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* {{Tearjerker}}: "Crisis in Oakdale" definitely qualifies.
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* TookALevelInBadass: Aaron went from being Zak and Nick's easily-frightened equipment tech to an investigator in his own right. That's not to say that he doesn't still get freaked or make [[MemeticMutation Memetastic]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny expressions]] (or get the ButtMonkey treatment), but if you compare early episodes with later ones, you can see that he's got way more confidence now than he did at the beginning of the show.
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* TookALevelInBadass: Aaron went from being Zak and Nick's easily-frightened equipment tech to an investigator in his own right. That's not to say that he doesn't still get freaked or make [[MemeticMutation Memetastic]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments expressions]] (or get the ButtMonkey treatment), but if you compare early episodes with later ones, you can see that he's got way more confidence now than he did at the beginning of the show.
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** To list them off: The Abandoned Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey, The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia, Pennhurst in Pennsylvania, Poveglia in Italy, Linda Vista Hospital in California, Rolling Hills Asylum in New York, Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Kentucky, Yorktown Hospital in Texas, Tooele Hospital in Utah, Ashmore Estates in Illinois, Letchworth Village in New York, and Tuolumne General Hospital in Sonora, California
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** To list them off: The Essex County Hospital Center (called only The Abandoned Psychiatric Hospital in the episode it was featured in for legal reasons) in New Jersey, The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia, Pennhurst in Pennsylvania, Poveglia in Italy, Linda Vista Hospital in California, Rolling Hills Asylum in New York, Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Kentucky, Yorktown Hospital in Texas, Tooele Hospital in Utah, Ashmore Estates in Illinois, Letchworth Village in New York, and Tuolumne General Hospital in Sonora, California
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!!!Tropes evident in this show:
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** Music/PostMalone appeared in The Slaughter House episode
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* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: Zozo and Mama appear to be recurring in some episodes, being the investigative focus of the Season 10 episode, "Zozo Demon", coming through an Ouija Board session with Darren Evans in the Season 14 episode, "Samaritan Cult House", and being mentioned by a woman who did an Ouija board session in the basement of the Hotel Leger in the eponymous Season 16 episode. Zak's reaction to the latter really sells it, mainly because of RuleOfThree and what has happened on prior investigations when Zozo or Mama get involved.
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* ShoutOut: A few, including TheSoup (which has poked fun at them), ScoobyDoo, VideoGame/{{Doom}}, and the Film/SilentHill movie.
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* ShoutOut: A few, including TheSoup ''Series/TheSoup'' (which has poked fun at them), ScoobyDoo, VideoGame/{{Doom}}, and the Film/SilentHill movie.
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* BizarroEpisode: The 2015 episode "Demons in Seattle" is this. It is the only episode where the Ghost Adventures Crew express doubt in the place they're investigating in to be haunted, and for good reason. All the supposed "poltergeist activity" captured by the reporter is done off-screen.
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* BizarroEpisode: The 2015 episode "Demons in Seattle" is this. It is the only episode where the Ghost Adventures Crew express doubt in the place they're investigating in to be haunted, and for good reason. All the supposed "poltergeist activity" captured by the reporter is done off-screen.
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** Preston Castle: Near the end of the lockdown, Zak states that he doesn't feel good and walks away. When Nick and Aaron find him, Zack is sitting in a chair with a creepy smile on his face. Supposedly, he's possessed by a spirit that wants to ''protect'' the three from the demonic forces.
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** Preston Castle: Near the end of the lockdown, Zak states that he doesn't feel good and walks away. When Nick and Aaron find him, Zack is sitting in a chair with a creepy smile on his face. Supposedly, he's possessed by a spirit that wants to ''protect'' ''[[DarkIsNotEvil protect]]'' the three from the demonic forces.
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* ContinuityNod: During the Season 2 investigation of Pennhurst State School, Zak meets a girl who shows him that she has the Pennhurst Administration Building tattooed on her back. Zak reminds Nick that during their visit to Sloss Furnace in Season 1, they met a girl who had a tattoo of Sloss Furnace in the exact same place on her back.
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* ContinuityNod: ContinuityNod:
** During the Season 2 investigation of Pennhurst State School, Zak meets a girl who shows him that she has the Pennhurst Administration Building tattooed on her back. Zak reminds Nick that during their visit to Sloss Furnace in Season 1, they met a girl who had a tattoo of Sloss Furnace in the exact same place on herback.back.
** During the Season 10 investigation of Nopeming Sanitorium (a former TB hospital), a historian says that the building was designed to provide the patients with plenty of fresh air and sunlight as this was once thought to be beneficial in treating TB. Zak comments that the Waverly Hills hospital was designed the same way, which he knows because the GAC investigated it in Season 4.
** During the Season 2 investigation of Pennhurst State School, Zak meets a girl who shows him that she has the Pennhurst Administration Building tattooed on her back. Zak reminds Nick that during their visit to Sloss Furnace in Season 1, they met a girl who had a tattoo of Sloss Furnace in the exact same place on her
** During the Season 10 investigation of Nopeming Sanitorium (a former TB hospital), a historian says that the building was designed to provide the patients with plenty of fresh air and sunlight as this was once thought to be beneficial in treating TB. Zak comments that the Waverly Hills hospital was designed the same way, which he knows because the GAC investigated it in Season 4.
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* CanadaEh: In Season 4, the crew travels to Ontario to investigate Old Fort Erie (a historic military installation). When they approach someone for an interview and he politely invites them into his home, Zak exclaims, "I love Canadian hospitality!"
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* HellGate: The trio have investigated a couple places that are accredited as portals to Hell, or just overall demonic.
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* HellGate: The trio have investigated a couple of places that are accredited as portals to Hell, or just overall demonic.
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* TheBlackDeath: The guys investigate Poveglia Island in Season 3. The island has an extremely fearsome reputation, mainly because it was used to quarantine plague victims during various epidemics and was therefore the site of thousands of deaths.
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* GhostTown: The guys really love to investigate abandoned mining towns. A few examples are Goldfield and Virginia City (Nevada), Vulture City (Arizona), and Bannack (Montana).
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** And [[AceVentura NOBODY! MESSES!]] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis WITH ZAK'S! 'DO!!!]]
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** And [[AceVentura [[Film/AceVentura NOBODY! MESSES!]] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis WITH ZAK'S! 'DO!!!]]
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* NowYouTellMe: At Eastern State Penitentiary, Zak crawls under a metal bar to enter a particularly creepy room. Because it's pitch dark, he tries to straighten up too soon, slams into the bar, and hurts his back. Then Nick tells him he should have gone over the bar instead of under it.
-->'''Zak:''' Oh, now you're saying it, now I should have, [[SarcasmMode thanks Nick!]]
-->'''Zak:''' Oh, now you're saying it, now I should have, [[SarcasmMode thanks Nick!]]
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** In the "Ireland's Celtic Demons" Halloween special, the guys visit a house where there is a painting of a demonic black cat known as the Killakee Cat. Legend says that turning the painting upside down can invoke the demon. Later, Jay is investigating the house by himself and one of the first things he does is turn the painting upside down.
