Caught on hidden camera: 'Psychics' claim to banish harmful spirits

Have you ever wondered if your house is haunted? You can hire self-described psychics who claim they can channel the dead and remove bad spirits from your home but their services don't come cheap.

The Rossen Reports team set up appointments with several psychics, then rented a brand-new home in a New Jersey suburb where no one has ever lived, and rigged it with a dozen hidden cameras.

The Skeptic Weasel, A secret cassette recording, and the common denominator

Every day I have to go through the comments left on this site, moderate them, delete the spam, approve genuine comments and delete the violent threats and abuse.

However this comment caught my eye, which is why I will give it a post all on its own, and answer some things put to me, since they make some very direct accusations.

I will say that the name of the author an "Ed Stoner" is obviously a fake name. However I wonder if this really is one of Sally Morgans thug like family members, or just one of her misguided fans? Either way I invite them to publish whatever they claim to have on me and I will happily face the consequences. Although of course I know what they are saying is nonsense, I would never want to be accused of hiding things or lying about something in my past, say for example when Sally Morgan LIED about not knowing who Brian Dowling was on her TV show despite the fact she had given a reading to him a few years prior for a magazine! No I would never want to do that now would I?

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Ed Stoner has left a new comment on your post "Does Sally Morgan's Husband John Morgan have a his...": 

Speaking of which, as a scientific group who partake in genuine study unlike your embarrassing mess, bought to our attention we are reliably informed that you made a series of racial slurs and homophobic hate speech when you was aged 23. Apparently one meeting was recorded and rusting away on an old cassette.

Hypocrisy springs to mind. After all we all say things we regret. Apologise to Sally and her team. Keep it civil. We know who was really behind it.

You are a Bad Skeptic and fraudster lapping it up from the big names of Colin Fry and Derek Acorah who you refuse to properly criticise unlike others. Not to keep them sweet, no the cat is out of the bag. We know why. The same reason you can afford to lounge abroad most of the year. You would never share the real reason or print this on your poxy blog.

Have you ever heard of the lowest common denominator? That person looks you in the face every morning you stare at the mirror.

You are commonly known as The Skeptic Weasel. You are a disgrace to genuine skeptics and scientists who are not in it for fame, money or immature kicks. 


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Please do name this "scientific group" who claims to have a cassette tape of me at 23, you see at 23 I was not involved in skepticism in the slightest, in fact if memory serves me correct I was working in a Batley's Cash and Carry, full time, trying to save money so I could move out of my parents house!

As for racial slurs, as someone who grew up with a dark olive tan due to my ethnic group, I have had to deal with racism much of my life, I have even had racist abuse from psychics, and one such psychic even had the help of a "famous" skeptic who appeared on Most Haunted to try and cover up the racist abuse directed at me, and also threatened me too!

You see as a victim of racist abuse for many many years, to say I have made racist slurs is rather pathetic, but even more pathetic is to say you have a recording of me on cassette from 13 years ago! Please I am begging you, send me this recording and I will happily publish it here.

As for homophobic speech, well I am not gay, but I have many times spoke out in favour of Gay rights, just see my Twitter feed for that. Have I used derogatory words for gays in my time? Probably yes, when I was very young and at school, much like other kids in their early teens, I probably did call someone gay just for the way they looked, you see this is what CHILDREN do, NOT adults like John Morgan. Children say dumb things, ignorant things. Where as grown men working in a professional public capacity really should never say such things.

But I can categorically say I have never made a homophobic comment as an adult, and in a serious offensive manner. Although when I have visited Nightingales in Birmingham, with my friend Drew, I will admit to calling him a "big poof" when he strutted across the dance floor towards me with his feather boa flapping behind him.

So NO I will not apologise to Sally and her team, in fact I will keep making public times she has lied to the public, mislead people, and make unsubstantiated claims about her mediumship

Next you claim that I do not properly criticise Colin Fry and Derek Acorah! Do you know I am the WORLDS FIRST PERSON to fully expose Derek Acorah as a fraud! Yep the first person in the world to publish evidence of what he was doing.

Notice I just called his mediumship fraudulent, yet he does not sue me!

And Colin Fry, well here is another history lesson for you, when BadPsychics was first created the FIRST EVER ARTICLE was about Colin Fry and the Trumpet Incident, a story that had been hidden for over a decade I made public and got HUGE visitor numbers. Hell that article still gets big numbers.

I have written more about Derek Acorah than any one else on this site, so please don't say I give either an easy ride, just because I remain on talking terms with both, and can meet them face to face does not mean I do not criticise.

You also infer that somehow they are bankrolling me, or paying me off, how utterly ridiculous, I do not "lounge" about abroad most of the year. I am Greek, so I live in Greece. It is cheaper to live here than to live in England. Do your homework, we all know Sally Morgan does!

And on to your final comment, firstly I am not a scientist, never claimed to be one, have no interest to become one. So I couldn't care less what they think of me. As for the skeptical community, I have learned to accept and ignore their jealousy of me and my site, afterall I have done more for skepticism when it comes to exposing psychics and mediums than pretty much anyone else in the UK.

The skeptics I respect, respect me back, whether it is Derren Brown using my material on his site, or James Randi giving me a nice plug on his site. Do you really think I care of the opinions of jealous skeptics running tiny little websites desperately trying to copy me and then sending me abuse under assumed names? Water off a Greek ducks back!

As for being in it for the fame, didn't you already state that I dont show the real me? If I wanted fame my big ugly face would be plastered all over this site, if I wanted fame and money I would accept the weekly invites to appear on radio and TV shows. Did you know in the last 4 years I have agreed to only one interview, and even in that my face was not shown.

I have no interest in fame and money, My only interest is the message of education that I try to spread, that being how psychics and mediums do it.

But you did get one thing right, I do get a kick out of watching people who claim to be psychic fall on their arse, have their careers ruined and even watch as their own fans turn against them.

Anyway that's it from me for today, need to clean my yacht and collect my Gold bars from my private island.

