Monsters is a syndicated TV series which originally ran from 1988 to 1991 and was probably most popular for its post-production run on the Sci-Fi Channel during the 1990s. Monsters currently airs on NBC Universal's horror-themed channel Chiller Saturdays at 5PM and 5:30PM, Sundays at 11AM and 11:30AM, and intermittently weekday mornings at 5AM and/or 5:30AM Eastern.

A horror anthology show in a similar vein to Tales from the Darkside, it shared the same producer (Richard P. Rubenstein), and in some ways succeeded the show (which had ended the same year in which Monsters began). It differed in some respects nonetheless. While Tales sometimes dabbled in stories of science fiction and fantasy, this series was more strictly horror. As the name implies, each episode of Monsters (with very few exceptions) featured a different monster which the story concerned, from the animatronic puppet of a fictional children's television program to mutated, weapon-wielding lab rats.

Similar to Tales, however, the stories in Monsters were rarely very straightforward action plots and often contained some ironic twist in which a character's conceit or greed would do him in, often with gruesome results. Adding to this was a sense of comedy often lost on horror productions which might in some instances lighten the audience's mood (often deceptively) but in many cases added to the overall eeriness of the production.

The introduction of the show is a perverse take on a sitcom intro which begins with an aerial view of a neighborhood drawing closer to what seems to be merely a typical suburban home. The camera enters this seemingly innocuous setting as the family inside is discussing what to watch on television. They are revealed to be hideous humanoid creatures with an abnormal number of eyes and elongated, deformed faces who snack on candied insects, yet they are all dressed in very human clothing and live with typical affluent suburban surroundings. The mother eyes what is on the television, "It's Monsters, our favorite show!" to which the daughter remarks, "Shh, it's starting...." The camera zooms in on the face of the father, whose sinister, dark laugh ends the segment. The show was also known to have had celebrity guest stars before they became famous, including Lili Taylor and Steve Buscemi.

ADAPTATIONS

Short stories such as The Moving Finger from well-known authors like Stephen King were also adapted into episodes of the series

EPISODES

Season 1

Season 1, Episode 1: The Feverman
Original Air Date—22 October 1988

Season 1, Episode 2: Holly's House
Original Air Date—29 October 1988

Season 1, Episode 3: New York Honey
Original Air Date—5 November 1988
A greedy man convinces his eccentric beekeeper neighbor to market the neighbor's fantastic tasting honey.

Season 1, Episode 4: The Vampire Hunter
Original Air Date—12 November 1988

Season 1, Episode 5: My Zombie Lover
Original Air Date—19 November 1988
One night each year the dead come back to life, and a zombie hunter finds to his horror his daughter had fallen in love with one.

Season 1, Episode 6: Where's the Rest of Me?
Original Air Date—26 November 1988
A mad scientist keeps a cadaver alive to harvest its organs.

Season 1, Episode 7: The Legacy
Original Air Date—3 December 1988

Season 1, Episode 8: Sleeping Dragon
Original Air Date—10 December 1988
A mysterious artifact is found outside Reno, Nevada, and there's a monster living in it.

Season 1, Episode 9: Pool Sharks
Original Air Date—17 December 1988

Season 1, Episode 10: Pillow Talk
Original Air Date—24 December 1988

Season 1, Episode 11: Rouse Him Not
Original Air Date—31 December 1988
A painter finds out that something weird lives in her basement.

Season 1, Episode 12: Fools' Gold
Original Air Date—21 January 1989
Three construction workers find a hidden cave with treasure guarded by a troll.

Season 1, Episode 13: Glim-Glim
Original Air Date—4 February 1989
The last three survivors on earth find an alien who can help them.

Season 1, Episode 14: Parents from Space
Original Air Date—11 February 1989
An abused child's foster parents have their bodies taken over by aliens.

Season 1, Episode 15: The Mother Instinct
Original Air Date—18 February 1989
An elderly woman develops a miracle formula from plants, and her abusive son-in-laws wants to steal it.

Season 1, Episode 16: Their Divided Self
Original Air Date—25 February 1989
Dr. Blackman tries to counsel two heads on the same body that constantly fight with each other.

Season 1, Episode 17: Taps
Original Air Date—4 March 1989
A woman kills her boyfriend then dismembers him, but his leg gets revenge.

Season 1, Episode 18: The Match Game
Original Air Date—15 April 1989
Four teenagers go into a haunted Victorian mansion and play a game where each tell part of a ghost story while a match burns, but the story comes true.

Season 1, Episode 19: Rain Dance
Original Air Date—22 April 1989
A couple who exploit native Americans get more than they bargain for when they buy a rain-making idol.

Season 1, Episode 20: Cocoon
Original Air Date—29 April 1989

Season 1, Episode 21: All in a Day's Work
Original Air Date—6 May 1989
A man who is haunted by his doppleganger asks a witch to help him raise a demon to defeat it.

