Summary
Nothing of any great note happens in the opening episode, but it’s early days.
This recap of the Netflix series 28 Days Haunted season 1, episode 1, “Day One,” contains spoilers.
If you look on YouTube, it’s easy to find an incredible amount of paranormal investigation shows, so it makes sense that Netflix would throw its hat into the ring with 28 Days Haunted. In this particular series, we have three teams of investigators that are spending 28 days in some of the most haunted properties across America, and the hook here is that all the teams are using the methods of celebrated ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Warrens have an incredible case book, and the 28-day cycle that they developed is the bedrock of the teams’ investigations for this series. If the teams can prove the 28-day cycle, it will change the way the paranormal community approaches the subject and break down the barriers between life and death.
Allegedly.
Now cards on the table, I am a skeptic, and no amount of Slapped Ham videos have been able to convince me otherwise. But here’s what happened in 28 Days Haunted episode 1 and I will leave you to form your own opinions.
28 Days Haunted season 1, episode 1 recap
In “Day One”, we are introduced to Aaron Sagers, a paranormal expert and journalist. Now, I never knew such a thing existed, but I am hoping that after recapping this series I can also add that title to my bio. Sagers is going to be an expert witness to the 28-day cycle, and from his hi-tech studio, emphasizes that if the procedure succeeds, it will change investigations into the paranormal forever.
Team 1 arrives at the Lumber Baron Inn, and sensitive Amy already has a bad feeling. It should be noted that Amy is sensitive in regard to psychic phenomena; it’s not a character trait. She is backed up by Shane, another investigator. Meanwhile, in Madison, our blindfolded Team 2 arrive at their destination, and psychic medium Brandy is joined by demonologist Jereme — yes, that is a thing here. Brandy feels a lot of energy outside the Madison Dry Good Store, and keeps getting a woman, and two laughing kids — on a psychic level, you understand. Team 3 rolls up to Captain Grant’s Inn, in Preston, and once again they pick up energy.
So Team 1 enters their venue, and we can see that there are cameras everywhere for things to be recorded. Shane and Ray, two paranormal investigators in the three-person team, use a strange technique of sensory deprivation to mimic psychic ability, however, Amy is a natural, and claims to have used her ability in police cases. Oddly enough, the format starts to sound like every other reality-based show, with the team explaining in pieces to the camera how difficult it is for them to be away from their families for 28 days. The team worries more about the 28-day break from their lives rather than being haunted by a demon. It’s not long before we hear creaky noises and footsteps, and Amy announces that she is sure someone has died here. Amy has visions of a bloody-faced woman, setting the scene for their first night in the Inn.
Over in Madison Dry Goods, our team finds a second floor that hosts a coffin and is immediately spooked. It seems the store was a funeral home at one point. Brandy and Jereme seem shocked by this revelation. Brandy feels a lot of energy, and explains she is a 5th-generation psychic medium. She senses a woman at the top of the stairs that she feels is following them around. An old photograph shows kids in a family, and Brandy feels they may have been murdered. Jereme feels that she may be right, so of course, the only plan of action here is to stick Brandy in the coffin and hope for the best. He explains that this might stir the spirits up. However, it’s poor Brandy that seems more disturbed than anything else in the building.
Next, we check in at Captain Grant’s in Preston, and medium Sean makes an impassioned plea to any ghosts listening that they are happy to help them out. Tech gurus Nick and Aaron are on hand with all the equipment they need to assess the situation. Sean feels the attic and the second floor are where the action is so up they go. Nick admits he is a skeptic. He wonders if after 28 days he will be a believer. Aaron has 22 years under his belt and feels this investigation will be different from any others.
With the teams in place, Aaron in the studio explains to the viewers what might happen, including little to no activity taking place. I bet Netflix is hoping for a bit more than that.
So, night one is underway. Equipment is pulled out, and the teams decide where they are going to set up. Shane is connected to a so-called spirit box that runs through radio waves and feeds them through headphones to him. It’s a bit like quickly changing channels on an old dial radio and getting snippets of words relayed to you. Then Shane seems to hear words that include “get out” and “I will do it again”. If I’m honest, I didn’t hear that at all. I guess spirit boxes can be subjective.
Amy then has a go and picks up more “words”, including some rude ones. Amy then takes the headphones off and gives up the experiment. The voiceover fills in the blanks here for us explaining both investigators picked up two ghostly women before a demonic presence made itself known. However, for my money, if you sit long enough in a dark room listening to random static on a radio, you will eventually freak yourself out, and they do. The viewers are then informed that two girls were murdered in the building in the 1970s, but the case was never solved.
Night one in Captain Grant’s Inn and the team have started their investigation. Psychic Sean says he hears someone say they will “rip his heart out” — nobody else does though, including the viewers. He then hears a name, possibly Aled, but no second name, as that is apparently tough to do psychically. He believes he has made contact with a woman, Adelaide, so out comes the spirit box, but they have an amp to help things out. The team then hears a bump and ask for the names of the spirits. More odd random noises later and they feel the house is full of ghosts. Another bump from upstairs and the team seem to be working themselves up to a panic.
Finally, we are in Madison and Brandy is getting ready to lie down in a coffin, and they have a Rem-Pod at hand to light up when a ghost arrives. Poor Brandy lies down in the coffin blindfolded as Jereme conducts a mock funeral. I am not joking. He starts reading her eulogy, and Brandy tells him she feels someone is there with her. Brandy feels a woman’s face looking at her, and she keeps hearing “get out”. Jereme stands about like a spare part, and as Brandy announces somebody has touched her head, the episode ends.
The ending
So, the teams are all in place and the first night of investigation commences, all filmed in the dark with that night vision camera we are used to seeing in found footage films, and the image of Brandy lying in a coffin panicking that ghosts are all around her seems a fitting cliff-hanger for episode one. However, let’s face it, you put people alone in a haunted house in the dark, something has to eventually give. Unfortunately, there is absolutely nothing in this first episode that would even begin to convince me that these people have any real insight into the paranormal, or that the buildings they are in are haunted. But it’s early days, I am sure things will ramp up in Episode 2.
What did you think of 28 Days Haunted season 1, episode 1? Comment below.
You can watch this series with a subscription to Netflix.
