Genre: Sci-Fi | Reality | Paranormal

Air Date/Time: Tuesday, July 3 at 10/9c

Network: Syfy

Summary:
Syfy’s newest paranormal reality series, Haunted Highway (formerly known as Paranormal Highway) follows two teams, Jack Osbourne & Dana Workman and Jael de Pardo & Devin Marble, as they do their own first-person investigations of the most frightening claims of paranormal activity along America’s remote back roads.

Fueled by eyewitness interviews and evidence collected with state-of-the-art equipment, the two teams will self-document their harrowing face-to-face encounters with the paranormal. The six episode series will feature examinations and investigations that will take the teams off the beaten path in Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, Arkansas and Louisiana as they seek hellhounds, skin walkers, ghosts and other paranormal phenomena.

Haunted Highway is produced by BASE Productions. John Brenkus, Mickey Stern and Ron Ziskin serve as executive producers.

Although there are a few things I’d like you to know about Syfy’s new series Haunted Highway, the very first thing you should know is that this is a fresh, creepy, exciting, fun little show. And I say “little” because it’s fairly minimalist, and this is what I like best about this series.

There are two segments in this first hour, each with a different two-person team, split as though they were separate episodes, not intercut. Jack and Dana do the first segment, Jael and Devin do the second. Now, I don’t mean a two-person team on camera, with a variety of production people coming along unseen. It’s just the two people. They do the video, the audio, the driving, actually everything. It doesn’t lack in production value, because it still looks great and they have a lot of technology to use (and record), plus they’re all attractive and interesting people. The hook of it for me is – it’s just these two people. Alone at night in a dark scary place, on purpose, looking for scary things. And frankly none of them are built like Josh Gates, so it’s pretty easy to believe that these two people in each instance are in some amount of actual potential danger. Especially… well, you’ll see.

They are all much more brave and adventurous than me, but they still seem somehow… normal. Like people you might know. Sure there are a few cheesy lines – obviously they know it’s all being recorded, they set up all the recording devices while we watch – but honestly, with just two people, it just feels more real. Okay, some of you may recognize one of them from another show, but if you do, try to forget about that, it really has no bearing here. I had no idea until after I watched the episode.

Don’t be distracted by the title, by the way. The first two segments, at least, have nothing to do with highways, roads, or travel, except for the travel of the teams, each to basically one spot. And though there may be a ghost investigation at some point, there isn’t one in this first hour. The former name of the show, “Paranormal Highway,” is more apt, but obviously less catchy.

As I said, the production values are great; it doesn’t hurt that each of the four have backgrounds in production. My review copy was noted to be a rough cut, so I’m not sure if any musical soundtrack has been added in since the rough cut was created, but I really hope not. Don’t get me wrong, I wholeheartedly appreciate musical soundtracks, but the lack of any polishing of that sort just adds to the this-is-really-only-two-people-out-there-alone feel of the show.

There may be other paranormal investigative shows that feature only one or two people, and that are scary, but this is my first and I really enjoyed it. If you’ve never tried this type of show, or don’t watch them often, give this one a try. It’s fresh, airy, scary, and doesn’t overwhelm. This first episode is a great watch for 4th of July Eve, and will give you something different to chat about during Wednesday’s barbecue.

I give Haunted Highway: Season 1, Episode 1 Four Out of Five Stars.