice of Pipes, the hosts of the show began to realize they had unwittingly opened up a seace across the airwaves and that Pipes was responsible for the distubances described by the callers. And as Pipes gained national power, he also started terrorizing the hosts at the BBC studios, with lights popping and exploding, cameras and equipment swinging and rolling across the floor, and strong wind currents blowing everything around. Eventually possessing the reporters themselves.
Everything I just described was scripted. It was a complete work of fiction. It was shot weeks earlier but aired to appear live and real and made even more realistic by the presense of the BBC reporters. It was a Halloween joke. But to those who didn't know better it was real and caused a short panic similar to Orson Welles' famous War of the Worlds radio broadcast. It was blamed for at least one suicide and was supposedly responsible for post traumatic stress discorder in some children and even caused some pregnant women to go into labor.
I really enjoyed this spookshow. I cannot imagine how scary it would have been had I thought it was real myself. For one thing, Pipes makes many quick appearances during the special, sometimes reflected in glass or seen standing in the background for a brief moment. This effect is chilling and for those who miss him, there are websites showing screenshots of when he materializes. It was made even more realistic by the use of the call in phone number. That was a real phone number. Callers were told the show was fake but were allowed to share their scary stories as well.
Somehow I managed to never hear about this but now that I have I'm glad I got to see just what scared the hell out of so many people back in 1992. It reminds me very much of the frightening movie Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County, which, for the record, is the scariest movie I've ever seen. But that's another review.
