I’m not going to lie. After screening a couple of episodes before season 1 premiered last year, Eli Roth Presents: A Ghost Ruined My Life turned me off. That’s why I was leery about screening his newest Travel Channel project, Urban Legend.
Not that A Ghost Ruined My Life wasn’t well made. The two episodes I saw were. But that title? Totally misleading!
Which I guess is a good thing. I didn’t really want to see anyone’s life ruined by a ghost. (Or did I?)
I guess I was curious to see how a ghost could ruin someone’s life, though. While paranormal activity did cause people strife in the couple of episodes that I saw, they all seemed not only to rebound but thrive after their experiences. (Which is why I still contest that it should’ve been called, How A Ghost Helped Change My Life. But that’s just not as sexy, is it?)
Anyway, that’s why I was leery about Urban Legend. It’s one of three new Eli Roth projects that have either premiered during Ghostober this year or will. (Eli Roth Presents: My Possessed Pet is already out. Then there’s the forthcoming Halloween special, The Haunted Museum: 3 Ring Inferno, a collab with Zak Bagans, that premieres on Halloween, a.k.a. October 31.)
But I was also excited about it. Who doesn’t like a good urban legend? I’ve always been a sucker for them.
Urban Legend premieres on Friday, October 28 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Travel Channel. It also starts streaming the same day on discovery+. There are eight episodes total. I had a chance to screen the first three.
What did I think? I gobbled them up! But I also found myself asking the same question over and over: “This is a Travel Channel series?”
It brings familiar tales to life, as well as newer ones, but in ways we haven’t seen before. Certainly not on Travel Channel. But is that a good thing? Let’s dissect it.
Who will like Urban Legend?
Horror fans. Particularly those who like Eli Roth-style horror movies and/or who are fans of horror anthology shows like Tales from the Crypt, Black Mirror, Masters of Horror, or even American Horror Stories.
The episodes I saw were grittier and more graphic than I was expecting. There’s violence, gore, adult themes and situations, and strong language, which will probably get bleeped out on Travel Channel but left in on discovery+. If I had to give it a TV rating, it’d fall somewhere between TV-14 (Parents Strongly Cautioned) and TV-MA (Mature Audience Only).
If you watched The Haunted Museum season 1 or A Ghost Ruined My Life, Urban Legend feels very similar to those. Probably because it turns out that writers and directors who worked on those episodes also worked on ones for Urban Legend.
Which leads me to another reason I liked it that caught me by surprise, and why I also again found myself asking, “This is a Travel Channel show?”
Why Aspiring Horror Writers and Filmmakers Will Like Urban Legend
At the end of episode 1, “The Red Room,” there’s an extra segment called, “Urban Legend: Filmmaker to Filmmaker.” Eli Roth sat down to discuss the episode with its writer and director, Justin Harding. Roth questioned him about things like his creative process, his filmmaking style, and what inspired the episode.
Which helped me because, from the title alone, I had different expectations of what a red room would be. I envisioned a literal red room in an old house somewhere, or maybe something having to do with blood. Which, there was blood involved, but not like how I first imagined.
Also, the term “red room” itself didn’t conjure up any urban legends off the top of my head, whereas the other episode titles did. What was up with that title?
Of course, once it got going, I understood which urban legend they were bringing to life, but I still didn’t know why they called it “The Red Room.”
But then, during the “Filmmaker to Filmmaker,” Harding explained what a red room is:
“I have heard of ‘red rooms.’ They actually made a film a few years ago called Making Monsters, which was about a red room killer. So I always thought it was fascinating that if you’re in the business of operating a red room, you are kind of a producer. You’re dealing with lights, cameras, lenses, editing, or, you know, live streaming. ‘Cause a red room is essentially a live stream on the dark web where you can…viewers interact via bitcoin to influence what happens. And I just thought, oh man, it’s interesting that the people that would be involved in that have to be producers.”
Ah ha! I never knew live streams like that were called “red rooms.” Made total sense after learning that.
“Filmmaker to Filmmaker” won’t be for everyone, nor is at the end of every episode. Harding also directed episode 2, “The Bite.” There wasn’t a chat with him after. But episode 3 is directed by Ethan Evans and there was one after it.
Overall, if you like learning more about episodes and getting inside information on them, you’ll like “Urban Legend: Filmmaker to Filmmaker” and wish every episode had one.
Also, if you’re a creative, such as a writer or filmmaker, who’s always striving to learn ways to better your craft, you’ll love it. The insights were brilliant, helpful, and very informative. Almost like getting a freebie mini MasterClass!
The 8 Urban Legend Episodes
“The Red Room”
Premieres Friday, October 28 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Travel Channel and Streaming on discovery+
A troubled woman livestreams scenes of torture and execution to sadistic patrons in exchange for huge sums of cryptocurrency on the dark web. When her daughter is kidnapped and threatened with death, she must outwit the blackmailers, exacting bloody revenge in the process.
“The Bite”
Premieres Friday, November 4 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Travel Channel and Streaming on discovery+
After Rose returns home from a tropical resort, a small blemish on her face begins to grow into something out of a nightmare. Discovering that a bite from a spider has infected Rose, her partner, Ben, must race to save her from a horrifying physical and psychological breakdown.
“The White Dress”
Premieres Friday, November 11 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Travel Channel and Streaming on discovery+
An insecure high-schooler buys the perfect prom dress from a vintage store in the hope of impressing her crush. But when she experiences a series of ghostly occurrences, she begins to suspect the dress’ previous owner may be haunting her.
“The Choking Doberman”
Premieres Friday, November 18 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Travel Channel and Streaming on discovery+
After her neighbor is brutally murdered, a woman installs a new security system in her home and adopts a Doberman for protection. But when her dog is rushed to the vet, she’s left alone to outwit the murderer, who is now targeting her.
“The Harvest”
Premieres Friday, November 25 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Travel Channel and Streaming on discovery+
Newly divorced Clay uses a dating app to go on his first date in 20 years. It seems to go well until he wakes up the next morning to find that organ thieves have harvested his kidney. With his life on the line, Clay must unravel the mystery and get his missing organ back within 48 hours.
“The Creep in the Walls”
Premieres Friday, December 2 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Travel Channel and Streaming on discovery+
Following their mom’s death, two sisters renovate a neglected house they’ve inherited from her. But when one of them suspects their mom may be haunting them after a series of unexplained occurrences, it leads to a sinister discovery.
“The Haunted Shower”
Premieres Friday, December 9 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Travel Channel and Streaming on discovery+
When a college freshman accidentally uses the haunted shower everyone in her dorm stays away from, a revenge-seeking entity attached to the shower begins haunting her dreams. Can she wash clean the sins of the past before they catch up to her?
“The Scuba Diver”
Premieres Friday, December 16 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Travel Channel and Streaming on discovery+
When a scuba diver tests his new equipment in a lake, a freak accident launches him on a life-and-death journey to reunite with his young daughter.
Urban Legend Trailer
Check-In
Did you know what a red room was?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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I knew OF red rooms, but I didn’t know what they were called. Creepy.
Super creepy. And SO glad to find out I wasn’t alone in knowing OF them but not what they were called too. (And had to borrow the way you wrote it because it was perfect. I could totally hear your voice!)