Destination Fear Review
Destination Fear debuted in October 2019 as part of Travel Channel’s Ghostober event. It just wrapped its first season. Get a quick review of the show after the jump.
Destination Fear doesn’t position itself as a ghost hunting show, but they investigate like one. The show lead, Dakota Laden, talks about a psychological test using fear, but it’s really jump scares. When you read the synopsis, it sounds like Destination Truth, but it’s closer to Ghost Adventures.
Dakota is joined by Chelsea Laden (his sister) and Tanner Wiseman. They grab some cameras and head into dark, creepy, abandoned places to ramp up their fear. Occasionally, Alex Schroeder, a camera operator, joins them. Dakota also doesn’t tell the team where they’re going, which adds some surprise to their adventures.
On the ghost-hunting side, they interview witnesses, do some research about the haunt, and get a tour of the haunted spots. They’ll run an EVP session and use night-vision cameras, but not many other ghosty gadgets come out.
What’s Good:
Those haunted hot spots they visit! They get great access to great big creepy spots. From West Virginia State Penitentiary, to Old South Pittsburg Hospital, and the Statler Hotel, they seek scares in haunts most ghost hunters dream about investigating. The show’s also briskly paced and I never felt bored watching it.
What’s Bad:
Chelsea gets put into scary, dark places and runs away screaming quite a bit. I know the premise deals with overcoming fear, but she’s becoming the Aaron Goodwin of the series. Let the lady put one of the dudes in these situations. Also, they don’t capture ghosts often, just bangs and knocks. To be fair, Dakota did get raked across his back by something in West Virginia. Overall, the jump scares get a bit predictable after you’ve watched a few episodes.
Should You Watch It:
It may take a few episodes for you to warm up to it, especially if you watch Ghost Hunters or Ghost Nation, but I say give it a try. Destination Fear grew on me over 8 episodes. I watch it when it comes on now. To me, I like the road trip and camaraderie from the group. And I like the haunted locations and behind-the-scenes bonding (like the giant swing in West Virginia).
Destination Fear airs Saturday nights at 10 PM ET on Travel Channel.
Destination Fear ©2019 | Travel Channel and MY Entertainment
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Jacob Rice has documented ghosts and ghostly activity since 2007. Jake began his journey in Chicago and founded the ghost hunting club also called Ghostly Activities. Now, he calls the mysterious Pacific Northwest his home.
4 thoughts on “Destination Fear Review”
Ratings Update: Destination Fear debuted on October 26th and 442,000 watched it. It was the 22nd most watched show that nite, not too shabby (Source). Its finale on December 28th pulled in 390,000 viewers and hit the Top 40 shows for the night (Source). That’s pretty consistent over a season, but I’m not sure if those numbers are strong enough for renewal. I couldn’t find anything about delayed viewing and on-demand numbers to see what kind of lift they got 3 days-to-7 days after airdate. I wouldn’t be surprised if Destination Fear gets a second season, though.
Destination fear was and is horrific…Should not get a second season… I can see why Zak Bagans wont be producing for 2020…
Ratings Update: I checked the ratings the week of June 3rd, and Destination Fear pulled in 408,000 viewers. That’s about the same as it had during its first season.
I guess the show isn’t for every one I for one absolutely love this show and I only watched one episode. Now been on here for about 30 minutes trying to find what show it was. Now that I have I will be watching it. I think they should keep making new seasons.