"MONSTERS INSIDE ME" RETURNS TO ANIMAL PLANET HALLOWEEN WEEK: HERE'S THE TRICK... YOU'RE THE TREAT

--An All-new Season Full of Thrills and Chills Begins Thursday, October 29, at 9 PM (ET/PT)--

(Silver Spring, Md.) - Some of them want to eat your brain. Some of them want to blind you. Some of them plainly want to kill you. But none takes no for an answer. Petrifying parasites, bacteria, viruses, fungi and oddities are back with a vengeance when Animal Planet plays host to an all-new season of MONSTERS INSIDE ME.

The nightmare begins with two back-to-back episodes premiering Thursday, October 29, and November 5, from 9 PM to 11 PM (ET/PT). The rest of the season airs Thursdays at 10 PM (ET/PT), beginning November 12. Ten episodes, each featuring three horrifying stories, underscore just how rapidly our bodies can fall victim to the smallest of villains.

The infectious unknown is a ticking time bomb within the body that can go off at any minute, and the explosion sends an atomic wave of fear over everyone involved. Host/biologist Dan Riskin provides scientific perspective of the cringe-worthy creatures, which are determined to make the hidden crevices of our bodies their homes. This season includes the following stories:

· In Orange County, California, a seven-year-old boy scratches his knee at the beach, and it swells to the size of a large orange. Doctors suspect MRSA, but the boy's mother worries about gangrene when the wound becomes black; therefore, she investigates on her own. What she discovers is utterly shocking.

· In Cuero, Texas, what begins as a harmless welt on a teenage boy's leg develops into massive legions all over his body. After batteries of inconclusive tests and the formation of blood-and-pus-filled sores, doctors brace to battle an age-old beast - one of the most feared infections on the planet - leprosy.

· In Sun City, Arizona, an uninvited guest ruins a schoolteacher's Thanksgiving. That night, she suffers a massive seizure and is rushed to the hospital. By Christmas, she experiences an even bigger one, which forces doctors to perform brain surgery to save her life. But can they keep this ruthless parasite from rendering her blind and paralyzed?

The terrors on this season of MONSTERS INSIDE ME may be minuscule, but the stories are 'bigger and badder' than ever. Beware: each creature lurks, looking to hijack your body and detonate your world. Consider yourself warned!

MONSTERS INSIDE ME is produced for Animal Planet by Optomen Productions. Nicola Moody and Dominic Stobart are the executive producers for Optomen. For Animal Planet, Erin Wanner is the executive producer, and Hilary Tholen is the associate producer. Charlie Foley created and developed this series for Animal Planet.

About Animal Planet:

Animal Planet Media (APM), a multi-media business unit of Discovery Communications, is the world's only entertainment brand that immerses viewers in the full range of life in the animal kingdom with rich, deep content via multiple platforms and offers animal lovers and pet owners access to a centralized online, television and mobile community for immersive, engaging, high-quality entertainment, information and enrichment. APM consists of the Animal Planet television network, available in more than 96 million homes in the US; online assets www.animalplanet.com, the ultimate online destination for all things animal; the 24/7 broadband channel, Animal Planet Beyond; Petfinder.com, the #1 pet-related Web property globally that facilitates pet adoption; and other media platforms including a robust Video-on-Demand (VOD) service; mobile content; and merchandising extensions.