Help! My House Is Haunted: 'The Man Behind The Curtain' - Series 5, Episode 7 Review

This week on Discovery+, the 'Help! My House Is Haunted' team returned to screens with their latest investigation, 'The Man Behind the Curtain'. The episode takes the team to Rainham, Kent, where a childhood spectre has reportedly evolved into a more disturbing presence.

The team has been called to help Noah and his partner, Ellie. In the episode, Noah tells us about the disturbing presence in his home. "It began when I was three," he explains. "A man with a messy, wiry beard and greyish hair would appear by my curtains." This once gentle apparition that lulled him to sleep as it lurked behind his curtain has taken a sinister turn with Ellie's arrival, now seeming to target her with malicious intent. "Footsteps, a grabbed leg—it's not nice anymore," Noah says, highlighting the urgency to find a resolution for the fear that now pervades their home.

As the investigative trio, Jayne Harris, Barri Ghai, and Ian Lawman, make their way to Noah's house, there's a palpable sense of uncertainty among them. Jayne admits, "I just don't know what to expect, and I don't like that," highlighting the unpredictability of the case. Ian agrees, sharing his confusion and nervousness: "I can't understand what's going on." The longevity of the haunting troubles Jayne because, as she points out, "this is a whole thing that's been happening for around 20 years."

Upon arriving at the house, Ian is the first to enter. Relying solely on his psychic abilities, he conducts a solo sweep of the property. He is immediately drawn towards the upstairs, where he has the disconcerting sensation of being watched. Ian becomes aware of a male presence in the house, describing it as "a dark mass" that is "quite scruffy looking" with a noticeable beard.

Later in his walk around, he witnesses a curtain moving on its own, which ties in with Noah's account of a figure behind the curtain. Then a crucifix from above a bedroom door falls, which Ian interprets as a sinister attempt to force them to leave, an unmistakable sign of negative energy.

Meanwhile, Barri meets with Noah's mother, Lisa, to try to get a better understanding of the impact of the haunting on the family. Lisa recounts that the paranormal experiences began when Noah was a boy, describing a mysterious 'man behind the curtain' who would sing to Noah, causing him distress. On one occasion, Noah, while playing, spoke in a 'gruff sort of voice', claiming it was the voice of the man.

Jayne was also looking for answers. She met with local historian Professor Julie Anderson. They discuss the haunting past of the nearby River Medway's marshland, which was once dominated by 'prison hulks'. These decommissioned ships held prisoners who, after the War of Independence, could no longer be transported to the United States. Professor Anderson reveals the dire conditions aboard these ships, where overcrowding led to unchecked criminality and frequent escape attempts on misty, dark nights.

The team regroups and begins the first part of their investigation, which they call "spirit triggers". This part of the show aims to engage any entities through the presence of Noah and Ellie, who are familiar to the spirit, according to the team's theory.

Barri starts by setting up an audio recorder to capture Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP). Noah’s direct questioning, "Have you been trying to contact me and Ellie?" and "Are you the man that used to hide behind my curtains?" The team hears a sound on the audio recorder that they believe is a 'yes' in response to the questions.

The team split up to cover more ground in the house. Ian took a position in Lisa's room, while Noah went back to his childhood bedroom, a place where he used to see an unexplained figure. Ellie waited in their current bedroom, and Barri and Jayne stayed out on the landing to keep an eye on everything.

Ellie soon felt a tingling in her hands and feet, which the team thought might be a sign of a ghostly presence. Barri asked Ellie to try and talk to the spirit to find out what it wanted and why it might be focusing on her.

The team then turned on the Necrophonic app, a tool that's supposed to pick up ghostly voices. Almost immediately, they thought they heard Noah's name through the app, which added to the spooky atmosphere. After hearing a few unclear words, the group thought the app said "Bright Man" or "Brightman" in response to their questions. They took this as a sign that they were in contact with a spirit that might be known as the "Brightman."

The investigation took a more intense turn when they decided to leave Ellie alone and blindfolded. They hoped this would make any interaction with the ghost stronger. Ellie was clearly scared, especially when she thought she heard a whisper right behind her, which led Jayne to come and stay with her. This pointed to Ellie being the focus of the ghost's attention and possibly the reason for the increase in strange happenings in the house.

Once Noah and Ellie had left for the night, the team continued with the main part of their investigation. Barri took the lead, ready with equipment like EVP recorders and an Structure Light Sensor (SLS) camera, which is said to be able to detect ghostly figures, to try and capture any evidence of the ghost they called the "Bright Man."

As the night went on, the tension in the house grew. Barri asked the spirit to make itself known, and almost on cue, there was a knock. They then spotted what looked like a figure on their SLS camera. At the same time, the air got colder, and there was a loud thump from one of the walls. The team felt they were close to something big.

Ian spoke directly to the "Curtain man," a name they gave the figure that used to scare Noah. Jayne thought out loud, wondering if the words "starve" and "religion" that came through their devices could be clues to the ghost's past. They speculated that maybe "Brightman" was an escaped prisoner who died of starvation on or near the property. Jayne suggested that the spirit might be fixated on Noah. This idea seemed to be confirmed when they got a response through one of their ghost-hunting gadgets.

The climax of the night was when the team decided Noah needed to be part of the solution and brought him back in to assist them. They used a method called regression therapy to help him face the spirit. Noah stood up to the ghost, asking why it had been bothering Ellie and telling it to leave.

The team felt they had helped. Ian said the spirit was gone, and they hoped this meant Noah and Ellie could look forward to a peaceful life without any more disturbances.