new video loaded: A Haunted Tour of the Met Museum
By Zachary Small, Edward Vega, David Seekamp and Joey Sendaydiego
October 31, 2025
Zachary Small, Edward Vega, David Seekamp and Joey Sendaydiego
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When’s the last time you saw a ghost?
And no, not the neighborhood kid recycling a white sheet costume every Halloween. We’re talking about the real deal—cold air, flickering lights, footsteps in an empty hallway kind of ghost.
According to a new nationwide poll, six in ten Americans say they’ve experienced something paranormal at least once. That’s right—roughly 60% of us believe we’ve crossed paths with something we can’t explain. And in 2025, where everything seems trackable, recorded, or AI-generated, the unknown still finds a way to keep us up at night.
Researchers asked Americans about 13 different types of experiences—everything from “feeling a presence” to “seeing a demon.” The results show that most ghost stories don’t start with a full-bodied apparition; they start with a feeling.
If you’ve ever been in an old house where the air turns cold for no reason, you’re not alone. Scientists might blame drafts or pressure systems—but millions of people still call it something else: a ghost passing through.
It’s one thing to feel it; it’s another to see it.
That last number might sound low, but in a country of 330 million, that’s over 23 million people claiming to have looked the devil in the eye.
One of the most interesting findings: men are more likely to look for a rational explanation. 38% of men believe there’s probably a scientific reason behind their experiences—compared to 28% of women.
That doesn’t mean they can explain what happened, just that they think it’s explainable. It’s the same instinct that drives someone to check the wiring after the lights flicker—or to assume “it was just the wind” after a door creaks open at midnight.
Still, even the skeptics admit not everything fits neatly into the “it’s just science” box.
Yes—more than you might expect. Roughly four in ten Americans say they believe in ghosts, demons, and psychics. Yet, only 6% believe in vampires and werewolves.
In other words, we don’t think Dracula is coming for us—but we’re not ruling out Grandma’s spirit checking in once in a while.
The poll didn’t just stop with ghosts. It asked about psychic experiences, too—and the numbers might shock even the most hardened skeptic.
That means millions of people believe they’ve experienced some form of extrasensory perception—something beyond ordinary sight or sound.
Why do so many people believe in ghosts in an age of science, technology, and data?
Psychologists suggest it’s a mix of cultural storytelling, grief, and the human need to find meaning.
When someone passes away, the mind often looks for signs they’re still around—a familiar smell, a song on the radio, a light that flickers when their name comes up. It’s comforting to think connections don’t just disappear.
Pop culture keeps that belief alive, too. From Ghostbusters to The Sixth Sense to TikTok’s endless “caught on camera” videos, we’re surrounded by ghost stories. And every generation adds its own twist—just swap the Ouija board for an iPhone lens flare.
Ghost hunting used to be the fringe territory of late-night cable. Now it’s prime-time. There are thousands of paranormal podcasts, ghost-tour TikToks, and YouTube channels racking up millions of views. Even Detroit’s historic buildings—from the Whitney to Fort Wayne—have their share of haunted-history tours.
Whether people are believers or skeptics, one thing is clear: the demand for the supernatural isn’t dying anytime soon.
Believing in ghosts doesn’t necessarily mean we’ve lost our grip on reality—it means we’re still searching for it.
In an era where AI can write music, clone voices, and generate deepfakes, it’s oddly comforting that something remains unexplainable.
Maybe that bump in the night isn’t just your cat. Maybe it’s a reminder that not everything can be measured or coded.
Because even in a world obsessed with data, 60% of Americans still believe there’s more out there than what we can see.
So, when’s the last time you saw a ghost?
Jim O’Brien
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Spooky season is creeping up. Below is a list of Halloween events and activities in Orlando for those who enjoy a good scare.Explore spooky scare trails, haunted houses, Halloween theme park events, and even a few to die for dining options. Halloween events in OrlandoEola Pets costume contest and pet paradeCheck in for the 6th annual pet costume contest presented by Thornton Park District and She Sells Orlando begins at 6 p.m., and the first 50 people in line will snag a free goodie bag full of treats.When: Saturday, Oct. 11Where: 431 E. Central Blvd. (In the circle in front of World Of Beer Downtown Orlando) Cost: Free Trick or Treat Safe Zone – Orange County History CenterEnjoy trick-or-treating throughout the History Center and the Orlando Public Library, along with a scavenger hunt, creepy crafts, candy, games, and more. Children must be accompanied by an adult.When: Sunday, Oct. 12 (1 p.m. –3 p.m)Where: Orlando Public Library 101 E. Central Blvd., Orlando, FL 32801Cost: FreeGatorland’s Gators, Ghosts, and Goblins*Gatorland, the “Alligator Capital of the World,” is bringing back its popular Gators, Ghosts and Goblins Halloween event for a seventh year in a row. The daytime, family friendly event is included with park admission.When: Select Dates Oct. 11-26Where: 14501 S. Orange Blossom Trail. Orlando, FL. 32837 Cost: Tickets starting at $21.99Orlando Family Stage presents Goosebumps the MusicalThe 75-minute Goosebumps musical has catchy songs, spooky fun surprises. The show is perfect for elementary students, families, and anyone who grew up with the books.When: Showtimes available on Saturday and Sunday until Nov. 2 and Monday, Oct. 13.Where: 1001 E Princeton St., Orlando, FL 32803Cost: $20 – $48Adult Halloween Party – OSC after DarkSee the Orlando Science Center transformed for Halloween, all while enjoying a night of thrilling activities and grown-up fun. Costumes are encouraged. Ages 21+ only. When: Saturday, Oct. 25, 8 p.m. – 11 p.m.Where: 777 E. Princeton St., Orlando, FL 32803Cost: $35 for OSC members and Young Professionals for OSC, $40 early bird, $50 general admission. ICEBAR After Dark SpecialShow a 2025 Halloween Horror Nights ticket for $10 off standard ICEBAR entry. 