Scariest Places on Earth
GenreParanormal
Reality
Horror
PresenterLinda Blair
StarringLinda Blair
Alan Robson
NarratorZelda Rubinstein
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Num seasons5
Num episodes41
Executive producerSteve Kroopnick
CameraMultiple-camera
Runtime44–46 minutes
CompanyTriage Entertainment
ChannelFox Family
First airedOctober 23, 2000
Last airedOctober 29, 2006

Scariest Places on Earth is an American paranormal reality television series that originally aired from October 23, 2000, to October 29, 2006, on Fox Family, and later ABC Family. The show was hosted by Linda Blair, with narration by Zelda Rubinstein. The show featured reported cases of the paranormal by detailing the location's history, and then sending an ordinary family to visit the location in a reality television-style vigil.

Synopsis

The series is hosted by Linda Blair, and narrated by Zelda Rubinstein.[1] Alan Robson acted as an on-site correspondent.[2] While the show is set in numerous locations around the world, the interstitials featuring Blair and Robson were shot in Los Angeles, California.[2]

In a 2001 interview with Larry King, host Blair explained the series:

When we were kids, we used to tell ghost stories, but as we've gotten older—I have friends who are scientific researchers, and I ask them questions. My mother has passed on. I choose to think she is in a wonderful, other place that we all will go. But I think that some people are trapped here... Well, these are the places that people have talked about for years, and years, that they go in, and you physically feel something is wrong. Some people do see things. Whether it's in a mind, we don't know.[2]

Syndication

Reruns were aired on Syfy, which is a part of NBC Universal. It then aired on NBC Universal's now defunct horror- and suspense-themed cable channel Chiller.

Episodes

Main article: List of Scariest Places on Earth episodes

North America

LocationCityState or
province		CountryRef.
Alcatraz IslandSan FranciscoCaliforniaUnited States[3]
Alton Military PrisonAltonIllinoisUnited States[4]
Amargosa Opera House and HotelDeath Valley JunctionCaliforniaUnited States[5]
Athens Lunatic AsylumAthensOhioUnited States[6]
Borden HouseFall RiverMassachusettsUnited States[7]
Bunnyman BridgeFairfaxVirginiaUnited States[8]
Cheesman ParkDenverColoradoUnited States[7]
Dixmont State HospitalSewickleyPennsylvaniaUnited States[9]
Dorsey MansionSpringerNew MexicoUnited States[10]
Eastern State PenitentiaryPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUnited States[11]
First Unitarian ChurchAltonIllinoisUnited States[4]
Fort PulaskiCockspur IslandGeorgiaUnited States[12]
Goldfield HotelGoldfieldNevadaUnited States[13]
Guanajuato CryptsGuanajuato CityGuanajuatoMexico[13]
Hot Lake ResortHot LakeOregonUnited States[13]
Lake Shawnee Amusement ParkPrincetonWest VirginiaUnited States[7]
McPike MansionAltonIllinoisUnited States[12]
Magnolia PlantationDerryLouisianaUnited States[14]
Mansfield ReformatoryMansfieldOhioUnited States[15]
Metropolitan State HospitalWalthamMassachusettsUnited States[5]
Mineral Springs HotelAltonIllinoisUnited States[4]
Mission La Purísima ConcepciónLompocCaliforniaUnited States[16]
New Jersey Pine BarrensPine BarrensNew JerseyUnited States[11]
New London Ledge LightNew LondonConnecticutUnited States[5]
Rose HallMontego BaySaint James ParishJamaica[15]
RMS Queen MaryLong BeachCaliforniaUnited States[3]
Savannah UndergroundSavannahGeorgiaUnited States[3]
Seul Choix LightManistiqueMichiganUnited States[17]
Sloss FurnacesBirminghamAlabamaUnited States[16]
Thunderbird LodgeLake TahoeNevadaUnited States[18]
Schilling farmhouseJohnstownMissouriUnited States[19]
USS HornetAlamedaCaliforniaUnited States[9]
Villisca Ax Murder HouseVilliscaIowaUnited States[4]
Waverly Hills SanatoriumLouisvilleKentuckyUnited States[17]
West Virginia State PenitentiaryMoundsvilleWest VirginiaUnited States[9]
Westminster Hall and Burying GroundBaltimoreMarylandUnited States[19]
Wilson HallAthensOhioUnited States[6]