By Jon Donnis
Follow me on Twitter @JonDonnis

Most Haunted Ratings Update - Episodes 6, 7 & 8 - Updated

So we are back with our Most Haunted Ratings Update!

First lets remind ourselves for the ratings for the first 5 episodes

Episode 1 - 362,000
Episode 2 - 371,000
Episode 3 - 324,000
Episode 4 - 318,000
Episode 5 - 229,000

It was quite clear for anyone to see that there has been a steady decline. So how have episodes 6, 7 and 8 done, did Most Haunted grab back its audience or continue to lose them?

Episode 6

Well its good new for Antix and Most Haunted fans as the ratings are way up from Episode 5.

In fact Episode 6 gained roughly 55,000 viewers compared to Episode 5.

Could this be a case of old fans coming back and giving the show one more chance?
Finally Most Haunted may have turned the corner, and finally start to fight back against the dominance of Ghost Adventures which is clearly the UK's number 1 paranormal investigation show! Well the only way to find out is to look at the ratings for Episode 7, and I have them right here! So get ready!

Episode 7

And it's disaster.

Despite fans coming back for Episode 6, they obviously were not impressed as Most Haunted Episode 7 lost the 55,000 fans they gains for Episode 6, and then lost another 30,000 views! Ouch! That has got to hurt!

What about Episode 8?

Well the good news is they move back up into second place, the bad news is they lose another 3000 viewers/

Episode 1 - 362,000
Episode 2 - 371,000
Episode 3 - 324,000
Episode 4 - 318,000
Episode 5 - 229,000
Episode 6 - 286,000
Episode 7 - 199,000
Episode 8 - 196,000

So lets look at the ratings overall.
One theme is common here, fans were willing to give Most Haunted a chance, and time after time they feel let down and leave in their thousands!

From a ratings high for Episode 2 of 371,00, Most Haunted has lost 172,000 viewers!

That is a huge amount to lose, but more embarrassingly for Most Haunted is that they are being trounced by Ghost Adventures, a show which in itself is just a copy of Most Haunted, only done better. Dont get me wrong, that show is just as faked and as much of a spoof as Most Haunted, but it is clearly more interesting to the viewers and not only have they stolen Most Haunted viewers they are keeping them too!

My source at UKTV tells me that they would be willing to pay only £5000 for another series of Most Haunted, which is the same amount they paid for this series. So the question remains will Fred Batt be prepared to bankroll another series of Most Haunted? Or will he finally cut his losses and leave Antix to go Bankrupt? Only time will tell.

But one thing is clear, Most Haunted simply doesn't have the pull it once did.

Although perhaps you cant blame Most Haunted totally for that, you see when Living TV which was then purchased by Sky, ended Most Haunted, they only handed back the name "Most Haunted" to Antix, the format and pretty much everything they used to do is still owned by Sky, that is why the show was forced to change, meaning no mediums, which like it or not was one of the main attractions of the original show. Also no skeptic on the investigations. And the biggest one is that Most Haunted Live is also still owned by Sky, so no Live show like we all remember.

Is this the end for Most Haunted? It is looking that way, but in the world of TV you just never know, but if I was UKTV I would be looking at the ratings and wondering do I really need Most Haunted when I have Ghost Adventures which is superior in every way?

By Jon Donnis
Follow me on Twitter @JonDonnis

Does Sally Morgan's Husband John Morgan have a history of abusive and rude behaviour?

Hayley Stevens who runs the http://hayleyisaghost.co.uk website, was watching Episode Six of Season Three of Psychic Sally On The Road on Pick TV, when she saw the following, it seems as if John Morgan has a history of being rude, despite Sally Morgan claiming in a statement "Due to the continual presence of Mark Tilbrook and John Morgan’s ever-growing concern for Sally, he reacted angrily and out of character."

Transcript from http://hayleyisaghost.co.uk

Sally Morgan: ...and even though he is my husband... it doesn't give anyone the right to do... to be rude to anyone. I wont have it because I'm not rude to anyone, and I treat people how I want to be treated.

Daren Wiltshear: I agree BUT we kinda get talked down to by everyone - they don't realise who John is.

John Morgan: Daren kinda proved my point...

Sally Morgan: BUT what I'm saying to you love is that you've gotta be more politically correct, you've got to hold your tongue. Daren's here to take all the stress off of you, you don't have to do anything. Let Daren get into trouble, I don't want you getting into trouble.

John Morgan: I'm not in trouble

Sally Morgan: you were in trouble...

John Morgan: I'm not, it's all over inflated...

You can read more on this and other great articles at

http://hayleyisaghost.co.uk/sally-morgan-john-morgan/

Brighton Gays Say Shame on Sally Morgan!

Yesterday Brighton Gays put up the following posters telling Sally Morgan she was no longer welcome in Brighton, along with various Gay groups who contacted Sally Morgan regarding her husbands vile homophobic actions, this is why she "fired" him and her son in law.

Also unconnected to the above posters a Facebook Protest event was started
https://www.facebook.com/events/338792572949460/


"Stand against hate speech and bigotry by protesting the "Psychic Sally" Tour at the Theatre Royal, Brighton. By refusing to apologise for her family's homophobic tirade, Sally Morgan condones bigotry and hate speech. You have the power to stand against such behaviour and force change. There will be a silent and peaceful protest near to the Theatre Royal, Brighton on the 17th October (this Friday) at 7pm whereby people can protest the appearance of Sally Morgan. 

Remember that for every penny paid to Sally at the theatre, her family (who are also her paid staff) will receive a percentage. This means that you are actively handing money to bigots. We respect the right of the audience members to attend the show, we also respect the right of the theatre to allow their audience safe entry. There will be no attempt to disrupt the show, we will simply be a large and unmissable presence so that anyone attending the Sally Morgan show on Friday night will be made aware of the situation. 

Sally's PR team have chosen to remove any negative comments from her Facebook page and to leave only those that defend her family's behaviour. She feels that the behaviour was justified because she claims that she felt scared for her life. Thousands of people REALLY fear for their lives when confronted by bullies peddling hate speech as demonstrated by John Morgan and his son in law, Daren Wiltshear. We have heard nothing from these two men and we demand an apology. If you agree with these sentiments, we need to see you on Friday!"