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* CreepyBasement: The most paranormally active sites are also largely some of the darkest and creepiest places, particularly when the basement in question has been used of some kind of TortureCellar in the past. A lot of them are called "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the bad room]]."
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* CreepyBasement: The most paranormally active sites are also largely some of the darkest and creepiest places, particularly when the basement in question has been used of as some kind of TortureCellar in the past. A lot of them are called "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the bad room]]."
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* CreepyBasement: The most paranormally active sites are also largely some of the darkest and creepiest places. A lot of them are called "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the bad room]]."
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* CreepyBasement: The most paranormally active sites are also largely some of the darkest and creepiest places.places, particularly when the basement in question has been used of some kind of TortureCellar in the past. A lot of them are called "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the bad room]]."
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* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Zak has stated that he does not like snakes, clowns, heights, sharks, cockroaches and creepy dolls. This doesn't stop him from climbing up to high places or ''[[DoNotAttempt picking up a wild snake]]''.
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* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes:
** Zak has stated that he does not like snakes, clowns, heights, sharks, cockroaches and creepy dolls. This doesn't stop him from climbing up to high places or ''[[DoNotAttempt picking up a wildsnake]]''.snake]]''.
** Aaron occasionally mentions that he's afraid of spiders.
** Zak has stated that he does not like snakes, clowns, heights, sharks, cockroaches and creepy dolls. This doesn't stop him from climbing up to high places or ''[[DoNotAttempt picking up a wild
** Aaron occasionally mentions that he's afraid of spiders.
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* ContinuityNod: During the Season 2 investigation of Pennhurst State School, Zak meets a girl who shows him that she has the Pennhurst Administration Building tattooed on her back. Zak reminds Nick that during their visit to Sloss Furnace in Season 1, they met a girl who had a tattoo of Sloss Furnace in the exact same place on her back.
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* DoNotAttempt: This message popped up when they were at the Vulture Mine, [[ViewersAreMorons with good reason]] since the place is MILES from proper civilization, not all of the structures are entirely stable, and then there's two deadly locals - rattlers and scorpions. All this on top of them initially attempting to reach their lockdown in the middle of a thunderstorm and flash flood warnings and ignoring road hazard signs until the cops approached them, requiring them to turn back (though by that point, they'd realized there was no way they would reach the lockdown).
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* DoNotAttempt: This message popped up when they were at the Vulture Mine, [[ViewersAreMorons with good reason]] reason since the place is MILES from proper civilization, not all of the structures are entirely stable, and then there's two deadly locals - rattlers and scorpions. All this on top of them initially attempting to reach their lockdown in the middle of a thunderstorm and flash flood warnings and ignoring road hazard signs until the cops approached them, requiring them to turn back (though by that point, they'd realized there was no way they would reach the lockdown).
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** Mark and Debby Constantino have appeared as recurring guests when they want to provoke evil spirits
** Dave Schrader (Darkness Radio) has appeared in the Rolling Hills Asylum episode and the Palmer House Hotel episode
** Chris Fleming appeared in the Live special at the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
** Dave Schrader (Darkness Radio) has appeared in the Rolling Hills Asylum episode and the Palmer House Hotel episode
** Chris Fleming appeared in the Live special at the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
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** Mark and Debby Constantino have appeared as recurring guests when they want to provoke evil spirits
spirits until their deaths during filming for Season 11
** Dave Schrader (Darkness Radio) has appeared in the Rolling Hills Asylumepisode and the episode, Palmer House Hotel Hotel, and Demons in Seattle episode
** Chris Fleming appeared in the Live special at the Trans Allegheny LunaticAsylumAsylum and cameos in the St. James Hotel episode
** Dave Schrader (Darkness Radio) has appeared in the Rolling Hills Asylum
** Chris Fleming appeared in the Live special at the Trans Allegheny Lunatic
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* MoodWhiplash: In the Hollywood American Legion Post, the guys are conducting an EVP and voice box session with a ghost believed to be one of the soldiers present there. The entity responds to questions unusually coherently and acknowledges some of the things the guys did earlier (such as Aaron waving at the soldiers' photo earlier) and the whole thing seems very cordial. Then Zak asks if there are any negative entities present in the building. The response is three rapid messages reading "OUTSIDE" "DEMON" and "HIDE". Before they have a chance to ask more, a blood curdling snarl is heard and the guys just ''run''. Zak spends the rest of the episode very distraught at the idea that an evil entity is prowling a place that (he believes) should be the domain of decent people.
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* EarlyBirdCameo: The Goldfield High School appears in the openings of Season's 1-8, before finally being featured in Season 11
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* NothingIsScarier: Zak stated this while filming at the Old Stage Coach Road near Salinas (A side investigation before Los Coches Adobe the next night), due investigating the story of apparitions on a road where local gangs dump bodies, and also kill out there. To be fair, one should not go ''anywhere'' near gang territory at night.
** Made even worse in the investigation of the road when a passing by car flashes their lights from high to low, which is a common sign in gang territory cars in the area to leave before you get killed
** UpToEleven at the Los Coches Adobe after the Old Stage Road investigation, where Zak nonchalantly states that people are inducted into gangs in the area by locking them in the very location that they are investigating.
** Made even worse in the investigation of the road when a passing by car flashes their lights from high to low, which is a common sign in gang territory cars in the area to leave before you get killed
** UpToEleven at the Los Coches Adobe after the Old Stage Road investigation, where Zak nonchalantly states that people are inducted into gangs in the area by locking them in the very location that they are investigating.
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** Perhaps this is why he is promoted to a fellow investigator from Season 7 on.
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** An episode revealed in Season 11 involves an investigation of the aforementioned Clown Motel in Tonopah, Nevada
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** Preston Academy: Near the end of the lockdown, Zak states that he doesn't feel good and walks away. When Nick and Aaron find him, Zack is sitting in a chair with a creepy smile on his face. Supposedly, he's possessed by a spirit that wants to ''protect'' the three from the demonic forces.
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** Preston Academy: Castle: Near the end of the lockdown, Zak states that he doesn't feel good and walks away. When Nick and Aaron find him, Zack is sitting in a chair with a creepy smile on his face. Supposedly, he's possessed by a spirit that wants to ''protect'' the three from the demonic forces.
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* ScheduleSlip/SeriesHiatus: Slips in the early seasons due to short gaps between seasons, causing some episodes to be halted for a few weeks, hiatus in the later seasons when they aim their hiatus around mid-summer or Christmas time. [[{{Filler}} They try to fill this with special episodes, such as recaps, Extra Pulses (past episodes that have additional historic facts overlaid with the videos), or past specials.]]
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-->-- '''Zak Bagans''', ''GhostAdventures opening pre-season 9.''
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-->-- '''Zak Bagans''', ''GhostAdventures ''Ghost Adventures opening pre-season 9.''
