Okay this is partly inspired by @thesaunderschild 's recent topic about horror films. It got me pondering this, and I felt like doing a bit of an infodump (and I very rarely do that), complete with examples, but I didnt want to hijack that topic. So I figured this time I'll just make a separate one myself.
I'm a huge fan of horror stuff. But I tend to find that most mainstream examples of it are just... not very interesting. Most movies for instance rely purely on gore and shock value, jumpscares and blood, blah blah blah. Dont get me wrong, I dont mind an occasional jumpscare, but as a favorite Youtuber of mine puts it, a GOOD jumpscare is earned... not just plopped in randomly. Hollywood has no bloody idea how to do that whatsoever. Mostly though, I watch stuff that doesnt have much of that.
Sometimes, I'm also in the mood for something smaller, some quick spook that is only a few minutes long. Or maybe I want something that isnt restricted by the amount of time a movie would take... usually a series that is *many* videos long, taking as much time as it needs to tell its story without worrying about hitting some arbitrary limit (which is one of the problems that movie directors have to deal with) Mostly though... I want a good story. I'm not after yet another Jason or Freddy incarnation. Usually. There is the occasional exception to that rule, but that's very rare for me.
A lot of the time, the things I watch can be kinda screwy in terms of just how they are done. I am a particular fan of analog horror, provided it's done right (it's a bit oversaturated right now, so there's quite a few duds out there), but there's way more to it than that. Most of the examples I'll give here are not standalone things, but are parts of a series, and wont entirely make sense on their own. I'll give a very brief spoiler-free note on each, but mostly I chose them because they can work as examples despite being separated. You dont need to know what the story is in each exactly to get an idea of just how this sort of thing goes. And I'm hoping to show some of the variety too.
Okay, so let's go:
1. Gemini Home Video, Crusader Probe Mission
This one aint gonna make a whole lot of sense, story-wise. This is part of a very long series, so there's a LOT of story that has happened up to this point, taking place in all sorts of forms. This is cosmic horror, which is wildly different from things like slasher movies... the villain here would eat Jason alive (along with literally everything else). Typically cosmic horror is a bit Lovecraft-ish... think eldritch abominations. This is also a good example of these being just... more subtle in terms of both spooks and storytelling. For instance, the empty image where Neptune should be is very important, but it wont tell you why or what it actually means, and the nature of that final "planet" is also important to the story. Things can only really be pieced together by watching the entire series. Even without knowing what's going on, I think this is a spectacular example of my brand of horror. It's not meant to be this shocking scare, but moreso meant to be... unsettling, distressing, which increases a lot once you understand the context of everything that's happening. This is one of the only videos to ever give me that genuine chilled sensation, and it happened at such a quiet moment, instead of some stupid jumpscare (specifically, the moment the display of the Crusader's location popped near the end, that really got me good).
2. My house walk-through
Well, not MY house, but... you get the idea. This is a short and sweet one, it's not about some big story, there's no crazed wacko trying to stab everyone, or anything like that. This is more about, well... I dont want to at all spoil what's going on in this one. "It's a house tour", that's all I'll say. This is one of those Youtube videos that is extremely well known, and for good reason. I cant imagine just how much effort this one must have taken to make.
3. Vita Carnis, Living Meat Research Documentary
This is another from an ongoing series, and is one of the weirder ones I've come across. I only found this like yesterday, and it kept me totally mesmerized the whole way through. This is presented as a sort of informational video, which starts out seeming almost like just a basic documentary, but quickly shows itself to be more about keeping the viewer safe from... things. This takes place in a timeline where a bizarre type of plant has appeared basically everywhere, and all sorts of strange things soon come along with it. I liked this one partly because of the creative design of the creatures, and the solid worldbuilding that it has. Also, this has a warning at the start that mentions gore, which confuses the heck outta me because there isnt any. And yes this one is longer, but... dagnabit I'm posting it anyway.
