great video! ngl it really sucks being known as the guy who kinda “ruined” analog horror but I’m hoping that my improvement along the way can kinda make up for what I’ve already caused lol
I really admire how you respond to criticism Alex, I am looking forward to whatever projects you create. Wheter it still be Mandela Catalog or something completely different.
I honestly thought this was a sincere and thoughtful critique of the genre as a whole. However, regardless of how anyone feels about the Mandela Catalog, there’s no denying it’s effect. The biggest target will always get the blame especially the series that inspired so many to get into the genre.
I'm almost 40 years old and remember the many different movements and focus of the horror genre over the years. Alex, you reignited my love of horror after the oversatuation of zombie films killed it off. You are fantastic at your craft and make me wish I had better technical skills to follow your lead in bringing some of my ideas to life. Keep up the great work!
It's good to take constructive criticism but don't allow people to blindly scapegoat you, you've done an amazing job some of your work. Especially you being a new filmmaker. Keep up the good work man.
Like any genre or trend, things will get played out until it reaches levels of over saturation and cliché. That being said, nothing makes me more frustrated than people acting like the genre itself was NEVER good due to recent backlash.
I do believe that analog horror fundementally can work, but it is super hard to fall into pittraps. Overused jerma faces and nauseating VHS effects are just so abundant that it devalues the genre as an artform. I do think movies such as the ring as well as VHS can be classified as analog horror due to their usage of early age television. However, I do not think modern analog horror is good, at all. Needlemouse is a perfect example of how low the genre has become/
Addressing the criticism about analog horror, it's simply a lack of diversity that's pointed out, and the thing is it floods with copycats for each new popular series... Local 58 had the related load of copies, as well as the Mandela Catalogue and the Backrooms... We just need to preserve a consistent diversity to provide the average viewer with enough content, which is kinda unrealistic with the average production time of an analog horror, but if there's enough skilled creators, we can make analog horror shine again
I believe "Every copy of Mario 64 is personalized" trend was suppose to be a joke, to maybe reignite the feelings of playground rumors we heard as children. I seriously doubt anyone believed these to be real/
Yeah it’s been around for a long time. The whole Mario 64 iceberg was originally just a big inside joke that grew way outta proportion. A lot of the myths pertaining to it have been going around the internet in small circles years before the original iceberg
I think one of my main gripes with Analog horror is the lack of quality when it comes to these types of videos. For instance, for most of analog horror videos, you'll see this shitty vhs filter (I can't find the name for it, but you'll know what I'm talking about). And just to clarify, there's plenty of vhs filters out there that are of higher quality, yet for some reason, you'll see people choose these blurry, bright, staticy, or just plain unappealing vhs filters instead. Another main gripe of mine is how people overuse the "spooky face" trope that you find alot in analog horror. Now, I'm not trying to belittle or be mean towards Alex Kirster nor his Mandela Catalogue series, but I could definitely say that his series was definitely the spark that led to all this "spooky face" shit you see nowadays. And lastly, my third main gripe is how there are some genuinely unique and creative analog horror channels out there that don't get the attention that they so rightfully deserve. For example, there's a channel called TRYRED WITNESS ARCHIVES that focuses on a strange phenomenon regarding the disappearances of numerous children. It's pretty amazing. And yet, despite how well the content is, it's not a big channel, unfortunately, as it currently has 140 subscribers as of now.
thank you for saying it, 1 year later your comment is still so true. the main thing holding back these videos is the lack of production value. many of these series have creative story ideas and i want to like them, but they’re ruined by the “baby’s first adobe premiere vhs filter plugin” visuals. idk analog horror videos generally seem kinda… low effort? i feel like a lot of this genre is just title screens with text to speech voices. don’t get me wrong i understand that a lot of these creators are young and working on a tight budget! but would it kill them to at least pay someone on fiverr to read their script, or just do it themselves? even amateur human voice acting is more convincing than those goofy ass text to speech voices. i also am not a fan of how most of the imagery in analog horror consists of digital paintings and/or photoshopped images. like i cannot take walten files seriously bc it’s just so obvious that the animation is made with modern day software. it’s kinda ironic that a genre called ANALOG horror relies so heavily on digital art. it breaks the illusion of being an old vhs tape and it looks out of place to any other creative person who can recognize the process that was used to make it. i wish more analog horror creators would just go out and film something with real human actors in it, instead of relying so much on text to speech and photoshop. it would make these series more immersive and authentic to the time period they’re trying to emulate.
One of the most brilliant things in The Monument Mythos which truly helped set it apart from other Analogue Horror series on youtube (Besides the extremely original concept and the fact that it's barely even a horror series) is the revelation that both series creator Alex Casanas and his UA-cam Channel actually exist in-universe, and that in-universe he is using his videos to tell the story in a "Theatrical Manner". It serves as the perfect justification for any odd spooky message or intercepting footage that may show up in any one of his videos, since we know that Alex is deliberately editing the videos to make them more engaging. Whereas with other Analogue Horror series, seeing a News Reel randomly glitching out to show a flashing "I AM INSIDE YOUR WALLS" message with a spooky face will immediately obliterate my immersion.
I mean, the whole thing with the Mandela Catalogue originally was that demons were messing with the footage. That makes no sense now to explain the editing in vol. 4 tho lol
LOCAL 58 Is what got me into it. Analog horror reminded me of propaganda from red scare boomers. Honestly the call of duty campaign flashbacks could be analog horror. The numbers mason!
The biggest change in the way I viewed horror was when reading House of Leaves. It's not without its problems but it was so much more emotional and sincere than any other horror content I had consumed, and it made me realize that most of the horror content I see is basically completely barren of sincerity. Maybe in pursuit of making something scary, creators are forgetting to put their lived experience into the story.
that is a truly poignant factor I have not even truly considered, but you are so right. I'm also gonna have to check out that book now lol. Thanks for the thoughtful comment
The Mandela Catalogue doesn’t scare me, but I actually find the lore pretty interesting. I’m also trying my hand at making my own analog horror videos centred around stories I’m writing, mainly for worldbuilding and because I enjoy doing it :)
The first viewing of each of Alex's viedos gave me a good spook, but I also continued to engage in it primarily to explore the lore and narrative. Is it scary? I feel Analog horror generally is strongest in the storytelling, because you're having to do something that even Hollywood has trouble doing with dedicated footage, shot by professionals, on high powered cameras. It's impressive to do more with less. That's the philosophy that created Analog Horror.
@@noahjester8471 it's not scarry, but if the story is built well, it doesn't necessarily have to be. That's a problem I'm starting to see is a lack of originality in the stories. "Copycats" for lack of a better term.
@@noahjester8471 A movie with analogue horror "style" writing would be horrible. Paying money to sit there and not know what the fuck is happening, and it's not like you can say "hey projectionist, rewind there and pause on that frame."
I consider GHE the best of the analog horror for its variety in media. It spans from live broadcasts to VHS tapes to video games and even recordings of a man's dreams. It's much more creative than its peers.
I’m someone who genuinely finds The Mandela Catalogues frightening and I still agree with your point there. Modern series, unless they significantly depart from the norms like The Monument Mythos, just don’t strike the same chords as something like Local 58. Obviously there is tons of passion and work put into both, but I can totally see how people view it as almost “fast food” analogue horror. I’m a huge fan of the genre, but I’m still waiting for something to knock my socks off like the oldies did. Great video!
I like both TMC and Local 58, but as someone who got introduced to analog horror thanks to TMC I might be biased, Local wasn't really scary just unsettling, TMC scared the shit out of me with some parts
I recognized your first bgm in this video. A Vaporwaver 24/7/30 I have listened to it plenty of times, but I can't recall from which album it is as of now. In 3:37 here you define the object of study of my thesis. Imma take a Master's in Dialogical Discourse Analysis. I hope I can be the first one to bring Analog to university and Google Scholar. Your video was very helpful because of that.
Love your video! Quick little inside knowledge: As a maker of an ongoing Analog Horror series myself, one thing I’d have to point out about the production of these things is how hard it is to change the formula itself, mostly because unlike all other horror sub-genres, Analog Horror is restrictive in the way you can tell a story because the visual aspect of Analog Horror takes a front seat compared to everything else. I’d argue that how a story is told in Analog Horror matters more than the actual story itself. And because of that, it’s exceedingly difficult to come up with new content when everyone else has already done something new before you. It sucks. That being said, I still believe there’s a way this sub-genre can still expand itself and continue to do new things, and I hope to see when someone does exactly that.
The first third of the video actually makes me really nostalgic for the covid lockdown. It may sound strange but i feel like many of us got to engage with the creativity of others as well as our own in a way that normal status quo life just does not allow. In fact, in some ways I think it revealed to some of us how totally crucial to our psychological well-being that having the time to create and participate in each other’s works the way analog horror is a great example. I’m back to working 60 hour weeks, barely having time to do the normal crap like get my car inspected or keep up with all the errands we have to deal with and now all the pleasure and connection I felt from watching and engaging with art and content like this feels like it’s become impossible again. Analog horror and ARG was so popular during covid because we had this rare chance which we never had before as Americans adults to truly reconnect with what I believe is an ubiquitous and ancient need for humans to engage in storytelling that we can participate in in some way. To me l, analog horror and videos by guys like Nexpo and the awesome comments sections and communities that developed around them are a modern, and in some ways better, other worse, way for us to fulfill that tradition that all premodern cultures got to experience around a fire with stories evolving over generations and capturing imagination until receiving such an important place in the hearts of all cultures that many traditions and religious mythologies very likely developed from that very similar experience. And it’s not just analog horror of course. I was making so much music and learning tons of different software to create thins and even getting to read almost daily and for me, the lockdown turned out to be one of the most fulfilling events I’ve experienced and only retirement could compare, but who knows if I’ll have the same drive at that age. I propose if other agree with the sentiment of what I’m talking about, we should make it a priority to even consider a way to legislate some ways to have some more free time and allowing us to live TRULY quality lives and not the version of quality that is preached top down that usually means spending money on things which have no impact on nurturing our souls. I know this rant might sound a little crazy but I really do think the unprecedented gift of time to know ourselves and participate in storytelling has show to be crucial to our wellbeing and stability. Of course the economy must run and we must eat, but do we really need to be running around in a hamster wheel every moment we aren’t asleep? There has to be a middle ground between rat race and a total societal halt.
