All about analog horror

[Misery]

Well, it's Halloween! Time for horror stuff!

This is the point where most such threads that start that way would start recommending horror movies and such... slasher films and whatnot.

Here's the thing though: while I'm a huge fan of horror stuff, I dont like blood/gore, and I find traditional horror concepts to be bloody boring and overdone. PARTICULARLY slasher films, which honestly often end up being corny and hilarious instead of scary and spooky.

Enter "analog horror". This is a particular interest of mine, which I'd like to share with you.

What is analog horror? Well, I'll tell you one thing: It's not something you'd ever see as a proper Hollywood movie. The concepts used tend to be really out there, but the PRESENTATION, as well as the disjointed nature, is what causes an analog horror series to really fit this subgenre.

Slasher movies and such tend to be very "blunt" with the horror elements... they whack you over the head with monsters and jumpscares and whatnot. Analog horror doesnt do this, and doesnt need to. It usually goes for unsetting/disturbing rather than "big scares". The unique format, usually consisting of unusual TV broadcasts or VHS productions that always have something bloody wrong with them, just adds to this. These videos are usually very short, and tend to come in a long series of bizarre disconnected-but-really-connected videos.

A very common theme also is that analog horror videos tend to start out LOOKING rather normal and mundane... but just as you start to notice that something is not quite right, they often go abruptly downhill, and that's where things get weird. The more you understand about a particular series, the scarier an individual video can be... which means that an earlier video can be much more freaky after you've seen the later ones.

I have some examples I'd like to share that do a good job at showing what I'm talking about here, so there's a couple of series I'll talk about real quick.

Firstly, my current favorite video in any of these, and the one I find the most... distressing. This is from a series called Gemini Home Entertainment, which uses a cosmic horror theme.

A bit of context for this video: The Iris itself is the primary antagonist. Also, Neptune wasnt destroyed... the question that comes up about Neptune when watching is "where is it and what is it doing?", a bloody strange question to ask about an entire freaking planet, but one that is definitely a major element of the lore of the series. The final series of "snapshots" that the probe takes also wont make a bloody lick of sense... you'd have to watch earlier videos (while paying very close attention) to get that part.

This video also has the unique distinction of having managed to startle me without using any form of jumpscare (this occurs at 5:35)

Now, here's where we get to the bit about seemingly disconnected concepts. Compare and contrast to this slightly earlier video in the same series:

From a traditional storytelling point of view, these really dont make any sense. Even moreso when considering the OTHER videos and the loopy things they cover. There's one that talks about a campground, showcasing different events that they host. Another is a corporation using a video to demonstrate/promote its in-development AI system. How is any of this connected? Sometimes the connections become clear as the series goes along. Other times, you have to really ponder things, considering all the various clues and such, to get an idea as to what's going on. While Gemini is not TOO hard to follow and piece together, there are other series that take a good deal more pondering.

Let's look at Eventide Media Center:

First of all I would just like to say "bleeehhhhh" about that bit at 2:10. But also, if you're paying attention, you can spot that there's something wrong with the description of even the earlier plants shown.

Compare/contrast to whatever the heck is going on here:

For most of this video you have to really be paying attention... while most of the details on the screen are important, it's the scrolling text at the bottom that is the real focus here.

Now I'll be honest: I havent the foggiest bloody clue what's going on in Eventide. I only just found this series and watched it the first time today. I'll probably have to watch it through a bunch more times before I can start to theorize about what's going on, as this series is way more disjointed than Gemini. Analog horror can be like that sometimes, and it's common to see other Youtubers who will put out analysis videos of some of these series (and there is one for Gemini). Note that neither of these two series is finished yet.

Also the name "Eventide" really bothers me for some reason. I dont know why.

Those are some good introductions, I think, to what this subgenre of horror is like. Honestly I could talk all day about these... I love this stuff.

There are a lot of different series to check out, too. The most well known of all of them is Local58, the one that started it all. The Walten Files is another good one (and the most unusual in terms of its presentation)... I thought of linking a couple from that one, but realized that as the most intense and fast-paced of all of these, it might be a bit too much for some people here.

So yeah, that's what I wanted to share today. For fans of horror who might be on the lookout for something a bit different. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I'm with you in not liking slasher movies. Omnicient killers are just too far-fetched for me. The last real good horror tale that I listened to was a 3-D audio recording dramatizing Steven King's, The Mist. I would rather see the sometimes unsettling struggles in movies like The Game, or Europa Report.

