Academics take part in TV show on historic ‘haunted’ Chester hotel

My Haunted Project on Amazon Prime focuses on Ye Olde Kings Head in Chester, a 400-year-old inn on Lower Bridge Street in the city centre. In 2013, Harry Archilleos became the landlord and decided to document the hotel’s paranormal activity on camera creating the biggest paranormal project the world.

The TV show explores the findings discovered at the hotel including various eye witness events; a mysterious sword hidden under the floorboards and the experiences of guests staying at the historic inn.

Dr Nicola Lasikiewicz, Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Dr Sam Chadwick, Visiting Lecturer in History at the University, both gave their insights on the programme and spent time filming at the venue.

Nicola said: “I was asked to participate in the series in my role as a psychologist, using psychology to offer alternative explanations for the paranormal experiences they report on in the programme.

“My job was to review some of the footage and give my opinion on factors which need to be considered from a psychological perspective, for example, the role of fear, belief and potential biases in thinking which can alter perception.”

English civil war expert Sam examined the sword found in the hotel and shared his insights.

He added: “It was great to see behind the scenes how such a show was filmed. The lads were really nice and very enthusiastic. I was able to share my knowledge on the English civil war and give some other general insights. It was fantastic to see behind the scenes at the pub and get to grips with the sword.”

Daniel Moss, Director of My Haunted Project, said: “I would like to personally thank both Nicola and Sam for their contribution to this series as well as the University of Chester for accommodating us.

“Having academics involved helped bring a vital scientific and historical aspect to the production. The paranormal divides opinions worldwide and what we have aimed to do with My Haunted Project is to bring a much more rational and scientific perspective to paranormal television. We are blessed to be running such a project inside a genuinely fascinating and historical building and to discover the origins of the sword was a huge help to us. We hope to include both Nicola and Sam in any future series.”