4. Other Lilly
Short and sweet, this one is a bit more traditional. Animated, too. Simple premise here, this girl is babysitting her younger sister, and heads up to bed after checking on her. An unexpected bout of sleep paralysis soon follows, and things get weird from there. This one does contain a jumpscare but it's one that is very clearly telegraphed, and I thought it was well done.
5. This House Has People In It
The title is weird, the video is weirder. This one wont make any sense at all, I guarantee you. It's not meant to, at least not by itself. This one is part of an ARG, or "alternate reality game", though this isnt apparent just from watching it. ARGs are interactive in a way... they invite the viewer to go do some puzzle solving to find more stuff, and this can include all sorts of screwball things, such as decoding passwords to fake websites, or even playing some game that was made for the project, which then could lead to more stuff upon being finished. This video isnt very long, but all of the content as a whole (95% of which is hidden) is over two hours. But dont worry about that, this main video is enough. Again, this wont make any sense at all by itself... but that's part of what makes it work, at least to me.
That's enough direct links for now, I think.
However, there's two other series I always suggest checking out: Dont Hug Me I'm Scared, and also Salad Fingers. I'm not including direct links to these partly because this is already long, but also these are... perhaps a bit much for the forum here. Neither of these are at all big on "direct" horror... there's no slasher villain or anything. What villains there are in these, tend to be a bit more indirect than that, and way more sinister than any slasher ever was. DHMIS is the more tame of the two, and starts out looking like a colorful kids show full of puppets and such, but quickly devolves into something very different. It has two separate series, actually, the original web series, and the recent 6 episode show that recently aired (which is much longer). If you're squeamish, dont touch episode 5 of the original series. Just dont.
Salad Fingers is the strangest of anything on this list, and also probably the most disturbing by far. It's also the hardest to piece together, one of those series that I have always been very invested in, but I just couldnt quite figure out what was happening on my own. Like DHMIS it's very well known, and the first video in the series is infamous for being one of those sorts of things where kids would dare each other to watch it, because apparently that's a thing kids do these days? Look, I dont make the rules here.
And that's it for now! I've now satisfied my current need to infodump about something.
I'm a huge fan of horror stuff. But I tend to find that most mainstream examples of it are just... not very interesting. Most movies for instance rely purely on gore and shock value, jumpscares and blood, blah blah blah. Dont get me wrong, I dont mind an occasional jumpscare, but as a favorite Youtuber of mine puts it, a GOOD jumpscare is earned... not just plopped in randomly. Hollywood has no bloody idea how to do that whatsoever. Mostly though, I watch stuff that doesnt have much of that.
Sometimes, I'm also in the mood for something smaller, some quick spook that is only a few minutes long. Or maybe I want something that isnt restricted by the amount of time a movie would take... usually a series that is *many* videos long, taking as much time as it needs to tell its story without worrying about hitting some arbitrary limit (which is one of the problems that movie directors have to deal with) Mostly though... I want a good story. I'm not after yet another Jason or Freddy incarnation. Usually. There is the occasional exception to that rule, but that's very rare for me.
A lot of the time, the things I watch can be kinda screwy in terms of just how they are done. I am a particular fan of analog horror, provided it's done right (it's a bit oversaturated right now, so there's quite a few duds out there), but there's way more to it than that. Most of the examples I'll give here are not standalone things, but are parts of a series, and wont entirely make sense on their own. I'll give a very brief spoiler-free note on each, but mostly I chose them because they can work as examples despite being separated. You dont need to know what the story is in each exactly to get an idea of just how this sort of thing goes. And I'm hoping to show some of the variety too.
