By Kirby Robinson
Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal – The Demon House review [August 22, 2008]
"Dear Kirby it was nice to read your comments to my last question as well as receiving your personal e-mail. I hate to do this again but with the wife gone and my children being grown living life on their own now I watch a lot of telly. I recently watched 'Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal' and was rather chuffed. But one episode troubled me very much the demon house. Did it trouble you also?" Your friend in Christ, Jack
Unfortunately, for both the general public as well as those involved in the field of the paranormal, we are caught up in a cult of personality as well as the need to "crank" things up on many of the current reality paranormal programs. Because the star(s) of the program are so appealing and we want to like then so we blindly accept everything that they spoon feed us. We fear that reality isn't exciting enough to draw in ratings that reality is dressed up a bit with some fictional story lines. This is hurting the public and destroying the credibility of the paranormal field that so many people have worked hard to legitimize.
I watched all six episodes of [season one] Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal at least once, and "The Demon House" episode many times. And I've consulted with others to compare my reactions and refine my opinions.
I do not know Chip Coffey, never met the man, and I'm not going to engage in any personal attacks.
One of the problems with this show is that every time Chip Coffey first meets one of the children and asks them to perform some kind of psychic skill, the kids are always 100% accurate 100% of the time.
The first time I viewed "The Demon House" I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and with each successive viewing it gets worse.
Before moving on, let me write this in plain English: I get no personal pleasure from this whatsoever. But I have made a commitment to the truth, I've promised to help ALL and I feel that I'm being led to write these words, so I couldn't be what I am if I shirk my metaphysical duty.
So, here is my analysis of "The Demon House."
Each episode begins with a statement that reads: "This is a documentary." By definition that means it's to be factual and objective, which implies that events and situations will not be manipulated within either the production or presentation.
"The Demon House" opens with a young girl in Houston, Texas by the name of Hailey. She's 12, and lives with her mother, Ileana. The girl sees a spirit of a man that threatens her and brings other spirits that have physically and verbally threatened to harm her. She lives in fear of said violence. The mother claims that there's no help and all this is starting to impact Hailey's life.
At this point in the episode, I feel that Hailey is telling the truth and there is certainly a negative presence in her room and closet that is potentially harmful to both her and her mother.
We then meet Alexa, 14, from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida who claims she has seen ghosts and demons since the age of 8. The family fled 2 years ago from a house that is demonic, and they have been unable to return to it except for brief moments in the daylight hours. Alexa claims, "Someone is there and it kinda freaks me out." Leslie, Alexa's mother, states, "Things happen." We are never told what events led to the family fleeing nor why she waited for 2 years to seek help for the house. In the background we notice a door is open and Alexa freaks out when a bird flies through the house. We learn that she has had issues when it comes to social adjustment.
Alexa then describes the demon she claims to have seen and says, "It was anger, frustration, and betrayal." She claims to see a shadow run by and she can stand next to it with no impact.
Mom says, "She is afraid to talk about her child's issues due to fear that they will say that Alexa is crazy, take her away, and put her into a mental institution." Which are basically the same fears that Hailey's mother has uttered in her on camera interview.
At this point, if Alexa and her mother came to me concerning this home and telling me that there was demonic activity occurring there, I would be very hard pressed to believe them. And here's why:
Point 1 – A bird flying through the house is not proof of spirit activity, but an open door.
Point 2 – Alexa makes a big effort physically as well as verbally, to sell her story. Point in fact, is when she uses three terms to sell the demon to the audience. This is often done for dramatic reasons within film, TV, and literature.
Point 3 – Leslie never explains what really happened that night in the home that drove them out. Leaving lots of personal possessions behind and not returning to claim them, sounds as if one of the elements of the Amityville Horror myth is being borrowed. Notice the shiny black countertops in the kitchen and the overall lack of dust and cobwebs.
Point 4 – Alexa claims that a shadow moved across the light, yet we never see anything.
Point 5 – Alexa claims that a demon/dark spirit at one point is standing right next to her and is very upset about her presence. Yet nothing happens. And if you ever suffer the unfortunate opportunity to stand next to a demon, you will know it.
Point 6 – Neither Alexa or her mother ever inform the viewers that they are both regulars at new age/psychic conferences within the state of Florida, according to some professionals that I've worked with in that area. This would give them great insight into knowing the terminology.
Now Chip Coffey and Dr. Lisa Miller enter and begin to work with Alexa. Due to wanting to keep this a reasonable length, I'm not going to focus on anything except the demon house and Hailey's fear of the dark presence. An important point is when Hailey brings out the mirror and tells a bored looking Chip the mirror is a portal into the spiritual world and at one time she sees Isaiah, chapter 26 written on it. This passage happens to deal with how God shall protect the righteous but He also shall judge those who have turned to other gods and engaged in destructive behavior.
