“Haunting in the Heartland”: Steve Shippy Confronts Entities Traumatizing America’s Small Midwestern Towns

So many communities across America have stories of unexplained paranormal experiences. Through word-of-mouth and consistency, they turn into lore. Why?

That’s what paranormal investigator and documentary filmmaker Steve Shippy will investigate in a new Travel Channel series: Haunting in the Heartland. He’ll explore Midwestern towns that have been traumatized for generations by ripples of fear.

In each of the six one-hour episodes, he journeys to a new town. His goal is to directly confront the entity lingering there and bring closure to the town’s people.

Shippy himself grew up in a rural Michigan “creepy house on the corner.” His own personal experiences help him make intimate connections with the families who’ve reached out to him for help.

“Growing up in a haunted house in a small Midwestern town, I understand the isolation of the experience, and it was only when others in town started to have similar experiences that I realized I wasn’t alone,” said Shippy. “Like my documentaries, working on this show is truly my life’s work. These small towns have a bigger story to tell, and in order to find the resolution these families need now, we need to piece together their past.”

The Process

Will he be able to fit the puzzle pieces together to identify and decipher the larger mystery of each town’s haunting? And how will he do it?

Through eyewitness accounts, town archives, visits to historic sites and his own paranormal toolkit. Once he’s developed a full picture of the town’s ghostly protagonist appears, he can formulate a peaceful resolution.

Will this bring true investigative closure to the mystery of paranormal activity reported in these towns?

The Towns

Speaking of the towns, which haunted heartland ones will he attempt to cure? These six:

1. Malvern, Iowa (pop. 7,621)
2. Atchison, Kansas (pop. 10,636)
3. Hebron, Kentucky (pop. 5,929)
4. Merrill, Michigan (pop. 735)
5. Holly Springs, Mississippi (pop. 7,621)
6. Greeneville, Tennessee (pop. 15,062)

Episode 1

In the premiere episode, Shippy travels to the old farming village of Merrill, Michigan, to confront an evil spirit that has held the town hostage since the 1800s.

In the summer of 1974, the hauntings seemed to spread when a malevolent force invaded a family farm. It spurred a massive investigation by the local and state police and fire departments, and even the FBI.

The reign of terror culminated in a spontaneous fire that forced family members to flee the home they’d built by hand. The encounters never ceased. Today, less than a mile away, another family is under siege by something so powerful they fear for their safety.

Joining forces with local authorities and historians, Shippy uncovers a town ravaged by a smallpox epidemic and tragic fires, and a shocking connection to another notorious haunting. Shippy enlists the help of a clairvoyant to dispel the evil entity before another heartland family is forced from their home.

Haunting in the Heartland premiers on Friday, February 21 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

For More Info

Visit TravelChannel.com for show extras, behind-the-scenes photos and exclusive videos.

Follow @TravelChannel and #HauntingInTheHeartland on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for additional content and updates.

Follow Steve Shippy on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Courtney Mroch

Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, as well as obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.

Speaking of healing, to learn how she channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.