Local ghost hunting group gears up for appearance on new Travel Channel series

From: Bluefield Daily Telegraph: Local ghost hunting group gears up for appearance on new Travel Channel series
PRINCETON — A group of Princeton-based ghost hunters will be making their first national appearance in a new Travel Channel reality show.

Appalachee Paranormal is a group of six Princeton-area residents who perform free paranormal investigations in the states West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee. The group will have their television premiere on the Travel Channel competing against another team for the new show “Paranormal Challenge.”

Tony Riffe, a member of the Appalachee Paranormal, said the team found out about the show via Twitter.

“One of our team members, Jeff Griffith, is big into Twitter and one of the people he follows is Zak Bagans, who is on the show ‘Ghost Adventures,’” Riffe said. “One day, he saw that Zak had posted on Twitter that he was seeking groups to participate in a new show on the Travel Channel. He saw the post and tweeted him our information. We just took a chance, figuring it couldn’t hurt.”

After sending in their information, Appalachee Paranormal was selected to interview for the show.

“We did a Skype interview with the producers of the show,” Riffe said. “After about three weeks, we hadn’t heard anything back so we figured we weren’t in. Then, one day out of the blue, we got a call about 9 p.m. saying we had been picked.”

Along with another group, Appalachee Paranormal participated in an investigation of the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, W.Va., as part of the show. The groups were judged on various aspects of their investigation. Riffe said he couldn’t elaborate on the details of the investigation itself, but said being on the show was “an interesting experience.”

Though Appalachee Paranormal has only been an official investigation group for a little over a year, Riffe said their friendships date back much further.

“Our group has been together for a year in May, but most of us have known each other longer than that,” Riffe said. “Three of us — myself, Matt Cline, and Jeff Griffith — have been friends for years. We met another friend, Jack Wade, and found out we shared some of the same thoughts on matters of the paranormal. Jeff connected us up with some people who were already doing paranormal investigations. We all just formed the group based around that.”

Riffe said the group decided to name themselves “Appalachee” for two reasons.

“We picked the name because the root word is a reference to the Appalachians,” Riffe said. “The word is also a Native American word that means ‘the other side,’ so we thought it was pretty fitting.”

According to Riffe, the group works investigating everything from local businesses to private residences to larger facilities in the area. Riffe said each member of the six-person team brings their own point of view to the group.

“I’m probably the biggest skeptic in the group,” Riffe said. “Everyone adds something to the table and we all have unique experiences.”

Appalachee Paranormal will be holding a viewing party for their episode when it premieres at 9 p.m. on July 29 at the Green Valley Volunteer Fire Department beside Go-Mart off of Route 460. Riffe said those attending the party will get to review old evidence with the group, watch the show, as well as learn more about paranormal investigations.

“Paranormal Challenge” airs Friday nights at 9 p.m. on the Travel Channel.