21+ only. Spooky seasonal cocktails are available for a limited time. When: Monday- Wednesday open – midnight. Thursday and Sunday till 1 a.m.. Friday and Saturday till 2 a.m.Where: 8967 International Drive. Orlando, FL. 32819Cost: Entry for ICEBAR starts at $15 (Additional package options available) Scare trails and ghost tours in OrlandoOrlando Haunts Ghost ToursOrlando Haunts invites guests to explore the haunted history of Orlando with two guided tour options: the Ghosts and Ghouls tour or the “Boos and Booze Haunted Pub Crawl.”When: NightlyCost: Tickets start at $25A Petrified Forest Scream ParkA Petrified Forest offers three scare trails, an escape ride, immersive theater and laser tag. Get the big scares without the big price tag. When: Starts Oct. 3Where: 1360 E Altamonte Dr., Altamonte Springs, FL 32701Cost: Tickets range from $34.98 – $59.98 (Additional add-ons available for purchase) Mortem Manor – Year-Round Haunted HouseNamed one of the scariest haunted houses in America by the Travel Channel, Martem Manor features live actors, animatronics and state-of-the-art special effects. The haunted house in Kissimmee is open year-round just outside Orlando.When: Open year-roundWhere: 5770 W Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway, Kissimmee, FL 34746Cost: Tickets start at $21.19 Spooky dining in OrlandoMangoni’s Italian Market Halloween menuStep inside Haunted Mangoni Italian Market Pizza. The Winter Garden restaurant is offering a spooky experience in October, featuring creepy cocktails, eerie decor, and Halloween-themed food items. When: through Oct. 31Where: 251 Tremaine St., Winter Garden, FL 34787Reservations suggested.Helena’s Phantom of Helena Halloween pop-up The Phantom of Helena has turned the usual Mediterranean vibes of Helena Modern Riviera in ICON park into something way more mysterious and romantic. When: October 2025Where: 8441 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819Reservations suggestedHalloween events in Orlando theme parksHalloween Horror Nights 2025Enter 10 haunted houses inspired by popular horror movies and TV series. This year’s latest additions include: “Terrifier,” “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” and “Fallout.” When: Aug. 29 – Nov. 2Where: 6000 Universal Blvd. Orlando, FL 32819Cost: Tickets start at $95.99Hall-O-Scream SeaWorld OrlandoNow in its 5th year, Howl-O-Scream at SeaWorld Orlando unleashes a new wave of screams with unexpected horrors lurking around every corner.When: Now until Nov 1Where: 7007 Sea World Drive, Orlando, FL. 32821Cost: Starting at $50.99Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween The Magic Kingdom in Orlando transforms into a not-so-scary Halloween experience. Safe for the little ones, witness a masquerade of characters and a few faces from the Haunted Mansion. Bring your trick-or-treat bag and gather goodies from land to land.When: Now until Oct. 31 (Select nights) 7 p.m. to midnightWhere: Magic Kingdom 1180 Seven Seas Drive, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830Cost: Tickets start at $119 (SOLD OUT)
Spooky season is creeping up. Below is a list of Halloween events and activities in Orlando for those who enjoy a good scare.
Explore spooky scare trails, haunted houses, Halloween theme park events, and even a few to die for dining options.
Eola Pets costume contest and pet parade
Check in for the 6th annual pet costume contest presented by Thornton Park District and She Sells Orlando begins at 6 p.m., and the first 50 people in line will snag a free goodie bag full of treats.
When: Saturday, Oct. 11
Where: 431 E. Central Blvd. (In the circle in front of World Of Beer Downtown Orlando)
Cost: Free
Trick or Treat Safe Zone – Orange County History Center
Enjoy trick-or-treating throughout the History Center and the Orlando Public Library, along with a scavenger hunt, creepy crafts, candy, games, and more. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
When: Sunday, Oct. 12 (1 p.m. –3 p.m)
Where: Orlando Public Library 101 E. Central Blvd., Orlando, FL 32801
Cost: Free
Gatorland’s Gators, Ghosts, and Goblins*
Gatorland, the “Alligator Capital of the World,” is bringing back its popular Gators, Ghosts and Goblins Halloween event for a seventh year in a row. The daytime, family friendly event is included with park admission.
When: Select Dates Oct. 11-26
Where: 14501 S. Orange Blossom Trail. Orlando, FL. 32837
Cost: Tickets starting at $21.99
Orlando Family Stage presents Goosebumps the Musical
The 75-minute Goosebumps musical has catchy songs, spooky fun surprises. The show is perfect for elementary students, families, and anyone who grew up with the books.
When: Showtimes available on Saturday and Sunday until Nov. 2 and Monday, Oct. 13.
Where: 1001 E Princeton St., Orlando, FL 32803
Cost: $20 – $48
Adult Halloween Party – OSC after Dark
See the Orlando Science Center transformed for Halloween, all while enjoying a night of thrilling activities and grown-up fun. Costumes are encouraged. Ages 21+ only.
