#and it uses analog but what makes analog horror /ANALOG/ horror is how it focuses on stuff from that time period in terms of-

[disruptivevoib]

sometimes I do wanna just build an online horror genre taxonomy

[ph1l5eyelash]

i think there was something weird about Gangle’s mask in episode 4 and people are not talking about it enough.

im just kinda throwing out ideas here, I have no concrete theory, just things I noticed and thought were interesting.

AND IF YOU HAVE OTHER THEORIES REGARDING ANY OF THIS, TELL ME PLEASE IM SO CURIOUS

OKAY SO, first of all, I think we can all agree Gangle was acting weird in this episode— like, uncharacteristically weird. that could’ve easily (and obviously at least partially) been the fact that she was literally at her breaking point, on the verge of abstraction, but between the creepy vision Ragatha saw and the weird analog horror training video, I feel like it has to be more than that.

Talking about the vision Ragatha saw… what the fuck was that guys and why is nobody talking about it????? gooseworx did say “i just thought it would be funni.” when asked about it, but she has also said she often misleads us with her answers to the point that its “borderline gaslighting”. this is clearly an example of that, something so incredibly ominous and seemingly unrelated to the rest of the episode would not just be thrown in for no reason… it has to mean something. not to mention the creepy face when she turned around looks weirdly— intentionally— similar to Pomni’s face while she was possessed in episode 3.

I have a theory that whatever was possessing Pomni had something to do with Gangle’s mask in episode 4.

Speaking of this part of episode 3, I don’t think Pomni’s possession was apart of the adventure, or at least, not how it was intended to go. Whatever was possessing Pomni was hurting her in a way we have not seen in other adventures— this was not unintentional trauma like her and Gummigoo glitching beneath the map in episode 2, that was obviously not supposed to happen. This was intentional. As Jax said, Caine would not do something malicious to the humans, it’s not in his nature (which he said in a “i know that for a fact” sorta way, which is a whole other conversation). Not to mention, he said this DIRECTLY after Ragatha’s vision of Gangle looking eerily similar to whatever was possessing Pomni. So what was that?

And not only did it hurt Pomni— “how’s your wife, Kinger”??? are you kidding??? and this was not said nicely, it was clearly mocking him. how could mocking someone’s dead (or abstracted i guess) wife be any LESS intentionally malicious????

also, Caine is forgetful. This is shown by him forgetting they have a suggestion box, and more interestingly, through Zooble’s therapy session showing that Caine forgets their trauma. With such a large emphasis on Caine forgetting Zooble’s trauma, it would not be completely unreasonable to assume that he forgets the others’ trauma as well. Kinger’s wife abstracting, for example.

So with this moment being outright malicious towards both Kinger and Pomni, and with Caine’s forgetfulness being focused on in the same episode, I feel strongly that this was not Caine’s doing. Or at the very least, “how’s your wife, Kinger” was NOT Caine’s doing.

That raises the question, if Caine didnt do this, what did? And how does it know about Kinger’s wife abstracting— how would an NPC in an adventure know anything about the characters outside of the adventure?

I don’t have an answer to that question, but I have a looser theory that could possibly be related??? this one might be a little far fetched, but hear me out:

During Gangle’s weird (WEIRD) analog horror training video, Jax asks “when did you make this?” Sure, this could be meant to be a funny line that doesn’t mean anything… but he has a good point. When DID she make that? And why does it get so meta and scary? Malicious… one could say— I mean, Jax was terrified.

In the video, she was clearly projecting her failed dream of being a manga inspired comic artist, but if whatever was possessing Pomni knew about Kinger’s trauma, and with the theory that it has something to do with Gangle’s mask, I don’t think its impossible that it could know about Gangle’s trauma as well.

Assuming that whatever was possessing Pomni is actually intentionally connected to Gangle or her new mask, maybe that’s what made the video, not actually Gangle.

That would answer Jax’s question of when she made it— she didn’t.

That would explain Ragatha’s weird vision.

While the video doesn’t have any direct ties to the possession or the face, it definitely has pretty significant indication that she’s not herself— whether thats literally or figuratively. and idk man it was creepy and weird. as I said, im not set on this theory at all, i dont have any concrete idea what was going on here, but i know it has to be something.

this scene and Pomni’s possession were the only moments in the show that felt like the characters were being intentionally harmed— the only instances where they were intentionally made to feel real fear. The characters know that they will not actually be hurt during the adventures, they know that Caine wouldn’t put them in that situation. Sure, Pomni got jumpscared and her eyes popped out, they were panicked when trying to escape the angel head, they were panicked during the whole truck-chase scene in episode 2, but they knew it was all just apart of the adventure and they were gonna be fine in the end.

This fear was different. This was real fear— and they were intentionally made to feel that way. These instances were the only time the characters were genuinely afraid that they were in real danger (aside from the abstraction and backrooms-void situations in episode 1, but obviously those were not intentional).

