MOUNTAIN MONSTERS on Discovery America!

Jeri Jacquin, Movie Maven

Coming to a television near you is the second season of Destination America’s MOUNTAIN MONSTERS.

Deep in the Appalachians are rough ridges, thick forestation and legendary monsters. The Appalachian Investigators of Mysterious Sightings (AIMS) is a group of men who have made it their mission to seek out these creatures.

In the crew is leader Trapper, rookie Buck, tracker Wild Bill, in charge of security Huckleberry, researcher Jeff and trap builder Willy. This unlikely group of monster hunters have no problem jumping straight into the fray to find some of the mountains most legendary monsters.

Beginning in season two the AIMS group looks for the one and only Kentucky Hell Hound. Billy, a cattle farmer, has been having problems with something attacking his Angus cattle. One calf in particular has an unpleasant encounter with a clawed creature.

The four men go into the woods looking for signs of the nocturnal creature. With night vision and a shot gun they start looking for clues. Tracks and sightings show the notorious Hell Hound has been coming close to homes and families. The gang builds a bamboo trap and head out to chase the hound in!

The next episode takes the AIMS boys to Grafton County, West Virginia. This area has a history along side the Civil War and the railroad and also is the place where the first Civil War casualty happened to Bailey Brown. But what town’s folks are more afraid of than anything associated with the Civil War is the Grafton Monster.

First seen in the 1950s, this heavy headed monster is said to weight 1000 lbs., is four feet wide and over nine feet high. His head drops to his chest which also earned him the nickname The Headless Horror!

Witnesses tell the story of their sightings of the Grafton Monster but even better are photographs and a footprint by those living in Grafton. Later in the night as AIMS goes into the woods they discover for themselves footprints that are huge! More of a shock is the discoveries they encounter in the forest.

Building a log pine trap, the men believe they have got this capture in the bag. What they don’t know is that what they hunt is fast, jumps high and has no problem evading them – but as I said, these boys aren’t going to give up!

FINAL WORD: MOUNTAIN MONSTERS is really interesting in that it brings some of the legendary monsters to the forefront of those who might not know this history of the Appalachian range. This series definitely has some bite (no pun intended) with moments of ‘oh my gawd what was that!’ and that’s said by ME while I was watching.

Destination America is a network that specializes in travel, food, adventure, home and natural history. They also have original programming such as BBQ PITMASTERS; A HAUNTING, BUYING ALASKA, BUYING THE BAYOU and RAILROAD ALASKA. I have seen BUYING ALASKA and constantly ask myself ‘could I live with the bathroom outside?’

For more about Destination America go to www.DestinationAmerica.com follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DestinationAmerica and on Twitter at twitter.com/DestAmerica.

TUBS OF POPCORN: I give MOUNTAIN MONSTERS three and a half tubs of popcorn out of five. It is a series about some very dedicated men who are interested in what they do and very serious. At the same time there is humor mixed in as each of these men has a distinct personality so don’t let the beards and shotguns fool you.

This is actually a series that makes gathering the family and shutting the lights off to watch a mainstay of family fun – and yes, I’ve done it!

In the end – they are the first to jump into the woods to find their monster!