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-->-- '''Zak Bagans''', ''GhostAdventures current opening''
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-->-- '''Zak Bagans''', ''GhostAdventures ''Ghost Adventures current opening''
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[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ghost-adventures-300x300.jpg]]
->''"My name is Zak Bagans, lead investigator of the Ghost Adventures Crew. I never believed in ghosts until I came face-to-face with one. So I set out on a quest to capture what I once saw onto video. With no big camera crews following us around, I am joined only by my fellow investigators, Nick Groff and Aaron Goodwin. The three of us will travel to some of the most highly active paranormal locations where we will spend an entire night locked down from dusk until dawn. Raw. Extreme. These are our Ghost Adventures.''
-->-- '''Zak Bagans''', ''GhostAdventures opening pre-season 9.''
->''"There are things in this world that we will never fully understand. We want answers. We have worked years to build our credibility, our reputation. Working alongside the most renowned professionals in the field. Catching groundbreaking proof of the paranormal. This is our evidence, our Ghost Adventures."''
-->-- '''Zak Bagans''', ''GhostAdventures current opening''
As the show's name implies, ''Ghost Adventures'' is a show about three ghost hunters (Zak, Nick, and Aaron) and the events that transpire from their attempts to prove that ghosts are real. Like most paranormal shows, this group actively seeks out places that are reputedly haunted, and spend the night in the area from sundown to sun-up. Unlike most paranormal shows, they really delve into the history of the locations with numerous interviews with a wide variety of witnesses, past employees, and area neighbors. This can take up a quarter to half of the aired episode itself. They inspect both audio and video footage they have captured offscreen and often air results (especially [=EVP=]s) during the scenes where they are captured. If they capture video or photographic evidence, they sometimes take them to specialists who examine them and give their thoughts.
Unlike most paranormal shows, they do not have a huge film crew with them. Often it is just them three on location, sometimes with a guest or someone of religious affiliation if they are entering a dangerous place. Each have their own camera as well. Often times their method of choice in getting results is through provocation, basically insulting and daring any entities to appear, make noises, or even physically attack them. [[LetsSplitUpGang They often split up and individually inspect areas alone]] while recording [=EVPs=] as well. This is more general questions than provocation, usually. [[NightmareFuel The former works disturbingly well]].
----
!!!Tropes evident in this show:
* AbandonedHospital: Well, duh - abandoned hospitals and asylums are known to be terrifying in broad daylight, let alone the dead of night. [[SchmuckBait What paranormal investigator wouldn't check these places out?]]
** To list them off: The Abandoned Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey, The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia, Pennhurst in Pennsylvania, Poveglia in Italy, Linda Vista Hospital in California, Rolling Hills Asylum in New York, Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Kentucky, Yorktown Hospital in Texas, Tooele Hospital in Utah, Ashmore Estates in Illinois, Letchworth Village in New York, and Tuolumne General Hospital in Sonora, California
* AbsenteeActor: Nick does not investigate in a few episodes due to events out of his control. He did not investigate in Cripple Creek due to a family friend passing away, and did not appear in the Island of the Dolls episode due to his baby daughter being born. Nick later revealed that he left the show in order to work on his new show for DestinationAmerica.
* TheAce: Zak would be this, with his HotBlooded nature and MrFanservice qualities, if it weren't a [[InvokedTrope conscious effort]] to get a rise out of ghosts. He's also nearly always the first to be affected, or the worst out of the three (Poveglia Island, The Ancient Ram Inn), which averts the "never suffers consequences" part.
* {{Adorkable}}: Aaron, though the trio as a whole are known to show shades of this.
* AscendedExtra: Billy Tolley and Jay Wasley
* AsideGlance: Aaron gives some rather amusing looks to the camera when Zak says that they're going to be offering him up to whatever evil spirits they're investigating. Notable are the occasions (there have been at least two) where he's been sent alone into an abandoned prison shower.
* AStormIsComing: Several times, their investigation takes place after a flash of severe weather, or as they pointed out, unusual things happening with clouds. The huge storm at Vulture Mine, the random rainstorm in Sacramento (which came after they had talked about Sacramento's history having lots of floods), the tornadoes at the Hale's Bar Marina, which blew away the dock they were standing on just a few minutes beforehand, the "ominous cloud eyes" at the Idaho prison and the contrails forming an X over Poveglia. Two days before they were to investigate Letchworth Village, Hurricane Irene struck New York and trapped them in Manhattan Island.
* BaldOfAwesome: Aaron
* BattleStrip: The ghosts of the nuns at Yorktown Hospital are said to hate men with tattoos. So during the investigation, Zak takes off his shirt and shows his. The nuns' reaction upon seeing his tattoo? They reportedly say, "It's sick."
* BerserkButton: If you are a violent ghost and you're known to attack [[strike: women, children, the elderly,]] people who aren't paranormal investigators that know what they're getting into, Zak will not like you.
** That, and if you were known to be an abusive a-hole in life to others, picking on the weak and defenseless, Zak will call you out on it.
** And [[AceVentura NOBODY! MESSES!]] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis WITH ZAK'S! 'DO!!!]]
* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The Winchester Mystery House
* BlatantLies: In Sacramento Tunnels, the only reason the gang is off to a salt water taffy store is to 'make sure their nutrition levels are high' and getting 'food from the major food groups'
** They also do this when they impersonate historical people like Civil War soldiers.
* ButtMonkey: Aaron is usually the one who shows the most fear of the angry spirits. So, naturally, he tends to be the one to get put in the places where the more violent events have occurred to be used as a trigger object.
** And his birthday is April Fool's Day.
*** In the Stanley Hotel, Zak and Nick forced him to wear a wig to see if a ghost would come into his room and kiss him, thinking he was a woman.
** Nick can be this sometimes. Especially with the Washoe Club ghosts. On a revisit to the Washoe Club, nearly every EVP involving Zak and Aaron was about being intimidated by them, while there was about fifteen EVP's about how much they hated Nick.
--> "Hate Nick."
--> "Nick... Go home."
** Zak becomes talk show fodder especially after the "incubus incident" at the Ancient Ram Inn.
* CatchPhrase: "This is why we do this." or "This is what we hunt for."
** "This... Is '''powerful''' stuff."
** "Dude, did you hear that!?"
** "OH MY GOD!!!" (Includes Ohmygodohmygodohmygod and '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis OH! MY!! GOD!!!]]''' versions)
* CatScare: At the Moon River Brewery before the investigation started. Probably one of the funniest moments in the series.
** In this case it was a very literal cat scare.
** After Zak hauls ass out of the freaky ''[[MonsterClown clown-]][[CreepyDoll doll]] hotel'', he steps into the car--and there's a clown-doll in the driver's seat. He promptly screams and falls out of the car.
** Lets not forget the incident during the Yorktown Hospital episode involving Zak and a donkey.
*** That donkey near the Bonnie Springs Ranch didn't seem to bother him though.
* ChekhovsGun: The anointing oil given to the crew in the Bobby Mackey's Music World episode is used after Zak is possessed on Poveglia Island.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Zak. Reading his Twitter feed makes it even more apparent.
* ClusterFBomb: Ties with SoundEffectBleep when ghostly activity kicks up.