I think whatever this is is trying to intentionally harm the members of the circus.

side note:

Zooble just found a mask that specifically looks like its for Gangle in their box of parts? why??? obviously it was for Gangle, so why was it in Zooble’s box of extra parts? did Caine put it in there? I guess that would make sense cuz Caine gave them the parts, but again, why give them a mask obviously for Gangle?

Which could mean nothing…? But it is weird that Zooble just randomly happened to stumble across a comedy mask… or maybe i’m just looking too deep into that.

Im gonna definitely post more about whats going on with jax in this episode (“nobody is seeing this, right”, “caine wouldnt do anything malicious its not in his nature”) because that feels important, but thats a theory for another day. this episode had so so much good information and my theory brain is absolutely spinning.

anyways yeah, i dont know. I feel pretty strongly that Ragatha’s vision and Pomni’s possesion are connected and that whatever that face is is important, but again, these are just ideas and the second theory is kinda just spitballing. i dont know if any of this makes sense. either way, all the theories make my brain happy and gooseworx’s storytelling is so amazing to me, whether any of this is right or if im completely missing the mark, its so interesting and i cannot wait to find out what the fuck is actually going on in this show. gooseworx, you talented storytelling genuis you, mwah!

if you have any theories on any of this, please share!! i would love to hear your ideas.

[kates-dump]

My experience with Analog Horror/ARGs and why you should check them out

Marble Hornets: the classic, and a big favorite of mine for obvious reasons. I cannot stress enough how good and spooky that series is, and the ToTheArk videos gave me nightmares, love it! <3

If you're into Slenderman stories, you should definitely check it out. The acting is very well done and the story is awesome overall :)

The Sun Vanished: the ARG that started my interest for ARGs, and especially enigmas/internet puzzles. Unfortunately I was not smart enough to figure the stuff out by myself, so I just watched explanations on it. Highly recommended if you like post-apocalyptic settings and subtle horror.

The Mandela Catalogue: possibly the series that brought back my interest for these things. I have only watched the first two seasons of it, as I sadly lost interest after a while, but from what I have watched, I would recommend it to those of you who like horror with religious themes (which is a big thing for me) and most importantly, trust issues. Do keep in mind this series deals with more serious and dark topics, though you have probably heard it already.

Local58: the analog horror of all analog horrors, Local58 barged in before TMC took the spotlight. There is so much going on and all of it is very interesting and scary. America's pride leads to its doom, the moon can control electronic devices, and weird creatures spread through the world. If you like stories that leave you not understanding what the hell just happened but loving it anyway, you will love Local58.

Rocket Archives: A single-video series that has unfortunately been taken down for reasons I am not certain of. But if you're curious what it was about, the video presented a reality where us humans were forced to leave Earth with how hot it was getting, and moved to contained bubbles in space. Suddenly, uh oh! The sun's getting closer! Outer Wilds moment! Everything is melting! Humans are gone and the sun is... alive???

Analog Archives: made by the creator of Rocket Archives, has also been taken down but can still be found re-uploaded. The series is slightly similar to Local58, as in it also focuses on broadcast hijacking used for ending off humans. The series also includes a few religious topics that can get very dark. I love it. "Nature Show" makes me tear up with fear every time.

Gemini Home Entertainment: ALL-TIME FAVORITE MOMENT!!! I don't think I need to explain why I love this one so much. GHE leaves a lot to your imagination/speculation, while also twisting your head directly into the direction of the threat and forcing you to look at it while you squirm in fear. GHE is subtle in the most obvious way, obvious in the most subtle way, and most importantly, IT'S COSMIC HORROR, BABY!!! THERE IS A PLANET IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM THAT GOT HERE UNINVITED AND NOW IT WANTS TO EAT US!!! UGHHHH I can't put in words why I think it's so good, it just is. Watch it. The Gardeners are cute, I swear. There's even a plush of them.

Monument Mythos: something something alternate realities, something something time loops. I have not watched all of it, barely even half, but I deemed it a little bit too confusing for my brain. BUT! If you're into things that boogle your mind, you might really like this series! I mean, world monuments are alive, what could be scarier?

Vita Carnis: EW. (affectionate)

But, seriously, if you like gross, you are certainly going to like this series. It's meat, and it's alive. Although, I did stop watching it because it got a tad too graphic and violent for my taste, but if that doesn't bother you, then I recommend it a lot! The editing is soooo good, and some of the creatures are very likable and cute ^v^ (the others are gross and I do not want them near me I do not WANT FUCK OFF)

Don't Look at the Moon: Minecraft spooky. Do I need to say more?

[kadextra]

Imagine you have managed to lure & successfully capture a special, and dangerous animal in a cage. You brought it to your facility for a reason, to use it for something important that it can provide you, or that it’s capable of doing… and to run some tests.