Season 1, Episode 22: Satan in the Suburbs
Original Air Date—13 May 1989

Season 1, Episode 23: Mannequins of Horror
Original Air Date—20 May 1989

Season 1, Episode 24: La Strega
Original Air Date—27 May 1989
A young man tries to destroy a beautiful witch, whom he thinks has placed his mother under a deadly curse.

Season 2

Season 2, Episode 1: The Face
Original Air Date—1 October 1989

Season 2, Episode 2: Portrait of the Artist
Original Air Date—8 October 1989

Season 2, Episode 3: A Bond of Silk
Original Air Date—15 October 1989

Season 2, Episode 4: Rerun
Original Air Date—22 October 1989

Season 2, Episode 5: Love Hurts
Original Air Date—29 October 1989

Season 2, Episode 6: The Farmer's Daughter
Original Air Date—5 November 1989

Season 2, Episode 7: Jar
Original Air Date—12 November 1989
While managing a remote inn near a wilderness swamp, an innkeeper makes ends meet by selling jars of items from the swamp. One particular item helps others to "meet ends". A curious private eye checks into the inn in search of a missing person, and meets Ann (Gina Gerson), who has brought her husband there to get him "away from it all".

Season 2, Episode 8: The Demons
Original Air Date—19 November 1989

Season 2, Episode 9: Reaper
Original Air Date—26 November 1989
An elderly man in a nursing home makes a deal with Death.

Season 2, Episode 10: The Mandrake Root
Original Air Date—10 December 1989

Season 2, Episode 11: Half as Old as Time
Original Air Date—17 December 1989
An old man asks for his estranged daughter's help in finding a secret Native American fountain of youth.

Season 2, Episode 12: Museum Hearts
Original Air Date—7 January 1990
A man and two women are trapped in a museum basement with the ancient bog body of a druid priestess.

Season 2, Episode 13: Habitat
Original Air Date—14 January 1990

Season 2, Episode 14: Bed and Boar
Original Air Date—21 January 1990

Season 2, Episode 15: Mr. Swlabr
Original Air Date—28 January 1990

Season 2, Episode 16: Perchance to Dream
Original Air Date—4 February 1990

Season 2, Episode 17: One Wolf's Family
Original Air Date—11 February 1990

Season 2, Episode 18: The Offering
Original Air Date—18 February 1990

Season 2, Episode 19: Far Below
Original Air Date—25 February 1990

Season 2, Episode 20: Micro Minds
Original Air Date—4 March 1990

Season 2, Episode 21: Refugee
Original Air Date—13 May 1990

Season 2, Episode 22: The Gift
Original Air Date—20 May 1990

Season 2, Episode 23: The Bargain
Original Air Date—27 May 1990

Season 2, Episode 24: The Family Man
Original Air Date—3 June 1990

Season 3

Season 3, Episode 1: Stressed Environment
Original Air Date—30 September 1990

Season 3, Episode 2: Murray's Monster
Original Air Date—7 October 1990

Season 3, Episode 3: Bug House
Original Air Date—14 October 1990

Season 3, Episode 4: Cellmates
Original Air Date—21 October 1990

Season 3, Episode 5: Outpost
Original Air Date—28 October 1990

Season 3, Episode 6: The Hole
Original Air Date—4 November 1990

Season 3, Episode 7: Small Blessings
Original Air Date—11 November 1990

Season 3, Episode 8: A Shave and a Haircut, Two Bites
Original Air Date—18 November 1990

Season 3, Episode 9: The Young and the Headless
Original Air Date—25 November 1990

Season 3, Episode 10: The Waiting Game
Original Air Date—9 December 1990
After a nuclear blowout, only two factions remain. Humans inside of a small locked shelter, and nuclear holocaust vampires. With the two sides only separated by a small digital code on the outside of the shelter.

Season 3, Episode 11: Sin-Sop
Original Air Date—9 December 1990

Season 3, Episode 12: A New Woman
Original Air Date—16 December 1990

Season 3, Episode 13: Malcolm
Original Air Date—23 December 1990

Season 3, Episode 14: Household Gods
Original Air Date—30 December 1990

Season 3, Episode 15: The Space Eaters
Original Air Date—6 January 1991

Season 3, Episode 16: The Waiting Room
Original Air Date—13 January 1991

Season 3, Episode 17: Leavings
Original Air Date—20 January 1991

Season 3, Episode 18: Desirable Alien
Original Air Date—27 January 1991

Season 3, Episode 19: A Face for Radio
Original Air Date—3 February 1991

Season 3, Episode 20: Werewolf of Hollywood
Original Air Date—10 February 1991

Season 3, Episode 21: Talk Nice to Me
Original Air Date—17 February 1991

Season 3, Episode 22: Hostile Takeover
Original Air Date—24 February 1991

Season 3, Episode 23: The Maker
Original Air Date—18 April 1991

Season 3, Episode 24: The Moving Finger
Original Air Date—26 April 1991