* CreepyBasement: The most paranormally active sites are also largely some of the darkest and creepiest places. A lot of them are called "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the bad room]]."
* CreepyChild: Almost every time you hear a child at the site, they never turn out to be normal. Most notably, in the Penhurst State School episode where all signs point to the little girl being malevolent, with only the other spirit(s) to keep her in check.
** They've also said that many times, demonic entities will mimic young children.
* CreepyDoll: Zak was given one to disassemble in the Magnolia Lane plantation. It wasn't malevolent in ''purpose'', being intended to help free the tormented slaves' spirits, but it still looked like something from ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject''.
** Zak once confessed that the three things that scared him the most were heights, [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes snakes]], and [[CreepyDoll creepy dolls]].
** Creepy dolls were also noted at the Riddle House, Linda Vista Hospital, and the home/museum of another paranormal investigator they were interviewing. Either dolls have an odd knack for popping up at haunted locations, or the crew likes making a note of them when they edit the episodes.
** The return to the Goldfield Hotel had the trio came across a Clown Hotel, where two of the walls of the front office were literally covered with clown dolls. Needless to say, Zak did not stay in there very long.
** Taken to extremes with the Island of Dolls episode in Season 10, with reports of dolls closing and opening their eyes on their own.
* DemonicPossession: Happens to each of the guys separately. Most notable scenes include:
** Preston Academy: Near the end of the lockdown, Zak states that he doesn't feel good and walks away. When Nick and Aaron find him, Zack is sitting in a chair with a creepy smile on his face. Supposedly, he's possessed by a spirit that wants to ''protect'' the three from the demonic forces.
** Poveglia Island: Zak got possessed by a demon and started cursing, hitting himself and made threats to kill his friends. They had to stop the investigation and used anointing oil to exorcise the demon.
* DoNotAttempt: This message popped up when they were at the Vulture Mine, [[ViewersAreMorons with good reason]] since the place is MILES from proper civilization, not all of the structures are entirely stable, and then there's two deadly locals - rattlers and scorpions. All this on top of them initially attempting to reach their lockdown in the middle of a thunderstorm and flash flood warnings and ignoring road hazard signs until the cops approached them, requiring them to turn back (though by that point, they'd realized there was no way they would reach the lockdown).
** The warning also pops up ''both'' times Zak attempts to face his [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes fear of snakes]] by ''[[ViolationOfCommonSense picking up a snake]]''. The exact wording of the warning seems to be [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] the stupidity.
** There were also DoNotAttempt warnings found in the other episodes found in Arizona. The episode in Tombstone, AZ had Zak going down a deep abandoned mine, and a message appears saying that they shouldn't try entering a deserted mine, while the episode in Jerome, AZ had Zak ''specifically telling us'' to not try what he did, which was record what a supposed suicide victim probably went through. That portion almost '''ended his life!!'''
** This shows up again in the episode at the Pioneer Saloon when Nick and Billy go down an old 300-foot ladder in an abandoned mine. The two of them both say things like "This is a bad idea," and Zak's voiceover also warns the audience, very seriously, that this is a bad idea, along with citing an expert abandoned mine explorer who said he would never go down that particular ladder.
** Zak gives one of these in the Hales Bar Marina episode right before he jumps a water-filled ditch that has downed power lines lying dangerously close to it. It gets PlayedForLaughs after Zak's attempt results in him landing on his ass (but fortunately safely away from the water and power lines) in front of the news crew he was going to talk to.
* DoNotTauntCthulhu: Inverted only if the ghosts/spirits are those that have been known to harm innocent people during life or mess around with those that aren't paranormal investigators. In a couple cases they specifically say they're not targeting any spirits who just happen to be there who don't harm others before they start their provocations. See above on BerserkButton.
* DoubleEntendre - The investigation of Rocky Point Manor led to a whole slew of these. The brother of the manor's owner even told Zak, "Enough with the double entendres, dude!".
* MrFanservice: Zak, who has [[HotBlooded a tendency to rush into things]], an indecently muscled body and constantly messy dark hair. In the "Birdcage Theater" episode, Zak felt something touch him around the hip area while they were talking about the town's history of prostitution. Despite having Nick and Aaron with him, and a ''female'' employee claiming she got kissed on the cheek once, nobody else got felt up.
** He managed to gain access to the off-limits medical ward of the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, just by asking nicely.
** And does he ''really'' have to [[JamesBondage wear so many straight-jackets and strap into every old, rusty torture device he encounters]]?
** In the "Ohio Reformatory" episode, they bring along a female guest and jokingly refer to her as bait. After something or other happens to Zak (again), she remarks in all seriousness: "[[EvenTheGuysWantHim Maybe]] ''[[EvenTheGuysWantHim you're]]'' [[EvenTheGuysWantHim the bait.]]"
*** Happens again in the Fort Chaffee episode, where a ghost says "I'm here to f**k you." [[EvenTheGuysWantHim Even the ghosts want him]] indeed!
* EvenTheSubtitlerIsStumped: The crew have a hard time understanding one of the people working on a historic trolley in the "Fort Chaffee" episode. The subtitles mainly consist of ?????? and "____________".
* FourTemperamentEnsemble:
** Starting with the ''Bell Witch Cave'' Episode of Season 10
*** '''Choleric:''' Zak
*** '''Melancholic:''' Jay
*** '''Phlegmatic:''' Billy
*** '''Sanguine:''' Aaron
** Before Nick's Departure from the series
*** '''Choleric:''' Zak, and occasionally Nick
*** '''Melancholic:''' Jay and Billy
*** '''Phegmatic:''' Nick
*** '''Sanguine:''' Aaron
* GhostlyChill: Plenty of times.
* HauntedHouse: Well, duh.
* HearingVoices: Several times even without them enhancing the audio.
* HellGate: The trio have investigated a couple places that are accredited as portals to Hell, or just overall demonic.
* HeroicBSOD: Before the Market Street Cinema lockdown, Zak goes to talk to an employee of the former theater-turned-dance-club who also claims to be psychic and in touch (perhaps too close) with one of the spirits (A former janitor of the old theater named [[ScaryBlackMan "James"]]). Needless to say, after a visit with said employee to the ''original'' [[CreepyBasement theater basement]] (where "James" resided in life and supposedly still resides in death), Zak was so wigged out [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness he left the theater and needed a break]]. This is the same guy who on many occasions challenged ghosts and even ''demonic possessions'' on prior investigations. He snaps out of it, though.
* HiddenDepths: They credit Aaron as the "equipment tech" during the opening, but give credit where it's due: Aaron is [[ContagiousPowers just as good at detecting spiritual energy as Zak or Nick]].