When: Saturday, Oct. 25, 8 p.m. – 11 p.m.
Where: 777 E. Princeton St., Orlando, FL 32803
Cost: $35 for OSC members and Young Professionals for OSC, $40 early bird, $50 general admission.
Show a 2025 Halloween Horror Nights ticket for $10 off standard ICEBAR entry. 21+ only. Spooky seasonal cocktails are available for a limited time.
When: Monday- Wednesday open – midnight. Thursday and Sunday till 1 a.m.. Friday and Saturday till 2 a.m.
Where: 8967 International Drive. Orlando, FL. 32819
Cost: Entry for ICEBAR starts at $15 (Additional package options available)
Orlando Haunts invites guests to explore the haunted history of Orlando with two guided tour options: the Ghosts and Ghouls tour or the “Boos and Booze Haunted Pub Crawl.”
When: Nightly
Cost: Tickets start at $25
A Petrified Forest Scream Park
A Petrified Forest offers three scare trails, an escape ride, immersive theater and laser tag. Get the big scares without the big price tag.
When: Starts Oct. 3
Where: 1360 E Altamonte Dr., Altamonte Springs, FL 32701
Cost: Tickets range from $34.98 – $59.98 (Additional add-ons available for purchase)
Mortem Manor – Year-Round Haunted House
Named one of the scariest haunted houses in America by the Travel Channel, Martem Manor features live actors, animatronics and state-of-the-art special effects. The haunted house in Kissimmee is open year-round just outside Orlando.
When: Open year-round
Where: 5770 W Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway, Kissimmee, FL 34746
Cost: Tickets start at $21.19
Mangoni’s Italian Market Halloween menu
Step inside Haunted Mangoni Italian Market Pizza. The Winter Garden restaurant is offering a spooky experience in October, featuring creepy cocktails, eerie decor, and Halloween-themed food items.
When: through Oct. 31
Where: 251 Tremaine St., Winter Garden, FL 34787
Reservations suggested.
Helena’s Phantom of Helena Halloween pop-up
The Phantom of Helena has turned the usual Mediterranean vibes of Helena Modern Riviera in ICON park into something way more mysterious and romantic.
When: October 2025
Where: 8441 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819
Enter 10 haunted houses inspired by popular horror movies and TV series. This year’s latest additions include: “Terrifier,” “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” and “Fallout.”
When: Aug. 29 – Nov. 2
Where: 6000 Universal Blvd. Orlando, FL 32819
Cost: Tickets start at $95.99
Hall-O-Scream SeaWorld Orlando
Now in its 5th year, Howl-O-Scream at SeaWorld Orlando unleashes a new wave of screams with unexpected horrors lurking around every corner.
When: Now until Nov 1
Where: 7007 Sea World Drive, Orlando, FL. 32821
Cost: Starting at $50.99
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween
The Magic Kingdom in Orlando transforms into a not-so-scary Halloween experience. Safe for the little ones, witness a masquerade of characters and a few faces from the Haunted Mansion. Bring your trick-or-treat bag and gather goodies from land to land.
When: Now until Oct. 31 (Select nights) 7 p.m. to midnight
Where: Magic Kingdom 1180 Seven Seas Drive, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
Cost: Tickets start at $119 (SOLD OUT)
Tucker Carlson, the first Fox News host who referred to GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump as “a demonic force” in 2021, kept things on brand this Halloween. That night, as costumed ghosts and ghouls roamed the streets in search of treats, Carlson was onstage with the man he also called “a destroyer.” And that’s not the only demon in Carlson’s DMs this week, as the YouTuber also claimed that a demon crawled into bed with him as he slept.
The mystery of how Tucker Carlson so swiftly descended from his perch as the right-wing cable channel’s biggest star has been the source of endless contemplation. Is it because he sent tests that were too racist even for the channel’s upper management? Was it because Fox Corp. chair Rupert Murdoch found Carlson’s advocacy for prayer off-putting? Or perhaps Carlson just wasn’t praying enough, if his recent claims that a demon physically attacked him were true.
The news that the Lord allegedly turned his back on Carlson broke this week upon the release of a trailer from the upcoming film Christianities? In a teaser posted to YouTube, Carlson is asked by interviewer John Heers if he believes that “the presence of evil is kickstarting people to wonder about the good.”
The question seemed like a wonderful opening for Carlson to explore the questions of evil posed by Trump, a man who just last week claimed that God chose him to lead our nation. After all, when anyone thinks of evil, they likely picture people who commit acts of treason, rape, and bigotry or who are just super into Hitler! Would this be the moment that Carlson, who in 2021 texted his then-producer Alex Pfeiffer to say Trump is “a demonic force, a destroyer,” would join other conservative patriots to publicly denounce the man he’d so happily denounced in private?
If he had, that sure would have been a stunner! But somehow, the truth is even more jaw-dropping. Instead, Carlson responded that he had “direct experience” with evil a year and a half ago, when “in my bed at night. I got attacked while I was asleep with my wife and four dogs and mauled, physically mauled.”
Occam’s Razor would have us assume that the culprit here was one of those four dogs. After all, those dogs were rumored to be powerful enough to deny former presidential candidate Ron DeSantis Carson’s primary-run endorsement. Sure, Carlson denied that rumor, but ask anyone who sleeps with their pets (this correspondent included): you are almost guaranteed to wake up with a scratch or a bump, between canine dreams of chasing bunnies and that early morning demand for food.
