Skeptic Zone Podcast

Richard Saunders on the skeptic podcasting panel. He discusses the Skeptic Zone with the audience

Most Haunted 2015 Season 2 Ratings

As a few people have asked me about the ratings, I thought I would give you guys a quick mid season update on how Most Haunted has been doing in the ratings on REALLY.

Week 1:
347,000
Week 2:
217,000
Week 3:
330,000
Week 4:
231,000

As you can see they have been doing quite well, more often than not they are the most viewed program on REALLY, with Ghost Adventures usually coming second.

I expect the rest of the season to follow suit.
The show does decent if not spectacular numbers for UKTV, so as long as it keeps it up, it will remain on the channel, and of course if Fred Batt will keep bankrolling the show.

EXCLUSIVE REVIEW: Most Haunted S02E09 (Knottingley Town Hall)

I got distracted recently with exposing self proclaimed psychics, which meant that I had left behind Most Haunted, afterall this site is called BadMostHaunted right? Anyway, I have pulled up my socks, and I am back with my world famous award winning Most Haunted exclusive review and spoilers!

Here is the blurb:
To air Thursday 30th July, 10pm
S02E09/10. Knottingley Town Hall
Really’s terrifying series continues and this week the team heads to Knottingley Town Hall in Yorkshire, a site that once housed a medieval monastery.

The location is said to have been used for witchcraft and pagan rituals throughout history, and has been host to alleged paranormal activity. The stage in the main hall is reportedly a hotspot for ghostly goings-on, as visitors are said to have witnessed ghost-like figures of children, heard footsteps, and seen a phantom tea lady. Other reports have stated that the table in the meeting room moves and vibrates on its own accord. With such a broad range of unexplainable events, the team should be in for an intriguing night's vigil! Demonologist Fred Batt decides to conduct an experiment, only known to him, that he says will change the life of one crew member forever. Meanwhile Yvette takes Glen, a sceptic, into the lift, hoping the experience may convince him of the presence of poltergeists and spirits.

People often ask me how I get to watch these episode weeks before they air, well the truth is that the legendary Most Haunted Mole simply steals them from the ANTIX production truck, burns them on a DVD and then posts them out to me in Greece, and then when I post my Review/Spoilers Karl gets really angry, has a big meeting with the ANTIX crew, and shouts at them, all why I giggle sipping on my Mojito sat by a pool! You see this is my life!

Right then onto the episode, and we are at Knottingley Town Hall, which is a Town Hall in Knottingley apparently, seemingly the latest location that is desperate to drum up some tourists, so sell their souls to the TV spoof world of Most Haunted.

Kristina Gelder is the crazy lady wheeled out to convince us that the place is Haunted.

Guess she gets her 15 minutes of fame, well 15 seconds, I hope they paid her at least!

So this Town Hall is built on an old Monestry, so should be plenty of ghosts!

Fred Batt starts off by claiming he is gonna conduct an experiment that will change the life of one of the cast members for ever, I dread to think what utter nonsense he is gonna come out with to fulfil that promise.

Yvette tells us that we need to keep our feet on the ground which is why we have Glen Hunt.
Surprisingly this week Glen Hunt has his hands in his pocket, and is smirking! Nice to see him mix up his part a bit each week.

Interesting to note that we are 9 episodes in and Glen is still a skeptic, kinda proves that Most Haunted is a load of nonsense right?

Glen goes full Smirk

One thing to notice is how often Yvette likes to call things infamous.
Yvette says they gonna do some seances, Glen quickly spoils things by pointing out there are radiators cooling down, making noises, and will all seem more spooky when the lights are turned off. Yvette just hums a response that would indicate she wants him to shut the hell up.

And guess what they are gonna go back to their old favourite of getting in a lift and stopping it mid floor. Remember people health and safety are always present, and would never let anything "real" happen regardless, so you KNOW as a fact that such things are gimmicked.