* HistoricalReCreation: They do this in order to get the feeling for many locations, and as a result, some of the bloodless carnage filmed for the recreation becomes {{Narmtastic}}
* HurricaneOfPuns: The crew gets caught in one during the Salem Witch Trials episode
-->'''Zak:''' (Annoyed) enough of the witch jokes now
-->'''Aaron:''' [[IncrediblyLamePun which joke]]
-->(Zak stops as Aaron laughs)
* InfoDump: Twice, first at Old Town Sacramento, and later at the Peabody Whitehead Mansion, [[UpToEleven which even has a book dedicated to the history of the mansion]]
* TheKlutz: Aaron. In the Hill House Manor episode Zak mentions he has a SideBet at every lockdown about how long it will take for him to trip over something. In this case he tripped over the exact same piece of debris twice an hour apart.
* LargeHam: Zak speaks like he's the narrator in one of H.P. Lovecraft stories.
* LetsSplitUpGang: On occasion when they have to cover multiple spots.
* LoveableRogue: Zak does stupid stuff on a regular basis, but whenever he crosses the line from "reckless" to "asshole", he always owns up to it and apologizes.
* MarkOfTheBeast: Has this trope somewhat. After the incident on Poveglia Island where Zak was possessed, he felt an evil part of him want to go back inside the building, where the normal part of him wanted to leave. He was inspired by this event to get a large tattoo on his back of a sort of angel, half being a good angel, and half looking demonic.
** Played a little more straight when the bishop outright said it after Zak showed him video of the three scratches Zak got on his back at Bobby Mackey's, and the bishop said that he'd be performing an exorcism right there.
** Several times, the temperature has been manipulated to read 66.6 degrees.
* MexicanStandoff: Zak, Nick and Aaron shot each other at the Eastern State Penitentiary...using cameras.
* MundaneSolution: How do you get proof that ghosts actually exist? You're going to need a psychic and do lots of elaborate seances that may or may not be self-fulfilling prophecies, right? Or you could just provoke them into doing something and bring an EMP monitor for physical evidence.
* MustHaveCaffeine: Even ghosts, apparently! At Fort Chaffee they catch an EVP saying "Coffee, caffe" and the guard with them explains that the Cuban prisoners kept there were coffee fiends when he worked there.
* NoIndoorVoice: Zak is much louder than most paranormal investigators. Could be FridgeBrilliance considering Zak's voice is perfect for literally waking the dead.
* OhCrap: "Manifests" in the form of "O-faces" made by Zak and Aaron.
* OrphanageOfFear: The trio investigated the Soldiers National Museum at Gettysburg, previously an orphanage during the American Civil War and run by a sadistically cruel matron.
* ParanormalInvestigation: Duh.
* ParentalIncest: Though they beep out a word during the Lizzie Borden house episode, it's pretty clear that they're asking the ghost of her father if he sexually abused her. And the answer seems to be yes.
* PedophilePriest: The haunted rectory was home to one, and worse the abuse happened inside the rectory itself.
* ScaryBlackMan: Market Street Cinema was supposedly home to two of them [[spoiler: and they're extra scary as ghosts too, one of them (James) outright ''intimidating'' the usually [[LargeHam boisterous]], HotBlooded Zak into a ''[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness very]]'' [[HeroicBSOD troubled]]]] state.
* ScreamerTrailer: Used just before going to commercial. And if they don't include a shot of a floating white nightgown, usually there's an image of a CreepyDoll with one blank eye socket.
** Or a man (It might be Zak) holding his open mouth up to a bright light bulb.
** Or the CREEPY sliced up disembodied hand.
* ShirtlessScene: During the Yorktown Hospital investigation Zak takes off his shirt to show his tattoos because they've been told the ghostly nuns respond negatively to the presence of men, people with tattoos, and [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs men with tattoos]] in their former living quarters. They catch an EVP of a female voice saying "It's sick."
* ShoutOut: A few, including TheSoup (which has poked fun at them), ScoobyDoo, VideoGame/{{Doom}}, and the Film/SilentHill movie.
* SweetTooth: Aaron and Zak show they have quite a sweet tooth in the Sacramento Tunnel episode. The reason they're there is to get 'nutritional value' for the lockdown, and we see them pile their baskets with sweets. Zak's total rounded to around $36 (although this might also be because he was also getting candy for Nick)
* RuleOfThree: Besides the fact that there are three guys on the crew, that number has been somewhat important. While investigating a correctional institute for troubled boys, Aaron received three large scratches on his leg, which scarred. Zak has even said that it was demonic, and the event is referred to a few times later on.
** Zak's back having three scratches at Bobby Mackey's and the scratches staying for three days.
** Tooele Hospital is said to live off this trope.
* SpecialGuest: Several special guests have appeared in interviews or investigations.
** Mark and Debby Constantino have appeared as recurring guests when they want to provoke evil spirits
** Dave Schrader (Darkness Radio) has appeared in the Rolling Hills Asylum episode and the Palmer House Hotel episode
** Chris Fleming appeared in the Live special at the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
** Rick [=McCallum=], Creator/KaneHodder, and [[Film/LeatherfaceTheTexasChainsawMassacreIII R.A. Mihailoff]] appeared in the Pico House episode
** Loretta Lynn appeared in the episode surrounding her plantation house in Tennessee
** [[UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts Brendan Schaub]] appeared in the Peabody Whitehead Mansion episode
** [[Series/{{Supernatural}} Chad Lindberg]] appeared in the Return to Linda Vista Hospital episode
** [[Music/MotleyCrue Vince Neil]], Jamie Gold, and [[Music/FrankSinatra Bruce Westcott]] appeared in the Riviera Hotel episode
** The ABC News Nightline Crew appeared in the Sailors Snug Harbor episode
** [[Series/TrueBlood Brit Morgan]] and Mimi Page appeared in the Glen Tavern Inn Episode
** Darren Evans appeared in the Zozo Demon episode
** Not to mention the countless guests in other investigations, including, but not limited to: contest winners, fans, workers of the premises of locations, people from the public, and people related to the location
* TemptingFate: Oh, Zak. He went so far as to lead a ''black magic ritual'' in the Ancient Ram Inn when the person they consulted refused to participate. That night he had a dream where a witch scratched up his face, and he woke up with scratches on his neck.
** It's stated by paranormal experts that what happens when Zak goes around ordering ghosts to prove their existence is only the tip of a large, violent iceberg of results. Meaning that things could get ''much, much worse'' than scratches and creepy voices.
** He (and the ''entire crew'') also participated in a voodoo ritual in the Magnolia Lane Plantation.
** When Zak laid on the floor with a axe hanging directly over his face at the Villisca Axe Murder House, taunting the spirit that murdered the family to drop it on him.
** Zak standing on a chair near a third-floor railing in the Excalibur Nightclub, challenging any spirits to push him over like they had allegedly done to other patrons of the nightclub.
* TookALevelInBadass: Aaron went from being Zak and Nick's easily-frightened equipment tech to an investigator in his own right. That's not to say that he doesn't still get freaked or make [[MemeticMutation Memetastic]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny expressions]] (or get the ButtMonkey treatment), but if you compare early episodes with later ones, you can see that he's got way more confidence now than he did at the beginning of the show.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Zak has stated that he does not like snakes, clowns, heights, sharks, cockroaches and creepy dolls. This doesn't stop him from climbing up to high places or ''[[DoNotAttempt picking up a wild snake]]''.