You know this animal has a history of being extremely vicious, and that it’s really intelligent. You knew what you were getting into beforehand… you’ve heard the hundreds of horror stories, about it being capable of causing terrifying harm- and it hates being in a cage. it’s crafty and will attempt to escape, so you need to treat it nicely, with utmost respect. You have to pacify its temper while you run the tests, so you give it something to care for, other test subjects for company, and objects that it likes. enrichment to make it all more bearable to manage.

It works, and the animal has gotten attached to the things you provided for it! you see how much it cares for them every day, and that’s good because now it doesn’t bite back as much at the keepers you send in to monitor. All the tests are going smoothly. Sometimes, there are unfortunate accidents (it was in a particularly bad mood the other day and someone lost a few fingers) but that’s okay, things like this can be excused in the long run. It’s unwise to punish the animal, as it’s scary, and special, and you aren’t sure if doing that will make it become completely uncontrollable or ruin the tests/any of the benefits. Just continue using more enrichment and hope that works! there is nothing more important than having it be calmed in the cage.

Everything goes well for a while… until one day, when what you had given it to care for disappears. you don’t know where they went (or maybe you do) and the animal falls into a deep depression. you observe as it begins exhibiting stress-related self destructive behaviors like biting its own fur off. but those soon switch to threatening behavior. it starts slamming and tearing into the cage, openly attacking with fangs and claws at the employees, causing a ton of problems- it was only a matter of time until this happened. It has nothing to lose anymore, and you now understand the murderous rage that all those stories talked about. In the dead of night, you walk by and can’t see anything in the darkness but you can feel its sharp eyes watching your movements…. plotting.

If it got out it would certainly try to kill you.

One of the employees goes missing one day, on top of the animal being way more unstable and hard to deal with. While you try to solve this new problem, you tell everyone to halt their work and warn them to not make any sudden, startling movements around the animal + not go near the cage at all for the time being, in fear of it lashing out more. They are all following your orders to stay away. But unbeknownst to you, the missing keeper had actually fallen into the cage with the animal, who is now very focused on toying with its new prey...

When you find out about this, there will need to be a choice: face the threat directly, rescue the employee and risk punishing this already unstable animal for its actions in an attempt to get it under control (you have never done this before) or, cut your losses like previous times and just allow it to play with its toy…?

———

fun little analogy & speculation of the federation’s pov related to q!bad, with a sprinkling of special guest theory. the reveal that they’re scared of him & treat him kinda like a dangerous wild animal gave me thoughts :3

[madeitlate37]

Vita Carnis by Darian Quilloy

Why yes I am giving my favorite series Halloween week, but consider this an advertisement for why it deserves it.

Vita Carnis is a relatively new, (in terms of Analog Horror), show that has gained a large following and has even been theorized on by MatPat—before he retired.

I think I mentioned in my first post that season one of The Mandela Catalogue was my favorite when I first got into the genre. To be specific, upon my first viewing, I had trouble falling asleep and would compulsively check every potential hiding place in my room before going to bed.

Upon my first viewing of Vita Carnis, that went on for months, instead. In fact, over a year later, I still do the routine “Mimic check” despite not living alone.

Now, before I risk spoiling the series, let’s get the spoiler-free qualities out of the way:

• Hive mind threats, the neat part is that this so far only applies to one section of the threat.

• Twisted security, we have security footage, documentaries, infomercials, and personal footage plenty of variety in where the story beats are coming from.

• Competent characters, not everyone, but do expect to see people/groups who actually try to do something about their situation.

• Biology lessons, the first thing you learn about the threats is how they function on an anatomical level, adds to realism and demonstrates added care and effort.

• Mini-retelling, about once per video—at least in season one—the audience is presented with a fragment of what’s “really” happening, and even then there’s the possibility of it being inaccurate. Untrustworthy sources are a major theme of season one.

• Not safe at home, one of the threats—being as vague as possible—is pretty much the sole reason I had trouble falling asleep for so long because it is entirely based around attacking it’s victims in their home.

• Safety guides, the threats have existed for decades, and the people living in this world behave like they have. As I said with untrustworthy sources, we have conflicting reactions and handlings of it, but the major players clearly approach them with knowledge.

• On-screen payoff, there is technically a scene or two which couldn’t have been recorded, but they have such visceral content in them that you don’t entirely notice. This is also played up through the use of very good effects.

• Varied but same threats, similar to Gemini, they are very different in how they are a threat—if they are a threat at all—but come from the same thing.

Now, onto the more risky analysis:

It’s a little hard to pinpoint exactly what I love best about this series, from the consistency in quality to the scientific facts to the secret videos throughout the new season that’s coming out now.

So, I’m just going to try and begin with why I was so scared, more specifically. One threat in particular checks every box of aspects of a monster that I find scary: Uncanny valley (depending on age), silent but dangerous, solely focused on humans in a way that makes sense, etc..

The main thing that drew me into this now that I think about it, was how the foot chain was visibly affected in the world of Vita Carnis.

