It’s that time of year when those of us in love with all that creeps in the shadows start getting excited for the scares and screams. For us horror-loving Natives, there’s a lot to be excited for; not only are we coming off the release of Never Whistle At Night 2: Back for Blood, but APTN’s Native paranormal slate keeps growing. Two new docuseries, Squamish Medium and Unsettled Spirits, join a fifth season of Ghost Hunters of the Grand River in a lineup built around Indigenous investigators, mediums and knowledge keepers who treat the spirit world as something to be understood, not just feared.
Unsettled Spirits premieres September 2, with new episodes every Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT (English, on APTN) and 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (Cree, on APTN Languages). The first season runs 13 episodes total, and both versions stream on APTN+ the same day they air.
Unsettled Spirits follows two Indigenous investigative teams as they take on unexplained and paranormal phenomena. Team leaders Amanda Quill and Jesi Whitton draw on deep ancestral ties to land and spirit to guide their crews through cases involving hauntings, poltergeist activity, and unidentified entities. Blending their ancestral knowledge with modern investigative tools, they trace connections between past and present, searching for the reasons certain spirits remain unsettled.
Series producer and director Mike Gosselin says the show reaches beyond typical ghost-hunting territory:
“Unsettled Spirits is about much more than the paranormal. It’s about connection, understanding and the relationship between the spirit world and our own. At its heart, the series is about helping both spirits and the people affected by them find peace and healing.”
For Quill, the cases are more about the history that lies behind the scares:
“Every place we visit carries a history that has been passed down through generations, and behind every story is a family, a community, or a piece of the past that still holds meaning today. I hope the series inspires people to look more closely at the places around them and ask questions, not only about the unexplained, but also about the histories, legends, and memories that remain.”
Squamish Medium premieres September 14 in English on APTN at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT, with new episodes every Monday. APTN Languages premieres the Cree version on September 2, airing Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET. Both versions will stream on APTN+ the same day they air.
The 10-episode series follows Danielle Searancke, the Squamish Medium. Her warmth and humor radiate as she draws on her connection to the spirit world to help people live big, meaningful lives. As a mother, business owner, and medium, Danielle’s life can get hectic, especially since she began her quest to rediscover her Indigenous identity. Squamish Medium is a journey of reconnection: to self, to family, to culture, and to the land itself.
“At its heart, Squamish Medium is a story about reconnection and healing. Whether it’s reconnecting with our loved ones, our ancestors, our culture or ourselves, I believe that’s where healing begins,” Searancke says. “My grandmother and my father started on this path, and I’ve been honoured to continue it.”
Wapanatahk Media CEO and producer Tania Koenig-Gauchier calls Searancke “the Oprah of Mediums”:
“Danielle has an extraordinary ability to make people feel seen, heard, and supported during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. She carries the weight of their stories with incredible compassion and responsibility, and it’s evident that this is her life’s work and journey.”
Ghost Hunters of the Grand River returns
Rounding out the fall slate is season five of Ghost Hunters of the Grand River, premiering September 2 in English on APTN.
Ghost Hunters of the Grand River follows S.N.I.P.E., a Six Nations ghost-hunting crew who have poured their time and energy into tracking down evidence behind ghost stories, paranormal run-ins, and things that defy explanation.
Season 5 sends the team to 13 historic sites across Manitoba and Ontario, including old jails, military forts, and heritage homes, as well as museums, a historic theatre, and the S.S. Keewatin. Each stop carries its own layers of military, maritime, community and settler history, with reports of apparitions, disembodied voices, footsteps and other strange occurrences hinting that the past hasn’t fully let go.
All three shows take the same idea from different angles: the spirit world isn’t just something to fear, but something worth listening to. Each one comes from Indigenous ways of understanding what sticks around and why. So grab a blanket, dim the lights, and clear your schedule this September. Between Unsettled Spirits, Squamish Medium, and Ghost Hunters of the Grand River, APTN has given horror-loving Natives plenty of reasons to stay up late.
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