Analog horror's doubled edged strength is that depending on the budget and media used, showing the horror visually is very difficult. I'd like to point towards a series that does visualls really well: The Tangi Virus is stylistically very similar to ecological documentaries, with the archival footage being mostly of public bulletins (the 'Drink the Water' segments are an excellent example of this), but the footage is intertwined with text. The strength of analog horror is that because you're not working with top of the line shit, every single aspect of the product must feed into the tension and narrative, which means that information is delivered a specific way for a specific reason. The "they're in my walls" line might be cringey if you've heard it a ton in a short amount of time, but the statement itself begs a multitude of questions. Who is in the walls? What is in the walls? What led to something being in the walls? How will that something get out? What will it do when it does? Analog's strength lies in making every bit of conveyance being vital due to the lack of a manner of conveyance most fiction is generally known to work under. In a movie, you can quickly figure out that Harison Ford is playing a good guy by the mannerisms and general posture of Mike Hamil and Old Ben. In Mandela and Smile Tapes (an offshoot I actually really enjoyed), you look towards every character and entity as a possible threat, because the information you'd normally get spoonfed to you is withheld. Meanwhile, let's look at the Istvan Hole. It's not unfixable, but it does have several problems. For one, the narrative itself is difficult to follow; something about a kid getting bullied, an insane imaginary friend popping out, and... I don't know. The media used doesn't fit the narrative, with photos of adult males representing the two aformentionef characters, and the presentation is very Mandela Catalogue. The text also does not help this series; the 'horror' is undermined by the complete travesty that is the grammar. Now, in Istvan's case, the gramatical mistakes also hurt the voice overs, if I'm not mistaken, because the voiced dialogue is text to speech; this was impossible to ignore in the first episode, and it's what stopped me from continuing past Volume 01. Aspiring Analog storytellers, please ensure you remember that: 1. Any text or dialogue script should be peer read and edited for errors. It might seem petty, but a single line of text can be more unnerving than any stretched out Germa smile you slap on the screen. The Tangi Virus (and its sequel, Project Oracle) are primarily text and audio based in storytelling, but the lack of visual connection is effective. The struggle of the late Docter Julia Williams feels real, because each of her journal entries carry this feeling of frustration and despair, and gives enough information for you to imagine the events occuring. The use of text is only advantageous when it's done competently and confidently. 2. You are trying to tell a story within a medium that is begging for experimentation. DO NOT allow your love for the stylistic flourishes of previous creators to limit your creativity. Do something disturbing. Have a child be maimed (in the sense of moviemaking, don't kill an actual child IRL) to death on screen; do something that will make the audience squirm, make them feel powerless, make them feel for the characters and their struggles. Be bold, and you might become something just as beloved as your influences. 3. Ensure you have a clear vision for the narrative; throwing every trick and trope at the wall is scary, but not because you're good at horror. If the level of ameteurity is scarier than the monster or threat, you might want to step back and rethink the project. Istvan Hole, I think, is a project that is trying to be like so many things, that it doesn't have time to do its own thing. 4. Analog horror might've gotten attention, but it's far from dead. The Paracosm Trials is a series I stumbled upon; as of writing this, there's only one episode, but it manages to both establish a narrative scenario, while at the same time keeping all of the cards out of view. It uses various footage, from a recording of a neighborhood being on fire, to a commercial, to various miscellaneous clips. The audio is garbled a great deal, only really being legible at a couple times, making conveyance a very strong suit for Paracosm part 1. I will say, Paracosm does ultimately do the cringe stretchy face thing everybody else is doing, but one mistep ultimately exists in a video filled with promising work.
My favorite part about analog horror videos is the comments. The highest rated comment is always, ALWAYS some pretentious 14 year old always saying some meaningless guff like; "the most terrifying thing about this video is the idea that this could actually happen and you'd never know" its always the same comment like every single time and thousands of people fall for it and give it thumbs up it's hilarious.
I personally don't think analog horror is dying, more of it just going through a creative drought with everyone trying to copy everyone else. While Mandela Catalogue is absolutely amazing and doesn't deserve the title of "the thing that ruined mascot horror" due to people trying to copy it, it itself was inspired by Local 58 and a few other things. And we have so many people trying to copy it and the other greats (ex: GHE, Walten Files, Monument Mythos, etc), we end up with things like the Smile Tapes (if you like it, thats cool, this is my own opinion) and those millions of Fnaf Vhs videos. There's just been a lack of diversity, and thankfully we've seen people begin to innovate and turn the genre on its head with series like Angel Hare and Greylock, so I'm hoping more people keep trying new things instead of copying others. (If this comment seems especially salty or rambly, that's because i didnt get any sleep when i wrote this)
I like this vid. I’ve watched it a couple of times. My take is analog horror is starting to change. There are more creators than ever. Me included. While some things are repeating, some uniqueness is breaking through. While I’m not always successful, I’d like to think Two of my projects - The Children Under the House and the Oracle Project- were successful at attempting something different. Before you know it, we will all be talking ab analog horror’s resurgence.
Great take vintage, and i love how different of an approach your videos took, myself being a big fan of your children under the house series, finding it really well written, at least from a story perspective
I'll admit never really followed the genre other than seeing local 58 a few times pop in my feed Honestly I can tell it's not my thing but I respect people wanting to create something based around the seedy underbelly of vhs media that was around and the vibe finding a unknown weird tape gives off There's some good stuff to come from that Good breakdown
I have some pretty serious paranoia and nothing triggers it like analog horror does because it’s basically “scary thing in dark corner with low detail” and that is a real life experience I commonly have thinking there are things around me trying to get me
Of course, it releases while I'm at work... just so I can enjoy it relaxing when I get home. 😌 I think we see a twist or niche in a genre (especially one like horror that foundationally bucks conventions of most other genres) and the first 'few' that break through (regardless of what came before) become a cultural gold standard -- a'la Marble Hornets -- that others then feel inspired by and explore that niche; hacking away from a subgenre like a log until it's no longer a niche subgenre, it's a mainstream genre/flavour under the greater umbrella. Like any floodgates opening, you get more derivative projects and some genuine gems in the huge wave that then (ironically) inspire their own twist, take, wave, and burnout. This isn't to say that they all aren't passion projects and deserve to be respected, of course.
This is why I consider Local 58 as the pinnacle of Analog Horror. It was the OG, so it wasnt affected by the stupid tropes that plague Analog Horror now (especially the "rule of 3" trope). But most importantly, its just the simple fact that, unlike a lot of the other ones, it was actually scary. Not being disrespectful to the other series, and yes the others got under my skin, BUT they didn't SCARE me. That feeling that I got from watching "you are on the fastest available route" for the first time has not been replicated. Some have gotten close (closest has been Gemini) but none have reached that level
Local 58 is one of the best in my opinion but Gemini Home Entertainment was the one that really just elicited that deep feeling of dread that good horror gives you.
I don't see that anything went wrong per say. Only that the genre has stalled somewhat with the over-saturation of copycat analog horror. There are some real gems but some just aren't well thought out. I think that people need to be more experimentative with the genre. the genre itself is in its infancy still. For horror in general for example, you could say the vampire genre is done to death. But the only thing done to death is the same old tired repetitive story. There are so many ways to take a genre element or trope and place that into new environments and situations and different types of human relationships or turn the trope upside down or inside out. And there are many ways to express it in various mediums. HEck, there are sure to be many ways people can still do it on video. I personally have a lot of hope for this newer type of horror. Unfortunately, people are sometimes more interested in keeping it safe than taking a risk to do something more out there. I have some ideas myself and plan on putting together a pitch bible over the summer to try and sus out my ideas into something coherent. don't know if it will go anywhere beyond that but it's a fun side project to work on while I am on summer break from college. I am studying Digital Arts, and animation. Analog and indie horror has been real inspiration over the past year or more now since I delved into the genres. I have found I love horror games and books. (though not movies as much)
You've summed it up pretty well. Sort of the "Let me try" issue taking hold. To simply explain that notion, a few do it well, but only a few. If the series comes back, I'll be happy that it does. If it doesn't, I'm glad I got to experience it's peak.
Honestly, I think anything can just get derivative. Genre cliches come from somewhere, and the quick saturation is how that happens. But I really appreciate the way you explained your ideas and the way your video flows!
I think what made analog horror really scary, at least for me, is just how unsettling it was. These days what counts as scary are cheap jpegs of robots jumping at you and making a loud noise, or being hunted down by zombies or something. Analog horror built a very unsettling feeling, the feeling that something was wrong. The good ones did, at least.