With every direct threat, the one I mentioned above especially, Darian has taken a lot of care to describe the science behind all of them and their dangerous mechanisms. All to demonstrate the key theme that humans, in that world, are no longer at the top of the food chain, and are in a prey position again. Something that instinctively strikes fear into humans as a species.

What makes it mire real and visceral is, as I mentioned above, the science and how the people in this world react to this. One can argue that humans are in that situation with other types of monsters like werewolves, vampires, demons, etc., but Vita Carnis has descriptive explanations for how these threats work, has safety guides for them, and despite that, still makes it clear that in that world, we still have to fear for out lives on a constant basis.

The new season that’s coming out is geared more towards learning the potential source of these threats, but the first season was all about understanding why the threats would be so unbeatable and terrifying in real life. Darian also does a great job with effects, mainly using practical effects in the first season. Granted, it doesn’t look great all the time, but it’s another example of just how much effort he puts into this series.

I mentioned that Midwest Angelica wasn’t my favorite because I was personally tired of seeing literal religious themes in stories, had a different guess as to what the threat was that killed momentum on my end, but Vita Carnis didn’t necessarily give me a chance to guess. At least not with the first few episodes, in fact, those first two episodes were a decent subversion in terms of introducing the main antagonists.

The current season is leaning more into the “cultish” and “researching” part of it, but it has kept its momentum nonetheless, at least for me.

It’s not for everybody. But on the Analog Horror subreddit praise it like crazy, and I’m holding back quite a bit because I could get into direct spoilers, but it’s just not everybody’s cup of tea, just like how Midwest Angelica wasn’t mine. You may find that the goofier/unrealistic moments effects wise ruin the immersion for you, or this second season will lose you, or maybe biology videos aren’t scary.

However, if you are like me and intrigued by these things, it is, just like Gemini and Midwest, on YouTube. Go check it out if you’re interested (but be warned that despite the first seven videos being put into one documentary, there is content cut and added)!

As for next week…

[literallys-illiteracy]

Exploration & Dissection of the Horror Genre

“ The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”

- H.P Lovecraft; Supernatural Horror in Literature (1927)

Throughout my life I have held a self contradictory fascination with horror media, A love to dissect the visceral feelings of repulsion that a story may invoke, whilst always being, quite frankly, terrified of the stories that I would see.

This interest has carried over into the modern day, although over time I have gained a tolerance, and have become somewhat of an elitist (not intentionally) with what I view as “Good” horror media, which is in part what inspired me to write this little essay about how and why horror functions, as an exploration, a love letter to the genre, and a dissection of why I believe some horror media fails to function.

I say short but I haven’t the slightest clue how long this is going to turn out to be, I’m not taking that out if it becomes long however.

Part 0: Horror classifications

Horror is an interesting genre to define. Like almost any genre it has its own major categories, each with its own demands and intentions.

One wouldn’t compare an orchestral score to a rock band, and the same concept applies to different genres of horror; similar to an orchestra and rock band however, all horror media shares an integral constant, which will act as the basepoint for what we can define as horror media, the instillation of dread, fear, or stress within the audience.

In terms of horror classifications there are many that people are likely to have heard of--Supernatural horror, body horror, mascot horror, existential horror.

There are three divisions that I choose to use when discussing the nature of horror, 'Psychological horror', the horror of the unseen; 'Revealed horror', or the horror of the seen; and 'disgusting horror', or horror that feeds off of disgust and aversion.

These three classifications are descendant from Stephen King’s description of “terrifying”, “Horrifying” and “disgusting” the reader through differing means:

I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I'll go for the gross-out.

-- Stephen King; Danse Macabre (1981)

The first that was mentioned, listed above as 'Terror', is the most "prime" sense of distress, which makes up the largest portion of Psychological Horror.

‘Psychological Horror’, is horror focused on emotional states, repulsion, stress, suspense, and a lingering abjection within the audience. In essence, psychological horror is heavily reliant on the lingering sense of terror, rather than the immediate reveal to horrify the reader, the moments that build towards a climax, the terror which constructs the groundwork from which horror can be achieved.

The terror, the suspense, while an aspect important in any and all horror, is the primary focus, and most important aspect of psychological horror, alongside the patient wait for the reveal that may never come, the unknown, or the unknowable.

Fellow (and, quite frankly, better) essayist Connor McGrath put it succinctly when discussing what he referred to as “Schrodinger’s horror”, analogous to this concept of 'unseen horror' or 'terror': 

“Show, don’t tell. [...] Imply, don’t show”.

Elaborating on this "Schrodinger's Horror" I will be using examples from both The Magnus Archives and one lifted from McGrath's video on Quiet Horror. First, however, we have to discuss the second category of horror media that I chose to use.

"Revealed Horror"

Revealed horror in essence captures all horror that the former category does not; The times when the the nature of the horror is revealed (and properly understood) to the audience fall into this category, whilst any horror that intentionally obscures, or is fundamentally foreign, or “eldritch” as is oft said, is more aligned with that of the former category. Note that these labels are not genres. Almost all horror media incorporates all three "types", it all depends on how much of each type is used.