But Carlson went straight to Hell with his assumptions, saying that he was attacked “by a demon — or something unseen that left claw marks on my sides.”
“I was totally confused,” Carlson says. “I woke up, and I couldn’t breathe, and I thought I was going to suffocate, and I walked around outside, and then I walked in, and my wife and dogs had not woken up, and they’re very light sleepers.”
“And then I had these terrible pains on my rib cage and on my shoulder, and I was just in my boxer shorts and I went and flipped on the light in the bathroom, and I had four claw marks on either side underneath my arms and on my left shoulder. And they’re bleeding.” The claws came from a demon, he grew to believe, prompting him to spend “a year and a half reading [the Bible], and then I started rereading it, and it was a, just a transformative experience for me.”
That transformation didn’t come up on Halloween, when Carlson welcomed Trump on a Glendale, Arizona stop on his Tucker Carlson LiveTour. According to the Arizona Republic, the former president’s appearance was fairly sedate. Carlson threw “softball questions at Trump, who for about 90 minutes covered years of familiar material in rambling stories.”
“He peppered his comments with a casual viciousness,” the paper notes. Trump’s most noteworthy remarks that night—that he wanted to put fellow Republican Liz Cheney “with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. OK? Let’s see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face,” went unquestioned by Carlson, who earlier this week also endorsed vaguely sexualized inter-family spanking.
The entire situation suggests that Heers might be onto something with the whole “presence of evil” thing after all—he just might be asking the wrong people about where the Devil truly resides.
Eve Batey
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Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir said on Instagram last week, “Phil [Lesh] wasn’t particularly averse to ruffling a few feathers.” To hear some in the Dead world tell it, that is an understatement. When the Dead were making their second album (Anthem of the Sun) for Warner Brothers, company president Joe Smith identified bassist Lesh as “the catalyst for chaos within the band,” adding, “It’s apparent that nobody in your organization has enough influence over Phil Lesh to evoke anything resembling normal behavior.”
Smith’s attitude may have been colored by the fact that, when the band’s manager received a letter from Smith complaining about inefficiency during the creative process, one of the band members (Lesh?) underlined the parts that the Dead didn’t like, wrote “Fuck You!” across the letter and mailed it back to Smith.
Normal behavior was, of course, something at which the members of the Dead did not excel, particularly Lesh. I suppose it was a combination of his rebellious personality, his beatnik irreverence and a sincere distrust of The Man. Lesh passed away last week at the age of 84. Fare thee well, Phil, you magnificent bastard.
Ticket Alert
It’s been a couple of years since the Swedish band Ghost played in Houston, but they must be doing something right, as their last Bayou City gig was at the Smart Financial Center, and now they have graduated to Toyota Center. It will, no doubt, be an evening filled with costumes, masks, generally spooky stuff and some heavy (if at times slightly overwrought) rock and roll. You can snag tickets through one of the available presales right now, or wait until the general sale on Friday.
And if highly theatrical rock and roll is your bag (barf bag in this case), you’ll want to know that heavy metal gross-out kings GWAR will be performing at Warehouse Live Midtown on Saturday, November 16. Is it a bit much? Depends on your sense of aesthetics (and taste). But I will spare you any examples for the moment, in case you are reading this over breakfast or something like that. Suffice it to say that one of the band members goes by the nom de stage “Jizmak Da Gusha.”
This just in: southern rockers Blackberry Smoke will play at the 713 Music Hall on Friday, March 28. Presales are up now, with the general sale on Friday.
Concerts This Week
Gladys Knight is now 80 years old, but you wouldn’t know it. After decades of hit records and Grammy awards, Knight has spent time over the past few years appearing on television shows (“Dancing with the Stars,” “The Masked Singer”) and picking up awards, including the National Medal of Arts and a Kennedy Center Honor. Fortunately, though, Knight is on the road for a handful of dates before the end of the year, one of them tonight at the Smart Financial Centre.
Morrissey, affectionately (well, sort of) known as the Pope of Mope, will perform tomorrow night at the 713 Music Hall. A minor controversy erupted when Morrissey graced our fair city in 2019 and prohibited meat from being served at his White Oak Music Hall concert. Not a real surprise, considering one of the Smiths albums was called Meat is Murder. Another act appearing at the facility – rapper Jake Hill – cancelled their show in protest, upset that band and crew members were not allowed to eat a to-go order from Chick-fil-A on the premises.
All of this goes to show that Morrissey is even more strict on the no-meat thing than Paul McCartney, who does not ride in limos with leather seats or allow leather-upholstered furniture in his dressing room. No word yet on the policy at tomorrow’s show, but, carnivores, you have been warned.
Saxophonist / flutist Karl Denson can play rock or jazz, or both at the same time. He has performed with rocker Lenny Kravitz and the Rolling Stones (he is currently the band’s touring sax soloist). On the jazz side of the aisle, Denson has played with Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland. And he has his own band, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. Check them out on Friday at the Heights Theater.
Marc Anthony’s current tour is called “Historia,” so it is not unreasonable to expect something of a retrospective filled with hits. Anthony, of course, has a bunch of hits to choose from, as the best-selling salsa artist of all time, certified by Guinness World Records. Oh, and Billboard too. But Anthony’s latest album, Muevense, was just released a few months ago, so the set list will probably be a mix of the old and the new. The party will be at Toyota Center on Sunday.