Analog horror has especially inspired me to expand on my own work, even if it isn't in the same genre. The wonderful stuff I've seen on this platform has given me a love for worldbuilding. I hope that one day my series can inspire someone else.
I love you included the poster of the 1982's Basket Case in the start of the video as an example of earlier horror. Underrated choice IMO. Would that film classify as a true splatter horror movie?.
It's weird. I'm in my late 30s and I discovered analog horror through Nexpo's introduction to Local 58 in 2018. For me, 2018 feels like "just" five years ago and the start of the pandemic feels like "just" roughly four years ago, but so many things have happened in between, including the rise and fall of the analog horror genre, and for younger people five years feels like a much longer time. 😅 Years sort of become more fluid and time starts losing its meaning when one advances in years, and still I don't feel *old*.
While there are ones that are genuinely good and well made out there to me analog horror has turned into the next creepypasta because generic analog horror is either a bunch of images flash up with text and unsettling music and maybe a person talking or screaming with sometimes odd things like something that's not supposed to move or story's told through twitter
Maybe it's because I'm old enough to remember actual analog media, but I fundamentally don't grasp what people find scary about analog horror. What's scarier about a VHS than a digital video? What's spooky about a government broadcast? Why are people obsessed with "entities" and voluminous lore? I can think of no way to kill horror off than to overexplain it!
@@ExpertContrarian "book" or "movie" is a much broader category than "Analog Horror." The equivalent here would be "internet video," and I'm not asking "why are internet videos scary." if you go back and read the comment that you initially responded to, you'd see me asking "what's scarier about a VHS than a digital video?" The question is, what makes analog horror interesting to people? What stories are people able to tell with retrotech and zeerust that can't be told in some other way? So, politely, let me ask again: what about the analog horror--with its genre conventions and structures--do people find interesting?
@@StrongZeroPowerHour it’s a medium. I read what you asked. I politely told you that your premise was mistaken. I’ll ask again. Do you really need something this simple explained to you?
Analog horror is definitely my favorite thing on the internet, despite all the tropes that have set in as of late. Granted, there are a lot of uncreative and boring analog horrors out there, but I guess that's what makes it more exciting to find something original and creative.
The Smile Tapes is so similar to Mandela Catalog that at first I confused them, same with Gemini Home Entertainment and Local58, let alone badwatter2009 and gunslinguer2009 with GMod's ARGs.
What i like about Analog horror is the same thing that i enjoyed about John Carpenter's The Thing. It's the idea that the antagonist in the story is a supernatural force that you are pretty much powerless against combined with it has power over things that are so simple yet so fundamental and connected to us as people like our appearances, our technology and our psychology.
Analog horror reached its lowest low with Urbanspook's absolute garbage. It's not scary, not interesting, it's just edgelord gore that relies on shock value. Alexkister's work wasn't for me, but his work is not bad. It's an interesting concept and a lot of people love it, plus he's shown so much promise more recently because he's been so humble and open to contructive criticism. Most importantly though, his work is based on a genuinely unique, interesting concept with depth, as opposed to a cliche story about a two dimensional, sadistic (sometimes stooping to pedophilic, sexual sadism because- edgy) murderer who kills victims in the most gruesome, vile ways that are likely to elicit disgust, and shock. I have no idea how that crap has recieved any positive attention. It's just so bad, and entirely not scary or even creepy.
Would you say that the Backrooms by Kane Pixels is the next wave or direction of Analog Horror? I find the sci-fi, experiment gone wrong approach very interesting..
I've been cooking a related project since a few weeks and your last statements are very inspiring. I think the genre has a lot of extensive potential, but the fact that we define it as just the words Analog and Horror instead of understanding all its characteristics is what makes the genre full of cheap copycats
It’s very similar but unlike fnaf it has an easy story to follow while still leaving you with questions and theories without overdoing it. But maybe that’s just my opinion idk
@@AverageUsernames everything good becomes overrated because of kids until they grow out of it, that’s how most (horror) fiction ends up. if it bothers you too much it’s best to stay away from the fandom
I still have a soft spot for Channel 7, if only cuz it's set in my neck of the woods. Heck, the call letters used are real & belong to 6ABC, a Philly TV staple. Even if it's not the most unique, it's still enjoyable.
There's a few things I've always disliked about Analog horror: 1. People who have no understanding of the limited scope and impact of computer generated images/charts/graphs/pictures. While 3d Tech was available as early as the 1980s, the proliferation of the tech, as well as people who were capable of doing it, especially in a small TV station, would be rare, even as late as the early 2000s. 2. The tactile sensation of genuine artifacts from older media storage and broadcasting options. I've seen dozens of videos with a decent filter that emulates a public access TV, only to have an absolutely clear voice broadcast through the speakers, when I know from personal experience that everything on a TV signal has been impacted by the degradation of the data being transmitted from the tower to the TV. 60FPS isn't ideal to project the 'age' of the media being created, which if someone wanted to do that, they'd have to comply with System M specs for broadcast through digital media. System M displays a total of 525 lines of video (with 480 carrying visible image information) at 30 frames per second using 6 MHz spacing between channel numbers, and is used for both VHF and UHF channels. Video is amplitude modulated, which is absolutely lost on current media. Some folks can manage to emulate it, but to replicate it would take a lot more effort, and in this regard, this detail can be offered some sway. 3. A lot of the videos that tried to follow the trend aren't horrid, but the suspension of disbelief is hardly, if ever, established. In short- The lack of research on how the genuine analog medium operated under a variety of conditions. People draw their understanding of old media from watching Beta hard copy tapes that were used by studios, instead of from the perspective of someone watching at the end point of that broadcast pipeline. 4. A lack of 'place' in creating believable, or at the very least, suspending belief with the narrative placed for the viewer to absorb. Nothing provided in the Mandela Catalogue inspires anything genuinely scary. Unsettling at times, sure, but the lack of the suspension of disbelief is what creates a lack of inspiration in Analog Horror.
man i used to be hella into the antipiracy videos... i feel like seeing the comments of antipiracy vids fill up with the same "every copy of (game being pirated) is personalized" truly was a dark sign
"Flanderization is the process through which a complex fictional character's essential traits are oversimplified to the point where they constitute their entire personality, or at least exaggerated while other traits remain, over the course of a serial work." But with analog horror.
Personally, I love Mandela Catalogue. A lot of it just comes down to timing and execution. Any genre is going to have copycats, that's arguably part of how genres are formed. Tons of bad horror movies come out every year, and are then forgotten about. As long as there are one or two series out that resonate with people, I think analog horror is in a perfectly normal place.
I look at a lot of analog horror and other horror videos on youtube as a kid and found them the most terrifying thing in my entire life then i watch them now and i just laugh from how stupid and unscary they are
Very insightful, however I still really like and support this genre, I agree there are a lot of uninspired sereis out there. Here are the ones I think that I think are actually pretty great. Local 58: duh, it was the literal pioneer. OG Squimpus Tapes(I would say battington remakes too, but those were cancelled)these were very clever, and overall just good fnaf inspired videos Walter Files: I like the more human story this tries to tell, and Martin says he's trying to explore new techniques for the sereis. Gemini Home Entertainment: Yeah, I can agree and say this ones the GOAT, really clever and chilling. Mandela Catalogue: It's a good sereis, but it unfortunately kinda ruined peoples look on the sereis due to oversaturation and cringe culturist sheep
@@carnificina300 it's analouge horror, it's popular, it's a trend. If it's popular, it's bound to be hated by cringe culturist sheep the second the next trend rolls around
@@carnificina300 the use of edited faces is a meme at this point. It makes sense considering the low budget nature of Analog horror asthetics, but the shock very quickly wears off when everyone's doing it. Smile Tapes did actually do something interesting with the stretched smile, though; the images are primarily taken from autopsies of drug victims that have wide, joker like grins. The case could be made that the images were taken pre/postmortem, and the effects of Smile are best seen in real time. The idea of your facial muscles constantly retracting to a wide grin, eventually driving you violently mad from the pain of disfigurement is terrifying, just as the Alternates are terrifying in concept.
An over saturation of ARGs injected into the genre and the Walten Files/Mandela Catalogue ruined Analog Horror for me. Recently it’s just been FNAF styled ARG after FNAF style ARG and honestly; I think FNAF is trifling cheap baby time horror. OH WOW YOU GAVE ME A JUMP SCARE. Oh wow that training tape sure was creepy. I wonder who Joe is and why is in the garage; I better watch all 90 of Game Theory’s video so I can begin to somewhat understand what I’m looking at.
The sad thing is, there was a lot of really good analog horror... And each were unique in some way... But then as time went on it honestly became more of a cliche and died, it becoming associated with The Backrooms was probably the final nail in the coffin. As The Backrooms is pretty much baby stuff now Analog Horror might have a renaissance one day, but that day is probably years and years away... But love it or hate it, it was a hell of a time
oh totally, probably not gonna do a follow up video but I will say that the direction Kane Pixel is taking is truly superb. And ya know that’s just indicative of any genre out there, there’s gonna be ups and downs. When I originally made this video, I felt analog horror was on the downside. But now, more or less, seems to be getting new blood pumped into. And that’s great! Anyways, appreciate the comment!