It was only after this did Sally Morgan decide to "fire" her husband and son in law, but it seems some people will continue their protest.

Official Statement from Colin Fry regarding Sally Morgan and her Husbands, Homophobic actions and Mark Tilbrook

We are getting plenty of opinion and statements from Skeptics and the Skeptical community, so I thought I would do something different and ask self proclaimed psychic/medium Colin Fry for his opinions. Here is what he had to say

"I deplore all forms of prejudice, and of course I have personal reasons for particularly detesting any form of homophobia. Every one is welcome to attend my shows of any race, gender , religion or sexual orientation, even skeptics! and my tour company operate a zero prejudice policy. 

Although Mark Tilbrook and i shall have to agree to disagree , as long as he does not harass my audience entering or leaving my shows his presence makes no difference to me at all.

It's not my place to attack or defend Mrs Morgan or her family this they must do for them selves."

Colin Fry 

Letter on behalf of Mark Tilbrook to Sally Morgan

The following was posted on the Good Thinking Society website
http://goodthinkingsociety.org/letter-on-behalf-of-mark-tilbrook-to-sally-morgan/

Today, 14 October 2014, Robert Dougans and Serena Cooke of Bryan Cave wrote a letter on behalf of Mark Tilbrook to Sally Morgan’s solicitor Graham Atkins. In a spirit of openness, the text of that letter is below:

Dear Sirs,

Your client: Sally Morgan

We have been instructed by Mr Mark Tilbrook and we understand that you act for Sally Morgan. We write further to the statement placed on Sally Morgan’s website at http://www.sallymorgan.tv/sme-statement/ and facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/sallymorgantv last Friday, 10 October 2014.

It appears that the statement is both misleading and inaccurate.  We set out the various sections of the statement which do not present an accurate or true version of events and request that the statement be amended accordingly.

Inaccurate/Misleading Statements

1. The sentence “On several occasions theatre staff have had to call the police in order to get him removed” is both inaccurate and misleading.  Mark Tilbrook did nothing more than peacefully distribute leafets in public. Regardless of whether any individual did or did not call the police, he was never removed from one of Sally Morgan’s shows by the police.  In fact, Mark Tilbrook never once saw the police whilst he was peacefully and legally leafleting outside of Sally Morgan’s shows.  The statement is misleading because it causes a reader to infer that Mr Tilbrook was engaging in illegal activity which either warranted removal by the Police or did in fact result in his removal by the Police.

Please correct the statement immediately, and issue a clarification to those who have been misled.

2. The statement “Given the abuse Sally has endured over the past three years, which have included severe death threats and incidences of stalking; Sally was left fearing for her own safety once again” is also misleading.  Whilst Sally Morgan may have endured such treatment, she did not endure it because of any action taken by Mr Tilbrook.  In the previous sentence the only individual referred to is our client who is referred to by name, and described as someone who “targets” your client’s shows and engages in behaviour which requires police intervention.  On any ordinary reading of the two sentences the failure of Mrs Morgan to identify any other perpetrator of such illegal activity would cause a reader to infers that Mark Tilbrook made death threats and stalked your client.  This is untrue and highly damaging. It is clear that this meaning has been inferred by numerous readers of the statement from the following comments (by way of example only):

NAME REDACTED “I can understand everyone is entitled to their opinion but this guy needs to take a step back and see what he is really trying to achieve by his actions. If you don’t believe make your point once and back off. She is not the only medium out there. I think he should of been done by police with a warning you can’t issue death threats to people.  19 hours ago

NAME REDACTED Sally u are a good woman u try to help people whose lost dear people in thier life …u give people a sense of direction . Your partner and son are only sticking up for you against a stalker. Big hugs to u and your family keep safe xx October 11 at 1:34pm

NAME REDACTED Sally Stalking is an offence please call the national stalking helpline for advice. No one should have to put up with this kind of targeted harassment. This is a serous matter and it can be stopped. I am a victim of stalking so I know how obsessed that person can get so please take care of both of you.  October 10 at 10:24am

NAME REDACTED Good on ya john nd we love u sally. People like this should b locked up for a long time specially wen the victim is in distress over their actions October 10 at 9:49am

NAME REDACTED How about apologizing for what he said and the threats he made? October 12 at 2:39pm

NAME REDACTED What a load of rubbish. This guy is clearly pushing all the buttons to wind this up ..then record it ( surprisingly) and now play victim.. I have heard people say this to people on nights out its through frustration … They have clearly had a gutful of his ridicules pathetic behaviours and threats . I can’t stand people that act this way then squirm and play victim. 19 hours ago

Please correct the statement immediately, and issue a clarification to those who have been misled.

3. The statements refers to “several occasions”, “continual presence”, “persistent hounding” and Mr Morgan’s “concern for Sally” in relation to Mr Tilbrook leafleting outside of her shows, and puts all of this forward as justification for Mr Morgan’s behaviour. This is misleading to the reader.  Mr Tilbrook has never met Mrs Morgan or attempted to meet her.  However, Mr Tilbrook was approached and threatened by Mr Morgan at the very first show that he attended in March 2014 (a fact which is acknowledged by Mr Morgan in footage taken at the second show). The published video is taken from the third show that our client attended. Prior to these occasions, Mr Tilbrook had never contacted Mrs Morgan or anyone connected with her in any way.  It is therefore clear that Mr Morgan’s actions were not provoked by Mr Tilbrook’s “persistent hounding” as inferred by the context of the article.  It is clear that such conduct is being inferred of our client from the statement by the following comments:

NAME REDACTED The fact of the matter is that the person who filmed you has been provoking you and publicly slating you for a very long time and such a horrible man who has no idea about the ability that you have. 18 hour ago

NAME REDACTED I don’t agree with what was said but this bloke has harassed them for a long time n someone had to say something, just a shame it’s now affecting her whole life which is exactly what these people wanted x 19 hours ago

NAME REDACTED Everyone says things in the heat of the moment and he was actualy deffending sally.not saying what was said was right but by the sounds of it the guy has been harassing them for a long time so provocation is also a factor!!!! 19 hours ago

NAME REDACTED Firstly Sally is not a fortune teller nor does she predict the future to those of you saying she should have seen it coming…secondly Sally is not a physic she is a medium…and Lastly, this man has been hounding Sally for a long time, removed by the police on a number of occasions and harassed theatre staff and the members of the public…yes what they did was wrong but maybe John and Dean were at the end of there tether with this man. 17 hours ago

Please correct these statements immediately, and issue a clarification to those who have been misled.