Media that focuses primarily on revealed horror is not fundamentally poor in any way. Though not my personal taste, there is nothing inherently wrong with a jumpscare, especially one that has been well built towards by the atmosphere. My prime example for this is Signalis, as I have not played many games with jumpscares to begin with.

In chapter one of Signalis it is eerily quiet. We are introduced to this location, or rather we aren't, after first interacting with The King in Yellow book, and receiving a message. The facility itself is empty. Not so much ruined as simply abandoned. Corpses and disparately scattered across the floor, rendered just noticeably differently to the surroundings by the VHS effect. You pass by the body to a save room. To a classroom. To the library. By the time you return to the security room you have passed this corpse numerous times by now, all with no reaction. When you acquire your first weapon however, the body jumps up, screaming during its approach towards you.

But that’s not all, it is. The suspense of the game does not end in the instants after this engagement.

The corpse falls over once again, returning to its same, static ridden, collapsed position, and one cannot help but wonder if this time it is truly dead.

Signalis, at various points, incorporates elements of all three horror types throughout its gameplay; Once the enemy falls back over, the suspense continues throughout the game, but even more. Now you have proof, while it was simply suspicion beforehand, the game has confirmed for you that these “corpses” act as a static and ever present threat to you.

If we contrast this with a game that is in large focused entirely on this aspect of jumpscares, we may as well do so with the most popular, the Five Nights at Freddy’s series.

These games are known almost entirely for their jumpscare horror, and in that regard they achieve their goal, however I personally believe that there is a fundamental difference between Signalis and FNAF’s horror in execution, which simply contributes to Signalis’ horror being in large part better: Within the FNAF series, the Jumpscare marks the conclusion of that day, each acting as the signifier of your characters death and the players restart.

The FNAF series’ gameplay loop acts as a microcosm of how Jumpscare horror can be executed within a greater whole, yet as it currently is, beyond an instinctual panic borne from the noise and sudden appearance, the jumpscares will also mark a point at which the player can stop worrying, at which they no longer have to await the monster’s attack, the end of the player’s stress.

Now that we understand the separation between these two, let us return to the examples of “Quiet horror” from before, and elucidate what makes this form of horror “work”, especially in comparison to revealed horror.

And now that we have finished this, I will now plagiarise from Connor McGrath

Imagine that you were told “The most terrifying thing in the world is right around the corner”.

"Around the corner":

I am not scared of spiders, dolls, death, clowns, and a whole list of other common phobias or “Biggest fears”, should I turn the corner and see one of those, I would likely think it far from the scariest thing i’ve ever seen, let alone in the world, or the scariest thing that I can imagine.

And that is the key.

The scariest thing I can imagine, the scariest thing you can imagine, and the scariest thing that the narrator can imagine are wayward ideas, created individually by your psyche.

Now, imagine, we never turn the corner.

We are left waiting where we stand, paralysis, induced by an instinctual knowledge that what lays out of vision should never be witnessed, crossed with a neurotic desire to uncover the root of this fear.

The absence of a reveal, the tension, the ‘terror’, slowly boil over within you.

This is what epitomises psychological horror.

To use another similar example, let us see The Magnus Archives, and a poem that they too took inspiration from, Antigonish.

Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn't there! He wasn't there again today, I wish, I wish he'd go away! When I came home last night at three, The man was waiting there for me But when I looked around the hall, I couldn't see him there at all! Go away, go away, don't you come back any more! Go away, go away, and please don't slam the door... Last night I saw upon the stair, A little man who wasn't there He wasn't there again today Oh, how I wish he'd go away....

by Hughes Mearns, inspired by the town of Antigonish, Canada.

The poem itself functions somewhat strangely in this concept of seen and unseen horror, as on the stairs there both is and is not a man upon the stair, as is said in the statement “Upon the Stair”:

“The carpet didn’t bend under the weight of his soft, round body, and I distinctly recall the absence of a creak as his foot pressed on the loose board of the empty fifth step. He laughed, but there was no humour in it, because… then it would have had to break the silence.”

Within the Magnus Archives, and across most genres of horror, exist many examples of insanity, or the "Obfuscation of reality" as a primary pillar of horror.

This statement once again plays into the core idea of the unknown, or more specifically the unknowable, the man that is not there did not make an impression, did not beckon the man who no longer 'is' up the stairs.

This 'unknowable' horror is very downstream from genres inspired and influenced by Lovecraft, the idea of knowledge far beyond what was ever meant to be known, for one's own mind to betray you, to never believe what is not real but which is standing in front of you. The fear that you are insane, or that you are far too sane to ignore what is right in front of you.

‘This person who no longer is’ walked the person who was no longer “his” father up the stairs, who now laid dead in his chair.