Europe

LocationCityCounty or
region		CountryRef.
Abbey of ThelemaCefalùSicilyItaly[16]
Balgonie CastleMilton of BalgonieFifeScotland[20]
Bran CastleBranBrașovRomania[21]
Cachtice CastleČachticeTrenčínSlovakia[22]
Catacombe dei CappucciniPalermoSicilyItaly[12]
Catacombs of ParisParisÎle-de-FranceFrance[11]
Charleville CastleTullamoreCounty OffalyIreland[23]
Chillingham CastleChillinghamNorthumberlandEngland[24]
ColosseumRomeLazioItaly[8]
Dalhousie CastleCockpenMidlothianScotland[25]
Edinburgh VaultsEdinburghCity of Edinburgh council areaScotland[3]
Greyfriars KirkyardEdinburghCity of Edinburgh council areaScotland[9]
Haydon BridgeHaydon BridgeNorthumberlandEngland[6]
Hunedoara CastleHunedoaraHunedoaraRomania[26]
Leap CastleCoolderryCounty OffalyIreland[9]
Lucedio AbbeyTrinoVercelliItaly[27]
Montpelier HillWicklow MountainsDublinIreland[13]
Old Bell HotelMalmesburyWiltshireEngland[19]
Oranmore CastleOranmoreGalwayIreland[8]
PovegliaPovegliaVeniceItaly[28]
Walls of GenoaGenoaLiguriaItaly[5]
Woodchester MansionWoodchesterGloucestershireEngland[29]

Controversies

The main controversy with the show was that it was accused of fabricating some of the aired events. According to the documentary crew for a film on the Villisca axe murders, the segment which profiled the murder site—the Josiah B. and Sara Moore House—contained numerous falsities; among the allegations were that it featured a fake newspaper reproduction, photos of an unknown family presented as the murder victims, and an actress posing as a town resident.[30]

Additionally, the "Devil Hunters" crew featured in the segment on the Jersey Devil claimed that the segment which ran thirteen minutes in length, had been edited from two days' worth of footage, and that numerous details were sensationalized and/or added in post-production.[31]

See also

References

  1. ^ Gray, Rich (2004). Click or Treat!: The Best of Halloween and Horror on the Internet. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-786-41862-6.
  2. ^ "Are There Ghosts?" (Transcript). Larry King Live. CNN. April 13, 2001. Archived from the original on October 6, 2016. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  3. ^ "Ghost Ship". No. 4. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 4. Fox Family. October 26, 2000.
  4. ^ "Haunting the Heartland". No. 13. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 13. Fox Family. May 25, 2001.
  5. ^ "Fortress of Blood". No. 3. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 3. Fox Family. October 25, 2000.
  6. ^ "Satan's Dormitory". No. 1. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 1. Fox Family. October 23, 2000.
  7. ^ "Urban Legends 2". No. 8. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 8. Fox Family. October 22, 2002.
  8. ^ "Curse of the Roman Gladiators". No. 1. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 1. Fox Family. March 26, 2001.
  9. ^ "Legendary Haunts". No. 10. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 10. Fox Family. March 29, 2001.
  10. ^ "Cemetery of the Angry Undead". No. 4. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 4. Fox Family. October 29, 2002.
  11. ^ "Eastern State Penitentiary". No. 2. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 2. Fox Family. October 24, 2000.
  12. ^ "Village of the Damned". No. 2. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 2. Fox Family. March 27, 2001.
  13. ^ "Goldfield Ghost Hunt". No. 24. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 24. Fox Family. October 25, 2001.
  14. ^ "Magnolia Lane Plantation". No. 5. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 5. Fox Family. March 30, 2001.
  15. ^ "White Witch". No. 3. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 3. Fox Family. March 28, 2001.
  16. ^ "Lair of the Wickedest Man on Earth". No. 8. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 8. Fox Family. April 20, 2001.
  17. ^ "Contagion of Fear". No. 22. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 22. Fox Family. October 23, 2001.
  18. ^ "Fear Force". No. 4. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 4. Fox Family. October 22, 2002.
  19. ^ "A House Possessed". No. 6. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 6. Fox Family. April 6, 2001.
  20. ^ "Waverly Hills Sanatorium". No. 11. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 11. Fox Family. October 30, 2002.
  21. ^ "A Night in Dracula's Castle: The Transylvania Dare". No. 25. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 25. Fox Family. October 26, 2001.
  22. ^ "Castle of the Blood Countess". No. 9. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 9. Fox Family. October 29, 2002.
  23. ^ "Charleville: Haunted Irish Castle Dare". No. 7. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 7. Fox Family. April 13, 2001.
  24. ^ "Chillingham". No. 1. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 1. Fox Family. October 27, 2000.
  25. ^ "Castle of the Cursed Souls". No. 17. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 17. Fox Family. July 20, 2001.
  26. ^ "Return to Transylvania". No. 3. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 3. Fox Family. October 21, 2002.
  27. ^ "Lucedio: Cursed Italian Monastery Dare". No. 9. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 9. Fox Family. April 27, 2001.
  28. ^ "Island of No Return: The Venice Dare". No. 18. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 18. Fox Family. August 19, 2001.
  29. ^ "Woodchester Mansion". No. 2. Scariest Places on Earth. Episode 2. Fox Family. October 20, 2002.
  30. ^ "Regarding Fox's "Scariest Places" Program and Home Video and the Villisca Murders". Villiscamovie.com. Archived September 13, 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
  31. ^ "Hunt #10". The Devil Hunters - Official Researchers of the Jersey Devil. August 11, 2000. Archived December 28, 2008 at the Wayback Machine.