----
->''"My name is Zak Bagans, lead investigator of the Ghost Adventures Crew. I never believed in ghosts until I came face-to-face with one. So I set out on a quest to capture what I once saw onto video. With no big camera crews following us around, I am joined only by my fellow investigators, Nick Groff and Aaron Goodwin. The three of us will travel to some of the most highly active paranormal locations where we will spend an entire night locked down from dusk until dawn. Raw. Extreme. These are our Ghost Adventures.''
-->-- '''Zak Bagans''', ''GhostAdventures opening pre-season 9.''
->''"There are things in this world that we will never fully understand. We want answers. We have worked years to build our credibility, our reputation. Working alongside the most renowned professionals in the field. Catching groundbreaking proof of the paranormal. This is our evidence, our Ghost Adventures."''
-->-- '''Zak Bagans''', ''GhostAdventures current opening''
As the show's name implies, ''Ghost Adventures'' is a show about three ghost hunters (Zak, Nick, and Aaron) and the events that transpire from their attempts to prove that ghosts are real. Like most paranormal shows, this group actively seeks out places that are reputedly haunted, and spend the night in the area from sundown to sun-up. Unlike most paranormal shows, they really delve into the history of the locations with numerous interviews with a wide variety of witnesses, past employees, and area neighbors. This can take up a quarter to half of the aired episode itself. They inspect both audio and video footage they have captured offscreen and often air results (especially [=EVP=]s) during the scenes where they are captured. If they capture video or photographic evidence, they sometimes take them to specialists who examine them and give their thoughts.
Unlike most paranormal shows, they do not have a huge film crew with them. Often it is just them three on location, sometimes with a guest or someone of religious affiliation if they are entering a dangerous place. Each have their own camera as well. Often times their method of choice in getting results is through provocation, basically insulting and daring any entities to appear, make noises, or even physically attack them. [[LetsSplitUpGang They often split up and individually inspect areas alone]] while recording [=EVPs=] as well. This is more general questions than provocation, usually. [[NightmareFuel The former works disturbingly well]].
----
!!!Tropes evident in this show:
* AbandonedHospital: Well, duh - abandoned hospitals and asylums are known to be terrifying in broad daylight, let alone the dead of night. [[SchmuckBait What paranormal investigator wouldn't check these places out?]]
** To list them off: The Abandoned Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey, The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia, Pennhurst in Pennsylvania, Poveglia in Italy, Linda Vista Hospital in California, Rolling Hills Asylum in New York, Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Kentucky, Yorktown Hospital in Texas, Tooele Hospital in Utah, Ashmore Estates in Illinois, Letchworth Village in New York, and Tuolumne General Hospital in Sonora, California
* AbsenteeActor: Nick does not investigate in a few episodes due to events out of his control. He did not investigate in Cripple Creek due to a family friend passing away, and did not appear in the Island of the Dolls episode due to his baby daughter being born. Nick later revealed that he left the show in order to work on his new show for DestinationAmerica.
* TheAce: Zak would be this, with his HotBlooded nature and MrFanservice qualities, if it weren't a [[InvokedTrope conscious effort]] to get a rise out of ghosts. He's also nearly always the first to be affected, or the worst out of the three (Poveglia Island, The Ancient Ram Inn), which averts the "never suffers consequences" part.
* {{Adorkable}}: Aaron, though the trio as a whole are known to show shades of this.
* AscendedExtra: Billy Tolley and Jay Wasley
* AsideGlance: Aaron gives some rather amusing looks to the camera when Zak says that they're going to be offering him up to whatever evil spirits they're investigating. Notable are the occasions (there have been at least two) where he's been sent alone into an abandoned prison shower.
* AStormIsComing: Several times, their investigation takes place after a flash of severe weather, or as they pointed out, unusual things happening with clouds. The huge storm at Vulture Mine, the random rainstorm in Sacramento (which came after they had talked about Sacramento's history having lots of floods), the tornadoes at the Hale's Bar Marina, which blew away the dock they were standing on just a few minutes beforehand, the "ominous cloud eyes" at the Idaho prison and the contrails forming an X over Poveglia. Two days before they were to investigate Letchworth Village, Hurricane Irene struck New York and trapped them in Manhattan Island.
* BaldOfAwesome: Aaron
* BattleStrip: The ghosts of the nuns at Yorktown Hospital are said to hate men with tattoos. So during the investigation, Zak takes off his shirt and shows his. The nuns' reaction upon seeing his tattoo? They reportedly say, "It's sick."
* BerserkButton: If you are a violent ghost and you're known to attack [[strike: women, children, the elderly,]] people who aren't paranormal investigators that know what they're getting into, Zak will not like you.
** That, and if you were known to be an abusive a-hole in life to others, picking on the weak and defenseless, Zak will call you out on it.
** And [[AceVentura NOBODY! MESSES!]] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis WITH ZAK'S! 'DO!!!]]
* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The Winchester Mystery House
* BlatantLies: In Sacramento Tunnels, the only reason the gang is off to a salt water taffy store is to 'make sure their nutrition levels are high' and getting 'food from the major food groups'
** They also do this when they impersonate historical people like Civil War soldiers.
* ButtMonkey: Aaron is usually the one who shows the most fear of the angry spirits. So, naturally, he tends to be the one to get put in the places where the more violent events have occurred to be used as a trigger object.
** And his birthday is April Fool's Day.
*** In the Stanley Hotel, Zak and Nick forced him to wear a wig to see if a ghost would come into his room and kiss him, thinking he was a woman.
** Nick can be this sometimes. Especially with the Washoe Club ghosts. On a revisit to the Washoe Club, nearly every EVP involving Zak and Aaron was about being intimidated by them, while there was about fifteen EVP's about how much they hated Nick.
--> "Hate Nick."
--> "Nick... Go home."
** Zak becomes talk show fodder especially after the "incubus incident" at the Ancient Ram Inn.
* CatchPhrase: "This is why we do this." or "This is what we hunt for."
** "This... Is '''powerful''' stuff."
** "Dude, did you hear that!?"
** "OH MY GOD!!!" (Includes Ohmygodohmygodohmygod and '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis OH! MY!! GOD!!!]]''' versions)
* CatScare: At the Moon River Brewery before the investigation started. Probably one of the funniest moments in the series.
** In this case it was a very literal cat scare.
** After Zak hauls ass out of the freaky ''[[MonsterClown clown-]][[CreepyDoll doll]] hotel'', he steps into the car--and there's a clown-doll in the driver's seat. He promptly screams and falls out of the car.
** Lets not forget the incident during the Yorktown Hospital episode involving Zak and a donkey.
*** That donkey near the Bonnie Springs Ranch didn't seem to bother him though.
* ChekhovsGun: The anointing oil given to the crew in the Bobby Mackey's Music World episode is used after Zak is possessed on Poveglia Island.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Zak. Reading his Twitter feed makes it even more apparent.
* ClusterFBomb: Ties with SoundEffectBleep when ghostly activity kicks up.
