Expedition Unknown | Monsters Come to Life! Hunting for Vampires, Mummies, & More

There are expeditions that lead us through dust-filled tombs, sunken ruins, or the remnants of long-lost empires — and then there are journeys that take us somewhere far darker. Traveling with Josh Gates on this investigation felt like stepping into the pages of ancient folklore, where superstition, fear, and forgotten rituals still linger in the cracks of the world.

Our search began in Eastern Europe, in a windswept village where locals whispered about a centuries-old corpse believed to belong to a vampire. As an archaeologist, I’m trained to separate myth from material evidence — yet nothing prepares you for the moment you stand over a burial site filled with stakes, iron bindings, and ritual objects meant to trap the dead. The soil told a story of terror: a community so convinced of the undead that they altered their funerary practices to protect themselves from what might rise again.

From eerie graveyards, our path shifted thousands of miles to the high peaks of the Andes. Here, Josh pursued the trail of a missing Incan mummy — a figure once honored, feared, and believed to hold supernatural power. Among crumbling stone temples and high-altitude burial chambers, we pieced together clues that pointed to looters, hidden shrines, and an empire’s relentless attempt to speak with the spirits of their ancestors.

Each step of the expedition blurred the line between archaeology and the supernatural. Whether we were handling relics infused with ritual purpose or listening to legends echoed across generations, the truth became clear: myths survive because they reflect something deeply human — our fear of the unknown and our desire to control forces beyond our understanding.

Exploring these mysteries with Josh Gates reminded me that history’s darkest tales often hold the brightest insights into the people who lived them — and the fears that shaped their world.