Monsters, aliens and the paranormal inspire a streaming series by Vandals’ Joe Escalante
By the Orange County Register
Joe Escalante has always had a fascination with monsters, aliens and the paranormal.
The Orange County native and bassist for punk rock band The Vandals grew up on monster films and the eerie 1970s TV series “In Search Of…” hosted by Leonard Nimoy. He also read books about the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot.
Escalante has manifested his love for these types of stories into a new television series, “Monsters Across America,” which he sold to Fox News’ paid streaming service, Fox Nation, last year.
“I don’t like, just, campfire tales,” said Escalante. “These are all real stories with real people who had these experiences.”
A trio of episodes premiered in October focusing on the tall tales surrounding the Sarasota Skunk Ape, the Pensacola Sea Monster and the Provo Bigfoot. Three more episodes exploring stories of the New Jersey Devil, the Pennsylvania Thunderbird and a monster snake said to lurk in a lake in Charlotte, North Carolina, were uploaded to the service on Jan. 19.
“This is almost more of a travel show where you find the monster, you go to the town and that monster has a story,” he said. “There are monster sightings and then you research it and find out why that monster is there.”