MonsterQuest Season 3 Review & DVD Giveaway
Monster Quest is a great show, no doubt about it. That’s why when A&E Home Video wants me to review, and give a copy away to our readers, I jump at the chance.
For those of you that have been living in a hole or something, Monster Quest is a documentary series which airs on Wednesday nights on The History Channel at 9PM Eastern Standard Time.
On the show, each episode they pick a monster such as Bigfoot, or El Chupacabra, and they explain any scientific information that they have on the subject. They interview witnesses, question their credibility, and try to explain their claims scientifically.
This is the review for Volume 1 of Season 3 of the show.
First off, I have to admit that I REALLY don’t like how they’re doing it this time. What I’m reviewing here is the first 8 episodes of the season. That’s all that exists in this set. I suppose the plan is that later, they’re going to release the rest in Volume 2, 3 and so on. I really have no idea, as they don’t check with me first before they do this stuff. But… I’ve contacted the proper channels, and I’ve demanded to be informed of this sort of thing ahead of time from now on.
Anyway, I don’t like it. Personally, if I’m going to get a TV series on DVD, I want to have it all at once, and be done with it. I don’t wanna have to screw around with 8 episodes at a time.
Regardless, those 8 episodes WERE entertaining, interesting, and definitely worth watching. I’ll quickly break each episode down here.
1. Death Of Loch Ness:
This episode inventor, Robert Rines explains his belief that the Loch Ness Monster is actually dead. This explains why there have been so few sightings in recent years. Apparently, while mapping the floor of the lake, he discovered what he thinks is the corpse of the legendary creature.
This was a good episode. It was interesting, but unfortunately it was a bit sad. If it exists, or HAD EXISTED, I don’t want to think that it’s dead.
2. Cattle Killers:
I wasn’t feelin’ this one. For years there have been cattle and livestock mutilations all over North America. This episode speculates why this happens. Satanic cults? Aliens? Chupacabras? Barracudas?
3. Swamp Stalker:
This episode discusses the real events of The Legend Of Boggy Creek where, back in the day something came out of the swamp in Texarkana, and done a buttload of violent attacks on people. I enjoyed this episode.
4. Devils In New Jersey:
This is one of the best Monster Quest episodes I’ve seen. If you’re into this sort of thing, It’s worth buying this set for this episode alone. If you haven’t already guessed, it’s about the Jersey Devil, and it features what I consider to be VERY compelling testimonies about its existence. A mother and son are ‘attacked’ one night by what they believe to be the legendary Jersey Devil. What they describe is something straight out of a horror movie. They are given lie detector tests to answer questions about the creature, and what it looked like. They pass every question. A forensic artist does a full size sculpture of the creature based on the witnesses descriptions. When they finally see the sculpture, the look on their faces tell all. GREAT episode!
5. Gators In The Sewers:
If the title to this episode leaves you confused, let me explain. It’s about alligators in the sewers. Now that I’ve cleared that up, I gotta tell ya that this episode was lacking for me. Maybe it’s because the whole thing has been played out in movies for years, or that the concept is kind of silly from my point of view. The episode DID give information to support the idea that it’s POSSIBLE for alligators to live in the sewers even farther north where it gets colder in the winter. Even so, I still find it hard to believe.
6. Snowbeast Slaughter:
In the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, there’s a big hairy thing feeding, on elk and scaring the people up there. Ya know… I am SOOO sick of Bigfoot. On the show, they’re calling it a Yeti, but it’s all the same to me, and how many episodes do we need on the same creature? All we ever get is.. well, nothing. They never capture any real evidence that this thing exists in ANY of its forms or names. I’m not saying that it doesn’t exist, but come on! Do we really need 600 thousand independent documentaries, and episodes with no new information, and to tell us that there’s no evidence yet? We get it. STOP!
7. Mega Jaws:
As long as I can remember there have been 2 MAJOR things in my life that caught my interest. The first was obviously the paranormal, the unknown, and ‘spooky stuff’ the other was always all things underwater, or sharks to be more specific. This episode explores the idea of a 60 foot shark in the Baja Peninsula of Mexico. Now, I believe that the ocean contains the most interesting things, and holds more mysteries than almost anything on the planet. The idea that the Megalodon is still out there, swimming and eating, based on what we know of the creature is completely absurd. Based on what we know about how it fed, and how its cousin, ‘The Great White’ feeds, we WOULD have encountered it by now. If there’s a big creature along that Peninsula, I would bet against the Meg. I like this episode simply because of the subject matter. I love sharks.
8. Monster Close Encounters:
*Bangs head against wall*
Another Bigfoot episode. Yeah, this is exactly what this set needed. The earlier episode wasn’t enough, and neither was the 5 episodes in season 2(Not an exaggeration). YAY! We need more Sasquatch, sasquatch-like creatures, and sasquatch related episodes! There simply ain’t enough to go around.