Incase anyone doesn't know the lovely Leah Walton dropped out of filming due to getting up the duff, and apparently being pregnant around Stuart and Karl while they are throwing stones presented a health risk to the unborn child.

Yvette and Glen are wondering about in the dark, riveting stuff people, Yvette is calling out to the ghosties, she has not yet asked the ghosts to make a noise with their voice, that is probably why they are so silent.

Yvette and Glen are in a lift, and yes this is being broadcast! Yvette is asking for the ghosts to stop the lift, because when you die, you have nothing better to do than stop a lift to annoy someone. And as expected nothing happened. So off to Eammon to see if he has picked up any random noises which he can filter, twist and desperately try to make sound like a voice. As expected they get sodall. Poor Ruth.

Yvette and Glen sit down to eat their dinner and are joined by a dirty tramp who has wondered into the building.

Karl and Stuart finally appear, they have been suspiciously quiet.

And within 10 seconds they are hearing bangs on the floor.
As I watch this episode I can pretty much guess the rest of it without watching, and that is the big problem with Most Haunted, it is too predictable, if you are going to make a spoof paranormal ghost hunting show, you got to mix it up a bit, like how Ghost Adventures do, they fake lots of different things each week!

Reminds me of The Last Supper, just with 3 random tramps who have wondered in off the street!

Fred, Karl and Stuart are off investigating an area, Stuart claims he has heard a moan, and states as fact it sounded like a woman moaning, the only moans Stuart has heard are of the women he tries to chat up. I hear his best chat up line is "I'm looking for treasure - can I have a look around your chest", and the only woman that has ever worked on is his cousin Yvette! AWKWARD!

Some more wondering about, banging heard every time they turn around, so as usual nothing caught on camera.

There is a funny moment whereby Fred is nearly caught throwing something, but manages to get his hand in his pocket in time before Stuart films him.

God this is boring. I am literally getting more stupid every second I watch of this. So I am afraid thats it for me. Nothing much else happens, some things thrown, they go in a lift. Yvette gets scared, Stuart breaks wind and Glen smirks, they listen to some more EVPs that just sound like gobbildygook, and we are then told it was one of the best locations ever.

Thank frell there isn't many more of these to go.

I'm signing off as it is Saturday night and I need a Mythos!

Jon Donnis

Psychic Surgery Unmasked

A Short documentary looking at the Psychic Surgery Scam

A Look At Matthew James International Celebrity Medium! - UPDATED

Back in September 2014, we published the article below, I had completely forgotten about it, afterall Matthew James is kinda a forgettable character. Anyway since we have been talking about him a lot recently, I thought I would bump this up to the top of the site, so people could see what we said about him about 10 months ago! Enjoy.
- Jon Donnis 01/07/15

----
Originally Published 02/09/2014 - 14:44

So this Matthew James blokes decides to write an article online whereby he uses the term "Bad Psychics" way too many times for a coincidence, usually psychics do this in the hope of nicking some google hits from BadPsychics.com

Its an old trick, he also writes a lot of articles warning people about fake psychics, which is another trick, pretty much saying "there are a lot of fakes out there but I am the real deal... honest.."

Anyway I thought I would have a look at him, and encourage others on here to do the same, and get back to me if you have had a bad experience with him.

I found this video of him.
Very stereotypical of a male medium these days! All the way down to his mannerisms and dodgy ear piercing!



Incase he removes this, a copy can be found at http://tviscool.com/play.php?vid=934

Now lets look at his Facebook Biography

Matthew James is a natural born Clairvoyant and Medium, who from the tender age of five, has seen and heard what others around him could not. 

So in other words he was a lonely child who had imaginary friends and his parents encouraged this and told him that it was ghosties!

As a young teenager, he joined his local Psychic Centre. From there he developed his gift as a Medium/Clairvoyant and has been a professional reader for over 25 years.

Developed probably not the right word here, groomed would be a better word.