The mother, after questioning where her son who no longer is had gone, spoke to the father, they then both left the empty house.

Much like the statement’s giver, there is no distant, forlorn conclusion, no finality or ending to this story, no comfort to be found in the statement, and from this the terror can only grow.

However, that is not to be said that the horror comes only from the insanity, from the redaction of its information, but also from the information that it DOES tell us, from the sheer impossibility of the story, and from the implications that can come from the story in whole.

There will be a more in depth analysis of The Magnus Archives at a later date, however for multiple reasons I will not be discussing the later story in this essay.

The latter example I had mentioned previously was that of the SCP foundation, however not necessarily one of supernatural horror (another common category that people employ), as, in contrast to the Man Upon the Stair, horror may descend from the fact that we understand something too well.

There is a section discussing SCP-8980 that will release following this primary section, which, due to the sensitive nature of the story, is being separated.

Like in the examples, and almost any other "Good" examples of horror, the fear in the SCP foundation comes in two, the information that we are never given, and the information that is; the fear of the unknown, posited before with Lovecraft, and the fear of the known, the "revealed" element from above.

The complete obfuscation of information may cause tension in its own right, however a selective and incomplete set of information may achieve this to a far greater extent.

The SCP foundation in large is an easy example for this lingering fear, alongside being arguably the premiere example for how the redaction of information both should and should not be used in the creation of horror.

For those unaware, the SCP foundation’s stories take the form of unclassified documents and reports regarding anomalous entities, most if not all of which will contain the redaction of various pieces of information, either locations, dates, memetic hazards, or information that the person reading is not privy to.

There is a common joke in and around the community relating to these redactions of information, [Data expunged], [redacted] or having the text blacked out, specifically to their overuse.

Other than making the scp read more akin to a barcode than a foundation report, the primary flaw in the excessive use of these redactions is that there is no substance to support this redaction, no thoughts to ruminate on in place of new information.

In Connor McGrath’s video essay regarding what he called “Quiet Horror”, he makes reference to (another video essayist, Wendigoon, who made a video about) The Mandela Catalogue.

Interesting how many different examples we have for this horror have the same naming convention, “The [Focus/name] [Noun]” , The [Greylock] [Tapes], The [SCP] [Foundation], The [Mandela] [Catalogue].

The video on quiet horror discusses, big surprise, the quiet nature of The Mandela Catalogue.

The Mandela Catalogue may contain the occasional jumpscare or scary face, but in large the most terrifying moments come from their absence, from the complete stillness of a room, from the painful silence; The foreknowledge of this being a horror series, alongside the limited information which the creator chooses to show, leaves these moments of quiet without respite, without rest, your mind on guard for the inevitable movement or sound, whilst the known factors begin to spiral and ferment into their own, personal kinds of fear.

There is an old adage.

“Do not interrupt your opponent when they are making a mistake”.

In this same sense, an author should not interrupt a thought process already tearing at the mind unless it is vital to the larger story; Do not interrupt your reader when they are scaring themselves”.

This rumination, this tension, purposeful redaction of information, and the knowledge that what you see is part of a greater whole is a hallmark sign of horror in large, and when done correctly, like The Mandela Catalogue, allows your audience to create a personal hell, so long as you shant clarify.

This coin has two sides however, and many people think that they ought to use this obfuscation in place of the horror, rather than building off it.

The prime example, as I referred to above, is the idea of a “Barcode” document in SCP, wherein so much information has been redacted that there is not enough context, not enough of a basis built for horror through the atmosphere and slow drops of information, that there is no reason to redact the information.

The example from The Magnus Archives is similar in nature, however I am quite frankly spoiled for choice when it comes to how we may examine this, so because I already have taken heavy inspiration from McGrath’s video, let us expand on his chosen creature, Episode one, The Anglerfish.

Moreover, I want to expand on the known aspect of this stranger, of The Stranger.

"Anglerfish" and "Still Life"

This section will contain very minor spoilers for the third season of The Magnus Archives and a small number of episodes leading up, scroll until another warning in colour shows up to avoid this

“Anglerfish”, the first episode of the show, does not feature anything notably flashy or significant:

You’re walking home at night, you’ve stayed up late, drunk, tired. A voice calls out to you nearby. As you turn to check, in your blurred vision you see the silhouette of a man, standing in the alleyway across from you. “Can I have a cigarette” They sound… normal. You can’t note any accent, or perhaps your mind is simply too hazy. Are they coming home from the party too? They didn’t sound drunk, no, their words were too clear. As you reach for your cigarettes and rub your eyes once more you begin to see this figure more pronounced. Their feet, seemingly just above the ground, as if suspended on a string, their body unmoving, unshaking, not even shifting to breathe. Before you can begin to think again the figure repeats “Can I have a cigarette”. The figure does not move, nor even breathe as they speak once more. An icy, instinctual fear stops you from walking any further. In an attempt to make the figure enter the light, you hold out a cigarette in front of you. ... Once more they repeat. “Can I have a cigarette”. This time you notice it. Every time that it speaks, the tone, its cadence, the spoken phrase, all the same every time. You drop the cigarette and rush for your phone, a flashlight, anything to better see this ‘thing’. In the same instant, as if on queue, the body is drawn back, pulled by an unseen puppeteer returning to the darkness. The speed of this motion makes you freeze, your breathing unsteady and labored, mind slowed. Only after it has gone does this paralysis leave with it.