4. It appears that Ms Morgan or her employees are moderating the comments on her facebook page, since a number of comments have been removed (as referred to in by comments at 10:33am on 10 October, 2:07am on 11 October and 6:48pm on 12 October).  We are therefore surprised that the following comments have not been removed since they contain information which Ms Morgan knows to be false/inaccurate and/or misleading:

NAME REDACTED Good on john!! Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion,but trying to ram it down people’s throat,to the point of threats and possible violence,is not acceptable,john was just standing up for and protecting his love,he should be applauded! October 10 at 10:45am

NAME REDACTED this tilbrook person is clearly stalking sally,,her husband has shown amazing restraint imho after mths of tilbrooks harassment.

NAME REDACTED Looked at the video, obv years of this guy outside venues handing out leaflets and it’s came to a head, can’t blame them for being angry 18 hour ago

NAME REDACTED I have no idea what has gone on here but from your last post this guy been pushing your johns button a lot over 3 years he might have said something out of line through anger but he was trying to protect u my partner would have done the same plz don’t throw away your marriage cos of an idiot I’m sure like u said john would never normally do anything like this so it’s one off protecting the woman he loves very much same for your son in law xxx 19 hours ago

NAME REDACTED Sally I’m sorry to hear your feeling like this but I think you are being a little hasty! John and Daren did what any other husband and son in law would do after their family member taking years of stalking and unreasonable behaviour from someone like Mark and quite frankly any other husband would have knocked him out so fair play to John in having that restraint, don’t think my husband would have been so withdrawn on that matter. You need your family around you just now, don’t worry what the public thinks just remember, if it’s not broken don’t fix it, and your marriage is far from broken x 19 hours ago

NAME REDACTED after all the stress you have all been through with this guy sending you threats and following you round all your shows i dont blame the guys for using threatening or violent behaviour dont sack them for it. pat them on the back they were only doing it to protect you. and dont throw your marriage away because your husband was trying to protect you. thats uncalled for. 19 hours ago

Please explain why Ms Morgan has felt able to leave this material on the internet despite removing other material.

The effect of the above statements is to infer that Mr Tilbrook instigated the vile and threatening abuse he suffered, and that his conduct somehow warranted such behaviour by Mr Morgan.

We can only hope that Mrs Morgan did not intend for her statement to give rise to such misleading impressions about Mr Tilbrook’s behaviour. We accordingly look forward to Mrs Morgan setting the record straight as soon as possible before this spreads further on the internet.  We note that the Independent newspaper has today published an article which quotes Ms Morgan’s accusation of “persistent hounding” by Mr Tilbrook.

Our client’s rights are fully reserved.

Yours faithfully

Bryan Cave

Sally Morgan fires her Husband John Morgan and Son in Law Daren Wiltshear

This week really couldn't get any funnier, as Sally Morgan has now "fired" her Husband and Son In Law from Sally Morgan Enterprises, and also claims she has no idea what will happen to her marriage!

You can read more about this story at the following link
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2792073/tv-psychic-sally-morgan-forced-sack-husband-son-law-caught-camera-making-homophobic-violent-threats-critic.html

Robert W. Lester takes a look at Sally Morgan and her family threatening a critic outside event venue

BadPsychics full coverage of this
http://badpsychics.blogspot.gr/2014/10/skeptic-mark-tilbrook-confronted-and.html

The Guardian article on this threats issue
http://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2014/oct/07/campaign-psychic-sally-morgan

Original Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCdvA7Lu1jM

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/70539

And thank you to the few people who sent me the links via twitter and facebook.
https://twitter.com/RobWLester 

Please look into the nature of psychic frauds and see if your psychic favourites are using tricks. 

My own history with Sally has involved a bunch of copyright claims but the cow does not dare take me to court.

By Robert W. Lester

Skeptic Mark Tilbrook confronted and abused by family of "psychic" Sally Morgan

From Mark Tilbrook:

“As I explained in the Guardian on 7 October, 2014 (http://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2014/oct/07/campaign-psychic-sally-morgan), I decided earlier this year to leaflet outside various psychic stage shows, encouraging members of the audience to ask themselves questions about psychic ability. My first three visits were to shows by Sally Morgan, and on each occasion her husband John Morgan approached me. I found him to be threatening and abusive. 

After being threatened during my first encounter with John Morgan, I felt it necessary to have a camera with me when leafleting, to record events and provide evidence of the threats I faced. This footage shows what happened on the third occasion, at the Shaw Theatre in London on March 30, 2014. I’ve subtitled the video as accurately as I can make out, and you can make up your mind about his behaviour after seeing it for yourself.

None of this has stopped me from being determined to continue leafleting at psychic stage shows. This is why I have been working with the Good Thinking Society to hand out more leaflets at psychic shows throughout October 2014. You can find out about 'Psychic Awareness Month' at the Good Thinking website (http://goodthinkingsociety.org/psychic-awareness-month).”




Homophobic comments by Sally Morgans husband

Here they directly libel Chris French by calling him a liar, and then use racist terms while trying to think of Simon Singh

During the video they also allude to Derren Brown and use disgraceful homophobic language too


UPDATE:
Sally Morgan has released a statement, a rather pathetic one at that. Afterall isn't she supposed to be psychic? Didn't she see this all coming? Her racist, homophobic husband making these comments?

SME Statement
Sally Morgan Enterprises would like to apologise for any offence caused by the material. Since April 2014, Mark Tilbrook has targeted Sally Morgan’s live performances; handing out leaflets to audience members. On several occasions theatre staff have had to call the police in order to get him removed.