I hate to bet that guy but monument myth is has a narrative, a not super obvious one that’s spoon fed to you, but implied and every little detail in every video connects in the series. Hell there is already 3 seasons and a 4th one called modern day. Check it out but if you still don’t understand the story just watch the most recent of wendigoons vids( he made several click most recent)
no you’re absolutely right and perhaps I misspoke a little bit. I meant to say that monument mythos has a subtle and obtuse narrative that’s not readily apparent and could be perceived as episodic for general audiences. Also, great video recommendation. Thanks for the comment!
I hate how much local 58 set the template for analogue horror, and then mendela catalogue came around and set a new template. Eventually, I’m gonna predict that the new template will be soemthing around vita carnis, a kinda documentary style with the greasiest knock off frank sinatra music in the back ground.
Like, I think we were a little lucky with how GHE went down because I haven’t seen any direct GHE copies where it’s home videos. The worst it had done was make it so that there’s always some kinda body snatcher, which Mandela also helped with. I wouldn’t say it’s a template, it’s more of a trend setter and it says “hey, if you wanna, come and try this”
Some of the analog horror genre problems are not necessarily it's fault, but it's overall genre which is, well, the horror genre itself. Not just analog horror go through some cliches and tropes, but horror video games and even horror movies, which mostly inspired any and all the horror content you can watch on a screen. I here criticism of horror making fun of jumpscares, hell there are so many memes making fun of jumpscares, from horror movies to Fnaf to now analog horror like the Mandela Catalog. Oh, and there is the excessive gore that horror movies rely on as a crutch. People rely on cheap jumpscares and goofy gore that they forget that there is more to horror than just being startled for a second or reacting to some blood for a moment. I think there are things I can think of that can improve not just analog horror, but horror itself. First, it isn't about the jumpscare, but the build up and tension. Sometimes there doesn't have to be a jumpscare or huge reveal, but just having the build up would be just enough. And the main thing that should be fixed that is related to jumpscares, gore, and other cliches is just revealing too much in general. As cool as it is that people work on horror monster designs, sometimes seeing a creepy and grotesque character with lots of gore in its design and having said character jumpscare a million times just isn't necessary. So something like an unseen force that is causing people to disappear and their bodies are never found could work out really well. What I'm trying to get is the point of horror is fear, and the reason why fear and phobias are effective in general is because of the unknown. People are afraid of heights and falling because they don't know what it feel like when they hit the ground, people are afraid of spiders because their agile and unpredictable movement, people are afraid of the ocean because they don't know what is in the bottom of the ocean. Fear is about not understanding or comprehending something, but knowing something is dangerous, threatening, or painful. And what makes fear stronger is the imagination. So in this case for analog horror, content creators need to make use of the constraints given to them from the genre. Because the bare bones of analog horror is perfect for scaring people when used correctly. While horror movies and horror gamaes show everything, analog horror limits the viewers by a lot in comparison. What can also be done by using the analog horror genre is using a sense of familiarity, routine, and reliance. When analog horror is used to show an alternative reality, they start off by using elements we are already familiar within our own reality. Or when in some analog horror content, there will sometimes be some sort of instructional video that feels relatively normal, but then there will be times where on of the instructions feel either a little off or ominous for unknown reasons. Or this can be twisted into a survival guide where we the viewers feel like we need to follow the steps in order to deal with an unknown threat, where later on it is intercepted by said unknown threat in some way, leaving us the viewer feeling like there would be no way they could survive in that universe. I know there are many other factors and suggestions that can be made, but I feel like this could be a good place to start. Really, people just need to learn about how the horror genre works, and then maybe there can be some improvements. Hey, maybe the analog horror genre could have a movie on the big screens someday if everyone improves on their horror story writing, and if pulled off correctly an analog horror movie could be very cool thing to see.
people just want to complain in most cases, it's in human nature to always search for things to criticize, but it's a genre, it's full of tropes just like every genre of anything, so like enjoy making what you like and stop trying to please the internet, just create
I definitely enjoy analog horror, and I haven't gone crazy into the series aspect, but I have seen it in games and as I watch more of them most of them are practically the same. They use the same aspects of fear and grainy/bad qualities and there's always the whole "they are coming for you" and "i know what you did" repeated kind of vague horror. Of course, there's always good ones in the pile of trash but oh my god it's gotten annoying and boring. Glad to see acknowledgement of the repeated concept in it though, loved the video
I don't think you particularly ruined Analog Horror. Like any popular genre, it has both a need for positive and negative criticism, but it's most important aspect, is that it basically keeps it's audience entertained with new and evolving content. I think that's the real problem, some creators don't realize that audiences crave new experiences . Just like many believe gaming is in the same rut with constant releases of Battlefield, COD, or Assassins Creed. And with that said, it really makes no sense to create a horror genre, only to either see it picked up by so many imitators that the quality drops, or see content trickle out to the point that it becomes stagnant and uninteresting. I know quality content takes time, but audiences won't continue to see the same thing over and over and expect it to be "well that's it" and maybe months later another snippet appears. Relevance drops, and it becomes another footnote in the genre. Also, some feel that some of the Analog Horror is basically taking an idea and making too esoteric for all but a small niche audience. There is a lot more, but I think Analog Horror needs to take a step back and be honest with itself and ask: "Are we holding our audience? Or are we just placeholding for the next genre of something".
There is NO problem whatsoever with the genre. It's a brand new type of approach that requires MANY attempts to be successful. Every body of work is exactly the same.
Personally, I've been enjoying and I'm going to continue to enjoy analog horror. I love the Space Odyssey/The Thing/Andromeda Strain stuff. I'm not going to let some copy & pasted generic analog horror series take away from my enjoyment of these fun and interesting stories in the subgenre.
Regarding the Mandela Catalogue, does anybody else find that the biblical exanation makes the whole thing far less interesting? Or does it not qork for me just bc im not Christian?
I love analog horror, but it's very hard to find good videos. I don't mind similar concepts, it's the quality of content I'm looking for. Also, _enough_ with the Goddamn creepy thumbnails, that's not going to help!
I see your point here,and I completely respect your opinion. But here's my opinion,people who say every analog horror series has no efford,and that every single one is just the same with different characters,should honestly think before they talk. Let me tell you,although that statement is not fully false,those people should thnk if they could do it better,or if they could make something more refreshing or new. Saying that you hate current analog horror,just because they are based around the same scary factors and structure,is like saying that you hate FNAF fangames because they are based around the same scary factors and structure.Like every trend in the internet,everyone is going to want to be a part of it,not because they wanna copy it,but because they wanna make their own version of it,it's literally the same for FNAF fangames or FNF mods,analog horror series always have the little touch of their creator,but they base around the same thing. At least that is my opinion,and my own way to see it.If you hate analog horror,is ok for me,as long as you respect my opinion too.
"You can't blame a guy for making something he wanted to make" out of context is probably one of the worst points you can make atleast when you word it like that as it implies the urge to want to do something alone can simply justify any action no matter how horrific.
When Xe said something along the lines of "the events of the bible ACTUALLY happened" I could just picture the smug smirk of a know it all reddit atheist on his Face. My word tranilog horror really is a plague isn't it.
great video! ngl it really sucks being known as the guy who kinda “ruined” analog horror but I’m hoping that my improvement along the way can kinda make up for what I’ve already caused lol
I really admire how you respond to criticism Alex, I am looking forward to whatever projects you create. Wheter it still be Mandela Catalog or something completely different.
I honestly thought this was a sincere and thoughtful critique of the genre as a whole. However, regardless of how anyone feels about the Mandela Catalog, there’s no denying it’s effect. The biggest target will always get the blame especially the series that inspired so many to get into the genre.
Nah dude, you did great. It's just sheep who beleive that you are obligated to hat something if it's a trend that has passed
I'm almost 40 years old and remember the many different movements and focus of the horror genre over the years. Alex, you reignited my love of horror after the oversatuation of zombie films killed it off. You are fantastic at your craft and make me wish I had better technical skills to follow your lead in bringing some of my ideas to life. Keep up the great work!
It's good to take constructive criticism but don't allow people to blindly scapegoat you, you've done an amazing job some of your work. Especially you being a new filmmaker. Keep up the good work man.
Like any genre or trend, things will get played out until it reaches levels of over saturation and cliché. That being said, nothing makes me more frustrated than people acting like the genre itself was NEVER good due to recent backlash.
I do believe that analog horror fundementally can work, but it is super hard to fall into pittraps. Overused jerma faces and nauseating VHS effects are just so abundant that it devalues the genre as an artform. I do think movies such as the ring as well as VHS can be classified as analog horror due to their usage of early age television. However, I do not think modern analog horror is good, at all. Needlemouse is a perfect example of how low the genre has become/
Reddit tier opinion, analog horror has always been cringe.
@@enmadaio.8975 this is true as shit
outside of Local 58 there has literally never been a good one.
@@thebasedgodmax1163 so true
Addressing the criticism about analog horror, it's simply a lack of diversity that's pointed out, and the thing is it floods with copycats for each new popular series... Local 58 had the related load of copies, as well as the Mandela Catalogue and the Backrooms... We just need to preserve a consistent diversity to provide the average viewer with enough content, which is kinda unrealistic with the average production time of an analog horror, but if there's enough skilled creators, we can make analog horror shine again
i completely agree i want new, unique, analog horror stories.
oh so we should get 6 KP vids and be cool and go watch crap flix cmon b you crazy rabbit
No, it’s not just the lack of diversity. It would be different if the copycats were copying some thing that was actually good but they’re not
I believe "Every copy of Mario 64 is personalized" trend was suppose to be a joke, to maybe reignite the feelings of playground rumors we heard as children. I seriously doubt anyone believed these to be real/
That theory has been around for 2 decades. I remember hearing this theory in 2005 when I was 10 and my dumb ass thought it was real.
