Listen here, chisel chest...

Supernatural – Ghostfacers
Sam and Dean star in a paranormal reality show that takes them to an abandoned estate that turns into one of the most haunted places in the US for one night each year.

Wow. Just … wow. “Ghostfacers” didn’t advance our base story at all, but what a fantastic episode. If you didn’t watch it you absolutely must find it online, because there is no way this post can do it justice.

The episode opens with Harry and Ed (of HellhoundsLair.com fame) pitching a new TV show. They talk about the writer’s strike (ha) and how reality TV is the new thing. Their show, called “Ghostfacers,” follows them as they hunt down ghosts: “We face the faceless, we face the dead.” Seen through Harry & Ed’s cameras, this entire SN episode is set up as an ep of “Ghostfacers.”

First we meet the team: Ed and Harry, who SN fans will remember from season one episode “Hell House.” Their intern Corbett, who saw Ed putting up fliers and thought, “Where do ghosts come from?” Maggie, Ed’s adopted sister. And cameraman Spruce, who is 15/16 Jew, 1/16 Cherokee. (And excellent casting all around). The humor is nonstop, and with the mock-documentary format it’s like I’m watching The Office, but its Supernatural. Crazy.

There is a legend that the Morton House becomes the most haunted place in America every four years, on February 29th. The Ghostfacers team breaks into the house, only to run into Sam and Dean pretending to be cops. Unfortunately, Ed and Harry remember the brothers from their run-in in West Texas, so their little charade fails.

The gang begins to see ghosts reliving their deaths, which Sam explains are “death echoes.” What they can’t figure out is why: none of these people died in the house. Sam & Dean come close to getting everyone out of the house before midnight, but Corbett sneaks back upstairs and gets attacked. In a quick side moment, we learn that at this point Dean has two months to live. Spruce asks if it’s cancer. Digging through the house, Dean finds toe tags for the people whose ghosts they’ve seen. They realize the guy who owned the house, Daggett, was a hospital janitor who took people’s remains home with him. Right then there is a huge surge of EMF activity, and Sam disappears.



Sam ends up in the same place as Corbett, sitting at a table set for a birthday party with a bunch of dessicated corpses surrounding him while Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party” plays. It’s pretty fucking freaky. The ghost sticks a spike through Corbett’s throat. The gore on this show never ceases to surprise me. Dean and Spruce start downstairs and the door automatically locks behind them, separating them from everyone else. Dean finds Sam, who explains that Daggett was “Norman Bates stuff your mother” lonely.

Upstairs, Corbett’s ghost appears, gasping and tortured. Ed wants to help pull him out of his loop. Harry says that Corbett had feelings for Ed: “You gotta go be gay for that poor dead intern.” Ed approaches Corbett’s ghost and says he loves him, and Corbett snaps out of his trance. At the same moment, Daggett attacks Sam and Dean, but Corbett’s ghost saves the day. This all happens really quickly and is very slightly anti-climactic. In the end, Sam and Dean leave an electromagnet behind to destroy the footage that the Ghostfacers took, thereby preserving their precious anonymity.

In addition to showing the boys cursing up a storm (bleeped a la Arrested Development), this episode was chock-full of fantastic quotes:

Ed, trying to put his foot down with Dean:
“Listen here, chisel chest…”

Corbett, delighted by a compliment from Ed:
“You think I look like Robocop?”

Sam, irritated with Dean:
“Oh, let’s go hunt the Morton House, it’s our Grand Canyon.”

When Dean tries to help Ed & Harry by yelling through a locked door:
Dean: “There’s salt in my duffel bag, make a circle and get inside.”
Ed: “ Inside your duffel bag?”

When Harry explains Corbett’s feelings to Ed:
Harry: “He wanted you.”
Ed: “He wanted me to what?”

Ed & Harry reflecting on their adventure:
“We’ve learned that gay love can pierce through the veil of death and save the day.”