Some people were just born to be rock stars. People like Yngwie Malmsteen. The guitarist, who created a sensation in shredder circles back in the ‘80s, still has big hair, wears black leather pants and drives a Ferrari. If nothing else, Malmsteen is consistent, steadily releasing albums full of neo-classical arpeggiated heavy metal since he first arrived on these shores from Sweden. Malmsteen will “unleash the fury” (as he likes to say) on Monday at Warehouse Live Midtown.
Tom Richards
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Rite Here Rite Now, the concert/narrative film hybrid from Swedish hard rock band Ghost, is expanding its release.
The move comes after the movie grossed $5.04 million from opening on 751 screens for distributor Trafalgar Releasing. The haul was a surprise, as the band it not a well known commodity like Queen, who had its own rock concert film Queen Rock Montreal. But the band does have a dedicated fanbase consisting of metalheads and goths.
The movie features the band performing at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif. on the last leg of its 2023 tour. That footage is interspersed with a story that features the band as characters.
It was originally planned for a two-day release, then it was expanded to 1,800 theaters globally over four days heading into the weekend. Now, following the success, the movie will expand to the rest of the week, an unusual move for event cinema, and likely will play into a second week, as well.
The top territories were the United States with $2.4 million, the United Kingdom with over $600,000, Germany with over $332,000, Mexico with over $326,000, and Canada with over $223,000.
The strong result is also a vindication for the band’s dealmakers, Independent Artist Group. The company was made via the union of two agencies (talent and lit-centric APA and music-oriented AGI), which promised to bridge the two worlds. The deal for Ghost was IAG’s second-biggest music to film translation, after the IAG-repped Billy Joel: The 100th – Live At Madison Square Garden. That special, which aired on CBS, was watched by almost 10 million people. And it also caused a spike in ticket sales, proving the case for synergy. Neither Joel nor Ghost were doing concert productions prior to the merger.
Borys Kit
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This week’s episode of True Detective: Night Country opens with a clever bit of sound editing, as the signature white noise of HBO’s logo blends seamlessly in with Police Chief Liz Danvers’ (Jodie Foster) white noise machine, at her bedside, failing to relax her. She can’t stop obsessing over the video she and Navarro (Kali Reis) found of Anne Kowtok’s last moments, looking for more clues. It’s Christmas Eve, and Anne’s cries for help are about to be joined by a chorus.
“Part 4” of Night Country is the season’s most haunted hour, the ghosts in the periphery of the show taking center stage, even as its protagonists continue to deny them. The emotional crux of the episode rests on Navarro’s sister Julia (Aka Niviâna), whom Danvers finds wandering in the snow without a coat, shivering through some kind of episode. Navarro checks Julia into a facility for extended care, but it’s already too late: She sees the dead everywhere. And so she walks out onto the ice and joins them.
Night Country’s protagonists have been speeding toward the brick wall of their own denial, and Julia’s death is the collision. The injustices and tragedies that haunt Ennis and intersect with each other are boiling over, and neither Navarro nor Danvers can ignore them much longer.
That doesn’t mean they don’t try: Navarro, grieving, starts a fight and gets her ass kicked. Danvers, who has been slowly revealed to be a woman broken down and shoddily rebuilt like a work of jagged kintsugi, becomes so hostile and toxic that she can’t hit up her fuckbuddy Captain Connelly (Christopher Eccleston) for a drunken hookup without browbeating him, and ends up spending the holiday wasted and alone. This would be a quiet, sad episode if it weren’t for the growing choir of the dead.
Photo: Michele K. Short/HBO
The thin membrane between the living and dead in Ennis is one of Night Country’s richest thematic veins, and showrunner Issa López never turns down an opportunity to remind us of it. Sometimes it is in casual juxtaposition, staging mundane conversations in front of a horrific “corpsicle”. Other times it’s in the ways the planet’s history is engraved on its surface too deeply for us to scrub out, like the ancient whale bones frozen in the background of the ice cavern where Anne Kowtok died. And finally, it is in the angry shades of dead women who scream in Navarro’s ear.
We’re past Night Country’s midpoint, and the assorted hauntings of “Part 4” form a ghostly mosaic of the show’s many concerns about our past, and how we work hard to ignore it. The eerie secrets locked away in ice, Navarro’s distance from her Indigenous culture, the toxic entitlement of men that causes women’s opportunities to curdle — if it doesn’t snuff them out outright. History can suffocate us if we pay it no mind. We can forget the dead but the dead may not forget us.
Danvers has her own haunting to contend with, a monstrous one-eyed polar bear that causes her to drive into a snowbank — a bear that Night Country suggests is not real. It’s another haunting, the shape of Danvers’ lost son Holden’s favorite stuffed animal. It’s one of the few things of his she keeps around, one of the only signs that she’s never stopped grieving, never did the work of moving on.
“The dead are gone,” she insists to Navarro. “Fucking gone.”
Navarro says that if Danvers believed that, she wouldn’t keep that stuffed bear. And perhaps, the viewer can infer, she wouldn’t throw herself into this job, seeking justice for Anne Kowtok, working her way through the spirals hidden across Ennis, staring at horrors others look away from. The ghosts surrounding Ennis will not be ignored. The white noise isn’t tuning them out anymore.
Joshua Rivera
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It seems relatively routine — some “hillbillies” scuffling in the waiting room of a hospital, calling Danvers (Jodie Foster) away from an interrogation. Navarro (Kali Reis), left behind to monitor the bedridden victim, pokes her head around the corner, craning to see the commotion. And then, behind her, the man in the hospital bed suddenly sits up.