* CreepyBasement: The most paranormally active sites are also largely some of the darkest and creepiest places. A lot of them are called "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the bad room]]."
* CreepyChild: Almost every time you hear a child at the site, they never turn out to be normal. Most notably, in the Penhurst State School episode where all signs point to the little girl being malevolent, with only the other spirit(s) to keep her in check.
** They've also said that many times, demonic entities will mimic young children.
* CreepyDoll: Zak was given one to disassemble in the Magnolia Lane plantation. It wasn't malevolent in ''purpose'', being intended to help free the tormented slaves' spirits, but it still looked like something from ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject''.
** Zak once confessed that the three things that scared him the most were heights, [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes snakes]], and [[CreepyDoll creepy dolls]].
** Creepy dolls were also noted at the Riddle House, Linda Vista Hospital, and the home/museum of another paranormal investigator they were interviewing. Either dolls have an odd knack for popping up at haunted locations, or the crew likes making a note of them when they edit the episodes.
** The return to the Goldfield Hotel had the trio came across a Clown Hotel, where two of the walls of the front office were literally covered with clown dolls. Needless to say, Zak did not stay in there very long.
** Taken to extremes with the Island of Dolls episode in Season 10, with reports of dolls closing and opening their eyes on their own.
* DemonicPossession: Happens to each of the guys separately. Most notable scenes include:
** Preston Academy: Near the end of the lockdown, Zak states that he doesn't feel good and walks away. When Nick and Aaron find him, Zack is sitting in a chair with a creepy smile on his face. Supposedly, he's possessed by a spirit that wants to ''protect'' the three from the demonic forces.
** Poveglia Island: Zak got possessed by a demon and started cursing, hitting himself and made threats to kill his friends. They had to stop the investigation and used anointing oil to exorcise the demon.
* DoNotAttempt: This message popped up when they were at the Vulture Mine, [[ViewersAreMorons with good reason]] since the place is MILES from proper civilization, not all of the structures are entirely stable, and then there's two deadly locals - rattlers and scorpions. All this on top of them initially attempting to reach their lockdown in the middle of a thunderstorm and flash flood warnings and ignoring road hazard signs until the cops approached them, requiring them to turn back (though by that point, they'd realized there was no way they would reach the lockdown).
** The warning also pops up ''both'' times Zak attempts to face his [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes fear of snakes]] by ''[[ViolationOfCommonSense picking up a snake]]''. The exact wording of the warning seems to be [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] the stupidity.
** There were also DoNotAttempt warnings found in the other episodes found in Arizona. The episode in Tombstone, AZ had Zak going down a deep abandoned mine, and a message appears saying that they shouldn't try entering a deserted mine, while the episode in Jerome, AZ had Zak ''specifically telling us'' to not try what he did, which was record what a supposed suicide victim probably went through. That portion almost '''ended his life!!'''
** This shows up again in the episode at the Pioneer Saloon when Nick and Billy go down an old 300-foot ladder in an abandoned mine. The two of them both say things like "This is a bad idea," and Zak's voiceover also warns the audience, very seriously, that this is a bad idea, along with citing an expert abandoned mine explorer who said he would never go down that particular ladder.
** Zak gives one of these in the Hales Bar Marina episode right before he jumps a water-filled ditch that has downed power lines lying dangerously close to it. It gets PlayedForLaughs after Zak's attempt results in him landing on his ass (but fortunately safely away from the water and power lines) in front of the news crew he was going to talk to.
* DoNotTauntCthulhu: Inverted only if the ghosts/spirits are those that have been known to harm innocent people during life or mess around with those that aren't paranormal investigators. In a couple cases they specifically say they're not targeting any spirits who just happen to be there who don't harm others before they start their provocations. See above on BerserkButton.
* DoubleEntendre - The investigation of Rocky Point Manor led to a whole slew of these. The brother of the manor's owner even told Zak, "Enough with the double entendres, dude!".
* MrFanservice: Zak, who has [[HotBlooded a tendency to rush into things]], an indecently muscled body and constantly messy dark hair. In the "Birdcage Theater" episode, Zak felt something touch him around the hip area while they were talking about the town's history of prostitution. Despite having Nick and Aaron with him, and a ''female'' employee claiming she got kissed on the cheek once, nobody else got felt up.
** He managed to gain access to the off-limits medical ward of the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, just by asking nicely.
** And does he ''really'' have to [[JamesBondage wear so many straight-jackets and strap into every old, rusty torture device he encounters]]?
** In the "Ohio Reformatory" episode, they bring along a female guest and jokingly refer to her as bait. After something or other happens to Zak (again), she remarks in all seriousness: "[[EvenTheGuysWantHim Maybe]] ''[[EvenTheGuysWantHim you're]]'' [[EvenTheGuysWantHim the bait.]]"
*** Happens again in the Fort Chaffee episode, where a ghost says "I'm here to f**k you." [[EvenTheGuysWantHim Even the ghosts want him]] indeed!
* EvenTheSubtitlerIsStumped: The crew have a hard time understanding one of the people working on a historic trolley in the "Fort Chaffee" episode. The subtitles mainly consist of ?????? and "____________".
* FourTemperamentEnsemble:
** Starting with the ''Bell Witch Cave'' Episode of Season 10
*** '''Choleric:''' Zak
*** '''Melancholic:''' Jay
*** '''Phlegmatic:''' Billy
*** '''Sanguine:''' Aaron
** Before Nick's Departure from the series
*** '''Choleric:''' Zak, and occasionally Nick
*** '''Melancholic:''' Jay and Billy
*** '''Phegmatic:''' Nick
*** '''Sanguine:''' Aaron
* GhostlyChill: Plenty of times.
* HauntedHouse: Well, duh.
* HearingVoices: Several times even without them enhancing the audio.
* HellGate: The trio have investigated a couple places that are accredited as portals to Hell, or just overall demonic.
* HeroicBSOD: Before the Market Street Cinema lockdown, Zak goes to talk to an employee of the former theater-turned-dance-club who also claims to be psychic and in touch (perhaps too close) with one of the spirits (A former janitor of the old theater named [[ScaryBlackMan "James"]]). Needless to say, after a visit with said employee to the ''original'' [[CreepyBasement theater basement]] (where "James" resided in life and supposedly still resides in death), Zak was so wigged out [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness he left the theater and needed a break]]. This is the same guy who on many occasions challenged ghosts and even ''demonic possessions'' on prior investigations. He snaps out of it, though.
* HiddenDepths: They credit Aaron as the "equipment tech" during the opening, but give credit where it's due: Aaron is [[ContagiousPowers just as good at detecting spiritual energy as Zak or Nick]].
* HistoricalReCreation: They do this in order to get the feeling for many locations, and as a result, some of the bloodless carnage filmed for the recreation becomes {{Narmtastic}}
* HurricaneOfPuns: The crew gets caught in one during the Salem Witch Trials episode
-->'''Zak:''' (Annoyed) enough of the witch jokes now
-->'''Aaron:''' [[IncrediblyLamePun which joke]]
-->(Zak stops as Aaron laughs)
* InfoDump: Twice, first at Old Town Sacramento, and later at the Peabody Whitehead Mansion, [[UpToEleven which even has a book dedicated to the history of the mansion]]
* TheKlutz: Aaron. In the Hill House Manor episode Zak mentions he has a SideBet at every lockdown about how long it will take for him to trip over something. In this case he tripped over the exact same piece of debris twice an hour apart.
