Portals to Hell: A spooky chat with Jack Osbourne and Katrina Weidman

Jack Osbourne and Katrina Weidman are back for a new show on Travel called Portals to Hell. I got the chance to speak with them about the new show and what drew them to the paranormal.

The Interview

Image courtesy of Giles Mingasson/Travel Channel

1428 Elm: How did you both begin investigating the paranormal?

Katrina Weidman: For me it was growing up in haunted houses, having those experiences and researching on my own, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. From there, I joined a club in college, like a training club and it just sort of snowballed into what it is today. There’s been times I’ve tried to get away from it but it always found a way to suck me back in. It’s one of those things that I tell people, “Be careful if you want to get into it because I don’t know if you can leave.” Once it’s in your blood, it’s there forever.

Jack Osbourne: For me, I got into this as a child, watching The X-Files. I had all these paranormal books, conspiracy theories and UFOs. I kind of just fell into it. I got to do a show years ago called Haunted Highway and it really plugged me into the world. I’m the enthusiast weekend warrior and Katrina is the seasoned pro.

1428 Elm: I don’t know, I think you are both seasoned by this point! How did you both end up partnering together for Portals to Hell?

JO: I was very aware of Katrina’s work and what she’d done and after I did Haunted Highway, I got plugged into the world of the paranormal and investigative experts and I was friends with Katrina on social media. When the show started coming together with Travel, they suggested I find a partner and I reached out to Katrina because her name was on the top of the list. We met and realized we share the same sensibilities when it comes to this kind of stuff and we hit the ground running.

1428 Elm: When investigating, you have to have good chemistry and like-mindedness in investigating style and you both flow very nicely. The first season features some heavy weights in terms of locations like Trans-Allegheny, Eastern State, the LaLaurie Mansion. Which of these was your favorite to go to or the most active and will you be focusing more on the discovery of negative entities in these locations, since the name is Portals to Hell?

KW: My favorite was the LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans because it’s iconic. Everyone has been wanting to get in there forever and no one has gotten to. As a history, architecture, and paranormal lover, it checks all my boxes.

JO: For me, I kind of have two buckets. The LaLaurie was a huge get and it has been this coveted location to get in the paranormal investigative world and we got access. But my favorite, and most frequented location was Eastern State Penitentiary.

1428 Elm: Without spoiling anything, do you have any notable experiences that you want to share?

JO: Oh yeah! There were some locations that weren’t popping off like were told they would. Bobby Mackie’s for us was a strange investigation. We didn’t experience the typical type of stuff, although things did happen that were very unexplainable and continued to happen after we left the location. We have people on our crew see full-body apparitions. We have stuff moving in front of us. We had the gambit to the point where I was looking at the crew going, “Are you guys screwing with us right now?” Everyone was shocked and freaked out.

Image courtesy of Travel Channel

1428 Elm: When you go into these locations, are you looking for anything in particular? Or are you there to see what you see?

KW: It’s about going in and immersing ourselves in that environment and seeing what we can document. Do we have the experiences that other people have? Do we not have experiences? We have a whole team of seasoned professionals that can help us document everything. I think that’s the goal, to actually get this stuff down on camera.

1428 Elm: In your investigative style, will you be more tech heavy or more intuitive investigators?

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JO: I’d say it’s a healthy balance. We do rely on our tech but a lot of the things that happened, you knows its 50/50. And sometimes we bring in a medium and we’ll do an EVP session. We usually spend a night or two at these locations. We have to try everything in those windows.

1428 Elm: What is your favorite piece of tech to use in an investigation?

KW: I really love the geoport made by a man named George Brown and it’s an audio device that works in a couple different ways. It splices up the radio. It goes through AM radio stations very quickly and the belief in the field is that if you hear any words come through that are intelligent, that would suggest that something is trying to communicate with you. I’ve have really good success with it throughout the years and I am always impressed by it.

JO: For me, it would be my mel meter, I always have it on me and then towards the end, the last couple of episodes that we were filming, I got some really amazing results using an EVP recorder. Just a tiny digital recorder that we use and we picked up some cool things.

1428 Elm: I appreciate you both for answering my questions. Thank you Jack and Katrina for taking time to speak with me. I can’t wait for the first season of Portals to Hell.

Portals to Hell premieres tonight on the Travel Channel at 10/9c. Check out what Jack and Katrina find in their premiere episode!

Fan of the Travel Channel? Looking forward to Portals to Hell? Let the other ghosts and ghouls know what you think in the comment section below.