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Exploring the Supernatural with Josh Gates: A Deep Dive into His Spine-Chilling Adventures

Published

3 years ago

February 6, 2023

True fans of Josh Gates know that he is like a real-life Indiana Jones. He has been all over the world exploring the secrets of ancient civilizations, finding treasure, and even crossing paths with the supernatural.

Meet the Reality Daredevil

Gates was born in Massachusetts. But his adventures would take the now 45-year-old far from his home and into the unknown — several mystical destinations that are far more fantastic than the ones of Steven Spielberg’s fedora-wearing adventurer.

Clad in his adventure garb including his signature necklace, Gates has taken viewers into places they most likely will never visit in person. Along the way he, and we, have encountered some pretty hair-raising adventures.

We have gone in search of Amelia Earhart and explored lost Incan ruins. He has brought us along to find cryptids and other supernatural mysteries.

In fact, when FOX News asked him about the one place he would never return his answer was a place notoriously known for its ghostly inhabitants.

“I would say Waverly Hills, which is an abandoned sanitarium here in the States — it’s high on the list of places I don’t ever want to spend the night again,” Gates said. “A lot of those old, 19th-century sanitariums, mental institutions, there are a number of them left here, old prisons, things like that.”

The 6’2″ explorer was raised Episcopalian but thanks to his deep dive into the afterlife, has since become a little more fluid in his spiritual beliefs.

“Most cultures believe, and most religions believe, that there is a spirit, there is a soul, there is something that happens when we die where this spirit leaves our body,” he said in an interview for FOX. “And there are people all over the world who believe in ghosts and angels and demons — things like that. And we touch on this throughout [Destination Unknown: Search for the Afterlife]. But belief and faith are very personal things.”

Destination Truth

This is the series that started it all. Gates was not only the host but also its co-executive producer. In its run from 2007 to 2012, there were a total of 30 episodes. It was on the SyFy Channel back when it was called “Sci-Fi.”

This was the world’s first introduction to Gates. They quickly found him fearless and intrepid. But he also had a sense of humor. There were a few popular supernatural reality series at the time. Shows such as MonsterQuest and Ghost Hunters had already perfected the formula, but Gates took it one step further; he explored remote parts of the world and took us along with him.

The one thing about Gates is that he is a borderline skeptic which often leads to humorous one-liners or witty banter with his team. However, when he experiences a phenomenon that can’t be explained right away, he doesn’t dismiss it.

Whether it is scuba diving, exploring an ancient temple, or tromping through the jungle, Gates is always trying to find the truth even if there is no definite answer to what he is seeking.

Ghost Hunting

Jason Hawes, Josh Gates and Steve Gonsalves

Speaking of the cable television hit Ghost Hunters, another popular reality show with nosey infrared cameras and hosts, Gates crossed over into the series in 2007 with a live Halloween special. He became a regular guest and even hosted a seven-hour live investigation in 2008.

Gates seems to have a soft spot for ghosts and the people who hunt them. In 2012 he made a guest appearance on Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files and created the paranormal reality series Stranded under the Jason Blum production company.

Today, he produces another show called Ghost Nation which stars Ghost Hunter legacy investigators Jason Hawes, Steve Gonsalves, and Dave Tango.

Additionally, in 2020 he teamed with paranormal researcher Jessica Chobot and scientist Phil Torres for a show called Expedition X.

Expedition Unknown

At the beginning of 2015, Gates began working for the Travel Channel with this adventurous reality series. The show would eventually make its way to the Discovery Channel where it would remain a channel staple.

In that time Gates would investigate a haunted ship, Mayan ruins, vampires, Japan’s Atlantis, the lost city of Roanoke, and the Bermuda Triangle.

Josh Gates is back in 2023 with the continuation of this series. This time he invites viewers on an adventure of a lifetime. He once again visits captivating archeological wonders while trying to solve some of history’s most captivating puzzles.

Additionally, the bearded daredevil will continue to explore the stranger side of the unknown in a series of action-packed episodes.

Destination Unknown: Search for the Afterlife

Taking things into the great beyond, Gates isn’t satisfied limiting his exploration to the corporeal world. In this series he assists with a real exorcism, talks to scientists about what happens the moment we die, examines a haunted ship and learns about the afterlife in Varanasi, India.

This series, he admits, was a trek into things that made him question his own faith.

“In the first episode, I openly stated that I was raised Christian,” Gates said. “And like a lot of people, I sort of drifted away from the church as I got older. Now I have two small kids. I have a family and I’m starting to ask those questions. I’m at a point in my life where I’m saying, ‘What is really out there?’ For me, there were a number of moments in the special that really challenged my agnostic beliefs.”

Josh Gates On Tour

Gates has continued to connect with his fans through live appearances. He just finished up a national tour at the end of last year, and although he doesn’t have another one scheduled at this time, be sure to follow him on social media for updates and schedules. His shows are very popular and often sell out.

Discovery+

If you are interested in following Josh on his many adventures, most of the shows listed above can be found on Discovery+. This is a paid content app that requires a subscription.

Final Thoughts

Josh Gates is a reality show celebrity, but what is different about him is his team’s fearless and often dangerous forays into places most of us fear to tread. Whether he’s diving into the ocean’s depths to explore its mysteries, traversing through a haunted house, or spelunking into a deep cave, he always delivers a nail-biting good time.

While we still love our fictional cinematic adventurers, we can always count on Gates to take us away from the theater and put us into his Jeep for a wildly exciting road trip.