* LargeHam: Zak speaks like he's the narrator in one of H.P. Lovecraft stories.
* LetsSplitUpGang: On occasion when they have to cover multiple spots.
* LoveableRogue: Zak does stupid stuff on a regular basis, but whenever he crosses the line from "reckless" to "asshole", he always owns up to it and apologizes.
* MarkOfTheBeast: Has this trope somewhat. After the incident on Poveglia Island where Zak was possessed, he felt an evil part of him want to go back inside the building, where the normal part of him wanted to leave. He was inspired by this event to get a large tattoo on his back of a sort of angel, half being a good angel, and half looking demonic.
** Played a little more straight when the bishop outright said it after Zak showed him video of the three scratches Zak got on his back at Bobby Mackey's, and the bishop said that he'd be performing an exorcism right there.
** Several times, the temperature has been manipulated to read 66.6 degrees.
* MexicanStandoff: Zak, Nick and Aaron shot each other at the Eastern State Penitentiary...using cameras.
* MundaneSolution: How do you get proof that ghosts actually exist? You're going to need a psychic and do lots of elaborate seances that may or may not be self-fulfilling prophecies, right? Or you could just provoke them into doing something and bring an EMP monitor for physical evidence.
* MustHaveCaffeine: Even ghosts, apparently! At Fort Chaffee they catch an EVP saying "Coffee, caffe" and the guard with them explains that the Cuban prisoners kept there were coffee fiends when he worked there.
* NoIndoorVoice: Zak is much louder than most paranormal investigators. Could be FridgeBrilliance considering Zak's voice is perfect for literally waking the dead.
* OhCrap: "Manifests" in the form of "O-faces" made by Zak and Aaron.
* OrphanageOfFear: The trio investigated the Soldiers National Museum at Gettysburg, previously an orphanage during the American Civil War and run by a sadistically cruel matron.
* ParanormalInvestigation: Duh.
* ParentalIncest: Though they beep out a word during the Lizzie Borden house episode, it's pretty clear that they're asking the ghost of her father if he sexually abused her. And the answer seems to be yes.
* PedophilePriest: The haunted rectory was home to one, and worse the abuse happened inside the rectory itself.
* ScaryBlackMan: Market Street Cinema was supposedly home to two of them [[spoiler: and they're extra scary as ghosts too, one of them (James) outright ''intimidating'' the usually [[LargeHam boisterous]], HotBlooded Zak into a ''[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness very]]'' [[HeroicBSOD troubled]]]] state.
* ScreamerTrailer: Used just before going to commercial. And if they don't include a shot of a floating white nightgown, usually there's an image of a CreepyDoll with one blank eye socket.
** Or a man (It might be Zak) holding his open mouth up to a bright light bulb.
** Or the CREEPY sliced up disembodied hand.
* ShirtlessScene: During the Yorktown Hospital investigation Zak takes off his shirt to show his tattoos because they've been told the ghostly nuns respond negatively to the presence of men, people with tattoos, and [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs men with tattoos]] in their former living quarters. They catch an EVP of a female voice saying "It's sick."
* ShoutOut: A few, including TheSoup (which has poked fun at them), ScoobyDoo, VideoGame/{{Doom}}, and the Film/SilentHill movie.
* SweetTooth: Aaron and Zak show they have quite a sweet tooth in the Sacramento Tunnel episode. The reason they're there is to get 'nutritional value' for the lockdown, and we see them pile their baskets with sweets. Zak's total rounded to around $36 (although this might also be because he was also getting candy for Nick)
* RuleOfThree: Besides the fact that there are three guys on the crew, that number has been somewhat important. While investigating a correctional institute for troubled boys, Aaron received three large scratches on his leg, which scarred. Zak has even said that it was demonic, and the event is referred to a few times later on.
** Zak's back having three scratches at Bobby Mackey's and the scratches staying for three days.
** Tooele Hospital is said to live off this trope.
* SpecialGuest: Several special guests have appeared in interviews or investigations.
** Mark and Debby Constantino have appeared as recurring guests when they want to provoke evil spirits
** Dave Schrader (Darkness Radio) has appeared in the Rolling Hills Asylum episode and the Palmer House Hotel episode
** Chris Fleming appeared in the Live special at the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
** Rick [=McCallum=], Creator/KaneHodder, and [[Film/LeatherfaceTheTexasChainsawMassacreIII R.A. Mihailoff]] appeared in the Pico House episode
** Loretta Lynn appeared in the episode surrounding her plantation house in Tennessee
** [[UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts Brendan Schaub]] appeared in the Peabody Whitehead Mansion episode
** [[Series/{{Supernatural}} Chad Lindberg]] appeared in the Return to Linda Vista Hospital episode
** [[Music/MotleyCrue Vince Neil]], Jamie Gold, and [[Music/FrankSinatra Bruce Westcott]] appeared in the Riviera Hotel episode
** The ABC News Nightline Crew appeared in the Sailors Snug Harbor episode
** [[Series/TrueBlood Brit Morgan]] and Mimi Page appeared in the Glen Tavern Inn Episode
** Darren Evans appeared in the Zozo Demon episode
** Not to mention the countless guests in other investigations, including, but not limited to: contest winners, fans, workers of the premises of locations, people from the public, and people related to the location
* TemptingFate: Oh, Zak. He went so far as to lead a ''black magic ritual'' in the Ancient Ram Inn when the person they consulted refused to participate. That night he had a dream where a witch scratched up his face, and he woke up with scratches on his neck.
** It's stated by paranormal experts that what happens when Zak goes around ordering ghosts to prove their existence is only the tip of a large, violent iceberg of results. Meaning that things could get ''much, much worse'' than scratches and creepy voices.
** He (and the ''entire crew'') also participated in a voodoo ritual in the Magnolia Lane Plantation.
** When Zak laid on the floor with a axe hanging directly over his face at the Villisca Axe Murder House, taunting the spirit that murdered the family to drop it on him.
** Zak standing on a chair near a third-floor railing in the Excalibur Nightclub, challenging any spirits to push him over like they had allegedly done to other patrons of the nightclub.
* TookALevelInBadass: Aaron went from being Zak and Nick's easily-frightened equipment tech to an investigator in his own right. That's not to say that he doesn't still get freaked or make [[MemeticMutation Memetastic]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny expressions]] (or get the ButtMonkey treatment), but if you compare early episodes with later ones, you can see that he's got way more confidence now than he did at the beginning of the show.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Zak has stated that he does not like snakes, clowns, heights, sharks, cockroaches and creepy dolls. This doesn't stop him from climbing up to high places or ''[[DoNotAttempt picking up a wild snake]]''.
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