TYPICAL CONTENT OF A SHOW
The team arrive at a venue and get to know the environment. Simon sets up the background for the alleged haunting and the history of the castle, fort, museum, or house etc. Jenny and Isabella have a scout around and report on first impressions. We meet local experts or individuals who are familiar with the property and they accompany us on the night’s experience, giving feedback and their observations as we go.
This is when things to start to get interesting. We get a sense very quickly of the atmosphere and what spirits are following us who want to connect. Jenny may connect with a murdered woman and become her as the camera watches. Being a talented artist, Jenny will draw the entity she has connected with. She can do this in about 90 seconds and in pitch darkness if that’s the way it works out!
This often also matches someone Simon has already picked up on. Isabella is the least-experienced of the three of us and struggles with her own inner fear of what she connects with. She reacts very physically and emotionally. She often starts to involuntarily shed lots of tears and her body becomes paralysed for a moment.
Because of the random way with which spirits are able to cross the divide and connect with us, we often find ourselves hooked up to a diverse range of different entities. Some of these are non-human – in other words they are demonic. Think of the spirit world being accessed by sliding doors into a supermarket.
A location reported as active is a place where the bridge between different dimensions is strong and will therefore yield plenty of activity, even if it’s not the right one. Anyone who pretends otherwise is probably making it up.
Because of the nature and history of the places we visit, spirit energy seems to connect with one of us in particular and the narrative of the show has more impact on that member of the team. Simon responds to military stories, Jenny attracts women who have been hanged as witches or have died at the hands of violent men and Isabella gets the demonic women-haters!
We use a variety of devices to assess what we are dealing with. These include Jenny’s drawings, dowsing crystals which swing in a certain pattern to indicate different things and electro magnetic field meters. During the course of a show, the meters will sometimes react very strongly to a presence and we have filmed spirits manipulating the readings on request.
The drama and tension climb during the show as the night wears on and spirit energy naturally intensifies. Each encounter is individual and different and we have no control over where it leads. We have to respond to our empathy to spirit and just go with it. Sometimes we do encounter the famous ghost, sometimes we don’t but each experience is fascinating and informative.
When we feel there is a natural end to the connection, Simon wraps up the experience and we leave.
Ghost Next Door
Status Pre Production
Genre Documentary | Mystery
Ghost Next Door is a brand-new format and we have just completed the first series. In each episode the team visit a new location which is famous for reports and sightings of an individual ghost.
The name comes from our central format concept which is to visit places with a famous local ghost. The ghost has been responsible for making the location famous. And we want to meet them!
For future series we would like to investigate different countries – one at a time!
Simon, Isabella and Jenny are psychic mediums and connect to spirits to give them a voice and tell their traumatic, violent, tragic stories from all manner of locations. Simon has now become an experienced CCA licenced drone pilot. This means we can bring a new dimension to future series by using aerial shots of castles and spooky houses to set the scene.
For us being authentic is key and we have worked very hard to portray what happens to us in exactly the same way we experienced it.
Going forward we would like to incorporate Simon’s experience and ability as an exorcist. A lot of the spirits and places we have visited needed this process. Because of UK broadcast guidelines we were not allowed to show this in series one but would really like to push the boundaries in future series.
Because Simon did not exorcise some of the entities we encountered it seemed to have a bad impact on his health for some time after we completed the first series.
The Team
SIMON LUDGATE
Simon has been writing, directing and producing award-winning factual entertainment for various broadcasters for 25 years like Sky, BBC, ITV, C4, C5, Nat Geo and Discovery.On his travels around the world, including to many disaster zones, he has slowly developed an interest in the paranormal and realised he has an ability to connect with it. This has developed into work as a Reiki Healer and as an authentic professional exorcist. He has written two best-selling books – The Accidental Wizard and Gabriel’s Lyre. Simon directed and edited. Camera skills were shared with both Jenny and Isabella.
JENNY MCKAY
Jenny can include artist, psychic medium, and professional international model amongst her skills. She has an acute ability to connect with spirits anywhere at any time. She is very articulate about her experiences and can zero in almost at will. Although this is her first outing as a presenter, Jenny has been in front of a camera a great deal and is totally relaxed. She is very interested and well-informed about the paranormal and is adept at interpreting signals.
ISABELLA BESQUE
The granddaughter of a famous Brazilian psychic medium, Isabella is an international professional model and actress. Very instinctual and empathetic by nature, Ghost Next Door was her first experience in using the innate skills she has as a psychic medium. Series One has been a journey for her as she has often been taken aback by her own ability which she has slowly begun to embrace.