The scene is spooky enough on its own, a casual startle like a bag rustling in Audition. But the sound design makes it even more hair-raising: first a gasp on the audio track; now the man’s voice is different, gravelly and growling. “Hello, Evangeline. Your mother says hello. She’s waiting for you.” Then he points, lies back, seizes, and codes out. True Detective is on some shit with this one.
This seems as strong a case for the supernatural hanging over the town of Ennis as any, in an episode littered with unreal details like this. Heck, even at the beginning of the interview, Navarro was on edge, after the victim muttered the spectral phrase she previously heard in her car: She’s awake. But episode 3 is also concerned with the practical matter at hand, the murder of Annie K., giving us our best glimpse yet at the woman and whatever happened to her. The hour spends a lot of time tracking Annie’s movements — an Ariana Grande sweatshirt marking the start of a relationship, blue hair dye leading to someone who knew about Annie and her secret scientist boyfriend, the impact she had as a midwife and the vacuum she left behind.
Ultimately, the best piece of evidence so far comes out of last week’s cliffhanger, Annie’s phone containing the chilling final video she recorded somewhere in the ice, the screams of which play the episode out. It’s stomach-turning (Prior can’t even bring himself to watch it again), and just as chilling as the moment between Navarro and the surviving scientist. Something about this mystery feels beyond our comprehension, and paranormal explanations are increasingly looking like the easiest reason why. But there again, episode 3 is careful to remind us that not all is as it seems: As Danvers recounts the case that drove her and Navarro apart, we get her voice-over laid on top of a memory of the pair raiding a home the last time they worked together. There’s a weariness to Foster’s voice here, on all sides. She seems tired of the dead man’s excuses, of her inability to help a 19-year-old girl out of an obviously bad situation, of her own limitations. And as she relays the story, everything went to hell there: An abusive asshole killed his 19-year-old girlfriend, “then he shot himself.”
Photo: Michele K. Short/HBO
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Only that’s not what we see; right after that line from Danvers, the man in the flashback turns, with a ghoulish look on his face, and begins whistling. It makes sense that Prior isn’t getting the full story from Danvers, and in the same way, that the audience isn’t getting all the gory details from Night Country (yet — hopefully). We can’t make sense yet of Annie K.’s murder, or what that damned orange is doing on the ice (and again in the opening credits, peeled and spiraling out as “Bury a Friend” plays over flashes of important scene-setting). One sympathizes with Navarro trying to cut through Danvers’ Socratic method — fuck your games — and still following up on the demand: Ask the question.
In this way, True Detective: Night Country is making a strong case for itself as the best season yet, making the journey along the way feel just as important as who killed Annie, or whether Navarro really saw a man get possessed. When the show tells us to look one way over another, it feels worth it, even when it might seem like a distraction from the matter — whatever matter — is at hand.
At the end of each Night Country credits sequence, there’s a new image. In episode 3, it’s a small fishing hut, isolated and lonely on the ice. What happens there is a breakthrough for the case, sure — Navarro finds the location of a former Tsalal researcher — but it’s more a personal breakthrough for Navarro, recounting some of her life story for one of the few people she trusts, who breaks a small smile when she huffs back into the hut to fulfill his ask. The conversation she has there goes beyond merely the case, and Night Country is smart to linger there. True Detective isn’t telling us everything, but that doesn’t mean it’s telling us nothing.
Zosha Millman
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Some of you may be surprised that a gay Call of Duty ship is in the top ten of fanfiction site Archive Of Our Own’s annual, unofficial roundup, but I’m not. Not long after the 2022 release of Modern Warfare II, a bevy of TikToks bimbofied Call of Duty character Simon “Ghost” Riley, who is only ever shown in-game wearing a full face mask with a skull emblazoned on it. The baby girl-ification of the decidedly masculine character led to a massive increase in Archive Of Our Own (AO3) stories shipping Ghost with fellow hard-boiled military man, John “Soap” MacTavish.
According to the roundup, which ranks the pairing tags with the “greatest gain in total fanworks” posted to AO3, the two potential lovebirds are the sixth-most popular ship on the site, and the second-most popular from the world of gaming, falling behind only Genshin Impact’s Kaveh and Alhaitham. The next gaming ship on the list? Baldur’s Gate 3’s vampire hottie Astarion and the player-character Tav. Check out the entire list below.
As you can see, Good Omens’ angel and devil duo Aziraphale and Crowley top the list, likely thanks to the performances from Michael Sheen and David Tennant in the Amazon Prime series based off of the Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett book of the same name (they were 30th last year). In second place, we’ve got a tried-and-true ship: Harry Potter’s Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, followed by Dazai Osamu and Nakahara Chuuya from the Bungou Stray Dogs manga. In fourth place, the holdovers of 2022 stand strong: Stranger Things’ Eddie Munson and Steve Harrington, though they’re down from their first-place ranking in 2022. The newest addition to the AO3 rankings is Genshin’s fifth-place spot, which is rather impressive, and then there’s our Call of Duty Task Force 141 boys, who jumped up a whopping 75 spots this year—and I think I know why.
