Tag Archives: lyle blackburn

Dark Outdoors Earns Top Honors at Excellence in Media Awards

BEAUMONT, Texas — The Dark Outdoors® Podcast earned First Place for Overall Podcast Excellence at the 35th Annual Press Club of Southeast Texas Excellence in Media Awards. Dark Outdoors also earned First Place honors for Best Blog and Best Video Storytelling, demonstrating the success of the brand across podcasting, digital media, and documentary storytelling.

The awards were part of a larger showing in which creator and host Chester Moore earned eight First-Place awards overall while competing against mainstream television, radio, print, and digital media organizations from across Southeast Texas.

Chester Moore and his wife Lisa at the 2026 Press Club awards.

The award marks the third consecutive year Dark Outdoors has received top honors for podcasting excellence, underscoring the program’s impact and growing audience.

Earlier this year, the Dark Outdoors Podcast also earned Best Podcast honors from the Texas Outdoor Writers Association, giving the program major recognition from both mainstream media and outdoor media organizations.

Dark Outdoors explores the intersection of true crime, unsolved mysteries, and human-wildlife conflict through compelling storytelling rooted in the outdoors.

“Winning for Overall Podcast Excellence is especially meaningful because it recognizes the entire program,” Moore said.

“It is an honor to be recognized among such a talented group of hardworking journalists and media professionals. The Excellence in Media Awards showcase some of the best work being done in our region, and I am grateful to be included among those recognized.”

The Dark Outdoors Podcast features stories ranging from unsolved mysteries and true crime cases to remarkable wildlife encounters and conflicts between humans and animals. Through interviews, investigations, and narrative storytelling, the program examines stories where the outdoors and real-life events intersect.

Subscribe to the Dark Outdoors podcast on your favorite platform here.

Dark Outdoors also earned First Place for Best Video Storytelling for Wild Men in Search of Lost Trout and Feral Humanity, a documentary project created by Moore in partnership with author and investigator Lyle Blackburn and videographer/editor Paul Fuzinski.

The documentary exemplifies Dark Outdoors’ commitment to investigating unusual and compelling stories connected to the outdoors.

In addition to the podcast and documentary honors, the Dark Outdoors blog captured First Place in the Best Blog category. The blog honor further demonstrates the strength of the brand as a destination for original storytelling and investigative reporting.

“People are fascinated by mysteries,” Moore said.

“When those mysteries intersect with the outdoors and real-life events, they create stories that stay with you. Dark Outdoors was created to explore those stories and share them with audiences in a meaningful way.”

The awards highlight the growing reach and impact of the brand as a distinctive voice in podcasting, documentary filmmaking, and digital media.

For media inquiries, interviews, or speaking engagements:

Chester Moore
cmooreoutdoors@gmail.com

Follow Chester Moore on the following social media platforms

Chester Moore’s YouTube.

@thechestermoore on Instagram

@gulfgreatwhitesharksociety on Instagram

To support the efforts of Higher Calling Wildlife® click here.

Subscribe to the Dark Outdoors podcast on all major podcasting platforms.

Higher Calling Wildlife on Facebook

Email Chester at chester@chestermoore.com.

Straight Out of the ’70s… and Into Your Nightmares

🚨 NOW AVAILABLE — LIMITED FIRST PRINTING 🚨

Step into the shadows… where the unexplained walks among us.

From upright-walking apes lurking deep in the wilderness to goatmen stalking lonely backroads, and beasts eerily resembling werewolves… our world may be far stranger—and more terrifying—than we dare to admit.

My friend Lyle Blackburn dives headfirst into the unknown with his chilling new release:

Terrifying Encounters: Bigfoot, Dogman, Devil Monkeys, and Other Mysterious Manimals

Inside, you’ll uncover gripping accounts pulled from real case files and credible eyewitness reports—stories that refuse to be dismissed.