Given the abuse Sally has endured over the past three years, which have included severe death threats and incidences of stalking; Sally was left fearing for her own safety once again.

Due to the continual presence of Mark Tilbrook and John Morgan’s ever-growing concern for Sally, he reacted angrily and out of character.

Sally was not aware of the comments made in this video. She is very upset by the events, does not condone any of the behaviour and can only assume that this was the cause of persistent hounding that lead to this altercation.

Although the Psychic Awareness month hosted by Good Thinking Society has come to light in recent weeks, the original leaflet given out by Mark Tilbrook contained different information which both Sally and SME felt made targeted references to her and not psychics in general, hence why legal advice has been taken.

SKEPTICAL ACTIVISM - A CALL TO ARMS

If your goat has been got by a scam, fraud, or woo then please read on.

Some of you may have attended the Birmingham SitP talk by Michael Marshall of Merseyside Skeptics Society, and Project Director at Good Thinking Society.

For those who weren't there, amongst other achievements, Michael was instrumental in organising the 10:23 campaign, which successfully spread the word about the ineffectiveness of homeopathy.

You can find out more about Good Thinking at:

http://www.goodthinkingsociety.org 

That talk inspired me to want to develop an idea that has been been running around in my head since I started attending SitP a couple of years ago.

Having taken part in a few skeptical activist activities myself (e.g. carrying out a survey of attendees at a Colin Fry show in London; campaigning against Gary Mannion , 'psychic surgeon'; and establishing a campaign in the U.K. to expose and help bring an end to the fake explosives detectors trade - see ADE651 and GT200; I am interested in setting up Birmingham Skeptics Activists as a spinoff from the main group.

B.S.A (Bull Shit Annihilators; just kidding!) will be a group of people who are prepared to take part in campaigns to combat the panoply of nonsense that surrounds us. It may be pseudoscience, quackery, 'psychics', or creationism in schools. One example that still resonates with me was the talk by one of the speakers at the first open mic night on cancer quackery, and how her dad was sadly taken in by people in the area offering false hope via quack 'cures'. Targeting, exposing and bringing people like that to justice is a compelling motivation. Campaigns may involve anything from emailing your M.P., protests, leafleting, blogging or other coordinated action.

I recognise that not everyone has the time or the inclination to take part in skeptical activism, but I am sure that some of you will want to get involved.

What we need:

What we need is a bit of your time every now and then.

What we don't need:

We're not after your cash, in fact we'll be looking to cover any expenses and you don't even have to be close to the centre of Birmingham as there are plenty of things going on almost everywhere. We're also not looking to drag you along to a load of committee meetings either.

Depending on the level of support, over the next couple of months we will look to establish Birmingham Skeptics Activists and agree how best to move forward with this initiative.

If you are interested please let me know. I will also be at next SitP featuring Chris French on the 8th of October, or feel free to email me on rgns(at sign)hushmail.me.

Richard Sutherland

TV REVIEW Most Haunted Episode 10/10 (Saltmarsh Hall, Yorkshire) LAST IN SERIES - REALLY

Well its finally here, the last episode in the series of Most Haunted and potentially the last ever episode, with the ratings dropping, thousands of people switching off, could this be the last we will ever see of Most Haunted? Have ANTIX finally ringed the last drop of blood out of this stone? We know that the online version failed miserably, and UKTV only gave ANTIX a measly £5000 for the rights to show the series, so unless a miracle happens this will probably be the end.

So lets enjoy this final episode.

Most Haunted has failed with pretty much everything they have tried on this new version of the show, well all except one thing, that being the emergence of the now legendary Melanie Crump, to say a star has been born is a vast understatement. And despite the jealousy, the talking behind her back and so on, Melanie Crump has stood tall and come out of this series as the only credible character.

"Whatever it is, it's coming up the corridor" - Karl Beattie

This episode is the second part of the investigation into Saltmarsh Hall, Yorkshire, the first part was insanely boring and predictable, so I am hoping they saved extra fakery for this final episode in the hope that they may get a ratings boost with it being the final episode, and perhaps encourage UKTV to pay for another series or even the rumoured "movie length" version.

Quick update on Melanie Crump, she is wearing a nice tight denim pair of jeans, to go with her brown coat and green scarf, on any normal woman this wouldn't work, but on Mel it just all gels together.

As soon as the investigation starts Yvette hears a noise, Fred Batt is already getting a lot of screen time, and why not! He has paid for this nonsense you know!

Karl is wearing his ANTIX branded Leather Jacket again, I am sure he thinks he looks like the Fonz, but alas he doesn't.

Yvette declares "If I didn't know I had to come back here, there is no way I would come back here!"

As usual Yvette uses such incredible logic.

Quick reminder that there is no such thing as ghosts so any fear in such locations is completely irrational.

There is some knocking from the floor, the spirits (Stuart) are making their presence known.

Great to see Melanie Crump always aware of where the camera is, that is the sign of a true professional.

Just put this show into perspective for a moment, you have 6+ people in a room, listening to knocks on the floor and trying to work out what the spirits (that do not exist) are trying to say. And people at home are watching this and class it as entertainment! I wonder sometimes who is worst, the idiots on the show, or the people watching!?

As Fred goes first through a door and suddenly (off camera) a door handle is thrown (or dropped) sending Yvette into a panic of screaming, surely she knows it is Fred who dropped the Door Handle?

The team have a coffee break and leave Karl on his own with his camera, we then are presented with a few minutes of Karl filming his own face while we hear some footsteps.He puts the camera down and we get possibly my favourite shot of the series!

The footsteps are getting closer, Karl is breathing heavy, and is doing his best acting to date.

Now why would a ghost make footstep noises? They are a ghost, they have no physical body. Of course the gullible out there don't even consider that do they.

We now have a few minutes of Karl saying "crying out loud" while filming an empty corridor.

Still we can hear the ghosts (Stuarts) footsteps, but of course nothing is shown on camera, just lots of filming of his own face, until he finally decides to run away like a little girl! Well done Karl you big numpty!

