Shark Week? That's for wusses. Brace yourself once again for ... wait for it. .. Monster Week!
Set your channel on Animal Planet beginning tonight, close the shades and be sure to follow their warning: "Don't watch alone."
Monster Week is so monstrous, it's actually nine nights long and comes "jam-packed with some of the most terrifying beasts to ever have inhabited Earth."
To cram in all the monsters is the official explanation why it will take an additional two nights to get in "horrifying creatures, whose teeth and claws strike fear into viewers watching from the comfort of their living rooms."
Does that send chills up your spine?
From tonight through May 25, Animal Planet has special programming that includes Deadly After Dark, following polar bears that have taken over an entire town; Serial Killer Tiger at Large, stalking a blood-thirsty tiger that has claimed 10 lives and is still on the loose in India; and Killer Hornets From Hell, which warns of a global swarm "that makes killer bees look like butterflies."
In addition to unveiling the most lethal creatures from the natural world, Monster Week "unleashes the savage stalkers residing within our own imaginations."
I Was Bitten: The Walker County Incident goes down South to investigate an unnatural entity that's attacking people in the woods outside a small town in Alabama. The Cannibal in the Jungle is a feature based on actual science that ponders the existence of 3-foot-tall human-like creatures (nicknamed Hobbits) that might have escaped extinction to wreak havoc on a group of scientists in the rain forest of Indonesia.
Finally, Monster Week will wrap things up with a terrifying two-hour edition of River Monsters that will unveil creatures from the prehistoric past.
Here's the lineup.
Today: River Monsters, 8 p.m. In "Africa's Deadliest," freshwater detective and biologist Jeremy Wade travels to Botswana in pursuit of a pack-hunting, piranha-like predator blamed for mauling the victims of a capsized boat. Wade offers himself up as bait in the crocodile-infested waters of the Okavango Delta.
Monday: Serial Killer Tiger at Large, 7 p.m., tracks down the man-eater "that has an insatiable hunger for human flesh."
Tuesday: Deadly After Dark, 7 p.m., journeys to Churchill, Canada, where more than a thousand polar bears invade the town on their annual trek north. See the TV Week cover photo. Isn't he cute? Now imagine a thousand more sitting outside your house.
Wednesday: Killer Hornets From Hell, 7 p.m., follows a dedicated group of hunters on a mission to kill the swarm. The hornets have "flesh-melting venom and a piercing stinger" and "just one of these death machines can kill a full-grown man."
Thursday: Mauled, 7 p.m., is a gut-wrenching special about people who have survived animal attacks.
Monster Island, 8 p.m., follows a team of hunters as they attempt to cull a colony of wild boars infected by the deadly and highly contagious brucellosis microbe on Puerto Rico's Mona Island.
Friday: I Was Bitten: The Walker County Incident, 6-8 p.m., heads to Jasper, Ala., and a man who claims to have been attacked in the woods "by something unspeakable." He's not the only one.
Monster Croc Invasion, 8 p.m. Paul Bedard (Gator Boys) investigates the increasing number of deaths by crocodile attack in Costa Rica.
May 24: The Cannibal in the Jungle, 8-10 p.m., tells the tale of American scientist Timothy Darrow, who was convicted of killing and cannibalizing two colleagues in the jungles of Indonesia in 1977. Darrow claimed a legendary human-ape creature (nicknamed hobbit) was responsible for the murders.
The special follows an expedition deep into the heart of Flores Island to investigate Darrow's claims and find out once and for all if these "hobbit" creatures still exist.
May 25: River Monsters: Jurassic-Sized Prehistoric Terror, 7-9 p.m, wraps up the special programming with Wade "on a mission to uncover horrifying killers from the depths of time."
Featuring never-before-seen footage, monster-size catches and one of the most horrifying creatures Wade ever has laid hands on, this special episode of Animal Planet's No. 1 series explores prehistoric beasts that are brought back to life by combining Wade's unique understanding of modern-day monsters with state-of-the-art CGI.
Look for super-size piranha, fanged swamp sharks and the nightmarish "buzz-saw killer." Those are just a few of the real-life predators from long-lost worlds that'll make you say, "You're gonna need a bigger boat."
Better yet, just stay off the river.
Style on 05/17/2015