This is in essence the entire story of the first episode summed up in... 280 words or so, yet, should my attempts to preserve at least some of the horror suffice, you can understand the fear, or at least the intention behind it.

Nothing happens, deaths are implied in the follow up investigation following the statement, however we, much like the figure, are left almost entirely in the dark for this statement.

We, as of this episode, do not know what this being is, what it plans, whether it kills or takes, whether it is painful.

What we do know is the title, The Anglerfish.

You can picture it easily, the lure, a greater creature waiting in shadows for one to take the bait.

“Can I have a Cigarette”.

A dangling lure to instil curiosity, yet cold, distant from its emulation.

Recall the quote from the beginning of this essay, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown”.

This is the idea I want to epitomise in this section, the unknown, when used correctly, acts as the most potent fear that mankind can experience, on an instinctual level this is one of few fears that we all share.

I have mentioned in the past that I have an obsessive desire for knowledge, not necessarily a love for learning, but a neurotic compulsion to learn whatever I can. I am already decently uncomfortable with not knowing things, especially things that happen before me, that are being seen without understanding.

While the unknown and foreign in whole deeply unsettle me, it is not what troubles me the most, rather, I hold a primal aversion to that which is almost known.

A face in your mind that you cannot picture; a blind spot in your psyche; a name that you should have heard before; a song that you have never heard for the first time; a man who is not upon the stair; a stranger who "have you met before"; A stranger. The stranger.

This is, in The Magnus Archives, the fear of The Stranger.

The “Anglerfish”, as we later find out in season 2, is an extension of this entity, distinctly inhuman in all ways, in all of the ways that you cannot understand, yet in a visceral, instinctual manner.

Again in episode 54, "Still Life" we meet the anglerfish.

I don’t think my horror writing is very good, so unless I have a motivation to or change of heart I won't add another "runthrough" of the statement.

In this statement we once more perceive the Anglerfish, new insights seemingly gleaned into its existence; The Stranger has a strong connection with skin, taxidermy; the "uncanny" imitation of an animal yet lacking all of what makes it alive.

“It spoke, the cadence identical to what I had heard through the wooden door. “We’ve got one down here. Come on, I’ll show you.” It was so flat, almost mechanical. It felt about as much like genuine speech as the wind flowing through a cracked rock sounds like a flute being played. Which is to say they may sound almost identical, but only one of them is made by a living human.”

There is something uniquely terrifying about the uncanny, the ‘almost human’, about imitations.

I can only assume that this is the underlying fear behind mannequins, dolls, or other similar creations. While I personally am not afraid of either, this same instinctive revulsion against these distortions of normalcy, “The uncanny valley” as people call it, is a near universal fear.

Digging deeper, this same fear of uncertainty is the root behind more fears than just the stranger, all rooted in this same aversion towards the unknown. 

Spoiler warning ends here!

More disturbing than the unknown is a distortion of the familiar.

- Magic the Gathering “Fleshmad Steed” Flavor Text

Part 1: Can there be such a thing as “bad” horror?

I mentioned in the beginning that I wanted to discuss aspects of how I believe some horror fails to function, but with everything we discussed, the deeply personal and human nature that horror takes, what can be bad horror?

Even if a piece of media fails to be horrifying from my perspective there is nothing to say that it can’t be to another person; As I mentioned beforehand, I am not scared of things like spiders, dolls or clowns, while many many others in the world are. Even if a game or show featured one of those, and I didn’t find it scary, then it still does not inherently fail the base merits of “Inciting fear, terror or discomfort” as it may for someone else.

Likewise, if a show pictured things that I am viscerally afraid of, namely Fungi, not-knowing (discussed earlier) or being observed (this list excluding mostly pathologic fears/thoughts like social anxiety or NPD, key word mostly), which many people do not share or at least to the same extent as I, would that horror be in any way “Worse” than others which cater to more commonly felt or tangible phobias.

Have you ever been afraid? I’d be a bit confused why you’re ~4000 words into an essay about horror if you hadn’t been.

What about the first time you ever felt fear? Unequivocally: no, you do not remember the true first time. What is the earliest distinct time you can remember being viscerally afraid of something.

For some, it was an experience of being properly alone, away from their parents, lost without their safepost;

Some have said that their earliest recollection was upon seeing certain insects, spiders, or other types of creatures; 

Many it will be the darkness (an interesting case as while often posed as an “instinctual fear”, it typically arises somewhere around two years into development once other fears or experiences have informed the child’s experiences. This being said, most people won’t be able to recall memories clearly from those ages to begin with); 

For me, my earliest and clear memories come from when I was roughly 7.