Yeah it’s been around for a long time. The whole Mario 64 iceberg was originally just a big inside joke that grew way outta proportion. A lot of the myths pertaining to it have been going around the internet in small circles years before the original iceberg
I thought it was originally a trend meant to parody/mock shitty .exe and lost media creepypastas, never realized ppl thought it was serious
I think one of my main gripes with Analog horror is the lack of quality when it comes to these types of videos.
For instance, for most of analog horror videos, you'll see this shitty vhs filter (I can't find the name for it, but you'll know what I'm talking about). And just to clarify, there's plenty of vhs filters out there that are of higher quality, yet for some reason, you'll see people choose these blurry, bright, staticy, or just plain unappealing vhs filters instead.
Another main gripe of mine is how people overuse the "spooky face" trope that you find alot in analog horror. Now, I'm not trying to belittle or be mean towards Alex Kirster nor his Mandela Catalogue series, but I could definitely say that his series was definitely the spark that led to all this "spooky face" shit you see nowadays.
And lastly, my third main gripe is how there are some genuinely unique and creative analog horror channels out there that don't get the attention that they so rightfully deserve.
For example, there's a channel called TRYRED WITNESS ARCHIVES that focuses on a strange phenomenon regarding the disappearances of numerous children. It's pretty amazing. And yet, despite how well the content is, it's not a big channel, unfortunately, as it currently has 140 subscribers as of now.
By shitty vhs filter, you're talking about Rarevision? Green screen overlays?
@@crazyrabbit5722 kind of.
Im going to visit the channel you talked about
Watch slenderverse. That better then analogue horror
thank you for saying it, 1 year later your comment is still so true. the main thing holding back these videos is the lack of production value. many of these series have creative story ideas and i want to like them, but they’re ruined by the “baby’s first adobe premiere vhs filter plugin” visuals. idk analog horror videos generally seem kinda… low effort? i feel like a lot of this genre is just title screens with text to speech voices.
don’t get me wrong i understand that a lot of these creators are young and working on a tight budget! but would it kill them to at least pay someone on fiverr to read their script, or just do it themselves? even amateur human voice acting is more convincing than those goofy ass text to speech voices.
i also am not a fan of how most of the imagery in analog horror consists of digital paintings and/or photoshopped images. like i cannot take walten files seriously bc it’s just so obvious that the animation is made with modern day software. it’s kinda ironic that a genre called ANALOG horror relies so heavily on digital art. it breaks the illusion of being an old vhs tape and it looks out of place to any other creative person who can recognize the process that was used to make it.
i wish more analog horror creators would just go out and film something with real human actors in it, instead of relying so much on text to speech and photoshop. it would make these series more immersive and authentic to the time period they’re trying to emulate.
One of the most brilliant things in The Monument Mythos which truly helped set it apart from other Analogue Horror series on youtube (Besides the extremely original concept and the fact that it's barely even a horror series) is the revelation that both series creator Alex Casanas and his UA-cam Channel actually exist in-universe, and that in-universe he is using his videos to tell the story in a "Theatrical Manner".
It serves as the perfect justification for any odd spooky message or intercepting footage that may show up in any one of his videos, since we know that Alex is deliberately editing the videos to make them more engaging. Whereas with other Analogue Horror series, seeing a News Reel randomly glitching out to show a flashing "I AM INSIDE YOUR WALLS" message with a spooky face will immediately obliterate my immersion.
I mean, the whole thing with the Mandela Catalogue originally was that demons were messing with the footage. That makes no sense now to explain the editing in vol. 4 tho lol
I'm in your ass
@@marreco6347 did you really laugh out loud after saying that? You might be a pompassssssss
LOCAL 58 Is what got me into it. Analog horror reminded me of propaganda from red scare boomers. Honestly the call of duty campaign flashbacks could be analog horror. The numbers mason!
Mine were the walten files back in September, I love that series
The biggest change in the way I viewed horror was when reading House of Leaves. It's not without its problems but it was so much more emotional and sincere than any other horror content I had consumed, and it made me realize that most of the horror content I see is basically completely barren of sincerity. Maybe in pursuit of making something scary, creators are forgetting to put their lived experience into the story.
that is a truly poignant factor I have not even truly considered, but you are so right. I'm also gonna have to check out that book now lol. Thanks for the thoughtful comment
The Mandela Catalogue doesn’t scare me, but I actually find the lore pretty interesting. I’m also trying my hand at making my own analog horror videos centred around stories I’m writing, mainly for worldbuilding and because I enjoy doing it :)
The first viewing of each of Alex's viedos gave me a good spook, but I also continued to engage in it primarily to explore the lore and narrative. Is it scary? I feel Analog horror generally is strongest in the storytelling, because you're having to do something that even Hollywood has trouble doing with dedicated footage, shot by professionals, on high powered cameras.
It's impressive to do more with less. That's the philosophy that created Analog Horror.
@@noahjester8471 it's not scarry, but if the story is built well, it doesn't necessarily have to be.
That's a problem I'm starting to see is a lack of originality in the stories. "Copycats" for lack of a better term.
@@noahjester8471 A movie with analogue horror "style" writing would be horrible. Paying money to sit there and not know what the fuck is happening, and it's not like you can say "hey projectionist, rewind there and pause on that frame."
Same here. Though that first volume where we hear woman being attacked in the dark did get to me on this almost instinctive level.
I consider GHE the best of the analog horror for its variety in media. It spans from live broadcasts to VHS tapes to video games and even recordings of a man's dreams. It's much more creative than its peers.
Its the most engaging too, I mean the fact that you can play the game to find out clues about its world for yourself is pretty cool
“watching vhs tapes is like looking into another universe!!”
congratulations. for the first time in my life, you’ve made me feel truly, genuinely old.
I’m someone who genuinely finds The Mandela Catalogues frightening and I still agree with your point there. Modern series, unless they significantly depart from the norms like The Monument Mythos, just don’t strike the same chords as something like Local 58. Obviously there is tons of passion and work put into both, but I can totally see how people view it as almost “fast food” analogue horror. I’m a huge fan of the genre, but I’m still waiting for something to knock my socks off like the oldies did. Great video!
I like both TMC and Local 58, but as someone who got introduced to analog horror thanks to TMC I might be biased, Local wasn't really scary just unsettling, TMC scared the shit out of me with some parts
I recognized your first bgm in this video. A Vaporwaver 24/7/30 I have listened to it plenty of times, but I can't recall from which album it is as of now.
In 3:37 here you define the object of study of my thesis. Imma take a Master's in Dialogical Discourse Analysis. I hope I can be the first one to bring Analog to university and Google Scholar. Your video was very helpful because of that.
Love your video! Quick little inside knowledge:
As a maker of an ongoing Analog Horror series myself, one thing I’d have to point out about the production of these things is how hard it is to change the formula itself, mostly because unlike all other horror sub-genres, Analog Horror is restrictive in the way you can tell a story because the visual aspect of Analog Horror takes a front seat compared to everything else. I’d argue that how a story is told in Analog Horror matters more than the actual story itself. And because of that, it’s exceedingly difficult to come up with new content when everyone else has already done something new before you. It sucks. That being said, I still believe there’s a way this sub-genre can still expand itself and continue to do new things, and I hope to see when someone does exactly that.
The first third of the video actually makes me really nostalgic for the covid lockdown. It may sound strange but i feel like many of us got to engage with the creativity of others as well as our own in a way that normal status quo life just does not allow. In fact, in some ways I think it revealed to some of us how totally crucial to our psychological well-being that having the time to create and participate in each other’s works the way analog horror is a great example.
I’m back to working 60 hour weeks, barely having time to do the normal crap like get my car inspected or keep up with all the errands we have to deal with and now all the pleasure and connection I felt from watching and engaging with art and content like this feels like it’s become impossible again.
Analog horror and ARG was so popular during covid because we had this rare chance which we never had before as Americans adults to truly reconnect with what I believe is an ubiquitous and ancient need for humans to engage in storytelling that we can participate in in some way. To me l, analog horror and videos by guys like Nexpo and the awesome comments sections and communities that developed around them are a modern, and in some ways better, other worse, way for us to fulfill that tradition that all premodern cultures got to experience around a fire with stories evolving over generations and capturing imagination until receiving such an important place in the hearts of all cultures that many traditions and religious mythologies very likely developed from that very similar experience.
And it’s not just analog horror of course. I was making so much music and learning tons of different software to create thins and even getting to read almost daily and for me, the lockdown turned out to be one of the most fulfilling events I’ve experienced and only retirement could compare, but who knows if I’ll have the same drive at that age. I propose if other agree with the sentiment of what I’m talking about, we should make it a priority to even consider a way to legislate some ways to have some more free time and allowing us to live TRULY quality lives and not the version of quality that is preached top down that usually means spending money on things which have no impact on nurturing our souls.
I know this rant might sound a little crazy but I really do think the unprecedented gift of time to know ourselves and participate in storytelling has show to be crucial to our wellbeing and stability. Of course the economy must run and we must eat, but do we really need to be running around in a hamster wheel every moment we aren’t asleep? There has to be a middle ground between rat race and a total societal halt.
Preeeeeach! 😌 Everything you said in this comment is very well-said, and I agree 2000%.