Matthew James is predominately clairvoyant (Clear Seeing), clairsentient (Clear Sensing) and clairsentinent (Clear feeling); but also receives information using clairaudience (Clear hearing), clairalience (Clear smelling) and clairgustance (Clear tasting).

Wow he claims the whole gambit of magical bullshit powers does this one!

His natural abilities of mediumship, which have been employed since he was a young child, provide incredible direct connections with 'the spirit world'.

Yet these so called "natural abilities" have NOT allowed him to pick up a Nobel Prize, or win $1m from Mr James Randi.

It seems when you have these multitude of magical powers, instead of trying to change the world, you instead do little stage shows and have a booth at spiritual festivals!

Matthew James generally uses runes; numerology; his own cards, The Light Of Truth Oracle and tarot cards during his consultations.

Is there anything this man can't do??? Oh yeah he can't talk to the dead!

He conducts private readings at his home in Canberra; in expos throughout Australia; in party bookings throughout Australia & New Zealand ... as well conducting private readings via Skype, Phone & video readings for his clients all over the world ............

In other words he is willing to take money from gullible vulnerable grieving people anywhere he can find them.

He also has a nice "Legal Disclaimer" on his website, of course it is a load of tosh, but then would you expect anything less from someone claiming so many magical Jesus like powers?

Lets take a look

Legal Disclaimer: 'UK Law now states that all mediumship, clairvoyance and tarot/rune readings are for "entertainment purposes only". All guidance given from any of the services on this website are undertaken on a free will basis. Under no circumstances are you obliged to take the courses of action based on any guidance provided to you during a reading obtained from this website.'

Now a lot of Psychics and Mediums like to claim that they are forced by UK Law to have an "Entertainment Purposes Only" disclaimer, this is rubbish, no such law exists and this is a 100% LIE. Yes Matthew James has just told a blatant LIE to all of his gullible fans!

You see the truth is he does not in any way need to have any such disclaimer, in fact he can legally claim that every one of his claims is 100% true! Yep, he would not be breaking a single law if he said that..... UNLESS of course its another lie.

Now in the UK we have something called the Consumer Protection Act, now not to bore you, but basically this covers pretty much all trade, and in doing so people like Matthew James come under its jurisdiction. So if you were to phone up a plumber to come and fix your sink, but in doing so he lied, created another problem and then charged you a huge amount of money, he would be breaking the law, he might find himself on BBC Watchdog, and would definitely upset Trading Standards if a victim was to complain, And the same applies to Matthew James, and mediums/psychics like him.

If they sell a service which is real, and they deliver that service, then there is no problem at all, they can charge people, take money, declare it to the Taxman, and all is fine and dandy, HOWEVER if a medium like Matthew James was to sell a reading, but that reading was not real, but instead of cold reading, or he had prior researched his victim, or used anything other than real psychic powers, then he much like that dodgy plumber would be in breach of Consumer Protection Laws, and be liable for prosecution. And NOW you see why he has that Entertainment Purposes Only Disclaimer!

That Disclaimer which he puts their BY CHOICE remember! basically admits he is a fraud! Yep Matthew James the Medium is admitting he is a fraud and that what he does is just an act, like a Magician or Mentalist, there is no difference. That disclaimer is there purely to protect himself from prosecution if he used anything other than real psychic abilities!

He also claims on his site that... " he is able to provide ACCURATE FUTURE PREDICTIONS"

Yes not only can this man communicate with the dead and break the laws of physics, he can also do what no one else on the planet can do and that is see the future and make Accurate Future Predictions! Of course again his disclaimer states as a fact that what he does is just Entertainment and not real in any way, so of course his little statement can be taken with a pinch of salt.

Wait folks, there is more!

"Matthew is also a 'Medical Intuitive' which enables him to sense, feel and describe the medical ailments of his clients and also of the deceased loved ones who communicate with him."

Lets hope he doesn't contact the dead soul of someone who suffered with and died from dysentery, now that could be nasty.

