Yesterday, I wrote about how the rise of the citizen creator is going to spell doom for Hollywood, and my two examples were how YouTubers Kane Parsons and Mark Fischbach (known better as Kane Pixels and Markiplier, respectively) created entire universes that people flocked to with very little in the way of budget.
Parsons, in particular, is known for a series on YouTube called "The Backrooms," which revolves around people who stumble into a strange realm that seems to imitate places and objects from our world — but always imperfectly, as if it’s remembering them wrong.
Read: As Hollywood Continues to Prove It's Learned Nothing, Citizen Creators Are Rising
What's very interesting about this is that Parsons' series is part of a genre of horror that is very popular on YouTube called "analog horror." I briefly mentioned it in my previous article, but didn't really elaborate on what it is, and I feel like I should, because the genre's existence and popularity are something that actually flies in the face of every preferred pattern in the entertainment industry.
For starters, the "analog horror" genre is a close cousin of the "found footage" style of horror, and in fact, they often overlap. You've likely heard of or seen "found footage" style horror before. "The Blair Witch Project" and "Paranormal Activity" are two popular films that rely on home movie style presentation to make the scares feel a bit more close to home than a high-production camera.
But what "analog horror" does is often take this concept a step further. While found footage movies rely on mystery and scares, "analog horror" tends to rely on dread. The mystery isn't wrapped up cleanly in an hour and a half. Most of what you see is just a small piece of the story, and what's more, many of the best analog horror creators make you stop and analyze the videos in order to make you piece together clues, timelines, and more. It relies on visuals that are interpretive and dialogue that rarely, if ever, acts as a method of exposition.
In other words, "analog horror" is a thinking-man's kind of horror... or at least the most popular ones are.
"The Backrooms" is an excellent example of this, as Kane Parsons is a masterful storyteller. He hides details in plain sight that you don't know are details until you look more closely. There are entire YouTube channels that make their own popular content, strictly trying to figure out the story behind "The Backrooms" and theorizing over it.
Another solid analog horror channel is "Local 58," which revolves around a local news channel that continues to exhibit odd, supernatural behaviors that are clearly predatory toward people. Various programming hints at something going on with the moon. There's something there, and what it's trying to do with humanity doesn't seem good.
You'll notice just watching the video "Weather Service" that there's nothing very flashy about it. In fact, it looks like programming info you'd see on local channels late at night. Most of the video is nothing but text. Yet, the video manages to convey a sense of dread and fear. Viewing the rest of the channel's library, you start to see a story unfold if you pay attention.
Another YouTube channel is "Gemini Home Entertainment," a series that also takes a sort of channel-like approach, but this time covers an entire entertainment company that releases everything from children's videos, video games, and information about the local area. It's clear there's an eldritch conspiracy happening in the world of GHE, namely in rural Minnesota, and the alien infection that seems to come upon people and incorporate their minds and bodies is frightening, though you never truly see it. All you can see is the aftermath. You can see people standing in homes, but they're not people.
Alex Kister's "Mandala Catalogue" is another horrifying series that uses Christian imagery and backstory to tell a tale of cosmic horror, where nothing can be trusted, and nightmares never cease. This is one of the most famous series in the genre and kick-started a lot of copycats.
But buried beneath the dread and horror is something far more interesting, and that's a look into us, the audience. These series are so popular and renowned despite their lack of production quality. They don't have marketing budgets. The entire reason they're popular is because of word of mouth. A new video released by any of the channels alone is considered an event, and these are just three. There are far more out there.
The core point you should pull from this is that the creators of these series do not treat their audiences like idiots. They don't exposit. They expect you to figure out what's going on. Solving the mystery is up to you, not the director.
And people are loving it.
Compare that to Hollywood, or major streaming platforms, which absolutely do treat you like you're a moron. Dialogue reiterates things you already know, plots are simplistic and easy to follow, and characters aren't that deep.
I think analog horror shows that people want something far more cerebral and substantial. Flash, high budgets, and famous actors just aren't carrying the weight they used to, but somehow people fall head over heels for a YouTube video with little more than obscured wording.
As Hollywood continues to fall off, this kind of citizen creation tends to grow, and I think what we're going to see is a lot more art that actually challenges us.