Chip and Dr. Miller discuss the fear that was at the old house would follow Alexa to the new house. Chip states, unequivocally, that it is something they need to focus on. Now let's stop here.
1. Chip should have taken the time to find out what that Bible quote meant. And taken a look, spiritually, himself, at the mirror.
2. The family moved out of the old house two years ago. If the demon chose to follow the family, it would have. This is certainly an issue because the viewer is led to believe that Alexa is its target. So why didn't the demon follow its desired target?
They agree to take the two girls to the demon house and Chip promises to teach them means of protection and the happy trio set off to the home.
Point 1 – Concerning spiritual protection -- it is not something you learn in a few minutes. There are many aspects of it, which is not something that can be taught in one session.
Point 2 – I think the reader should be getting my opinion that the demon house is without a demon, and there's nothing there to be afraid of.
The first trip made to the house features Chip, Alexa, and Hailey. Nothing happens, at least on tape. There are no noises, no movement, no voices, and no visual clues whatsoever. Alexa claims she smells something bad and that this is supposed proof of demonic activity. Some points to consider here:
Point 1 – Alexa's claim of one demon now has grown to many demons.
Point 2 – Chip, with an eerily lit face, which calls to mind The Blair Witch Project movie, begins to toss the word demon around.
Point 3 – Isn't it strange that only Alexa is "attacked" in the van after the demon house walk through?
Point 4 – Hailey states, "All you have to do is say 'in the name of God, leave me alone!' and they have to leave you alone." Which is totally untrue, and if she was taught this on the set, there's somebody there that doesn't know much about demonology. You must be a Christian to invoke the authority of God.
The show really goes downhill from here and if this wasn't serious, it would make a great comedy hour.
Point 1 – Linda, the demonologist, and her assistant, Beth, don't ask any questions of Chip concerning the case. They let Chip tell them that the house is demonically possessed; therefore it must be demonically possessed. Yet Chip has declared in this show and in Paranormal State that he is not a demonologist or an exorcist.
Point 2 – Alexa and Hailey both affirm that something is going to happen when they go to the house that night and again, nothing does except Alexa says she feels sick.
Point 3 - Telling the kids that they can come to the house cleansing is a huge mistake on their parts. House cleansings are no joke and I've seen as much demonic violence in a house cleansing as in an exorcism.
Point 4 – Linda shows that she is clearly lacking the ability of spiritual discernment when she handles Hailey's mirror, and she is totally condescending towards Hailey when she asks about the angry spirits. Linda just tells Hailey to ask them why they're angry. Maybe Hailey's residence, not being in Florida but in Texas, was too far away to cleanse. Maybe it wasn't in the show's budget.
Point 5 – When traveling in the van before arriving at the demon house, Chip builds up tension by saying, "It knows we're coming and it knows what's planned." Yet again, nothing happens.
Point 6 – Hailey and her mother are told it will be safe to stay outside of the demon house. Demons can come out through the doors, windows, walls, ceilings, and from underground. So standing outside is not a safe place, either.
Point 7 – When they are doing their walk-through, Linda, the demonologist, picks up nothing.
Point 8 – Alexa, again sounds the alarm that the demon is going to do something. Again, what happens? Nothing!
Point 9 – Alexa aggressively tells the demon to leave her alone and suddenly she is free of its presence. Which is about as likely as a pea shooter stopping an oncoming tank.
Point 10 – The house cleansing that was performed was amateurish at best, simply going through a house and rebuking and putting crosses on the walls is not a house cleansing.
Unfortunately, at the end, the child that needed the most help was left without really spending any time with Chip. She received no guidance from Dr. Miller, nor were the spirits removed from her home.
This is like a low-budget action flick that spends the majority of the movie building up the confrontation between the hero and his arch-enemy. And then, at the very end, the showdown is over in mere seconds. We were given the false impression that this was a serious demon, yet it turned out to be weaker than Casper the friendly ghost.
What we have here is hype over substance. Excitement and danger over reality. And illusion combined with delusion giving us a cloudy picture of what really did and did not happen. Every time a show is done like this there's a cost. People see these shows and accept them as being real and they build up their belief systems from that. Then, in real life, they act out what they've seen.
The demon house was an empty house that now has a life of its own via the internet and TV. No one was ever in danger nor could they have been. What was and still is in danger is the truth. It becomes more clouded and more difficult to comprehend as it gets blended with fallacy and half truths. The gullible general public, who seek a greater understanding, end up buying in to a mish mash of reality.
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