Karl unscrews a panel, Yvette is literally pissing herself with excitement, and behind the panel is a corridor with some rubble. That's it. They then climb through the hole and get into the corridor that apparently no one has been in, in decades!

But the best moment is when Fred is struggling to climb up through the hole and we get this wonderful shot of Melanie Crump! Please take a moment to enjoy!

At this moment I would like to officially nominate Melanie Crump for the 2015 Rear of the Year trophy!

WONDERFUL!!

I hate to spoil this for everyone, but there is a thing in TV called Health and Safety, basically EVERYTHING has to go through compliance officers, as if someone was to get hurt, there could be a lawsuit. So when they say they are the first people in decades to enter this corridor this is a lie, they would have had a safety officer, possible even someone from the fire service check everything first.

Ok back to the investigation and we have a genuine Most Haunted worlds first, as they catch on camera an actual dead creature! unfortunately it is just the skeleton of a dead bird, but come on guys, get excited, other than Fred Batts personality, this is the first actual dead thing they have ever filmed!

So from the perfect arse of Melanie Crump to a dead bird, the good and the bad all in a matter of a minute!

I am expecting Stuart to fall at some point as been a while since he done a good stunt.

Worth also mentioning that I am missing the Chelsea v Arsenal game to do this review and I am also getting distracted by hunger pains, I've got a nice Chicken Souvlaki to cook and eat downstairs. Ok 15 more minutes, pull it together Jon, you can survive until then.

If Derek Acorah was on this show, he would have had at least 3 possessions by now, oh how I miss that Scouser master!

Anyway sodall happens so they start to exist the area through the hole, and we get this nice shot of Yvette.

And suddenly I am no longer hungry, Chicken Souvlaki goes in the bin, and I will have to eat later tonight instead as cant stomach anything now! Why couldn't they have filmed Mel coming down instead, now that would have been proper TV Gold!

They are now investigating another area, something gets thrown near Stuart and Karl, surprise surprise.

Suddenly a pool ball is filmed rolling on the floor, of course we never see the start of the roll, and as expected from by Karl. We then get a few groans, probably the collective sound of everyone watching.

This really is a disappointing ending to the series, just so mind-numbing and predictable, its the same old stuff over and over again. Even Melanie Crump cant save this show.

Yvette tells Karl she has had enough, she is worried someone is going to get hurt and wants to end the investigation. Stuart interrupts her saying he can hear a womans voice and talking, so they go down the corridor to have a look. Of course the idea it might be an echo doesn't cross anyone's mind, but then you need to have a mind to think of such bloody obvious things.

The show basically ends, we get another monotone analysis from Bret the Hitman Hart or John Callow as he is known by his friends.

And after a quick recap of the nights silliness, we are done.

Let us all forget this nonsense, and remember that at the very least we got a great shot of Melanie Crump's perfect arse.

Well that is it from me, you can follow me on Twitter @JonDonnis and also send me all your abuse there!

By Jon Donnis


Most Haunted
Last In Series
Thursday 16th October, 10pm
S1 E10/10. Saltmarsh Hall, Yorkshire

Yvette Fielding and the crew continue to explore Saltmarshe Hall in Yorkshire for more ghostly goings on in the last episode of the series. The owner of the 19th century Salthmarshe Hall is too afraid to walk through the house alone, which is not surprising after last week’s investigation, which saw Karl and Stuart running back through the abandoned cellar corridors in terror.

This week, Yvette and the gang continue to venture into rarely used areas of the big, old house, possibly sensing more supernatural behaviour and exposing lost souls that perhaps should have remained hidden in the house’s creepy corridors.

TV REVIEW Most Haunted Episode 9/10 (Saltmarsh Hall, Yorkshire)

Now before anyone moans, I know I have not reviewed Episode 8, if you remember from my previous reviews I said I wouldn't do any more reviews as it was so painful to watch the same old nonsense over and over that I would rather watch paint dry.

HOWEVER I've had such good feedback from my reviews, and how people prefer to read them than watch the actual show, that I felt compelled to at least finish off the series, so since it is a two part investigation I will do my reviews for episode 9 & 10, since it is likely that they may be the very last Most Haunted episodes ever aired.

But since I cant let down my millions of BadPsychics fans, here is a quick review of Episode 8 before we get onto Episode 9

Episode 8 Review:
Mel Crump looks fit, Yvette Fielding looks like she just been dragged through a thorn bush backwards. Karl throws something, Stuart Throws something, Fred wishes he had never believed Karl and paid for this series to be made. Mel is scared but is fit when scared. John Callow reads a card prompt, the end. Oh and Mel Crump is fit.

Right then peeps, on to Episode 9, and you better bloody appreciate this, I have legitimately lost over 10 billion brain cells watching this show.

So this week we are at Saltmarsh Hall, Yorkshire for this two part special. Apparently this place is one of Yorkshires best kept secrets, although not that secret if they agreed to be on Most Haunted, so I will assume they are desperate for tourism which is why they pimped out the Hall to this bunch of noobs!

Yvette Fielding doesn't half talk some nonsense, apparently they are going to do a worlds first and investigate a previously locked wing that even the owners are too scared to go in!

And it is revealed that the owner has invited many a paranormal group to investigate the location, which explains a lot. After this airs they will undoubtedly up any associated fees to investigate this blatantly NOT haunted location!

A lot of history is given for your history buffs out there, personally it bores me rigid, but I know some people like that kind of thing so for you guys you will be very happy.

Here is a picture of the "money cow" as Karl Beattie refers to him in private, Fred Batt

You can tell he pays for everything as he gets way too much air time!

God I miss Richard "Dickie Fingers" Felix, a genuinely nice man, who really is as enthusiastic in real life as he was on Most Haunted, anyway enough remembering of the good old days and the investigation is finally underway.

In Mel Crump watch, Mel has obviously listened to me, and has her hair down, flowing in the wind, every so often brushing against her rosy cheeks, as she skips through the meadow, with song birds singing, and roses blooming, a small bunny appears from behind a small rock, it appears to smile as Melanie Crump skips by, then quickly disappears.