Analog horror's doubled edged strength is that depending on the budget and media used, showing the horror visually is very difficult. I'd like to point towards a series that does visualls really well: The Tangi Virus is stylistically very similar to ecological documentaries, with the archival footage being mostly of public bulletins (the 'Drink the Water' segments are an excellent example of this), but the footage is intertwined with text. The strength of analog horror is that because you're not working with top of the line shit, every single aspect of the product must feed into the tension and narrative, which means that information is delivered a specific way for a specific reason. The "they're in my walls" line might be cringey if you've heard it a ton in a short amount of time, but the statement itself begs a multitude of questions. Who is in the walls? What is in the walls? What led to something being in the walls? How will that something get out? What will it do when it does? Analog's strength lies in making every bit of conveyance being vital due to the lack of a manner of conveyance most fiction is generally known to work under. In a movie, you can quickly figure out that Harison Ford is playing a good guy by the mannerisms and general posture of Mike Hamil and Old Ben. In Mandela and Smile Tapes (an offshoot I actually really enjoyed), you look towards every character and entity as a possible threat, because the information you'd normally get spoonfed to you is withheld.
Meanwhile, let's look at the Istvan Hole. It's not unfixable, but it does have several problems. For one, the narrative itself is difficult to follow; something about a kid getting bullied, an insane imaginary friend popping out, and... I don't know. The media used doesn't fit the narrative, with photos of adult males representing the two aformentionef characters, and the presentation is very Mandela Catalogue. The text also does not help this series; the 'horror' is undermined by the complete travesty that is the grammar. Now, in Istvan's case, the gramatical mistakes also hurt the voice overs, if I'm not mistaken, because the voiced dialogue is text to speech; this was impossible to ignore in the first episode, and it's what stopped me from continuing past Volume 01.
Aspiring Analog storytellers, please ensure you remember that:
1. Any text or dialogue script should be peer read and edited for errors. It might seem petty, but a single line of text can be more unnerving than any stretched out Germa smile you slap on the screen. The Tangi Virus (and its sequel, Project Oracle) are primarily text and audio based in storytelling, but the lack of visual connection is effective. The struggle of the late Docter Julia Williams feels real, because each of her journal entries carry this feeling of frustration and despair, and gives enough information for you to imagine the events occuring. The use of text is only advantageous when it's done competently and confidently.
2. You are trying to tell a story within a medium that is begging for experimentation. DO NOT allow your love for the stylistic flourishes of previous creators to limit your creativity. Do something disturbing. Have a child be maimed (in the sense of moviemaking, don't kill an actual child IRL) to death on screen; do something that will make the audience squirm, make them feel powerless, make them feel for the characters and their struggles. Be bold, and you might become something just as beloved as your influences.
3. Ensure you have a clear vision for the narrative; throwing every trick and trope at the wall is scary, but not because you're good at horror. If the level of ameteurity is scarier than the monster or threat, you might want to step back and rethink the project. Istvan Hole, I think, is a project that is trying to be like so many things, that it doesn't have time to do its own thing.
4. Analog horror might've gotten attention, but it's far from dead. The Paracosm Trials is a series I stumbled upon; as of writing this, there's only one episode, but it manages to both establish a narrative scenario, while at the same time keeping all of the cards out of view. It uses various footage, from a recording of a neighborhood being on fire, to a commercial, to various miscellaneous clips. The audio is garbled a great deal, only really being legible at a couple times, making conveyance a very strong suit for Paracosm part 1. I will say, Paracosm does ultimately do the cringe stretchy face thing everybody else is doing, but one mistep ultimately exists in a video filled with promising work.
My favorite part about analog horror videos is the comments. The highest rated comment is always, ALWAYS some pretentious 14 year old always saying some meaningless guff like; "the most terrifying thing about this video is the idea that this could actually happen and you'd never know" its always the same comment like every single time and thousands of people fall for it and give it thumbs up it's hilarious.
I personally don't think analog horror is dying, more of it just going through a creative drought with everyone trying to copy everyone else. While Mandela Catalogue is absolutely amazing and doesn't deserve the title of "the thing that ruined mascot horror" due to people trying to copy it, it itself was inspired by Local 58 and a few other things. And we have so many people trying to copy it and the other greats (ex: GHE, Walten Files, Monument Mythos, etc), we end up with things like the Smile Tapes (if you like it, thats cool, this is my own opinion) and those millions of Fnaf Vhs videos. There's just been a lack of diversity, and thankfully we've seen people begin to innovate and turn the genre on its head with series like Angel Hare and Greylock, so I'm hoping more people keep trying new things instead of copying others.
(If this comment seems especially salty or rambly, that's because i didnt get any sleep when i wrote this)
not salty at all! Great points, I love the conversation y’all are having in this comment section
I just realized I accidentally put "mascot horror" instead of analog horror oops 💀💀💀
I like this vid. I’ve watched it a couple of times. My take is analog horror is starting to change. There are more creators than ever. Me included. While some things are repeating, some uniqueness is breaking through. While I’m not always successful, I’d like to think Two of my projects - The Children Under the House and the Oracle Project- were successful at attempting something different. Before you know it, we will all be talking ab analog horror’s resurgence.
Great take vintage, and i love how different of an approach your videos took, myself being a big fan of your children under the house series, finding it really well written, at least from a story perspective
Lol slenderverse is better
I'm still bummed that Aidan Chick removed his analog horror content from YT 💔 I wish he'd come back 💗
I'll admit never really followed the genre other than seeing local 58 a few times pop in my feed
Honestly I can tell it's not my thing but I respect people wanting to create something based around the seedy underbelly of vhs media that was around and the vibe finding a unknown weird tape gives off
There's some good stuff to come from that
Good breakdown
This video is really cleanly edited
I have some pretty serious paranoia and nothing triggers it like analog horror does because it’s basically “scary thing in dark corner with low detail” and that is a real life experience I commonly have thinking there are things around me trying to get me
Of course, it releases while I'm at work... just so I can enjoy it relaxing when I get home. 😌 I think we see a twist or niche in a genre (especially one like horror that foundationally bucks conventions of most other genres) and the first 'few' that break through (regardless of what came before) become a cultural gold standard -- a'la Marble Hornets -- that others then feel inspired by and explore that niche; hacking away from a subgenre like a log until it's no longer a niche subgenre, it's a mainstream genre/flavour under the greater umbrella. Like any floodgates opening, you get more derivative projects and some genuine gems in the huge wave that then (ironically) inspire their own twist, take, wave, and burnout. This isn't to say that they all aren't passion projects and deserve to be respected, of course.
This is why I consider Local 58 as the pinnacle of Analog Horror. It was the OG, so it wasnt affected by the stupid tropes that plague Analog Horror now (especially the "rule of 3" trope). But most importantly, its just the simple fact that, unlike a lot of the other ones, it was actually scary.
Not being disrespectful to the other series, and yes the others got under my skin, BUT they didn't SCARE me. That feeling that I got from watching "you are on the fastest available route" for the first time has not been replicated. Some have gotten close (closest has been Gemini) but none have reached that level
Local 58 is one of the best in my opinion but Gemini Home Entertainment was the one that really just elicited that deep feeling of dread that good horror gives you.
I don't see that anything went wrong per say. Only that the genre has stalled somewhat with the over-saturation of copycat analog horror. There are some real gems but some just aren't well thought out. I think that people need to be more experimentative with the genre. the genre itself is in its infancy still. For horror in general for example, you could say the vampire genre is done to death. But the only thing done to death is the same old tired repetitive story. There are so many ways to take a genre element or trope and place that into new environments and situations and different types of human relationships or turn the trope upside down or inside out. And there are many ways to express it in various mediums. HEck, there are sure to be many ways people can still do it on video. I personally have a lot of hope for this newer type of horror. Unfortunately, people are sometimes more interested in keeping it safe than taking a risk to do something more out there. I have some ideas myself and plan on putting together a pitch bible over the summer to try and sus out my ideas into something coherent. don't know if it will go anywhere beyond that but it's a fun side project to work on while I am on summer break from college. I am studying Digital Arts, and animation. Analog and indie horror has been real inspiration over the past year or more now since I delved into the genres. I have found I love horror games and books. (though not movies as much)
You've summed it up pretty well. Sort of the "Let me try" issue taking hold. To simply explain that notion, a few do it well, but only a few. If the series comes back, I'll be happy that it does. If it doesn't, I'm glad I got to experience it's peak.
This is why my love for analog horror shifted over the years. There’s only so much you can do before we get another Wyoming Incident or FNAFs clone.
Honestly, I think anything can just get derivative. Genre cliches come from somewhere, and the quick saturation is how that happens. But I really appreciate the way you explained your ideas and the way your video flows!
Local 58,GHE and Eventide Media Centre will always be my favourite Analog Horror series
I think what made analog horror really scary, at least for me, is just how unsettling it was. These days what counts as scary are cheap jpegs of robots jumping at you and making a loud noise, or being hunted down by zombies or something.
Analog horror built a very unsettling feeling, the feeling that something was wrong. The good ones did, at least.
Analog horror has especially inspired me to expand on my own work, even if it isn't in the same genre. The wonderful stuff I've seen on this platform has given me a love for worldbuilding. I hope that one day my series can inspire someone else.
I love you included the poster of the 1982's Basket Case in the start of the video as an example of earlier horror. Underrated choice IMO. Would that film classify as a true splatter horror movie?.