Late last year, Ghost became such an iconic character for shippers and ThirstTok fans that even wildly popular influencer Brittany Broski (you may know her as Kombucha Girl, though she has long since grown beyond that moniker for me and millions of others) was openly pining for him on the social media platform. In September of this year, Broski bought herself a Cameo (a personalized celebrity video you can purchase for yourself or a really funny birthday present) from former Ghost voice actor Jeff Leach, who offers videos of himself wearing full Ghost cosplay for $99. The subsequent clip of her watching her personalized Cameo almost sent me into orbit.
Though it may initially seem like there’s several degrees of separation between the inherently masculine and bombastically bro-y Call of Duty series and very graphic, gay fanfic, AO3’s 2023 roundup is here to dispel your disbelief. I did a cursory glance to see what kind of content was on offer and found comics depicting Ghost as an actual ghost who provides emotional support for a very-much-alive Soap, a story where you’re a new recruit to Task Force 141 and the masked man piques your sexual interest, and one where Soap’s aunt brings home a new SAS boyfriend for Christmas who turns his attentions to her nephew instead. The Ghost content is either deliciously raunch or adorably sweet, but almost all of it is very, very gay.
The layered, complicated connections between the military and LGBTQIA+ people has a long and messy history, but clearly something about Ghost and Soap is clicking with fanfic writers across the world. Are there any other additions to this year’s list that surprise you?
Correction 01/02/2024 at 4:00 p.m. EST: It’s Michael Sheen in Good Omens, not Martin.
Alyssa Mercante
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In music, a “sleeper hit” is a song that didn’t see initial success when it was released but gained recognition later on. Many of these sleeper hits got enormous boosts in popularity from inclusion in movies, TV shows, commercials, or (more recently) TikTok trends.
“Cruel Summer,” Taylor Swift’s self-professed favorite song from her 2019 album Lover, is the latest example of a certified sleeper hit. The Jack Antonoff collaboration just hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on October 28, 2023 despite being released four years ago.
This isn’t the first time a song has gotten its flowers late, though. Sometimes it just takes a while for a song to truly pop off! Join us as we look at 12 sleeper hits that only gained popularity years on from their initial drop.
Let’s be honest: The runaway success of “Cruel Summer” should have happened back in 2019. The absolute banger was initially passed over for a single release as it felt inappropriate for the pandemic, and the song missed greater exposure when said pandemic forced the cancelation of Taylor’s Lover Fest, too.
Since then, “Cruel Summer” gained some popularity after appearing in Prime’s The Summer I Turned Pretty, but it’s only now getting the appreciation it deserves. As the opener for Taylor’s 44-song set on her Eras Tour, “Cruel Summer” is fresh in everyone’s minds — as it rightly should be.
Spinning off from Deep Purple, Whitesnake may not have reached the same heights as the original band, but they did give us this iconic tune. “Here I Go Again” initially featured on 1982’s Saints’ N’ Sinners but wasn’t released as a single.
In keeping with the song’s themes and “hanging on the promises of yesterday,” Whitesnake re-recorded it in 1987 for their self-titled album. “Here I Go Again” also received a radio mix version on that same album, which removed the keyboard intro. This version eventually reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Third time’s the charm, as they say!
“Layla” initially flopped due to lack of promotion. Assuming people would know that legendary guitarist Eric Clapton was in Derek and the Dominos, Polydor did little to promote Layla and Other Love Songs in 1970. The album underperformed, and “Layla” only reached No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Two years later, Derek and the Dominos re-recorded “Layla” for The History Of Eric Clapton compilation album — finally adding the iconic outro. This version allowed the song to finally receive the recognition it deserved, jumping up to No. 10.
One of Kate Bush’s most well-known songs, “Running Up That Hill” had a massive resurgence 37 years after its release. The song played during a pivotal moment in the fourth season of Netflix’s Stranger Things — when Maxine attempts to escape from Vecna — and “Running Up That Hill” started running up the charts.
Reaching No. 1 on Billboard’s Global 200 and No. 4 on the Hot 100, the song proved even more popular nearly four decades later. The delayed success even surprised Kate Bush herself.
Honorable mention goes to Metallica’s “Master of Puppets,” which also gained a considerable following after being featured in the same show. To quote Eddie Munson, “This IS music!”
Like the viral success of “Running Up That Hill,” Linda Ronstadt’s 1970 song “Long, Long Time” found a whole new audience after its inclusion in HBO’s The Last of Us. Bill and Frank, played by Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett, perform the song together in a heartachingly tender moment. The episode then ended with Linda Ronstadt’s original.
After it aired, US streams of “Long, Long Time” jumped 4900%, introducing the song to a new generation. It may have taken a “Long, Long Time” but this sleeper hit was worth the wait!
Upon release in 1964, this Jeannie Seely and Randy Newman-penned song barely made a splash. It faded so far into obscurity that even Newman forgot it existed. That all changed after its inclusion in Netflix’s Black Mirror.
While each episode of Black Mirror is mostly self-contained, “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)” is one of the few recurring elements. The song appeared regularly since its appearance in the first season’s “Fifteen Million Merits” episode, becoming synonymous with the series and finding renewed success amongst Black Mirror‘s loyal fans.
There’s no denying the immense success of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” one of the greatest songs ever written. So why is it on this list? Because it managed to break back into the charts not once, but three times!
The legendary track first reached No. 9 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1975. In 1992, one year after Freddie Mercury’s death, it re-entered the charts after its iconic appearance in Wayne’s World. That time, it peaked at No. 2. Then, it broke into the charts again following the 2018 release of Bohemian Rhapsody, the Freddie Mercury biopic, proving that some songs will always be loved.