But then the dark clouds appear in the sky, the air turns cold, and a dreadful stench blows through, enough to make even the dirtiest of trolls wretch uncontrollably, its Yvette Fielding with her fringe, and  scarf. And thousands of men watching around the country suddenly lose their erections, and are brought back down to reality.

In other news Karl is wearing a leather jacket with ANTIX branding!

Melanie is looking at Yvette with a look of pure distrust, she has obviously picked up on the jealousy from Yvette in my opinion.

And a stone is thrown and so it begins.

Here is an image that perfectly shows the importance of various members of the Most Haunted team

You have Mel Crump glowing, beautiful, a true presence on the screen, behind Yvette Fielding desperately trying to get in the frame and get attention, and lurking in the darkness behind looking creepy, Karl Beattie!

As the crew are "investigating" all 500 of them, noises are heard, knocks, stones thrown and so on. As expected no cameras pick up any activity.

A ghost of a white lady has been seen in the stables, I wonder what the likeliness is of the Most Haunted crew filming this White Lady? I would say 0%.

One way to know that Stuart and Karl are behind all incidents is that when something does happen, instead of instantly trying to film it, they instead point the camera at Yvette for a reaction shot.

Someone has thrown a stone at Stuart, and he claims he brushed his head, How any ghostie could miss his huge round dome is beyond me!

Karl and Stuart have gone off to investigate the cellars on their own! Lets hope they get locked in. Karl has now lost his leather jacket and is sporting a fetching woolly jumper.

I know I have mentioned this before but it is worth mentioning again, Stuarts head is perfectly round!

I've just realised that they have been bleeping out any swear words, now because I am watching promo copies of these episodes I do not always know exactly what airs, do they usually bleep stuff out as on previous DVDs there has been no bleeping? Someone let me know.

As expected things start to happen as Stuart and Karl investigate, its very formulaic, and predictable. You could probably fast forward through the whole middle section of this episode featuring Karl and Stuart, as you have seen it a hundred times before.

This show would be so much better if they replaced Stuart with Karl Pilkington, afterall they both have perfectly round heads!

A good ten minutes of the show is wasted on Karl and Stuart, and not in a good way at all, I can see a lot of people channel surfing during the middle of the episode, which is not good news for a show that has lost over 100,000 viewers from episode 1 to 5!

An hour of Mel Crump would set the ratings soaring! so pay attention UKTV!

Interesting fact: Stuart and Karl both wear size 9 boots!

FINALLY we go back to the girls and Darren, about bloody time.

Here is an image of Yvette looking jealous and doing the wank hand
gesture behind Mels back!

Although she might just be holding her torch!

Have you ever noticed how full and perfect Mel Crumps lips are? She could do commercials for lip gloss or lipstick!

Well I hate to say this but this is an incredibly boring episode, I am guessing they will keep any big fakery for episode 10 the second part of this investigation, but I am sure they will lose a hell of a lot of viewers from this episode alone.

You know they are desperate when Yvette starts singing, humming or whistling.

We finish off with Mr Personality John Callow, who is looking more and more like a 1990's Bret Hart by the day.

Only one episode left for me to review and then I can happily forget about Most Haunted forever!

You can follow me on Twitter @JonDonnis and send me your usual abuse there too!

For now that's me signing out!

By Jon Donnis

Most Haunted
UK Premiere
Thursday 16th October, 10pm
S1 E9/10. Saltmarsh Hall, Yorkshire
Yvette Fielding is back with another brand new, creepy ghost hunt and to end the series there’s a special, two-part episode from Saltmarsh Hall in Yorkshire.
Saltmarshe Hall is a mysterious, haunted house of complete contrasts. Beneath the property lies a network of corridors and cellar rooms and the abandoned North Wing has sat empty for over 70 years, apart from the ghosts said to wander the corridors and rooms.
The team uncovers two levels of the house that even the present owners have never ventured and what they find will frighten them beyond belief.

Sarah Stanga Cold Reads Jon Donnis

So A week or so ago I got a random email from someone called Sarah Stanga, I have never heard of her. She was basically trying to stitch up another fake psychic called Dean Michael Ryan, and wanted me to do the hard work. Of course I told her to stick it, as I wasn't interested in their silly little arguments and that I didn't want to get involved or be used by one fake psychic to attack another one.

So I sent her on her way.

But then today she replied, and started to try and cold read me. But she also revealed some other things which I thought I would respond too.

Her email to me is in BOLD and my opinions are in RED and anyone who knows me will know that if I am being accused of something I like to defend myself and my site in public as I have nothing to hide. The start of her email is after I told her not to waste her time trying to cold read me etc...


I am sorry but I cannot take back what was said. I can only give you what spirit offer me in the form of visuals, emotions and feelings.

There is no such thing as Spirit, they have not given you any psychic visions, emotions or feelings, in my opinion based on what you have said, you are not psychic, you are not a medium and you have no magical powers.

Your site was a front under the guise of scepticism when in reality it was a vehicle to cash in on donations given to you worldwide.

Well I do love my 3 BMWs and 2 Aston Martin supercars! Seriously though, my site was never a front for anything, did we once receive donations? yes we did, the odd £10 here, hell we even got the odd £50 too! However the costs of running the site far outweighed any donations we got, not to mention the thousands of hours work I put in, which I never got paid for. 

You were challenged and changed the wording to a beer fund. 

Yes that is correct, although all money I received did go to pay the server bills for the site, domain names, and also helped expand to BadGhosts and BadReligion sites, I was criticised by people for saying I was making money off of the victims of psychics, as without these victims I wouldn't have a site. So I deliberately changed the wording of any donation, so it would be very clear that any money donated would go to my beer fund, of course this was rarely if ever the case, but I felt that by saying that there would be no confusion, and no accusations of me claiming the money went anywhere other than me. For the record I have not had a single Beer Fund donation in well over 4 years, and I do not ask for donations either, I do this because i WANT TO, that is it.