Analog Horror nowadays is just same format jumpscare and takes out the scary factor
It's weird. I'm in my late 30s and I discovered analog horror through Nexpo's introduction to Local 58 in 2018. For me, 2018 feels like "just" five years ago and the start of the pandemic feels like "just" roughly four years ago, but so many things have happened in between, including the rise and fall of the analog horror genre, and for younger people five years feels like a much longer time. 😅 Years sort of become more fluid and time starts losing its meaning when one advances in years, and still I don't feel *old*.
While there are ones that are genuinely good and well made out there to me analog horror has turned into the next creepypasta because generic analog horror is either a bunch of images flash up with text and unsettling music and maybe a person talking or screaming with sometimes odd things like something that's not supposed to move or story's told through twitter
You nailed it, i feel im watching lost footage from an alternate reality, lost vague memories of what i remember
Maybe it's because I'm old enough to remember actual analog media, but I fundamentally don't grasp what people find scary about analog horror. What's scarier about a VHS than a digital video? What's spooky about a government broadcast? Why are people obsessed with "entities" and voluminous lore?
I can think of no way to kill horror off than to overexplain it!
You’re misunderstanding. The medium is the interesting part. Not the scary part
@@ExpertContrarian to you, how does the analog medium influence the experience of the story itself?
@@StrongZeroPowerHour the same way a story can be different in the form of a movie or a book. You need this explained to you?
@@ExpertContrarian "book" or "movie" is a much broader category than "Analog Horror." The equivalent here would be "internet video," and I'm not asking "why are internet videos scary."
if you go back and read the comment that you initially responded to, you'd see me asking "what's scarier about a VHS than a digital video?" The question is, what makes analog horror interesting to people? What stories are people able to tell with retrotech and zeerust that can't be told in some other way?
So, politely, let me ask again: what about the analog horror--with its genre conventions and structures--do people find interesting?
@@StrongZeroPowerHour it’s a medium. I read what you asked. I politely told you that your premise was mistaken. I’ll ask again. Do you really need something this simple explained to you?
Analog horror is definitely my favorite thing on the internet, despite all the tropes that have set in as of late. Granted, there are a lot of uncreative and boring analog horrors out there, but I guess that's what makes it more exciting to find something original and creative.
wood chips and houses = yes
My only poblem with some Analog horrors are the fact that i gotta make sure i won''t go deaf while watching it because of big spooked people scream
The Smile Tapes is so similar to Mandela Catalog that at first I confused them, same with Gemini Home Entertainment and Local58, let alone badwatter2009 and gunslinguer2009 with GMod's ARGs.
What i like about Analog horror is the same thing that i enjoyed about John Carpenter's The Thing.
It's the idea that the antagonist in the story is a supernatural force that you are pretty much powerless against combined with it has power over things that are so simple yet so fundamental and connected to us as people like our appearances, our technology and our psychology.
Analog horror reached its lowest low with Urbanspook's absolute garbage. It's not scary, not interesting, it's just edgelord gore that relies on shock value. Alexkister's work wasn't for me, but his work is not bad. It's an interesting concept and a lot of people love it, plus he's shown so much promise more recently because he's been so humble and open to contructive criticism. Most importantly though, his work is based on a genuinely unique, interesting concept with depth, as opposed to a cliche story about a two dimensional, sadistic (sometimes stooping to pedophilic, sexual sadism because- edgy) murderer who kills victims in the most gruesome, vile ways that are likely to elicit disgust, and shock. I have no idea how that crap has recieved any positive attention. It's just so bad, and entirely not scary or even creepy.
Would you say that the Backrooms by Kane Pixels is the next wave or direction of Analog Horror? I find the sci-fi, experiment gone wrong approach very interesting..
Besides that, Local 58 announced the next phase in Analog Horror that has yet to take shape: Digital Horror.
It’s just classic found footage and release style of UA-cam series combined
I've been cooking a related project since a few weeks and your last statements are very inspiring. I think the genre has a lot of extensive potential, but the fact that we define it as just the words Analog and Horror instead of understanding all its characteristics is what makes the genre full of cheap copycats
I'm making my own analog horror its going to be meta and creative
I'm from Bucks County PA so hearing it brought up actually shocked me
Analog horror went full cringe mode the moment people started using jumpscares and other generic horror tropes.
As someone who loves TMC, I do agree with your points.
The Walten file is literally the fnaf story.
Only inspired by fnaf? Lol 😆
It’s very similar but unlike fnaf it has an easy story to follow while still leaving you with questions and theories without overdoing it. But maybe that’s just my opinion idk
@@sadscribble5135 But still both are very overrated lol, because of kids.
@@AverageUsernames everything good becomes overrated because of kids until they grow out of it, that’s how most (horror) fiction ends up. if it bothers you too much it’s best to stay away from the fandom
I still have a soft spot for Channel 7, if only cuz it's set in my neck of the woods. Heck, the call letters used are real & belong to 6ABC, a Philly TV staple. Even if it's not the most unique, it's still enjoyable.
There's a few things I've always disliked about Analog horror:
1. People who have no understanding of the limited scope and impact of computer generated images/charts/graphs/pictures. While 3d Tech was available as early as the 1980s, the proliferation of the tech, as well as people who were capable of doing it, especially in a small TV station, would be rare, even as late as the early 2000s.
2. The tactile sensation of genuine artifacts from older media storage and broadcasting options. I've seen dozens of videos with a decent filter that emulates a public access TV, only to have an absolutely clear voice broadcast through the speakers, when I know from personal experience that everything on a TV signal has been impacted by the degradation of the data being transmitted from the tower to the TV. 60FPS isn't ideal to project the 'age' of the media being created, which if someone wanted to do that, they'd have to comply with System M specs for broadcast through digital media. System M displays a total of 525 lines of video (with 480 carrying visible image information) at 30 frames per second using 6 MHz spacing between channel numbers, and is used for both VHF and UHF channels. Video is amplitude modulated, which is absolutely lost on current media. Some folks can manage to emulate it, but to replicate it would take a lot more effort, and in this regard, this detail can be offered some sway.
3. A lot of the videos that tried to follow the trend aren't horrid, but the suspension of disbelief is hardly, if ever, established. In short- The lack of research on how the genuine analog medium operated under a variety of conditions. People draw their understanding of old media from watching Beta hard copy tapes that were used by studios, instead of from the perspective of someone watching at the end point of that broadcast pipeline.
4. A lack of 'place' in creating believable, or at the very least, suspending belief with the narrative placed for the viewer to absorb. Nothing provided in the Mandela Catalogue inspires anything genuinely scary. Unsettling at times, sure, but the lack of the suspension of disbelief is what creates a lack of inspiration in Analog Horror.
man i used to be hella into the antipiracy videos... i feel like seeing the comments of antipiracy vids fill up with the same "every copy of (game being pirated) is personalized" truly was a dark sign
"Flanderization is the process through which a complex fictional character's essential traits are oversimplified to the point where they constitute their entire personality, or at least exaggerated while other traits remain, over the course of a serial work." But with analog horror.
Personally, I love Mandela Catalogue. A lot of it just comes down to timing and execution. Any genre is going to have copycats, that's arguably part of how genres are formed. Tons of bad horror movies come out every year, and are then forgotten about. As long as there are one or two series out that resonate with people, I think analog horror is in a perfectly normal place.
Watch tribetwelve instead
Personally, I like to think of what could be more than just what it is at current. It's why I like stories where you can theorize.
I am looking to change the world... for the worse >:)
I look at a lot of analog horror and other horror videos on youtube as a kid and found them the most terrifying thing in my entire life then i watch them now and i just laugh from how stupid and unscary they are
Great video mate
Another Banger Video 🧨❤️
Thank you
Very insightful, however I still really like and support this genre, I agree there are a lot of uninspired sereis out there. Here are the ones I think that I think are actually pretty great.
Local 58: duh, it was the literal pioneer.
OG Squimpus Tapes(I would say battington remakes too, but those were cancelled)these were very clever, and overall just good fnaf inspired videos
Walter Files: I like the more human story this tries to tell, and Martin says he's trying to explore new techniques for the sereis.
Gemini Home Entertainment:
Yeah, I can agree and say this ones the GOAT, really clever and chilling.
Mandela Catalogue:
It's a good sereis, but it unfortunately kinda ruined peoples look on the sereis due to oversaturation and cringe culturist sheep
Could yoy explain why everybody hates Mandela catalogue? I find it very good, and scary
@@carnificina300 it's analouge horror, it's popular, it's a trend. If it's popular, it's bound to be hated by cringe culturist sheep the second the next trend rolls around
@@carnificina300 the use of edited faces is a meme at this point. It makes sense considering the low budget nature of Analog horror asthetics, but the shock very quickly wears off when everyone's doing it. Smile Tapes did actually do something interesting with the stretched smile, though; the images are primarily taken from autopsies of drug victims that have wide, joker like grins. The case could be made that the images were taken pre/postmortem, and the effects of Smile are best seen in real time. The idea of your facial muscles constantly retracting to a wide grin, eventually driving you violently mad from the pain of disfigurement is terrifying, just as the Alternates are terrifying in concept.
An over saturation of ARGs injected into the genre and the Walten Files/Mandela Catalogue ruined Analog Horror for me.
Recently it’s just been FNAF styled ARG after FNAF style ARG and honestly; I think FNAF is trifling cheap baby time horror.
OH WOW YOU GAVE ME A JUMP SCARE.
