Girls versus Ghosts ... and Guys

DailyNewsOnline: Girls versus Ghosts ... and Guys
Rachel Hoffman is not afraid of any ghosts.

She is, however, nervous about tonight's premiere of "Paranormal Challenge," a new ghost-hunting series that features her all-female team of paranormal investigators. The episode, airing 9 tonight on the Travel Channel, digital cable channel 77, was filmed at Rolling Hills Asylum in East Bethany.

"It would be more terrifying to sit and watch than being locked in the Asylum at 2 a.m.," Hoffman says in a telephone interview this week.

"I'm nervous as all can be," she says. "As an all-female team going out searching for the paranormal we don't want to hurt our credibility. But we know we're not perfect."

Hoffman and her team, Paranormal Xpeditions, includes her skeptical sister Danielle Minacapelli, and Tina Storer, a believer. They are pitted against Resident Undead, a trio of tough-talking guys from Philadelphia who like to taunt the ghosts.

After a night of ghost hunting, the teams present their findings -- two visual and two audio examples -- to show host Zak Bagans and his panel of paranormal experts, who select a winner based on the teams' teamwork, use of technology and the evidence collected.

There is no big prize, but something more important at stake, Hoffman says.

"It's a unique thing to be part of this community," she says. "We do it more for the bragging rights, no to win a prize."

The premiere episode filmed at Rolling Hills during the course of a week in March and April. The teams had 4 hours inside the building -- each taking a different "zone" for 2 hours, then switching -- in which to gather evidence of spirits.

"A lot of people say are you crazy to do this, to lock yourself up in a place like that, but it was amazing," Hoffman says.

The spring taping was Hoffman's first visit to Rolling Hills, but the facility's reputation -- Bagans says in the episode calls Rolling Hills "a nuclear power plant of hauntings" -- reached Hoffman.

"I had seen it on television a few times," Hoffman said. "The history is so rich there. It has tons of spirits."

Rolling Hills opened in 1827 as the country poor farm. It has been a mental institution, nursing home and craft mall. "Paranormal Challenge" plays up the darker history of the facility.

"I'd love to go back to Rolling Hills and have the whole place to ourselves," Hoffman says.

Hoffman talks about her team, ghost hunting and her experience at Rolling Hills:

THE DAILY NEWS: How did you get involved in ghost hunting?

HOFFMAN: "I could always see spirits ... Then I learned that there was equipment available to monitor what I was experiencing. As the field of equipment expanded and it was easier to shed light on my experiences, it became my mission to prove to people what I was seeing and bring them to light and show that these things exist."

TDN: How was your team chosen to participate in the series?

HOFFMAN: "We had to qualify, like an audition. We had to present documentary evidence of other investigations that we had done."

TDN: Tell me about the members of your team.

HOFFMAN: "I'm sensitive; I've been seeing ghosts all my life."

"Danielle, my sister, is more forward. She gets right into things, but she's definitely a skeptic even as things happen around her." (Watch for her reactions as she explores a dark tunnel -- alone. --Ed.)

"She's so straightforward, but wants to dig deeper into the stories. We have fun proving her wrong.

"Tina is scared to death. She's had her own experiences. She's been to Ireland. She believes. We call her 'Brave Tina' because she still so scared to death." (Watch for her reaction in the morgue when she says someone "whispers" in her ear. --Ed.)

TDN: There's a scene in the episode where you looked really scared -- "wierded out," the judges said. They suggested you were feeling an extremely cold presence; your eyes were wide open and you were shaking. Do you remember the scene?

HOFFMAN: "I wasn't scared, it was just my particular sensitivity. But I was affected by a strong presence. I felt like something evil was all around me. I can't describe how much pressure I felt."

TDN: In the episode your team goes about its investigation quite differently from the guys. I thought they were kind of mean, much more antagonistic in trying to attract spirits. What did you see?

HOFFMAN: "There are many ways to try and bring out spirits. They did the obnoxious approach. It conjures up a very different kind of spirit when you do that; it can be extremely aggressive. My team is more compassionate."

TDN: Your team got off to a rough start, dropping -- and breaking -- a digital video recorder only a few minutes into the program. Later, the judges chided your team for referring to equipment such as "the thermal-thingy."

HOFFMAN: "As girls we like to have pet names for our equipment, but we did know how to use them."

(The judges did acknowledge their skills with the devices, in paricular a Melmeter, which measures changes in frequency in an effort to detect different presences. -Ed.)

"In the emotion of the moment you can lose sight of what's happening around you. At times I can find myself so sensitive to what is happening that I'm oblivious to everyone else. When she got aggravated, my sister swore; I didn't remember that happening."

"And we're new to this investigating as a team."

TDN: How does Rolling Hills compare to other places you've investigated?

HOFFMAN: "We're Boston based and tend to go local. We chase everything from legends to facts to myths. We just did a vampire legend in Rhode Island.

"Rolling Hills ... it's so cold in there, like being in a refrigerator, everywhere. It's is so large. We had the advantage of going through the facility and getting the story of its rich history. It seemed like a pretty torturous place to live."