Every time Anna Camp said the word “ghosts” on the first day of filming, the power in the control room went out. “Every single time,” she told TV Insider. The director eventually pointed out the pattern to her. “So [the ghosts] were totally messing with us,” Camp said.
That was the opening act for HGTV’s A Very Haunted Renovation, which premiered on Tuesday, September 15, at 8/7c. Six designers had 31 days to renovate Bihl Manor, a very old home in the tiny town of Fremont, Ohio, with a reputation for paranormal activity. They also had to live in it.
A house with a past
Ghost hunters had been through Bihl Manor before, and it had been rentable as an Airbnb for anyone who wanted a scare. The designers worked room by room in teams, but the brief was not to modernize. They were supposed to keep the lore and history of the house, along with the stories of the spirits said to remain there. Camp, who also hosted, has her own account of the place. She said she had heard it was once an orphanage, and that many people had died there.
The workload was heavy. Camp pointed to ceilings, floors, a speakeasy built in the attic and a huge porch, all under a time crunch, and all while the designers slept badly. They teased her about staying over. She declined and went back to what she called her own haunted Airbnb in Port Clinton, Ohio. Before the work, she said, the place “kind of smelled pretty bad.”
Camp is a believer. “I love anything spooky, scary. I believe in ghosts, own multiple Ouija boards,” she said. She had turned down other reality hosting offers because she never wanted to watch them. This one she accepted at once. Hosting was new to her, and she had to learn to stop talking when the earpiece told her to hold back.
Judges, a mentor and a prize
Michel Smith Boyd, the HGTV designer, mentored the contestants. Guest judges included Billy Porter, horror director Eli Roth and Elvira. Camp said each of them walked in and felt what the crew had felt, and that it was funny to watch them get chills. The winner takes home $50,000.
What the crew saw
The unseen crew had stories too. Showrunner Sarah Douglas told HGTV.com that she got chills on arrival and disliked the basement, where designers did their interviews. Some days the house felt normal. On others, she said, “I genuinely did not want to walk through the door.” Days ran as long as 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and she saged herself and her apartment every night.
The scene she found creepiest made it to air. The designers were in the room above the control room using a Radiating Electro-Magneticity Pod, a device used to detect unseen energy or movement. The REM-Pod started going off, and then the control room lights flashed, slowly at first and then faster. The crew was rattled enough that the scene was shut down. She also said that on two early mornings she thought she heard someone call her name, with nobody there.
Contestant SK, one of the finalists, posted a group photo from before filming and wrote that it was “the first (and last) time our smiles were so big.” The season one finale aired on October 20 at 8 p.m. Eastern, with streaming on HBO Max the following day. Camp said she hopes for a second season, ideally set in her hometown of Charleston, South Carolina.
Sources
- HGTV Producer Shut Down Filming After Scary 'Energy' Showed Up in House
- Anna Camp Talks HGTV's 'A Very Haunted Renovation' and Ghost Encounters (Exclusive)
