INTERVIEW: Medium Amy Allan on newest season of ‘The Dead Files’

Amy Allan, star of Travel Channel’s The Dead Files, said she is a medium who attempts to offer comfort and answers to families dealing with paranormal activity. On The Dead Files, she walks through houses and buildings trying to piece together the pieces, while her partner, former NYPD homicide detective Steve DiSchiavi, plugs together the physical evidence and research.

The new season of the reality series returns Saturday, July 12 at 10 p.m. Allan said there are three episodes that are highlights of her.

“I know there are about three that really were amazing,” she said recently during a phone interview. “Two of which encountering subject matter that really hasn’t been something that we’ve encountered before. One of them having to do with past life issues, and that one I believe took place in California on an investigation that we did. But that subject actually did arrive and had to be dealt with, so that’s something that is kind of new territory as far as The Dead Files is concerned. I think the Texas case was really fascinating, dealing with an entity that is typically only present in certain locations around the world, and it was in Abilene, Texas, which really made no sense and was absolutely, really horrifying. I’m still very, very worried about that family, and then the last one that we did was a very interesting mystery that found resolution during the reveal, and it was shocking really I think for everybody involved how that one played out.”

Allan admitted that sometimes she is “extremely unnerved” by the cases, but other than the initial scare factor, she’s OK dealing with the paranormal. “I typically try to control that as quickly as possible because I really can’t allow myself to be scared,” she said. “I need to be there for the dead and the living and not have that be an issue. Really from a young age I’ve encountered all kinds of things, so, of course, there may be an initial, ‘Oh, s***,’ this is great. But then I have to really just focus and get through it.”

Allan came to The Dead Files at a time in her life when she was thinking about giving up the television side to her profession. Producers from Painless Entertainment convinced her that The Dead Files would be done the “right way” and focus on methodology. This gave Allan a sense of comfort and confidence in the TV work.

“I definitely focus more on the work. Occasionally it’ll hit me that I’m on a television show, but I don’t really focus that much on that aspect of it, other than I’m glad to be given a platform to hopefully have an educational purpose, getting information out to the public in such a broad manner.”

Allan was tight-lipped about the new season premiere, which takes her to a case in Florida City, Fla., but she did allow that her skills are still being used to help the family involved. She called the case “very dire” and at times “volatile.” “Everyone is kind of having their separate experiences, so it was good that we were able to be there and be able to form a good solid communication within the family itself so that they can take care of it,” she said.

In these cases, Allan sees her role as relaying what “the dead are going through,” including their needs and wants. Similarly, she’s a listener of the living, trying to understand their wishes.

Her earliest memory as a medium goes back to when she was 4 years old with “shadow people.” At the time she didn’t understand what was happening, but then in her early teens she started to realize there was something deeper to these experiences.

“So at the ages of 12, 13, 14, you just want to be like everybody else, and so I kind of tried that. It didn’t work too well, and then it wasn’t until my late teen years that I was watching a television program, and I actually saw James Van Praagh. And it hit me that I knew, and I had a complete breakdown. I was crying and very scared. Although my whole life, I always talked to people about paranormal, I’d always had these experiences, I was always reading the scientific literature about it. That was my a-ha moment. This is what’s really going on here, and that’s when I put myself out there to be tested. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t insane or schizophrenic, and ended up going through a lot of testing and meeting with parapsychologists.”

She said that her parents and most of her friends are “sensitive”.

“When I finally kind of came out, my parents initially wanted me to just be a parapsychologist and not so much public,” she said. “But now it’s wonderful because we do have a very open communication, and they’ve kind of dealt with their demons regarding their own abilities and what they went through as children with their families. So it’s actually been a really great experience regarding that. Most of my friends are sensitive, so we kind of travel in packs. They always knew something similar was going on. … I’m very happy that a lot of people have come out of the closet due to this or are communicating more about this and learning a lot about it, so that makes me really happy. Who knows what the future brings. I don’t know. I’m not a psychic; I’m just a medium.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• The Dead Files returns with new episodes 10 p.m. Saturday, July 12 on the Travel Channel. Click here for more information.