Don Wildman interview: Buried worlds and hidden horrors

Don Wildman has hosted a variety of Travel Channel series over the years. His latest effort, Buried Worlds deals with supernatural folklores. We had the chance to speak with him at 1428 Elm about vampires, demonic entities and other things that go bump in the night.

Don Wildman has hosted quite a few shows at Travel Channel including Mysteries at the Museum, Cities of the Underworld and Beyond the Unknown. His latest series, Buried Worlds is set to air on June 8.

We were fortunate enough to chat with the adventurous presenter ahead of the premiere about vampires, demons and other supernatural topics. Join us as we dive into weird and sometimes creepy folklore.

All the Places You’ll Go

1428 Elm: Hi, Don. Thank you for speaking with us today. We watched the first episode of your latest show, Buried Worlds and it is compelling. Were you always intrigued with the paranormal?

Don Wildman: The challenge and what I hope the success of Buried Worlds is to take a guy like me who is fascinated by history and known for doing that kind of thing, into this world that I am not natural in. I wasn’t doing paranormal stuff before this show.

And yet like everyone, since I was a child, ghosts and strange beings fascinated me. I was interested in the cultural aspect of the paranormal.

1428 Elm: Did you ever imagine yourself hosting a series with a supernatural bent like this?

DW: What is weird and wonderful about the paranormal is that a great deal of people have real experiences and connections to that realm. I’m known as more of a history guy with years and years of Mysteries at the Museum and so forth. So, we sort of share paranormal visitations.

1428 Elm: Your approach is very different from the other series out there. You give your personal views on events and it helps the audience to connect to what is going on.

DW: The chance to look at places in the world and different cultures through a really strange lens is very cool. We kind of approached every show like an inverted triangle. “Where is this place?” “What is this legend and curse?” You know, the whole, big story.

By the time it gets down to the point in the triangle, it’s me involved and me engaged in rituals or an experience or investigation of some sort. That was kind of the way we treated every show in general. Find a way in.

That gave me a real role to play that was unique from other ghost shows. Most of those series are first person, lockdown kinds of things. Then there are the true crime, paranormal series like The Holzer Files, which I like a lot. It’s a cool show to me. So, what’s happening, in all cases you’re using the paranormal as a unique entrance into the story.