Surely this man can't say anything else that would make me shake my head any more could he? Oh of course he "studied the Kabbalah for over 12 years back in the 80's & 90's and gained a deep understanding of the Tree Of Life after partaking in intensive pathworking journeys during this period."

For anyone unaware Kabbalah is just a load of spiritual mumbo jumbo made famous by Madonna!

So how much does Matthew James charge for his world changing magic powers?

1 question, 2 question or 3 question readings comprise a written reading in PDF format sent to you via E-Mail. Please allow 7 - 10 days to receive your reading. Please include your date of birth along with your question (s)
$25 for 1 question
$50 for 2 questions
$75 for 3 questions


$75 for 3 questions.
Hmmm. My 3 questions would be
1. Why do you lie
2. How do you sleep at night
3. Whats with the ear ring?

$75 for a PDF! There must be some really desperate people out there if you can charge that much for your "Entertainment Purposes Only" readings.

10 minute, 20 minute or 30 minute Voice readings comprise an MP3 recording of your absent reading undertaken by Matthew James.  Please allow 7 - 10 days to receive your reading. Please include your date of birth along with your question (s)
$30 for 10 minute Voice (MP3 recording)
$55 for 20 minute Voice (MP3 recording)
$80 for 30 minute Voice (MP3 recording)

$80 for an half hour recording of Matthew James cold reading! Blimey, that's a good living to make, much easier than actually trying to change science, take the human race forward and proving what you do is real, but wait you don't claim what you do is real, you quite clearly state what you do is entertainment, that it is an act! Lets never forget that people, remember there is NO UK LAW whatsoever that forces him to state that, he states that by his own personal choice and admission he is not really psychic!

And if you are in Canberra you can even get a one hour personal one to one reading for the bargain basement drop down price of....... wait for it ........ $160!!

And guess what to book a reading, you only have to pay a $50 NON REFUNDABLE charge!
Yep even if you book and then change your mind, you still just lost $50!

Does that sound like the kind of person you would want a reading from?

His website basically reads like a shopping list, and like so many mediums, its always about the money, there is little to no interest in proving any claims, its just about getting as much money as you can from grieving people as quickly as you can, and making sure they have as little comeback as possible if they are not happy with a reading!

You name it, he sells it, from all of his various kinds of readings, to workshops, to tarot cards, every possible gimmick you can imagine and he is in on it.

As you would expect he has a lot of testimonials on his site all saying how great he is, but remember he is a self admitted "entertainment purposes only" medium, he is not real, yet the testimonials sound almost like the people believe he is genuine! You don't suppose he has been lying to them do you?

He also commented on the disappearance of Maddie McCann, afterall he is a Grief Vulture so why wouldn't he comment on this.

Intuitive Insight: Plenty of travels via boats even in recent times. Uncompleted transactions. MM still not to be released. MM very much a commodity too for financial gain = blackmail? MM location on an island (Ireland?) ... Eye surgery or changed colour of her eyes with lenses. Hair dyed black. Cornwall (Exmoor or Dartmoor ??) - most likely location with its relative quick access to sea plus isolation. - Copyright Matthew James

Much like him I like a good testimonial, so I will leave you with one I found online at ripoffreport.com

Matthew James - Predicting future events was a fail!! He may have gotten a few tiny stuff right but when it came to big predictions he was so wrong. Even with exam results he was so wrong and insisted i get a remark and it was still wrong. I dont know how he is getting so many new clients?? maybe people go to him for the connections with people who have passed?? i dont see the point in that cos we have to look to the future and not the past. People who have died  should be at peace and not disturbed. I find that he was also very adamant even when he was wrong. Very very money minded and would not tolerate any calls to follow up or clarify why his predictions were not unfolding. He once said i would be working within a month and he was sooooo confident, well until today it has not happened.. Big shame

BadPsychics.com advice - AVOID Matthew James - He does NOT speak to the dead, he is only interested in your money!