"Yeah, I know," Gray says, laughing at the memory. "Too good to be true, right? Except we weren't laughing at the time."

Gray called Mary Ann Winkowski, the spiritual medium whose work inspired both the show and the character played by Jennifer Love Hewitt. Winkowski came to the house and matter-of-factly told Gray he had two ghosts -- a mother and son who didn't care for them much. She got them to "cross over," and Gray says he has never had another problem in the residence.

Gray isn't sure that he'd call himself a believer in the afterlife. But he says he doesn't have to believe to appreciate the entertainment value of a show like "Ghost Whisperer," which, along with CBS' "Medium," kickstarted a spate of paranormal-based television programming in 2005.

"The majority of the show's audience might not believe in ghosts, but they do connect to the emotional content of the stories," Gray says. "It's all about having one last chance to say goodbye."

With the variety of spook-centric shows currently on the air -- the list includes A&E's "Paranormal State" and "Paranormal Cops," Syfy's "Ghost Hunters," the Travel Channel's "Ghost Adventures" and "Fringe" on Fox -- the viewing audience is spread across the demographic map.

But of course there is some commonality, says Ryan Buell, the founding director of the Paranormal Research Society and star of "Paranormal State."

"After 9/11, there was a huge increase in interest in the paranormal," Buell says. "Historically, that's always been the case. In times of war, interest in the supernatural and spiritualism booms. Despite scientific advancement, when we're bombarded with images of death and destruction, we always go back to the basic questioning of what happens to us after we die. Is there something more?"

The current paranormal programs take different approaches to answering the big unknown contained in that question, leading to some pointed debate, sometimes among people involved with the same show.

Spiritual medium James Van Praagh has been a consultant on "Ghost Whisperer" since the show's inception, though his current involvement doesn't extend much past lending his name to the series. Van Praagh, the author of several bestselling books on spirituality, says shows such as "Paranormal State" entertain on a basic level without shedding much light on their subject matter.

Likewise, "The Ghost Whis-perer" may sometimes go "over-board on the fright-night stuff," he says.

"I know we have to put the frightening stuff in there," Van Praagh says. "But there's a way to do it that's smart and not so in-your-face. But I understand: The TV world and the spiritual world are not the same."

Nor should they be, says P.K. Simonds, who came onboard "Ghost Whisperer" in its third season as executive producer and immediately suggested the show's most controversial, and popular, storyline: killing the Ghost Whisperer's husband, Jim Clancy.

"People thought I was crazy, and maybe I was," Simonds says. "But the heart of the show is its love story, and we had already established that ghosts can step into another body. Why couldn't we make death as an obstacle to this love story, particularly since we knew we could overcome it?"

Romance and emotional journeys lend themselves to happy endings, Buell says, but he hastens to add that people need to understand that there's a dark side to dealing with the paranormal.

"This stuff has become so mainstream that Parker Brothers is marketing pink ouija boards to preadolescent girls, who, at that age, can hardly fathom the concept of the afterlife," Buell says. "What happens if they do contact the dead? We need to stop romanticizing these things and treat them with caution."

Yet, for all the disparity in tone and content, the principals involved in the programs agree on one thing -- the inevitability of their subject matter.

"We have two common experiences as human beings," Van Praagh says. "One is birth, which we've been through and know a little about. And one is death. Every single one us of wants to know what happens when you die, and if there's somebody out there that can shed some light on the subject, they'll listen."

When describing the "Total Engagement Experience" for "Ghost Whisperer," they explain how forward-thinking ways have led to a new model to attract viewers. Facing tremendous odds -- research indicated that 82% of freshman series on Friday night do not make it to their sophomore season -- and armed with a show centering on a supernatural mythology with a popular young star (Jennifer Love Hewitt), they came up with a game plan.

Just airing a show weekly on a network wasn't enough, so they created online seances, webisodes, an e-store, tweets on Twitter, Facebook fan pages, Spirit Guide, comic-books and other ways to spread the word.

"Television is the most important component, but the audience is expecting to be entertained," Sander says. "It drives eyeballs from one platform to the other, from the web to television and in reverse. We call it the infinity loop."

One example of this success are the webisodes, which allow for a different type of storytelling. While the producers believe television is generally most effective telling close-ended tales, the online crowd thirsts for cliffhangers because they can catch up by viewing archived material at their convenience. The infinity loop created by the webisodes has been a financial winner for all involved. For example, General Motors initially sponsored the online content, and then bought ad time on the telecasts. GM also decided to offer up some cars for product placement.

"It was launched from the passion of the fans -- what they wanted to see," Moses says. "We found out from the fans they wanted to know what happened on the other side, stories from the ghosts' points of view. It's direct input from the audience immediately, which you couldn't do a few years ago, which you need to pay attention to. You'd be foolish not to."

Unlike many producers, Sander and Moses create all of the content for each platform inhouse.

"It all works because Ian and I are storytellers," Moses says. "Every component -- interactive, DVD extras, (e-store) Mel's closet -- is about storytelling, and storytelling goes all the way back to campfires."

CBS entertainment topper Nina Tassler says that one reason Sander and Moses are so successful is because each component works within the context of the show.

"They have always been able to deconstruct the show and pull it apart to have specific pieces focus on segments of the audience and reach those members of the audience," Tassler explains. "At the end of the day, the cross-appeal of the show works because it's marketed to specific audiences. Everything is additive."