 

[Gerontius]

I love everything about this. Thanks.

MORE!

 

[Misery]

I'm with you in not liking slasher movies. Omnicient killers are just too far-fetched for me. The last real good horror tale that I listened to was a 3-D audio recording dramatizing Steven King's, The Mist. I would rather see the sometimes unsettling struggles in movies like The Game, or Europa Report.

Honestly for something like the unstoppable slasher villains, it really depends on how they're written.

For comparison/contrast, there's the SCP Foundation. Which contains all sorts of anomalous entities, a great many of which are malicious and very dangerous. Many of them are far more powerful than, say, Freddy or Jason. The difference though is that there's more to them, and the Foundation itself. The way it's all written is like a series of scientific documents and incident reports, and a major theme is these scientists trying to figure out how these things work in order to find the best ways to contain them. There are experiments applied, results reported, and often, a method of containment is detailed... you can get a sense of the strengths and weaknesses of each one (for most of them anyway, though even the bloody unstoppable ones have a real logic behind them).

It's the same with Gemini. The Iris sounds like an utterly ridiculous villain on paper. A sentient anomalous planet that seems to be able to break some physical laws? And the bit with Neptune sounds even more ridiculous... acting as sort of a second in command, rampaging around the solar system, up to no good... and it's just freaking Neptune, a gas giant. But the lore of the series sets up a lot of "logic" to it, with strengths, limitations, and rules in terms of how both of them... and their minions... operate. It also helps that the Iris isnt just this brainless rampaging thing (like Jason) or a "bwahaha I do it for the evulz" sort (like Freddy) but is instead something that clearly has a lot more to it, with it's own strange motives and a clear ability to communicate. And as stupidly powerful as it is, the series does give the feeling that there is SOME way of defeating it... if only the good guys (whoever they are) can figure out how.

Slasher villains though... often they have no personality whatsoever (if they even talk, which plenty do not), and no real motives besides either "evil just because" or "out for eternal vengeance" which seems to cover most of them. And they're usually invincible simply "because movie". Even when they are stopped, it's usually by some random convenient method that just happens to be there, and they'll always come back just as strong later... no matter what. With their plans, abilities, and methods unchanged. They never develop.

And... yeah, that's my take on that. As much as I love horror stuff I really just cant get into traditional horror MOVIE stuff at all. It's all just so bloody mindless. And really, ya gotta have an INTERESTING and well-developed "monster", if you're gonna have a monster at all. Not just some brainless doofus carrying a stabby thing. Not to mention the problem with characters getting killed off not because the villain is strong, but simply because they're spectacularly stupid. I mean, come on, Jason moves at the speed of a dead frog in sludge and has the intelligence to match... yet he can effortlessly stomp most of the characters he encounters. Just... not well written or creative, at least to me.

 

[Misery]

I love everything about this. Thanks.

MORE!

Well, let's see here...

There's Monument Mythos, which I just started watching today. This one has a... unique premise.

Not even going to try to explain this one, just have a look:

That's video #3... the first two were just as strange and disturbing. Seriously how do these creators think this stuff up?


Next, here's Local58:

"This message will repeat until there are none left to read it", what a chilling line that is. Also I'm relatively certain the moon is corrupted.

This is one of the hard to parse ones. It's very short, but there's a lot packed in and it's tough to figure out exactly what's going on. Even the timeline isnt clear (though this is the case with plenty of these).


After that, the Mandela Catalogue:

This one is pretty new! So there's not much to it yet. I definitely like what I see so far though, I subscribed right away.


And last, the shortest one so far, we have... whatever this is:

Yeah, make of that what you will.


Though I do still think Gemini is the best of them. If you decide to watch through any of them, be sure to watch each video in the order in which they were posted.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Honestly for something like the unstoppable slasher villains, it really depends on how they're written.

Exactly. Not villans, but entities that act independently of human wants, get my attention. Like the protomolecule in The Expanse series, or the aliens in Childhood's End. What scares me are alien Von Neumann Machines like those in The Forge of God or civilizations like Cixin Liu's, Remembrance of Earth's Past.

 

[Suzette]

I wish I could watch these! Now that I am back in Mexico I have limited data. I prefer the psychological mind bender to blood and guts slasher movies. If a movie takes a little puzzling over that is even better. A satiori is a welcome thing.