Josh Gates, everyone’s favorite explorer, adventurer and host of the hit series “Expedition Unknown,” will showcase the unexpected stories of unforgettable places around the world in Travel Channel’s new series “Legendary Locations.” The new show plans to premier with back-to-back episodes on Wednesday, March 28 at 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. ET/PT.
The 13-episode season features Gates as he narrates the fascinating history behind stories and popular locations. ‘From an ancient city carved into Jordan’s sandstone cliffs and a favorite summer getaway of notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar, to an Irish landscape now known as Luke Skywalker’s lair, Gates investigates the ancient legends and surprising folklore that travelers and locals alike love to share.’
Gates stated, “My adventures have taken me to more than 100 countries across the globe and the places that have truly stayed with me are the ones with their own stories to tell,” said Gates. “I’m revealing locations that are truly legendary – each one framed by an epic backstory, a secret origin or forgotten lore. From luminescent glow-worm caves in New Zealand and a once debaucherous, sunken city in Italy to a Viking festival of fire, each spin of the globe reveals another jaw-dropping destination. These are the stories behind places you know, like the iconic Statue of Liberty, to hidden places you’ve never imagined. The world is a weird, wild and wondrous place, and I can’t wait to share its most legendary locations.”
Watch as the premiere episode begins with a trek up the snowy Romanian mountaintops of mysterious Transylvania, where the true story of two castles are even bloodier than the dramatic vampire tale of Dracula.
Viewers will visit a few miles off the coast of Japan and learn why Hashima Island is a real-world dystopia. Looking like something out of science fiction, the once populous mining community lies in lingering ruin.
And, in a bizarre Christmas tradition reemerging in Munich, holiday merriment is replaced with a parade of pagan monsters.
Check out “Legendary Locations” on TravelChannel.com for show extras and travel tips from Josh Gates. Follow @TravelChannel and #LegendaryLocations for more exclusive content and updates. Follow host Josh Gates on Twitter: @joshuagates and on Instagram: @gatesygram.
Debe Branning has been the director of the MVD Ghostchasers–a Mesa/Bisbee, AZ based paranormal team since 1994. The team conducts investigations of haunted, historical locations throughout Arizona and has offered paranormal workshop/investigations since 2002. Debe has been a guest lecturer at Ottawa University, Central Arizona College, Arizona State University, Scottsdale Community College, and South Mountain Community College. She has been a speaker at science fiction conventions such as Phoenix ComiCon, CopperCon, FiestaCon, HauntedCon and AZParacon. Debe has been the guest speaker at many historical societies and libraries talking about historic/haunted Arizona.
She has appeared in an episode of “Streets of Fear” for FearNet.com which aired October 2009 and on an episode of TRAVEL CHANNEL’S “Ghost Stories” about haunted Jerome, Arizona in July 2010. She recently appeared as an extra in the 2017 horror movie “The Covenant”. She enjoys assisting in the research field for various Travel Channel TV shows such as ‘Ghost Stories’, ‘Haunted Highway’, and ‘Deadly Possessions’ and MTV’s ‘Fear’. She has traveled, toured and investigated at haunted locations across the United States, England, Scotland, Ireland and Mexico.
Debe is the author of “Sleeping With Ghosts-A Ghost Hunter’s Guide to AZ’s Haunted Hotels and Inns” (2004), “Grand Canyon Ghost Stories” (2012), “The Graveyard Shift–Arizona’s Historic and Haunted Cemeteries” (2012), “Dining With the Dead–Arizona’s Historic and Haunted Restaurants and Cafes” (2017) and a series of three children’s books, “The Adventures of Chickolet Pigolet: 1. “The Bribe of Frankenbeans” —-2. “Murmur on the Oink Express” —-3. “You Ought to be in Pig-tures”. For 7 years Debe penned 3 columns for Examiner.com titled: “Phoenix Travel Adventures,” “Arizona Haunted Sites” and “Haunted Places” so travelers could know where they might find a ghost or two when they visited Arizona and the United States. She was the Managing Editor of “Paranormal Investigator Magazine.” As a paranormal travel writer, Debe traveled to Europe to cover haunted castles, jails, ships, inns, cemeteries and ghost walking tours. She has been the guest of several US tourism departments such as Carlsbad, Historic Hotels of the Rockies, Salem, and Biloxi.
Debe is a preservation activist with a special interest in preserving historic cemeteries. She is on the board of directors of the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association and the Arizona Genealogical Advisory Board. She is also one of the co-hosts of the Association of Gravestones Studies in Arizona.