Destination Fear: Chelsea Laden '15 Set to Star in New Show for Travel Channel
10/24/2019 12:54:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey
Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. Sweet Springs Sanitarium. Old South Pittsburg Hospital. Eloise Psychiatric Hospital.
These places are probably not on your bucket list as dream vacation destinations. You've probably never even heard of them, or know what a "sanitarium" is for that matter.
But, for Chelsea Laden '15, her brother Dakota and their best friend, Tanner Wiseman, these locations are not for enjoyment or relaxation – they're for exploring. From a deserted maximum-security prison in Tennessee to an abandoned asylum in Michigan, these "destinations" are considered some of the most haunted places in the U.S.
The trio of Chelsea, Dakota and Tanner set off on a cross-country road trip to discover if they could handle encountering their darkest, paranormal fears. They filmed all of their stops for the new television show, Destination Fear, which is set to premiere on Oct. 26 on the Travel Channel.
This is not your average Ghost Adventures or Ghost Nation-like show – Chelsea, Dakota and Tanner joined together to see how far they could test their fear by spending the night alone in these haunted dwellings.
"One thing that separates us in the paranormal field is that we do not consider ourselves 'investigators' but rather 'explorers,'" Laden explained. "We are not necessarily trying to solve something or answer unsolved questions, but rather test our limits with fear and record/capture our experiences through self-documentation."
In the show, the group arrives at the different locations and decides which spots in the archaic hotels, prisons, asylums, hospitals would be the scariest to sleep alone in. Then, they each pick a location out of a hat to decide where they will sleep that night. Through the night, the only communication they had with each other was through walkie-talkies.
"We all believe that the reason we experienced so many things during our road trip was attributed to being isolated (sleeping alone), which truly amplified the entire experience." Laden said. "In the show, you can expect tears, screaming, and a whole lot of unexplainable and terrifying events."
The show was inspired by a documentary that the trio created four years ago called "Trail to Terror." Dakota, Chelsea's brother, is an experienced paranormal explorer, producer and editor, who has made appearances on Ghost Adventures,and brought Destination Fear to life. Chelsea and Tanner joined him to expand on the original documentary's ideas and give Travel Channel viewers an in-depth look at some of the scariest places in the country.
"We decided to embark on this journey in the first place because we all had a common hobby of exploring haunted or abandoned buildings," Laden said. "All of the cast members grew up together, so I knew what I was getting myself into. I also had the trust in my brother that he wouldn't do anything that would put me in harm's way."
Laden has been busy with not only some paranormal exploration, but also optometry school at Illinois College. While being in school full-time and studying to become an eye doctor makes for a busy schedule, Laden was confident in her ability to multi-task and manage different projects at once. She attributes these skills to her time as a Division I ice hockey player at Quinnipiac.
"Being a student athlete and learning to maintain a healthy balance between pre-med courses and Division I hockey made me realize how much I am capable of doing," Laden explained. "It also made me realize that is perfectly okay to juggle more than one thing, and that has inspired me to say yes to more and more opportunities."
To catch Chelsea, Dakota and Tanner's adventures in some of America's most haunted places, tune into the Travel Chanel this Saturday, Oct. 26 at 10 p.m. (EST) for the premier.
These places are probably not on your bucket list as dream vacation destinations. You've probably never even heard of them, or know what a "sanitarium" is for that matter.
But, for Chelsea Laden '15, her brother Dakota and their best friend, Tanner Wiseman, these locations are not for enjoyment or relaxation – they're for exploring. From a deserted maximum-security prison in Tennessee to an abandoned asylum in Michigan, these "destinations" are considered some of the most haunted places in the U.S.
The trio of Chelsea, Dakota and Tanner set off on a cross-country road trip to discover if they could handle encountering their darkest, paranormal fears. They filmed all of their stops for the new television show, Destination Fear, which is set to premiere on Oct. 26 on the Travel Channel.
This is not your average Ghost Adventures or Ghost Nation-like show – Chelsea, Dakota and Tanner joined together to see how far they could test their fear by spending the night alone in these haunted dwellings.
"One thing that separates us in the paranormal field is that we do not consider ourselves 'investigators' but rather 'explorers,'" Laden explained. "We are not necessarily trying to solve something or answer unsolved questions, but rather test our limits with fear and record/capture our experiences through self-documentation."
In the show, the group arrives at the different locations and decides which spots in the archaic hotels, prisons, asylums, hospitals would be the scariest to sleep alone in. Then, they each pick a location out of a hat to decide where they will sleep that night. Through the night, the only communication they had with each other was through walkie-talkies.
"We all believe that the reason we experienced so many things during our road trip was attributed to being isolated (sleeping alone), which truly amplified the entire experience." Laden said. "In the show, you can expect tears, screaming, and a whole lot of unexplainable and terrifying events."
The show was inspired by a documentary that the trio created four years ago called "Trail to Terror." Dakota, Chelsea's brother, is an experienced paranormal explorer, producer and editor, who has made appearances on Ghost Adventures,and brought Destination Fear to life. Chelsea and Tanner joined him to expand on the original documentary's ideas and give Travel Channel viewers an in-depth look at some of the scariest places in the country.
"We decided to embark on this journey in the first place because we all had a common hobby of exploring haunted or abandoned buildings," Laden said. "All of the cast members grew up together, so I knew what I was getting myself into. I also had the trust in my brother that he wouldn't do anything that would put me in harm's way."
Laden has been busy with not only some paranormal exploration, but also optometry school at Illinois College. While being in school full-time and studying to become an eye doctor makes for a busy schedule, Laden was confident in her ability to multi-task and manage different projects at once. She attributes these skills to her time as a Division I ice hockey player at Quinnipiac.
"Being a student athlete and learning to maintain a healthy balance between pre-med courses and Division I hockey made me realize how much I am capable of doing," Laden explained. "It also made me realize that is perfectly okay to juggle more than one thing, and that has inspired me to say yes to more and more opportunities."
To catch Chelsea, Dakota and Tanner's adventures in some of America's most haunted places, tune into the Travel Chanel this Saturday, Oct. 26 at 10 p.m. (EST) for the premier.
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