You’ll never look at the world the same way again.
Monsters is a syndicated horror anthology series which originally ran from 1988 to 1991 and reran on the Sci-Fi Channel during the 1990s. Similarly to Tales from the Darkside, Monsters shared the same producer, and in some ways succeeded the show. 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 features a different monster, from the animatronic puppet of a fictional children's television program to mutated, weapon-wielding lab rats.
The Face (Episode 1)
Writer: Neal Marshall Stevens
Air date: 1989-10-01
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: Two burgling brothers try to rob an old woman and the more ruthless of the two ends up killing her by accident after she bites him. Soon, the infected wound starts to turn into a face.
Portrait of the Artist (Episode 2)
Writer: D. Keith Mano
Air date: 1989-10-08
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: The art being displayed in a local exhibit may not be what it appears to be as the haunting figures hanging in the gallery resemble those of recent missing persons.
A Bond of Silk (Episode 3)
Writer: Michael Kimball
Air date: 1989-10-15
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: A newlywed couple book the basement suite of a fancy hotel which turns out to be the lair of a monstrously sized arachnid.
Rerun (Episode 4) 2.0
Writer: Peg Haller
Air date: 1989-10-22
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: A teenage girl resurrects a recently deceased movie star that pledges his undying love for her. Her best friend enlists the formerly late actor's agent for help.
Love Hurts (Episode 5) 2.0
Writer: Edithe Swensen
Air date: 1989-10-29
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: A DMV employee begins an affair with his wife and father-in-law being the only thing holding him back. However, the seductress taps into her learned dark magic to make him all hers.
The Farmer's Daughter (Episode 6)
Writer: Bob Balaban
Air date: 1989-11-05
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: A man takes shelter at a farm for the evening, where he's surprised to be sharing a room with the farmer's pretty daughter.
Jar (Episode 7) 3.7
Writer: Peg Haller
Air date: 1989-11-12
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: 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, who has brought her husband there to get him away from it all.
The Demons (Episode 8) 7.0
Writer: Martin Olson
Air date: 1989-11-19
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: Greedy alien Arcturus tries to enslave a demon to grant his wishes, but instead gets a Chicago insurance agent named Arthur Gammet. Poor Arthur must fulfill the alien's wishes, even if it means getting a demon of his own.
Reaper (Episode 9)
Writer: Josef Anderson
Air date: 1989-11-26
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: An elderly man in a nursing home, terrified of death, makes a deal with the Grim Reaper — if he gets more souls for Death, he gets to live a bit longer. Things complicate when he falls for a caring elderly nurse.
The Mandrake Root (Episode 10) 1.0
Writer: Harvey Jacobs
Air date: 1989-12-10
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: In her basement, a married woman finds her late grandmother's exotic plant: the mythical mandrake root, an ingredient used in black magic to create the perfect lover that unfortunately feeds on human blood.
Half As Old As Time (Episode 11)
Writer: Thomas Babe
Air date: 1989-12-17
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: Ready to pay any price to stay young, a dying old man asks his archaeologist daughter to reveal the secret location of a forbidden Native American Fountain of Youth supposedly protected by an evil snake god.
Museum Hearts (Episode 12) 2.0
Writer: Theodore Gershuny
Air date: 1990-01-07
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: A lothario and two women he cheated on are trapped in a museum basement with the ancient bog body of a man-hating druid priestess, who worshiped Ceridwen.
Habitat (Episode 13)
Writer: David Morrell
Air date: 1990-01-14
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: A woman agrees to be an alien test subject, only to lose her mind with loneliness.
Bed and Boar (Episode 14)
Writer: David Odell
Air date: 1990-01-21
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: A traveling salesman spends the night in a hotel next door to a beautiful woman and her husband, who hides a dark secret.
Mr. Swlabr (Episode 15)
Writer: Jule Selbo
Air date: 1990-01-28
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: Roy Barton lives a life of misery. Since his dad left, he has been made into a slave, serving his mother and sister hand and foot. Hope comes in the form of a creature who calls himself Swlabr.
Perchance to Dream (Episode 16) 2.0
Writer: Michael Reaves
Air date: 1990-02-04
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: Following a blow to the head, Alex's nightmares appear to be becoming reality. His girlfriend seeks a psychologist's help and he suggests for Alex to enter the dream world and face his subconsciousness.
One Wolf's Family (Episode 17) 9.0
Writer: Paul Dini
Air date: 1990-02-11
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: Anya, a girl from a family of wolves, plans to marry Stanley, but her father objects as Stanley is a were-hyena.
The Offering (Episode 18)
Writer: Dan Simmons
Air date: 1990-02-18
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: After receiving a head injury in a car crash, Lewis, recovering in the hospital, finds that he can see a strange creature that he believes is the source of cancer.
Far Below (Episode 19)
Writer: Michael McDowell
Air date: 1990-02-25
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: Sent to investigate why a subway maintenance crew is paid so highly, a nosy city official gets far more than he bargained for.
Micro Minds (Episode 20)
Writer: David E. Smith
Air date: 1990-03-04
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: An astronomy student believes she has contacted an alien lifeform that is frighteningly close to earth.
Refugee (Episode 21)
Writer: Haskell Barkin
Air date: 1990-05-13
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: A retiring disillusioned top American spy is enlisted one last time to retrieve a defecting female Soviet physicist, but an unexpected visit from the agents of Hell to the safehouse, where the two are hiding from the KGB, complicates things.
The Gift (Episode 22)
Writer: David E. Smith
Air date: 1990-05-20
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: A rich kid is kidnapped for ransom by two ruthless criminals and taken to a remote cabin. In its basement, he finds a mysterious but benevolent beast-man who offers him a supernatural escape. But there's a price.
The Bargain (Episode 23) 9.0
Writer: Tom Noonan
Air date: 1990-05-27
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: A lonely bookstore owner goes to extreme lengths to transform her appearance in order to woo a handsome customer.
The Family Man (Episode 24)
Writer: Allen Coulter
Air date: 1990-06-03
Runtime: 22 min
Overview: A young boy tries to protect his family from his mother's new boyfriend, who is in fact an alien, but the lad can only see the true reptile using his dead father's glasses.
