8 All-Time Best American Ghost Hunting Shows

Do you believe those things that go bump in the night? Did you know the ending of The Sixth Sense five minutes into the movie? Have you had a paranormal experience, or wish you have? Whether or not the answers are yes, these eight top US TV shows about ghost-hunting will have you questioning all you think you believe about the afterlife.

We’ve also included where these shows can be viewed.

8. Ghost Brothers (2016)

Dalen Spratt, Juwan Mass, Marcus Harvey

2 seasons

Here is a long-overdue ghost-hunting show featuring an all African-American team. From their Atlanta, Georgia base, they follow the Ghost Hunters format with their own refreshing spin.

Watch on Fubo, Apple TV

7. Haunting In The Heartland (2020)

Steve Shippy

1 season (so far)

You know those creepy small towns you drive through. Population 12. The old town main street. Shops abandoned. Small diner maybe. Not many people would stop… except Steve Shippy (and me).

This ghost hunting show concentrates on the small town America and hauntings that happen throughout these areas. Steve meets with local residents to investigate homes and find ways to keep the owners at rest, and most importantly, the spirits.

Watch on Travel Channel, Youtube, Google Play

6. Haunted Towns (2017)

Chris Smith, Steven “Doogie” McDougal, Scott Porter, Brannon Smith, Mike Goncalves

2 seasons

Here’s a ghost-hunting show served up to you with a bit of Southern charm. Bet you didn’t expect to read that in this list! Yet that’s exactly what Haunted Towns delivers.

The show followed a team of paranormal investigators, and good ole Southern boys, aptly known as the Tennessee Wraith Chasers (TWC) as they traversed the US to visit the most reputedly haunted towns in the nation, look into reports of true-life ghostly encounters there and, hopefully, catch themselves a few ghosts while they’re at it.

The TWC team itself, with its mix of science and engineering knowledge and homespun Southern know-how, is what makes this show stand apart. You have the two co-founders, “The Architect” and “The Complainer”; the historian, aka “The Profiler”; the inventor, aka “The Engineer”; and the audio technician, aka “The Surveillance Guru.”

What also makes this show uniquely thrilling is that the team actually tries to trap the ghosts they encounter. It’s like they’re the Klondike Trappers of the spirit world.

Watch on Fubo, Apple TV

5. The Dead Files (2011)

Amy Allan, Steve DiSchiavi

14 seasons

The Dead Files has been around for sometime now. It is quite a unique paranormal investigation show that has been successful with it’s audience. Combining a retired NYPD homicide detective with a medium gives a unique approach to contacting the dead.

In 2021, Amy and Steve have just started a new season to try and solve more unexplained phenomena. The latest season 14 episodes include investigating homes around Victorville and Oxnard in California.

Watch on Travel Channel

4. Ghost Adventures (2008)

Zak Bagans, Nick Groff, Aaron Goodwin, Billy Tolley, Jay Wasley

24 seasons

You don’t get to 24 seasons in 12 years without doing something right, and this die-hard fan-pleaser can make that claim to fame. The concept is about as authentic to the preeminent Ghost Hunters as a show of the genre can get: ghost hunters investigate supposed hauntings. Their goal: to collect any available evidence supporting the veracity of the claims they investigate. Often, this involves setting up night vision cameras in locations suspected of having ghostly activity to try to catch the spirits in action.

They also employ a wide variety of other tools of the trade, from the most esoteric technology (including electromagnetic field meters and an Ovilus communication device) to the most unscientific folk practices such as taunting the ghosts verbally to make them appear.

Starting out as a documentary film investigating paranormal activity around Nevada, the series spent a great deal of time revisiting the area through its tenure.

Watch on Fubo, Apple TV

3. Kindred Spirits (2016)

Adam Berry and Amy Bruni

5 seasons

Paranormal investigators, Amy Bruni and Adam Berry take on cases of supernatural activities in people’s homes. This is the only show in our line-up that also includes a female investigator, which definitely adds a different and compelling dimension to the show – as it’s quite rare to see! What’s favourable about Kindred Spirits is that there’s a genuine sense that the investigators have real compassion for the people they’re helping and have a real desire to solve the cases to create more peace and harmony in their homes. A great watch!

Watch on Discovery+, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play

2. Ghost Nation (2019)

Jason Hawes, Steve Gonsalves, Dave Tango

2 seasons

Ghost Nation is a firm favourite of the Travel Channel and sees 3 paranormal pioneers take on cases that haven’t been solved thus far by local investigators. Each episode sees the guys travel to communities across the US to find the source of the hauntings using all kinds of high tech gadgets and gizmos to do so.

We see them take on cases in people’s homes, hotels, restaurants, asylums, and even battleships. For both believers and skeptics of the paranormal, Ghost Nation tends to take a more realistic approach in comparison to many other shows of this nature. Some critics have labeled the show as ‘dull’ and ‘mundane’ partly because the investigators don’t play up to the entertainment value as much as we see elsewhere.

Definitely one to watch if you like being educated as opposed to entertained!

Watch on The Travel Channel

1. Ghost Hunters (Original) (2004)

Jason Hawes, Grant Wilson, Steve Gonsalves

13 seasons

The seminal ghosting-hunting reality program, lasting a spooky 13 seasons, starred a pair of guys moonlighting from their day job as plumbers to hunt ghosts at night. (When do they sleep?) They and their trusty team, together known as The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) visit allegedly haunted houses to investigate the truth behind the reports. While most of these investigations take place in the US, some in the earlier seasons were shot in Canada, Ireland and the UK.

So popular was this show, it launched two spinoffs, Ghost Hunters International and Ghost Hunters Academy and, most recently, a reboot of the original series, not to mention a whole genre. The show often featured celebrity guests and at-home audience participation. It was also known for broadcasting a live show every Halloween for many years.

Watch on Hulu, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video

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