Anyone who knows metal knows Ghost. Their unique blend of arena rock and heavy metal made them one of the most exciting acts of the 21st century. However, it’s thanks to the viral success of “Mary on a Cross” that Ghost broke into the mainstream.
Released as half of 2019’s single-come-EP Seven Inches of Satanic Panic, a slowed-down version of this sleeper hit blew up on TikTok. After its use in nearly half a million videos to date, “Mary on a Cross” became the band’s first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 90. It also led the band to drop an official “Slowed + Reverb” version.
You may not know the name, but chances are you know the anthem. “Makeba” has been all over TikTok this year, often accompanied by clips from Saturday Night Live of Bill Hader dancing. The truth is, though, “Makeba” has a long history.
Jain originally released the song in 2015 as a tribute to South African singer, songwriter, and civil rights activist Miriam Makeba. Its 2016 music video received a GRAMMY nomination, and Levi’s featured the song in a popular 2017 commercial. “Makeba” continues to grow in strength online, even eight years after release.
Can a song become so popular in its resurgence that it brings the original band back together? Well, that’s what happened with The Walters after their song “I Love You So” went viral on TikTok.
When the song dropped in 2014, it achieved mild indie success for The Walters. After two EPs, the band called it quits three years later. However, since appearing on TikTok in late 2021, “I Love You So” has been used in over 700,000 videos on the platform. It spent nine weeks on streaming charts that same year. The sleeper hit’s success led the band to reform in 2022 and release a new EP, unironically titled Try Again.
Lady Gaga has no shortage of certified bops to her name, but “Bloody Mary” from 2011’s Born This Way album largely escaped wider notice. Fighting for attention with other significant hits on the album like the title track, “Judas,” and “Edge of Glory,” it’s understandable why Gaga’s “Bloody Mary” wasn’t heavily promoted. Cue the release of Netflix’s Wednesday 11 years later.
Footage of the titular character’s “Goo Goo Muck” dance went viral on TikTok, but one user replaced the show’s actual song with a sped-up version of “Bloody Mary.” This video’s viral success and subsequent platform-wide dance trend led to the song gaining sleeper hit status.
In response, Gaga recorded her own version of the Wednesday dance and re-released the song. “Bloody Mary” eventually broke into Billboard’s Hot 100 in early 2023 so we can “dance, dance, dance” all we want!
When “What I Like About You” was first released in 1980, it was far from a hit. Appearing on The Romantics’ self-titled debut album, the song only peaked at No. 85 on the charts.
However, “What I Like About You” finally became popular towards the end of the ’80s when it began appearing in TV commercials — chiefly for Budweiser. Since then, this sleeper hit has gained the recognition it deserves as an incredible song in its own right.
Whether it’s a sleeper hit or the latest groundbreaking track, you can hear them all and more on SiriusXM!
SiriusXM Editors
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Grand Theft Auto Online’s latest update unleashes ghosts across the world of Los Santos, letting players track down and photograph them for rewards. And one of these ghosts might look kinda familiar if you’ve played GTA IV’s Lost and the Damned DLC…
Every October for years now, GTA Online has enjoyed an influx of spooky new game modes and creepy secrets to celebrate the Halloween season. Last time it was killer cars and aliens. This year, Rockstar has added 10 ghosts to the online crime sim and tasked players with photographing these haunting spirits. One of these phantoms is returning GTA character Johnny Klebitz, making real an old GTA urban legend.
Fans have already figured out where and when all 10 ghosts appear, as seen in the video above. They’re spread out all around the large GTA Online map. Some appear in places you’d expect, like old cemeteries or abandoned homes. Others are chilling near waterfalls or inside trailers. The ghosts only appear during certain in-game hours, and players have to photograph them to “expose” them.
Once you’ve captured the first nine ghosts—who appear to be random, generic characters—on film, you can find a 10th and final ghost in Sandy Shores, north of Los Santos.
This 10th apparition, haunting a trailer park, is none other than the ghost of Johnny Klebbitz, the protagonist from Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and the Damned. And, spoilers for a 10-year-old game, Klebitz was beaten to death by GTA V protagonist Trevor Phillips in the opening hours of that game. In fact [lowering voice and putting a flashlight under chin] he was killed in the same spot where, a decade later in 2023, his ghost now lingers! According to players visiting Klebitz’s spirit, you can hear him yelling about Trevor before you snap a pic.
Seeing the ghost of a former GTA protagonist is a neat Easter egg by itself, but this is also Rockstar making real a previously debunked urban legend that after Klebitz was killed you could find his ghost hanging around the Sandy Shores trailer park. Although players claimed to hear his ghost yelling or found evidence of his spirit haunting the area, these were all lies and hoaxes spread online in the years following GTA V’s release.
Once you’ve found Klebbitz’s ghost and have captured the final photo of him, you’ll walk away with $250,000, 5,000 XP, and a new skin for the Albany Brigham vehicle. This new skin turns the car into a legally distinct ride that resembles a certain ghost bustin’ vehicle from the movies. A pretty sweet reward for a fun round of Halloween shenanigans.
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Zack Zwiezen
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The PwC Tower (left) has a zero vacancy factor. Photo / Michael Craig
Don’t call them ghost towers any longer because the chief of a billionaire landlord and a research boss have cited rising numbers of workers back in Auckland’s heart.
On Monday, Precinct Properties chief executive Scott
MMP News Author
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