By Lisa Maliga
Whether you think Paranormal State is real or fake, here are some brief summaries of what is uncovered in the first ten episodes of our book, Paranormal Reality: Investigating Paranormal State.
Whether you think Paranormal State is real or fake, here are some brief summaries of what is uncovered in the first ten episodes of our book, Paranormal Reality: Investigating Paranormal State.
Episode 1 "Sixth Sense" - Even in the pilot there are staged scenes and false information is shared. And who is the demon interested in?
2 "The Name" – The timeline makes no sense, there are staged scenes, a bogus Dead Time, and Ryan Buell is caught verbally honing his storytelling skills. We meet psychic-medium Chip Coffey. This name makes me think of a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies [with pecans] and a mug of black coffee.
3 "The Devil in Syracuse" - See what we write about this episode … it's something that will surprise anyone who watches the show!
4 "Dark Man" - Staged and scripted scenes rule this one. Also, you're served the 2 for 1 Dead Time Special.
5 "Vegas" - The team knew all about the dead girl that Savannah was allegedly seeing. Of course the viewer was never clued in. Staged and faked scenes are common, including Katrina's 36-hour long client meeting.
6 "Pet Cemetery" – We get a hearty helping of misleading information but we meet Xander, Ryan's cute pet pooch. This episode was filmed in scenic Maine. Nothing scary about it.
7 "The Cemetery" - A botched timeline with scenes presented out of order. The viewer is also tricked into thinking that something happened. If you have trouble sleeping, you might want to view this episode.
8 "Man of the House" - Planted evidence is found, along with staged scenes and deceptive editing. On the plus side, this is a must-see for those who enjoy watching Victorian home renovation. Oops, wait a minute; This Old House is better.
9 "Beer, Wine & Spirits" - The producers had to be tipsy when they agreed to film in this Long Island location. Did they think they could fool anyone with this error-filled episode?
10 "Shape Shifter" - Deceptive editing, misleading scenes and events that defy logic are common in this one.
Putting That Rumor to Rest!
I'm doing a guest blog in order to clear up a rumor floating around that Kirby wrote Paranormal Reality: Investigating Paranormal State all by himself. Nope, I had to sit through all those episodes of Paranormal State in order to help write the book. Other than diehard fans, how many people would want to watch this show more than once? I'd rather watch True Blood or Dexter or Californication. But I was writing about this A&E show and research is something I take seriously. So I viewed it – oodles of times.
Sometimes I'd play back a scene eight or nine times so I was certain it was accurately written about in the book. What time does that wall clock show? Did Chip Coffey almost tumble downstairs in the "Haunted Sex Dungeon" episode? Ryan sure has a large collection of shirts! Eilfie has a cool skull and crossbones bandana in "The Ladder" episode. Kudos to Heather for wearing bright colors and lots of different earrings. Look, Chip and Ryan have ping pong balls taped over their eyes! Oh no, not another paranormal gizmo being touted. Reminds me of a some middle school science club geeks, I think, noting gadgets that allegedly summon the dead and helmets with dangling wires. Not only are they clunky looking but I question their hefty price tags. But what's scary isn't the stuff that's supposed to be, but that I know each show by name, season and episode number. I've also learned a new term: paranormal celebrity!
As one can plainly see, there are two distinctly different names on the cover. And two distinctly different people wrote the book. But after reading about the first ten episodes, it shouldn't surprise you that some fans have a difficult time filtering information. They've concocted this story that Kirby has written the book by himself and has just added my name to make it look as though he had assistance. Not only has he written about the paranormal field, Kirby is also adept at writing novels, short stories, and books about bath and body products! If we believe these preposterous claims, he also has a separate Facebook page, created Lisa's Library of Writing, a trio of blogs, Everything Shea ... Creates, Notes from Nadir and Leaving Nadir. And from 2004-2009 ran a bath & body products business?! He's done all this in addition to performing house blessings, exorcisms, and spirit liberations.
Kirby should get a trophy for achieving all this! So, let me clarify that I'm the co-author of Paranormal Reality: Investigating Paranormal State. I read through pages and pages of emails written in Kirby's own style, and helped correct hundreds of typos, grammar goofs, capitalization and spelling errors. Yes, I was seeing a lot of red underlines. I'd like to mention that Kirby learned to type as an adult. He's also dyslexic, in addition to being legally blind. But I believed this book was worth the intensive editing and rewriting it needed.
Chip Coffey publicly referred to Kirby as illiterate. [See Paradacity's page on March 19th]: "I once noted that spelling, punctuation and grammar are not his strongest suits. He rebutted, saying that he is vision impaired. So...he can see well enough to scrutinize every second of every episode of certain TV shows, but he uses vision impairment as an excuse for illiteracy??? REALLY?!?!?"
First of all, Kirby has access to a large screen TV and laptop. I also checked anything onscreen that he questioned.
As to questioning Kirby's literacy, being legally blind coupled with dyslexia does affect his writing. However, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, John Keats, Agatha Christie, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Flannery O'Conner and Jane Austen were all either dyslexic or poor spellers.
Hopefully this clears up the rumors and helps Mr. Coffey understand a little more about various handicaps. He is indeed very blessed to be able to write clearly and concisely.
