Each online episode of "A Few Odd Minutes in Howard County" opens in black-and-white with eerie music and a low-tech graphic of sparking electrical current that pays homage to 1960s' television series.
It's enough to set your nerves on edge in suspense, and that's the goal.
The series of short videos being posted by Dragon Digital Television — formerly known as HCC-TV — immediately hooks viewers and reels them in to hear true tales of firsthand experiences with hauntings around the county.
So far, the staff has posted interviews from The Wine Bin in April and a two-parter in June filmed at the Museum of Howard County History in June, both located in Ellicott City. A video made at Savage Mill 10 days ago will be posted online in July.
Anthony Hoos, a co-producer on the original series from Howard Community College, originated the idea for the videos. An Ellicott City ghost tour guide for 12 years, he said he's wanted to do something like this since 2010.
"It's part of our community outreach here at the college," said Hoos, who also works as a guide for Maryland history tours.
The series examines peoples' brushes with ghosts or spirits.
"Most ghosts aren't Hollywood ghosts; they're just pesky and doing what they do," Hoos said, citing "The Cooking Ghost" as an example of a spirit that "throws aromas around."
"When you're at the Hayden House, which is across the street from the Historical Society museum, you can sometimes smell bacon and eggs frying," he said, noting people have also reported smelling tobacco and cologne at other haunted sites in the county.
"It's not all moans and groans and things being moved," Hoos said.
Louis Garcia, senior producer/director at the community college, said the idea was to capture those affected by the hauntings as they reveal the goings-on in their buildings in their own words. Each video is purposely kept to under five minutes in length.
"We discussed doing a full half-hour show, but decided to go with shorter videos [at individual locations] so they'd be easy to watch and we could turn them out faster," he said.
The videos air on Comcast Channel 96 and also can be viewed on YouTube.
The video recently shot in Savage Mill involves an 11- or 12-year-old girl who worked as a child laborer at the mill, Garcia explained.
"Nowadays, she apparently likes to trip people on a steep set of stairs there," he said.
Hoos also said some Main Street merchants used to hire "cleansers" on an annual basis to clean the spirits from their establishments since they are in such abundance.
"The business owners found it wasn't as hokey as it sounded, and that it actually worked," he said.
The video staff would like to interview a cleanser, he said.
While the video staff turns out plenty of college-related programming, other shows they are responsible for producing include "Table 2 Table," which visits area restaurants to discuss their origins and cuisine; "Reel Talk," which deals with film reviews; and, "In the Spotlight," which has a theater arts focus.
One thing all the programs share is an emphasis on natural, unrehearsed interviews.
"We don't like rehearsing people because they can become stiff," Garcia said. "We can always edit the footage."
The kind of places that lend themselves to seasoned ghost tales collected over the decades certainly aren't in short supply in the county.
"We could do a ton of videos just on the buildings on Main Street in Ellicott City," Garcia said.
Shawn Gladden, executive director of the Howard County Historical Society, agrees.
"I've worked in historical buildings for over 20 years and there's always weird creaks that give you chills," he said.
"I know managers Mike McManus and Dustin Linz have experienced and seen strange things at our museum and at the second Ellicott's Mills Quaker School, which is usually referred to as the Weir Building. Historic Ellicott City has lots of viable ghost stories."
Linz said he understands why some people are skeptical of their belief in ghosts, but isn't all that concerned about people's reactions.
"The things we've experienced have put us past the point of worrying about how other people judge us," he said. "We know without a doubt that the place is haunted."
Hoos said he and Garcia plan to continue filming episodes around the county, and are hoping to find a story in the historical community of Lawyers' Hill in Elkridge or in an historical private home.
"History is what I love, and this [series] can only go up from here," he said.