Alright! Aside from Bigfoot being forced down my throat, I’d have to say that it was a pretty good set. Again, that Jersey Devil episode makes any complaint that I have null and void.
I have an extra copy of Season 3 Volume 1 sitting right here, and I’m going to give it to one of you!
Lemme think. What hoop do I want you guys to jump through this time?
Actually, that’s my biggest question. If I’m going to keep giving away free DVD’s, I need ideas for what contests to have.
So, if you want to win a copy of this DVD set, leave a comment here, or email me at BeyonderBill@yahoo.com, and give me your idea of a fun contest for me to have in the future.
I may use them all, and I may only use the good ones. The BEST idea will get a free copy of Monster Quest Season 3, Volume 1 sent to them in the mail!(Within the United States please)
I think you should have people send in a picture of themselves dressed as their favorite monster, the best, most realistic, or creative wins.
Bill takes us to task again, throwing down the gauntlet.
How’s this…let’s see the best possible photographic ‘evidence’ of an animal haunting. Bill would have some photos to analyze, and it’s a subject matter I’m interested in having just ‘herd’ recent reports of a haunted horse barn. At the very least we could overwhelm him with endless photos of cute ‘ghost’ cats. Good kitty!
Here’s an interesting contest…
Best Tag Lines for a Paranormal Group or Association (or ones that you just make up).
These can’t be quotes from sources that haven’t been researched–unfortunately, something I see quite often–and it would be quite funny for a paranormal group to win that has never seen this site before–I’d like to see the look on their face when Bill tells them that they won–and it encourages surfing.
Here’s Bills, or at least the tag line at the top of his home page….
“The greatest trick The Beyond ever pulled was convincing the world it didn’t exist.”
Here’s mine….
“We don’t jump at ghosts”
And here’s one I just made up…
“In the Spirit of Transparency”
There’s some funny ones out there…………..
“The greatest trick The Beyond ever pulled was convincing the world it didn’t exist.â€
Alright… Your idea is a neat idea for a contest, and I think that i’ll use it at some point. I have another contest coming up for the History Channels special “Ancient Aliens” and I’ll be giving that away, so if I can’t think of an appropriate contest for that one, there ya go.
But…
The whole “Greatest trick The Beyond blah blah blah qoute” isn’t The Beyond’s tagline. Actually, its me being silly.
It’s actually a quote from the movie, “The Usual Suspects” but altered slightly. The REAL quote is “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.â€
See what I did there?
The truth is, I wanted to add something fun, and pointless to the site, yet hopefully smile inducing, so DIRECTLY at the top of the main page… http://www.TheBeyond.Info you will see a line of text. You’ve seen it. It said, “The greatest trick The Beyond ever pulled was convincing the world it didn’t exist.â€
But… If you refresh your browser, it SHOULD say something different. refresh again, and again. It’s all random, but I have about 130 different quotes, and lines from movies, songs, and other things in there, altered slightly, of course. I’m sure you’ll see some in there you recognize, and give you a smile.
And, I’m always adding to them. Added about 10 or so a couple nights ago.
Being a former editor and proofreader, as well as a great fan of movies, I’m very impressed. And now that the secret becomes apparent, I’m a little disappointed that I did not recognize the play on words.
So, in honor of Bill’s wonderful response to my comment–letting us in on his wonderful thought processes, as well as drumming up interest in a future contest–I’m going to watch Usual Suspects again. Right after that, I’m watching Resrvior Dogs, which is entirely my own undertaking…..from that, I may be able to provide a similar play on words
Thanks for the inside information. And yet, from your comment, the opportunity to come up with an idea to win the Monster Quest CD’s is still open. Or do I just need to order a Quarter Pounder in France?
“…letting us in on his wonderful thought processes…”
More like ‘behind the scenes’ at the mental hospital.
I love all the MonsterQuest episodes and I do believe in most of them. I hate it when people won’t believe something just because they haven’t seen it or experienced any kind of strange occurrences. I am Native American and we have so many legends and stories that are true. If people knew of half of the things that we have seen, they would just think that we are crazy. That’s why we hardly ever share any experiences with anyone or the public.
I think that the common theme here is that monsters are scary. They also make for good stories late at night when you start believing that they could be right outside your door!
I’d say that the best idea for a MonsterQuest giveaway contest is just to challenge the contestants to give the most interesting and/or terrifying monster story (as judged by Bill – he’s very good and thorough). Have the contestants post their stories here, and whoever comes up with the best story wins!
I usually don’t do cryptid shows, Bill, but reading your reviews makes me really interested. It’s rare to find a really good story anymore. I’m always open to new ideas.