Monster Survival Guide
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on November 18th, 2013
Monster Survival Guide is a surprise coming from National Geographic Channel. I hadn’t even heard anything about it previous to seeing it on the schedule while I was setting my DVR to record Bigfoot: The New Evidence. I decided to record it as well to see what it was about.
The show’s description from the Nat Geo website is as follows:
Monster Survival Guide is a mockumentary docu-series following the adventures of fictionalized cryptozoologist Campbell Macabre and his ragtag crew. Piecing together video footage, eyewitness reports and his own experience as a second-generation monster hunter, this flawed hero and his crew track, capture and study monsters arming viewers with the skills they’ll need to survive an encounter with any of the world’s most frightening creatures.
I’ve seen grumblings in the crypto community about the show, but you have to take it for what it is, entertainment. I thoroughly enjoyed the first episode, even thought it was a zombie episode, hardly cryptozoology.
It was far more entertaining than Animal Planet’s Lost Tapes, which strangely enough, some folks believed was non-fiction.
To me, it was in the vein of Evil Dead, crossed with Lost Tapes.
Looking forward to see what future episodes bring… If there are any.
I don’t see any episodes listed other than this one, which is listed as “pilot” on the schedule. It does show to be re-airing this Sunday, November 24th at 10:00 & 10:30 AM CST.
Monster Survival Guide: Fun with Zombie Guts
Bernard, the Researcher dissects a zombie and reveals the source of the monster’s disease.
Monster Survival Guide: A Handy Zombie Identification Guide
Monster hunter, Campbell Macabre shows the four types of zombies he’s encountered.
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
I really don’t like this type of show because it is neither fish nor fowl, further blurring the line between reality and non-reality, confusing viewers and, to my mind, undermining any serious exploration of cryptozoology.
I don’t mean to whine. If it’s fake, say it’s fake. If not, say it’s not. These “are they or aren’t they” things just muddy the waters too much for me, particularly in a field that is trying very hard for respectability.
bl00p: Haven’t seen it, but it seems to make pretty clear that it’s fun fiction. Anyone who’d be confused about it would have to be rather childlike.
Maybe confusion isn’t my word. Maybe unprofessional and unbefitting an institution’s alleged stance on scientific topics is more what I think.
This is borderline irresponsible, given the source. “Stupid” could be another useful word.
Why would National Geographic invest anything in something more befitting, say, Jack Link’s?