Oh wow that training tape sure was creepy. I wonder who Joe is and why is in the garage; I better watch all 90 of Game Theory’s video so I can begin to somewhat understand what I’m looking at.
The sad thing is, there was a lot of really good analog horror... And each were unique in some way... But then as time went on it honestly became more of a cliche and died, it becoming associated with The Backrooms was probably the final nail in the coffin. As The Backrooms is pretty much baby stuff now
Analog Horror might have a renaissance one day, but that day is probably years and years away... But love it or hate it, it was a hell of a time
I really like Analog Horror. Of course not all of it is great but it's like that with all genres. There is still a lot of good content coming out.
whelp, Kane Pixel sure revived this genre like a goddam defibulator with the Oldest View
oh totally, probably not gonna do a follow up video but I will say that the direction Kane Pixel is taking is truly superb. And ya know that’s just indicative of any genre out there, there’s gonna be ups and downs. When I originally made this video, I felt analog horror was on the downside. But now, more or less, seems to be getting new blood pumped into. And that’s great! Anyways, appreciate the comment!
I hate to bet that guy but monument myth is has a narrative, a not super obvious one that’s spoon fed to you, but implied and every little detail in every video connects in the series. Hell there is already 3 seasons and a 4th one called modern day. Check it out but if you still don’t understand the story just watch the most recent of wendigoons vids( he made several click most recent)
no you’re absolutely right and perhaps I misspoke a little bit. I meant to say that monument mythos has a subtle and obtuse narrative that’s not readily apparent and could be perceived as episodic for general audiences. Also, great video recommendation. Thanks for the comment!
I hate how much local 58 set the template for analogue horror, and then mendela catalogue came around and set a new template. Eventually, I’m gonna predict that the new template will be soemthing around vita carnis, a kinda documentary style with the greasiest knock off frank sinatra music in the back ground.
Like, I think we were a little lucky with how GHE went down because I haven’t seen any direct GHE copies where it’s home videos. The worst it had done was make it so that there’s always some kinda body snatcher, which Mandela also helped with. I wouldn’t say it’s a template, it’s more of a trend setter and it says “hey, if you wanna, come and try this”
I just get sucked into ARG and now it’s dead? Why does horror keep dying over and over.
Some of the analog horror genre problems are not necessarily it's fault, but it's overall genre which is, well, the horror genre itself. Not just analog horror go through some cliches and tropes, but horror video games and even horror movies, which mostly inspired any and all the horror content you can watch on a screen. I here criticism of horror making fun of jumpscares, hell there are so many memes making fun of jumpscares, from horror movies to Fnaf to now analog horror like the Mandela Catalog. Oh, and there is the excessive gore that horror movies rely on as a crutch. People rely on cheap jumpscares and goofy gore that they forget that there is more to horror than just being startled for a second or reacting to some blood for a moment. I think there are things I can think of that can improve not just analog horror, but horror itself. First, it isn't about the jumpscare, but the build up and tension. Sometimes there doesn't have to be a jumpscare or huge reveal, but just having the build up would be just enough. And the main thing that should be fixed that is related to jumpscares, gore, and other cliches is just revealing too much in general. As cool as it is that people work on horror monster designs, sometimes seeing a creepy and grotesque character with lots of gore in its design and having said character jumpscare a million times just isn't necessary. So something like an unseen force that is causing people to disappear and their bodies are never found could work out really well. What I'm trying to get is the point of horror is fear, and the reason why fear and phobias are effective in general is because of the unknown. People are afraid of heights and falling because they don't know what it feel like when they hit the ground, people are afraid of spiders because their agile and unpredictable movement, people are afraid of the ocean because they don't know what is in the bottom of the ocean. Fear is about not understanding or comprehending something, but knowing something is dangerous, threatening, or painful. And what makes fear stronger is the imagination. So in this case for analog horror, content creators need to make use of the constraints given to them from the genre. Because the bare bones of analog horror is perfect for scaring people when used correctly. While horror movies and horror gamaes show everything, analog horror limits the viewers by a lot in comparison. What can also be done by using the analog horror genre is using a sense of familiarity, routine, and reliance. When analog horror is used to show an alternative reality, they start off by using elements we are already familiar within our own reality. Or when in some analog horror content, there will sometimes be some sort of instructional video that feels relatively normal, but then there will be times where on of the instructions feel either a little off or ominous for unknown reasons. Or this can be twisted into a survival guide where we the viewers feel like we need to follow the steps in order to deal with an unknown threat, where later on it is intercepted by said unknown threat in some way, leaving us the viewer feeling like there would be no way they could survive in that universe. I know there are many other factors and suggestions that can be made, but I feel like this could be a good place to start. Really, people just need to learn about how the horror genre works, and then maybe there can be some improvements. Hey, maybe the analog horror genre could have a movie on the big screens someday if everyone improves on their horror story writing, and if pulled off correctly an analog horror movie could be very cool thing to see.
people just want to complain in most cases, it's in human nature to always search for things to criticize, but it's a genre, it's full of tropes just like every genre of anything, so like enjoy making what you like and stop trying to please the internet, just create
I definitely enjoy analog horror, and I haven't gone crazy into the series aspect, but I have seen it in games and as I watch more of them most of them are practically the same. They use the same aspects of fear and grainy/bad qualities and there's always the whole "they are coming for you" and "i know what you did" repeated kind of vague horror. Of course, there's always good ones in the pile of trash but oh my god it's gotten annoying and boring. Glad to see acknowledgement of the repeated concept in it though, loved the video
Marble hornets got me into analog horror
I don't think you particularly ruined Analog Horror. Like any popular genre, it has both a need for positive and negative criticism, but it's most important aspect, is that it basically keeps it's audience entertained with new and evolving content. I think that's the real problem, some creators don't realize that audiences crave new experiences . Just like many believe gaming is in the same rut with constant releases of Battlefield, COD, or Assassins Creed.
And with that said, it really makes no sense to create a horror genre, only to either see it picked up by so many imitators that the quality drops, or see content trickle out to the point that it becomes stagnant and uninteresting. I know quality content takes time, but audiences won't continue to see the same thing over and over and expect it to be "well that's it" and maybe months later another snippet appears. Relevance drops, and it becomes another footnote in the genre. Also, some feel that some of the Analog Horror is basically taking an idea and making too esoteric for all but a small niche audience. There is a lot more, but I think Analog Horror needs to take a step back and be honest with itself and ask: "Are we holding our audience? Or are we just placeholding for the next genre of something".
What is that music at 1:54?
Donkey Kong 64 - Frantic Factory
it's like a good meme until everyone knows it
There is NO problem whatsoever with the genre.
It's a brand new type of approach that requires MANY attempts to be successful.
Every body of work is exactly the same.
The Walten files is about a restaurant owne4 shoving his family inside animitronics that he made. Lol 😆 inspired by fnaf? It fuxking is fnaf. Jesus .
Pretty sure Jack being Bon isn’t canon
niko oneshot
so mandela ruined it kinda its the worse i guess
Personally, I've been enjoying and I'm going to continue to enjoy analog horror. I love the Space Odyssey/The Thing/Andromeda Strain stuff. I'm not going to let some copy & pasted generic analog horror series take away from my enjoyment of these fun and interesting stories in the subgenre.
that was simply amazing.
(that's not meant to be sarcastic =_=)
what about vita carnis
I'm trying to reverse the unscary things of analog horror and actually try to scare people
Its mainly imagery
Regarding the Mandela Catalogue, does anybody else find that the biblical exanation makes the whole thing far less interesting? Or does it not qork for me just bc im not Christian?
It only uses the vhs format because it covers up their shitty cgi.
What went wrong…? 🤔 it’s just not scary imo
This guys definition of analog horror doesn’t make sense
I love analog horror, but it's very hard to find good videos. I don't mind similar concepts, it's the quality of content I'm looking for.
Also, _enough_ with the Goddamn creepy thumbnails, that's not going to help!
V/H/S 1 is a perfect example of analogue horror being applied to feature filmmaking, and is still an excellent staple of the genre.
got remotely popular and kids ruined it, happens to a lot of media
I see your point here,and I completely respect your opinion.
But here's my opinion,people who say every analog horror series has no efford,and that every single one is just the same with different characters,should honestly think before they talk.
Let me tell you,although that statement is not fully false,those people should thnk if they could do it better,or if they could make something more refreshing or new.
Saying that you hate current analog horror,just because they are based around the same scary factors and structure,is like saying that you hate FNAF fangames because they are based around the same scary factors and structure.Like every trend in the internet,everyone is going to want to be a part of it,not because they wanna copy it,but because they wanna make their own version of it,it's literally the same for FNAF fangames or FNF mods,analog horror series always have the little touch of their creator,but they base around the same thing.
At least that is my opinion,and my own way to see it.If you hate analog horror,is ok for me,as long as you respect my opinion too.
should have went off on smile tapes goofy trash it is
let's all just agree that Wainstop was the true originator of analogue horror
"You can't blame a guy for making something he wanted to make" out of context is probably one of the worst points you can make atleast when you word it like that as it implies the urge to want to do something alone can simply justify any action no matter how horrific.
Game pass is why five nights at Freddy's became popular again.
Args got popular and now most of them sucks
When Xe said something along the lines of "the events of the bible ACTUALLY happened" I could just picture the smug smirk of a know it all reddit atheist on his Face. My word tranilog horror really is a plague isn't it.
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