👣 Featuring:

  • Bigfoot
  • Dogman
  • Devil Monkeys
  • Anomalous Apes
  • Goatman
  • …and more creatures that blur the line between myth and reality

This volume is a love letter to classic 1970s paranormal paperbacks—printed in a retro “Pocket Paperback” format with vintage-style fonts and layout that feel straight out of a forgotten roadside bookstore.

⚠️ FIRST PRINTING LIMITED TO ONLY 500 COPIES
✍️ SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR
🎨 Artwork by Jonathan Dodd
📖 138 pages of pure mystery

Once these are gone… they’re gone.

If you’ve ever wondered what’s really out there in the dark—this is your invitation to find out.

Grab your copy while you still can… if you dare.

You can order here.

I will be speaking alongside Lyle this weekend at The Fouke Monster Festival. You can find out more here.

Chester Moore

Follow Chester Moore on the following social media platforms

Chester Moore’s YouTube.

@thechestermoore on Instagram

@gulfgreatwhitesharksociety on Instagram

To support the efforts of Higher Calling Wildlife® click here.

Subscribe to the Dark Outdoors podcast on all major podcasting platforms.

Higher Calling Wildlife on Facebook

Email Chester at chester@chestermoore.com.

Halloween Edition of Dark Outdoors-Strange Monsters With Lyle Blackburn

It’s our annual Halloween Monster Special! Lyle Blackburn returns to Dark Outdoors® the podcast to dive into the legends of Momo, the Lizard Man, and the Lake Worth Monster in this chilling cryptid deep dive.

In this special Halloween edition of the Dark Outdoors podcast, we welcome back Lyle Blackburn—renowned cryptozoologist, author, and monster hunter—for our Annual Monster Episode. This time, we’re plunging deep into the chilling backwoods lore of Momo the Missouri Monster, the swamp-dwelling Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp, and Texas’s own Lake Worth Monster.

Listen here via Podbean.

Or listen and subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc here by connecting with my Linktree.

These aren’t your average urban legends. These regional cryptids have sparked mass hysteria, eyewitness encounters, and intense investigations. Lyle unpacks the folklore, historical sightings, and what makes each of these monsters so unique in the world of American cryptozoology.

Whether you’re a lifelong believer or a curious skeptic, this episode will make you think twice before heading out into the woods after dark.

Watch The Wild Men Documentary!

Speaking of Lyle Blackburn, he is a huge part of the latest Dark Outdoors documentary which is perfect for a Halloween viewing.

The new documentary Wild Men: The Search for Feral Humans, Lost Tribes & Primitive Humanity takes you beyond the edge of civilization—into the deep wilderness where the line between man, myth, and memory disappears.

Filmed in out of the way places in Texas, Wild Men explores the shocking possibility that humans who vanished from history may still walk among us.

Watch the Documentary Here

This documentary is getting a great response and is yielding new reports of possible “wild men”.

Have you ever encountered anything like we cover in the documentary? If so, please email your report to chester@chestermoore.com.

Don’t Forget to Subscribe

There’s something out there in the shadows — and if you’re here, you already feel it. Before you scroll any further, take action and subscribe to Dark Outdoors to get this free Bigfoot decal!

✅ Subscribe right now

Subscribe To Dark Outdoors®

Receive updates on Dark Outdoors content & special offers.

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

✅ Then email your mailing address to → chester@chestermoore.com and put “Bigfoot Decal” in subject line.

📦 When you do, you’ll receive our exclusive Dark Outdoors Bigfoot decal — featuring the glowing-eyed beast from the wilderness beyond imagination.

Chester Moore


Follow Chester Moore on the following social media platforms

Chester Moore’s YouTube.

@thechestermoore on Instagram

@gulfgreatwhitesharksociety on Instagram

To support the efforts of Higher Calling Wildlife® click here.

Subscribe to the Dark Outdoors podcast on all major podcasting platforms.

Higher Calling Wildlife on Facebook

Email Chester at chester@chestermoore.com.