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Most Haunted The Stage Show is a fun throwback to the hit ghost-hunting TV show, but it’s not without its problems, writes RACHAEL ELIZBTETH
On March 3, 2024, my partner and I took our seats at the beautiful Grand Opera House, York; the lights went down and the theme tune that I (and many others) have heard from our TV screens since the early 2000s echoed through the packed room. Excited cheers and applause filled the air as the eerie journey we were about to embark on was set in motion.
Most Haunted is a British paranormal investigation series produced and presented by Yvette Fielding and Karl Beattie. The British TV show quickly became one of the most popular and well-known ghost hunting shows in the world and ran for no less than 25 series. The show explored many different supposedly haunted locations (mainly in the UK), with a rotating team of investigators, mediums and even celebrity appearances.
I was an avid viewer of the show in the early 2000s and have many fond memories of watching the series with my father in the late hours of the night. While I was never sold on the mediumship aspect of the show, I still enjoyed, and still remember to this day, some of the most compelling and terrifying incidents that took place at their chosen haunted locations.
The first segment
As we sat in the audience, myself once a complete believer but now somewhere on the fence, and my partner a skeptic, we watched the Most Haunted The Stage show unfold. The show started with Yvette Fielding introducing Karl Beattie, Glen Hunt, the show’s “open-minded skeptic”, and Gregg Smith, the show’s cinematographer, to the stage.
The premise of the show revolved around the quartet discussing certain episodes and footage shown on a projection screen, where the cast would leave the stage; there was also a question and answer portion at various points during the show. My partner and I really enjoyed the first half – the chemistry and banter between Yvette and Karl was incredibly humorous, and on more than one occasion Karl had the audience bursting with laughter due to his slightly risqué humour.
Rewatching the archived segments of the TV show Most Haunted (which elicited many hiccups and chuckles from the audience) and listening to the cast members’ first-hand experiences made for an interesting paranormal read.
One of the funniest clips, at least for me, was when Yvette and Karl recorded it the Happy Mondays during a ghost hunting expedition – as you might imagine, it was messy but downright hilarious. Some of the scariest clips involved chairs being lined up before falling, almost hitting the cast, Yvette almost getting hit by a flying crowbar, and a sound that sounded eerily like footsteps running towards Karl during a lonely exploration.
The second segment
After a 15 minute break, Yvette, Karl, Glen and Gregg returned, and after a few more clips the audience was open for the question and answer portion, before starting the audience participation portion of the show. Now, as a proud introvert, I was torn – desperately hoping to be chosen to join the team on stage to participate in a Ouija board with Yvette, or to take part in the locker room ghost hunt with Karl, but as audience members encouraged to shout and scream as if their lives depended on it (something that might make sense when looking for “energy” as the crew put it), I lowered my arm in disheartening.
In front of the Oujia board, four lucky audience members (two men and two women) sat on stage with Yvette and conducted their séance. The Ouija board was considered a success by the members on stage due to the glass moving across the board, but this seemed to happen sporadically at best without any coherent ‘message’ coming through; there was what felt like a desperate attempt to tie the results to a seat number, so an audience member in the corresponding seat was called onto the stage, but attempts to get a message across were again unsuccessful.
During the ghost hunt in the dressing rooms, Karl and several other members of the public were seen calling out for ghosts to communicate with them through night vision cameras; the team did say that they received a lot of bangs and bangs when the Ouija section was moving, but at that time the live feed was not shown to the public.
However, when one of the participants asked how many people were in the locker room, seven light knocks were heard, and low and behold, there were seven people in the locker room. Although compelling, in a crowded room it is difficult to determine whether the blows and bangs can be interpreted as ‘paranormal’ due to the large number of people present.
Problematic claims at Most Haunted The Stage Show
At the end of Most Haunted The Stage Show, in what was probably intended to be an uplifting and passionate speech about life after death, the audience was told that life after death is real, and that we will see our loved ones again, and even our pets.
While this might be an understandable mistake when it comes to a sincere belief, making truth claims like this with insufficient evidence should be considered incredibly irresponsible. No one knows what emotional state a member of the public is in, so hearing how wonderful life after death is, with the promise of meeting loved ones again, can certainly have serious consequences.
At various points in the show, comments were made against former team members in what seemed like a desperate attempt to distance themselves from any criticism that could be leveled at the show. However, doing this as petty remarks around a former colleague in front of a live studio audience feels a bit like low-hanging fruit.
Finally
Overall, the Most Haunted Stage Show is a fun and entertaining evening. The revisited footage, along with the cast members’ memories, was, in my opinion, a wonderful compilation of some of the show’s creepiest moments, and it was great to be able to relive them alongside the cast members who experienced them.
Yvette and Karl are wonderful hosts who drive the show with their warm chemistry and plenty of laughs along the way, only to be hampered by carelessly crossing the boundaries as an entertainment piece.
Have you seen Most Haunted The Stageshow? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