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Related Topics:Cryptids Destination Unknown Discovery+Ghost Hunters Josh Gates Paranormal

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[Exclusive Clip] ‘From the Beyond: High Strangeness in the Bennington Triangle’

Published

1 day ago

April 26, 2026

Ryan T. Cusick

Audiences are invited to explore one of Vermont’s most mysterious regions in From the Beyond: High Strangeness in the Bennington Triangle, arriving later this month on streaming platforms and DVD.

The documentary will debut on April 28, 2026, on platforms including Apple TV, Prime Video, and Google Play. DVD editions will be available exclusively through the Small Town Monsters online shop.

Directed by Seth Breedlove, the film continues the company’s exploration of folklore, cryptids, and unexplained phenomena. Breedlove’s previous work includes The Mothman of Point Pleasant, On the Trail of Bigfoot, American Werewolves, and more than two dozen feature-length productions. In total, Small Town Monsters has released more than thirty films, along with investigative programs, web series, books, podcasts, and exclusive membership content.

From the Beyond: High Strangeness in the Bennington Triangle was made possible through the support of backers from the company’s 2025 Kickstarter campaign.

Set in rural Vermont, the documentary examines the legend of the Bennington Triangle, an area associated with reports of UFOs, ghosts, phantom lights, mysterious creatures, and a series of unexplained disappearances. At the center of the mystery is Glastenbury Mountain, where decades of unanswered questions continue to inspire speculation.

Going beyond folklore and campfire tales, the film asks a chilling question: Why is Glastenbury Mountain so inexplicable, and what happened to those who went missing?

Check out our exclusive clip below.

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This Week in Horror: DC Goes Full Body Horror, A24 Has Its Chainsaw Man, and The Bone Temple Is Finally Yours

Published

2 days ago

April 24, 2026

Luna Gray

Good week. The Clayface trailer dropped and made DC relevant to this website for the first time in a while, A24 put a director on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre reimagining, and we got some interviews worth reading. Here is all of it.

Clayface Has a Trailer, and It Is Exactly What You Want

The Clayface trailer landed Wednesday, and it is DC’s first real horror film. Not horror adjacent. Not dark. Horror. Tom Rhys Harries plays Matt Hagen, an actor whose face gets disfigured by a gangster. He turns to a scientist, played by Naomi Ackie, who transforms his body into clay. Then the body horror starts.

James Watkins directed, which is the right choice. He made Speak No Evil and before that The Woman in Black, and he understands how to make dread feel physical. The screenplay is by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini. That combination should tell you everything about the tone they are going for.

A24 Has a Director for Texas Chainsaw Massacre and His Last Film Cost Under a Million Dollars

Deadline confirmed that Curry Barker is writing and directing A24’s reimagining of the 1974 original. Barker made Obsession for under a million dollars. Focus Features paid north of fifteen million to distribute it. It sits at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. A24 hired him before it even opens, which opens May 15.

Kim Henkel, who co-created the original with Tobe Hooper, is executive producing his own creation’s reimagining. That is either a blessing or a haunting. Probably both.

Astrolatry Is Going to Cannes and We Talked to the Actor Who Faced the Creature

Astrolatry is heading to the Frontières Buyers Showcase on May 16-17. The film has a sentient severed penis that grows into a ten-foot practical creature with spiky teeth. We interviewed star Ethan Daniel Corbett about what it was actually like to act against it. Short answer: genuinely terrifying. Long answer is on the site.

The Bone Temple Is Home

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple hit 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD on Tuesday. If you held out from the digital release in February, now is the time. The 4K presentation is supposed to be great. Extras include audio commentary and a deleted scene. If your gonna watch The Bone Temple, why not watch it where the snacks are better.

News

Astrolatry Built a Ten-Foot Practical Penis Scorpion

Published

3 days ago

April 24, 2026

Luna Gray

A sentient severed penis grows into a ten-foot creature with spiky teeth. Genre cinema is doing fine.

Astrolatry follows Elliot, played by Ethan Daniel Corbett, who is every ingredient for quiet catastrophe assembled in one man. Socially isolated. Physically isolated. Craving dopamine and finding it in the wrong places. The romance guru pipeline, followed to its logical conclusion. Elliot does not just spiral. He loses a piece of himself, literally, and that piece does not cooperate.

Corbett described it as “a horror satire, a trippy mind-fuck roller coaster” and “a modern retelling of Maniac,” both of which are accurate and neither of which adequately prepares you. Director David Gordon is making his feature debut after shooting 14 films as a cinematographer and he is swinging for the fences.

The Creature

The effects company behind the creature has festival circuit work Corbett had already seen before signing on. He knew what they could do but he was not ready. “When I saw it in person it was kind of mind-blowing,” he said. “Everything that you see in this movie is practical. Very, very little else. It was genuinely terrifying to have a ten-foot creature coming at you with a big mouth and spiky teeth.”

A CG creature asks an actor to imagine something. A ten-foot physical creature on a set asks nothing. It just arrives. The fear on Corbett’s face in those scenes is not a performance. It is the normal reaction to a scorpion dick with sharp teeth.

Elliot

Corbett went into the character through the body. “I mainly focus on the physicality of it. Who this character is and who he is wholly. I strive in those kinds of moments as an actor.”

Gordon was explicit about the concept, the “nice guy” archetype and the overtly toxic one are the same problem, both aimed at the same object. That reading lands because Corbett does not play it as a reading. Elliot is not a symbol. He is a person.

Where It Is Going

Astrolatry is heading to the Frontières Buyers Showcase at Cannes on May 16-17. “To be able to get into that kind of room on David’s first feature is incredible,” Corbett said. “To be in front of buyers and to showcase the film and potentially get distribution through that.” Frontières is the correct room. It is full of people who understand that the most extreme premise, executed with precision, is not a punchline. It is an argument.