What you collected is far from the truth or will ever admit. T.J. Higgs told everybody at the show after a question and answer session.

Ah so now the truth comes out, failed business woman and a psychic I have exposed is talking about me! Naughty Naughty Miss Higgy!

As for what I collected, it was never a secret, I never received thousands of pounds, I LOST money!
Let me give you an example of one time I lost money.
I hosted a video of something, I don't recall what, but something Space related, Richard Wiseman in his infinite wisdom, liked the video I had uploaded, and being the nice man he is he linked to it from his site, as a way to help spread the word of the video and to help me and my site out.

Now the problem was the video went viral, and I received over 200,000 visitors in less than 12 hours to my site, now that would not be a problem usually but for the fact every single one of them were watching and downloading a video. This completely blew my bandwidth restrictions on the server, and because of my settings, instead of my site going offline, it stayed online and I had a nice hefty bill to pay.

Now I never asked anyone to pay that for me, I paid for it myself.

In fact sometimes my site would be too popular, and was getting too many visitors, and was a victim of its own success, as the more visitors I got, the more it would cost me to host.

Now remember I could not use Google Adsense to make money, because of the fact I had the word "Psychics" in the title of the site, so every ad that would come up would be a bloody psychic ad, which of course I dont want, so the only ads I had were for Amazon, which kick back about 4% of a sale (Non Marketplace). So yes I did get donations, some nice ones, some small ones, but they were never anything like what some people claim. And I turned down many people who wanted to donate too! You see unlike fake psychics like TJ Higgs, I don't like taking money from poor people, victims, or the vunerable. But it is nice to know that you are still talking about me! I might just have to re-open my file on you!

Colin Fry says that you are a shit stirrer. The real reason you closed the main site was because you had been rumbled and was destroying evidence.

Now Colin Fry is right, I am a shit stirrer, I happily admit that, however I doubt very highly that Colin ever said I closed down the site because I had been rumbled, I know Colin and have his personal email address and have spoken to him many times.

UPDATE: Since Colin Frys name was mentioned here, I decided to ask the man himself, he has told me directly he never said those thinks, that he has never heard of Sarah Stanga, and he also confirmed that despite us both being opposite ends of a scale privately we have always been very civil, and that he is annoyed when people like this try to stir up trouble. Colin then wished me the very best with the site.

As for me destroying evidence, what evidence? The main site was closed down, but pretty much everything was just copied over to the forum, it is all still there!

This new incarnation of the site that you are reading right now, has NEVER been closed down! IN fact go see the dates on the archive!

So sorry Sarah Stanga, you are wrong yet again!


I am prepared to forgive and forget your actions if you would just give a little back. That is what spiritualism is all about.

No please you do not need to forgive and forget anything I have done, for I stand by everything I have ever said or done.

I am calling you a fake psychic, I await the letter from your solicitor!


Your grandfather was a caring man. He used to take you fishing or had some involvement with water.

Anyway here is where the cold reading begins.
Yes both Grandfathers were caring, but hate to say this, I have never been fishing in my whole life! I hate fish, don't have them as pets, don't eat them, don't catch them, and both Grandfathers lived in cities in the middle of their respective countries, so no involvement with water! So that's another failure, even your cold reading is useless!

Always worked to the bone but always took time out to appreciate the beauty around him including his grandson.

My one Grandfather I hardly knew, and we couldn't communicate due to a language barrier, my other Grandfather worked hard, like anyone of his generation, and enjoyed his family, so hardly earth shattering revelations here.

He called you Jay as a little one or someone did around him.

Nope, never been called Jay in my life, infact as a "little one" I was only ever called by my Greek name. So Wrong again Stanga!

He did not always see eye to eye with family and friends but was never somebody to hold a grudge.

He got on with everyone, both Grandfathers did, never even swore. So again wrong.

He was a stern lovable character and was overwhelmed with the love everyone showed after his passing.

Lol, no he wasn't he was dead, either one couldn't care less, because they were dead!
And neither Grandfather could be called Stern, not at all a family trait.

I have a connection to Kythera and drinking parties. Also something you hold dearly of his, the number 7 and the NEC.

I actually had to google "Kythera!", You see I may refer to myself as Greek, but I am actually Greek Cypriot, which is a different country, now Kythera is a Greek Island, I have never been there, know no one from there, and hell up until about 20 seconds ago had never even heard of the place!

I am a bit old for drinking parties! The Number 7 has no meaning to me. And I have been to the NEC maybe once in my life that I can recall?

You see this is the problem when fake psychics try to google me, they pick up "Greek" and "Birmingham" and then try to connect the dots and fail miserably.

He shows me Brylcreem, pipe and slippers as memory links. 

Well both Grandfathers were bald or balding, neither smoked, you don't have slippers in Cyprus, and my other Grandfather always wore shoes in the house! So wrong again!

Also a picture of you together. He wants you to display that this evening and reflect on the despicable things you have been doing to innocent people. 

I have no photo of me with either Grandfather at the moment, as for reflecting on despicable things I have done, I am not the one pretending to talk to the dead, trying to con another person by using their dead relatives as a way to emotionally con then.

Sarah Stanga you really are quite a disturbed person, and I really do hope your fans read this so they can see what kind of person you are.

You took a wrong turn in life through no fault of your own but all is forgiven now and you can build on your character spiritually and by doing good for others.

As an altruistic skeptic, I do good every day, I work with charities (unpaid), I help the victims of fraud. I am pretty happy with my character right now.

I would like to invite you to one of the churches I attend so we can show you the evidence and comfort we provide. There is a workshop I am involved with next weekend if you would like me to add your name. Places are limited and transport can be organised.

Well unless you want to pay for a flight to the UK for me, and hotel accomodation, it might be a little difficult for me to attend, a real psychic would have realised that I am not in the UK at all! But if I do come to the UK, I would love to attend, and see you face to face try and spout more of your nonsense my way.

Blessings, love and light.
Sarah Stanga.
Medium to infinity.

Bollocks, Beer and Shabba Ranks
Jon Donnis
To Infinity and Beyond!