Help! My House Is Haunted: 'Heartbreak House' - Series 5, Episode 8 Review

A home dubbed 'Heartbreak House' is the location for the latest episode of the fifth series of 'Help! My House Is Haunted'. Ian Lawman, Jayne Harris, and Barri Ghai have been called to Telford to investigate the home of Sonia and Baz, a couple whose relationship is on the line due to a dark entity driving a wedge between them.

Sonia, who has lived in the house for nine years, has seen her disbelief in the paranormal crumble under the weight of her experiences. She shares with the viewers, "I was never a believer in paranormal things until I've moved into this property." She describes the haunting as a result of a "dark energy" and an unseen entity that makes its presence felt, particularly in the front room where she consistently smells cigarettes, despite there being none.

Her partner, Baz, has his own tale. He tells Barri about a serious accident, "I'd been doing work, I ended up falling off of ladders out of the loft, and I ended up cutting an artery in my wrists." He describes the blood and implies a sinister force at play, suggesting that the ladder was somehow moved from under him.

As always, medium Ian is the first to enter the house to conduct his solo psychic sweep. Upon entering, Ian immediately senses something amiss at the base of the staircase, "My breath has been taken from me on this step here." As he ventures further, Ian feels a shift in the atmosphere. "The energy here feels totally different to the back of the house," he observes, sensing that the newer part of the home has stirred something unsettling. He hears noises and senses a malevolent force. He says, "No matter where you move, you just feel so agitated, so angry."

Meanwhile, hoping to get a better understanding of the potential influence of the land's history on the case, Jayne went to nearby Holmer Lake, where she met with demonologist Ben Winfield. They discuss how the presence of water in the area could be amplifying the spiritual energy, but since the lake is manmade, this natural flow of water has been disrupted.

Ben says, "Streams are a conduit between this side and the next, to block them off can, in a sense, block that energy off." He suggests that the house might be built upon one such blocked stream, potentially causing "negative energy to just seep into the house naturally."

With their initial research complete, the team regroups and gets started with their first experiment, which they call "spirit triggers." This involves encouraging any paranormal entities to reveal themselves. With the homeowners, Sonia and Baz, joining in, the investigators hope their familiar energy might stimulate ghostly activity.

"Let's call out. Maybe try some EVP," Jayne suggests, referring to electronic voice phenomena, a staple in ghost hunting purported to capture spirits' voices on audio recordings. Barri takes the lead, addressing the unseen occupants with a direct approach. "Spirits, my name is Barri, and I know you're listening. Can you speak clearly so we can hear you? Can you please tell me who you are?"

The team's efforts seem to stir some activity in the form of unexplained breath sounds, prompting Jayne to pinpoint, "It's over here, every time." This is followed by a loud thump from upstairs. Barri runs upstairs to investigate. "Hello? There's no one here. There's no one upstairs. And that sounded like it was a thump," he reports. He challenges the spirit, "If there is a spirit present up here, make yourself known now. Can you make that loud noise again?"

Sonia steps up next to confront the entity. "Who are you? Why are you here? Are you trying to split me and Baz up?" Upon replaying the audio of the session, a sound could be heard, which the team believes is a response to Sonia's questions, the muffled command "get out."

Suddenly, Sonia becomes upset and reports feeling "fuzzy-headed," a sensation she says was triggered by Baz's presence. But when Barri takes the couple outside the property, the feelings subside. Relieved, Sonia said, "I feel like I can breathe."

Baz then reveals a detail about the property that sheds new light on the investigation. "Just outside where the shed used to be, there used to be a big pond. But we didn't really use it as a pond, so we converted it into a big fire pit." Jayne reflects on this, tying it to her theory about water as a conduit for spiritual energy: "That's interesting. I think what we need to remember is that there is so much water in this area and potentially underneath your home as well. It cannot only act as a conduit so it can bring forward spiritual energy, but if that water isn't free flowing, it can stagnate and it can just build in intensity, usually negative."

Armed with this revelation, the team employs Necrophonic, an app designed for instrumental transcommunication, using phonetic sounds to facilitate spirit interaction. Baz, blindfolded to enhance his senses, calls out to the spirits. The app purportedly voices the presence of a "demon," just as unexplained thumping sounds from above them. Jayne and Ian discuss the origins of the entity, suspecting it might reside in the unfinished ensuite or attic, locations linked to Baz's accident.

To investigate this possibility, Ian takes Sonia to the ensuite, where she asks the entity to reveal itself, but the team soon notices a change in Sonia. Jayne says, "I don't like to say it in front of Baz, but she's in the early stages of an actual possession."

Later, the team is left alone in the house after Sonia and Baz leave for the night, providing the investigators with the opportunity to delve deeper into the apparent paranormal activity. They start off by revisiting the unfinished ensuite, where they had previously set up spirit triggers. Here, they use EchoVox, an app pre-loaded with phonetic sounds that paranormal entities are said to be able to manipulate to communicate words and sentences.

Jayne takes the lead, "How many entities, energies, or spirits can hear my voice now?" The app's response indicates 'three'. Moments later, the app produces a sound that the team interprets as "imp." Barri explains that imps are thought to be small demonic entities that feed off negativity and enjoy causing chaos. He suggests that these imps might be the cause of Sonia and Baz's distress.

The investigation intensifies when Barri climbs up into the attic, the place where Baz was allegedly pushed off a ladder by an unseen force. Barri conducts an EVP session at the attic hatch, but before long he's screaming, "Whoa! Something touched my back. I'm coming down." As all this is going on, Ian and Jayne notice a dark mass and a distinct smell of cigarette smoke, which Sonia had previously reported.

As the episode draws towards its end, a box leaning in the corner of the room falls behind Ian and Barri, causing a moment of panic. Upon reviewing the footage, a small but clear unexplained shadow could be seen next to the box. Barri, questioning whether this could be the work of something dark, says, "There's absolutely no reason for that to fall. Could that dark shadow be an imp?"

The team speculates that a human spirit might be attempting to protect the living inhabitants from these mischievous entities. They feel that this spirit might make its presence known through the smell of cigarette smoke.

The team eventually expands their search to the garden, focusing on the site of the former pond, where Jayne uses dowsing, and the AliceBox, another investigative tool, spews out the word "lake." This is taken as confirmation of the theory Jayne discussed at Holmer Lake with Ben Winfield about the significance of streams and their role as a conduit for spiritual energy. Barri concludes, "Perhaps Baz inadvertently upset some elemental creature by turning a pond into a fire pit."

Jayne and Ian agree with Barri's assessment, which prompts the end of the investigation. The episode ends with a blessing led by Ian, who calls upon religious rites to rid the home of imps and assist the human spirit to move on.