Okay, so let's go:
1. Gemini Home Video, Crusader Probe Mission
This one aint gonna make a whole lot of sense, story-wise. This is part of a very long series, so there's a LOT of story that has happened up to this point, taking place in all sorts of forms. This is cosmic horror, which is wildly different from things like slasher movies... the villain here would eat Jason alive (along with literally everything else). Typically cosmic horror is a bit Lovecraft-ish... think eldritch abominations. This is also a good example of these being just... more subtle in terms of both spooks and storytelling. For instance, the empty image where Neptune should be is very important, but it wont tell you why or what it actually means, and the nature of that final "planet" is also important to the story. Things can only really be pieced together by watching the entire series. Even without knowing what's going on, I think this is a spectacular example of my brand of horror. It's not meant to be this shocking scare, but moreso meant to be... unsettling, distressing, which increases a lot once you understand the context of everything that's happening. This is one of the only videos to ever give me that genuine chilled sensation, and it happened at such a quiet moment, instead of some stupid jumpscare (specifically, the moment the display of the Crusader's location popped near the end, that really got me good).
2. My house walk-through
Well, not MY house, but... you get the idea. This is a short and sweet one, it's not about some big story, there's no crazed wacko trying to stab everyone, or anything like that. This is more about, well... I dont want to at all spoil what's going on in this one. "It's a house tour", that's all I'll say. This is one of those Youtube videos that is extremely well known, and for good reason. I cant imagine just how much effort this one must have taken to make.
3. Vita Carnis, Living Meat Research Documentary
This is another from an ongoing series, and is one of the weirder ones I've come across. I only found this like yesterday, and it kept me totally mesmerized the whole way through. This is presented as a sort of informational video, which starts out seeming almost like just a basic documentary, but quickly shows itself to be more about keeping the viewer safe from... things. This takes place in a timeline where a bizarre type of plant has appeared basically everywhere, and all sorts of strange things soon come along with it. I liked this one partly because of the creative design of the creatures, and the solid worldbuilding that it has. Also, this has a warning at the start that mentions gore, which confuses the heck outta me because there isnt any. And yes this one is longer, but... dagnabit I'm posting it anyway.
4. Other Lilly
Short and sweet, this one is a bit more traditional. Animated, too. Simple premise here, this girl is babysitting her younger sister, and heads up to bed after checking on her. An unexpected bout of sleep paralysis soon follows, and things get weird from there. This one does contain a jumpscare but it's one that is very clearly telegraphed, and I thought it was well done.
5. This House Has People In It
The title is weird, the video is weirder. This one wont make any sense at all, I guarantee you. It's not meant to, at least not by itself. This one is part of an ARG, or "alternate reality game", though this isnt apparent just from watching it. ARGs are interactive in a way... they invite the viewer to go do some puzzle solving to find more stuff, and this can include all sorts of screwball things, such as decoding passwords to fake websites, or even playing some game that was made for the project, which then could lead to more stuff upon being finished. This video isnt very long, but all of the content as a whole (95% of which is hidden) is over two hours. But dont worry about that, this main video is enough. Again, this wont make any sense at all by itself... but that's part of what makes it work, at least to me.
That's enough direct links for now, I think.
However, there's two other series I always suggest checking out: Dont Hug Me I'm Scared, and also Salad Fingers. I'm not including direct links to these partly because this is already long, but also these are... perhaps a bit much for the forum here. Neither of these are at all big on "direct" horror... there's no slasher villain or anything. What villains there are in these, tend to be a bit more indirect than that, and way more sinister than any slasher ever was. DHMIS is the more tame of the two, and starts out looking like a colorful kids show full of puppets and such, but quickly devolves into something very different. It has two separate series, actually, the original web series, and the recent 6 episode show that recently aired (which is much longer). If you're squeamish, dont touch episode 5 of the original series. Just dont.
Salad Fingers is the strangest of anything on this list, and also probably the most disturbing by far. It's also the hardest to piece together, one of those series that I have always been very invested in, but I just couldnt quite figure out what was happening on my own. Like DHMIS it's very well known, and the first video in the series is infamous for being one of those sorts of things where kids would dare each other to watch it, because apparently that's a thing kids do these days? Look, I dont make the rules here.
And that's it for now! I've now satisfied my current need to infodump about something.
