Paranormal investigators bring haunted lives to TV

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CT Soul Seekers Angel Ortiz of Naugatuck is pictured in a cemetery in Seymour in 2009 surrounded by what the paranormal group believes is ecto plasmic mist, which occurs when a spirit is trying to manifest. The group now has a television show about their investigations on Comcast’s local access channel 10. -CONTRIBUTED

NAUGATUCK — A new show has begun to haunt the air waves of Comcast’s local access channel 10.

Our Haunted Lives is a reality television show that follows the members of CT Soul Seekers as they hunt for the supernatural and conduct paranormal investigations.

Naugatuck residents Angel and Nicole Ortiz, CT Soul Seekers’ founding members, began the show to help people see what went into an investigation into the paranormal.

“We started filming our show after we saw the shows on TV and you don’t see what is going on with investigation,” Nicole said.

Nicole explained the group wanted to show their side of the investigation, as well as their own personalities.

“We always have a good time on investigations. That’s helped with our clients because they are nervous. That’s where Angel comes in because he has everybody cracking up,” Nicole said.

The first episode of the show, which ran earlier this month, featured the team investigating the Ortiz’s house and a client’s house in Naugatuck. The episode goes beyond the investigation and into the equipment that the team uses.

Nicole said they wanted to show the equipment, explain how it works, and show it in action in each of the episodes. This will give the viewers a better idea of what the team is doing in each episode and set the show apart from other, similar shows on television, she said.

Another way the team is trying to separate themselves from other shows is by portraying exactly what is going on without staging sightings or drama.

“We can keep the show real staying true to what we do and make it just as entertaining. A lot of what you see on TV is not real,” Nicole said. “We didn’t do it just to get ratings. We did it to show that you can get ratings without faking evidence and para-drama.”

Nicole pointed out when they investigate a property it is not always a supernatural cause that creates the unexplained affect. While the team was investigating the Sterling Opera House in Derby, a building that appears in the upcoming second episode of the show, they heard what sounded like two knocking sounds. Upon closer investigation, they found it was a manhole cover outside that rattled every time a car drove over it, she said.

“We were able to find natural causes for things because it is not always paranormal,” Nicole said.

Not all of what they found at the opera house could be explained by natural causes though.

“You can clearly hear what sounds like a young child’s voice,” Nicole said of a recording of room noise taken at the opera house.

Joining the CT Soul Seekers are Beacon Falls resident Matt Dowdell and Beacon Falls native Kevin Larocque, who were formerly of the now-defunct Beacon Falls Paranormal Society.

The Beacon Falls Paranormal Society disbanded in-part due to financial reasons, Larocque explained.

“If something happened to equipment, we were putting clients on the back burner,” Larocque said.

When the opportunity for Larocque and Dowdell to join up with the CT Soul Seekers, they took it.

“We joined them because they are professional and a lot of fun,” Larocque said.

The CT Soul Seekers were happy to welcome Dowdell and Larocque to the team.

“There’s a lot of competition in this field. A lot of people don’t want to work together. We wanted to show people can work together,” Nicole said.

The Our Haunted Lives television show grew out of the radio show of the same name, which can be found on Paranormal Eh Radio. The radio show is also produced by Nicole and Angel.

“We are serious about investigating, and have a lot of guests from the paranormal fields on our show,” Nicole said.

Not long afterwards, they began to catch the interest of some television stations.

“We said, let’s take this to the next step and put it out there. The more we do and get our name out there. It will be easier for people who need our help,” Nicole said.

In addition to the Sterling Opera House, the Ortiz’s house and a private residence in New Haven will appear in episode two. Episode three will feature the Houghton Mansion in North Adams, Massachusetts and the Rolling Hills Asylum in Bethany, New York.

Nicole explained that the team is looking forward to finishing the next two episodes and was encouraged by the warm reception the first episode received.

“We had a good time doing it. We were glad to do it, glad to put it out there. We hope it entertains and educates people at the same time,” Nicole said.