Keep in mind that my memory is incredibly fractured, I haven’t many clear memories of my childhood in general, so this is at very most the first time that I know what made me afraid.

I woke up, not in my bed, in the one adjacent (two single beds next to each other, the other used to be my brother’s), but remaining covered, the exact same position as I had fallen asleep, roughly 2 metres to the right.

Everything was grey, and still. It wasn’t just quiet, it was silent, the familiar chirps of crickets in the garden, the ones that troubled my attempts to sleep so greatly in the night prior were absent, the fan still running despite the still coldness of the air around me made no noise, the motor and blades both silent.

It was only when my eyes adjusted and I attempted to move did I begin to be properly afraid. Sleep paralysis, something that continues to occur to me since.

But the strangest aspect of this memory is that my fear was mostly borne from what I could see, no hallucinations or dreams, no illusions from a tired mind, but a complete lack of colour, everything around me in greyscale.

To this day, dwelling on that moment I do not know why my temporary loss of colour impacted me so greatly, to be one of the only things I remember from that age, and despite continued sleep paralysis, and more vivid hallucinations (should this greyscale be an odd form of hallucination) as I grew older, I have never had this same experience, and no dream I have seen manifest has ever instilled this instinctual dread as that night.

While I do have my theories and thoughts as to why this night may have impacted me so, however those are far too personal to be discussing; The primary summation is a sense of loss, of mourning for what I thought I would never get back.

This latter example is that of Liminal spaces.

Have you ever been in a completely empty shopping mall? I used to live quite nearby a large Westfield (shopping mall), and I vividly remember once, incredibly early in the morning, that I once entered, though I do not remember the reason.

There's always something unnerving about an empty place, moreover one typically filled with people; parking lots alone are a fine example of this, there is something that is simply incorrect about entering a dead mall. It is both the same and a different kind of intimacy as a decrepit location. I have been in abandoned malls in the past but while legally speaking I was trespassing, I never felt that same sense of intrusion that I felt on that day.

The primary concept that I want to extract from these stories is not the fact that I remember them in particular, but the fact that I was afraid, when nothing actively or instinctually understandable as “frightening” was present in either story.

In the first memory, looking back, the dis-ease came from simply the fact that–though I could not tell exactly what–there was something abjectly different from what I was used to, extremely, almost exactly alike what I expected, no specific detail alarming me at first, and yet the lingering knowledge of something distorted.

The same can be understood from the latter story(s), of the empty and abandoned malls, being desolate, completely void of people.

The second story provides interesting note to another concept, differentiating rubble, abandoned locations, and haunted houses, to the concept of liminal horror–two different kinds of ruins.

While I wish to discuss the concept of Liminal horror as my primary example for those horror media which I believe “miss the point” of the genre–being the specific genre of Liminal Horror–do allow me this small(?) tangent before continuing.

The primary difference to a haunted/abandoned location and that of a liminal space is that of the clear human impact or, as Connor McGrath puts it: “Signs of human failure”. An abandoned house, or any other kind of location, has clear signs of its history, the clear presence of a living presence at some point in time, though often long past–this being the reasoning that the revelation of this activity being ‘not-so-long past’ is frightening–which allows us to recognise this place as somewhere that humans were or have been.

For example, see the two images below:

Both of these photos are taken from the same game, MiSide, which I have played through recently.

Both images are examples of isolation, the complete and utter absence of any people; The bridges are signs of purpose, of human design, interaction, and, now, absence--The bridges are created with intention, paths lead to terminals, descending from the facility, from the factory in which Mitas are made.

The Hallway is endless, halls leading to [halls] leading to [halls] lead to [rooms] lead to [rooms] lead to-

There is a certain intimacy or connection to a location like this, the knowledge that this location much like you has a detailed past before ending in this state, any and all features being simply remnants, a flickering light, a dangling cord, a broken door, shattered glass, scattered belongings.

In ghost stories most notably, there is a strong sense of intrusion, not that people overall should not be in this location, but that you, you individually, are intruding on one’s past life and memories.

Contrast this with the examples of liminal space-horror that may immediately come to mind, all being empty, not necessarily dead.

The first images that likely come to mind are those of long, empty, white-tiled pool rooms, ever pristine, that stretch on and wind into each other; the beige, repeating, endless hallways of an office building (Foreshadowing is a narrative device in which-); A house, familiar and distorted as if you have seen this exact room for the hundredth time in a hazy childhood dream just this second.

Return to the MTG card quote from above: “More disturbing than the unknown is a distortion of the familiar.”. 

In a sentence, this is the primary concept of liminal horror, not only the endlessness, the repeating patterns, nor the seeing scenes for the first time–Rather, liminal horror is descendant from a sense of reminiscence, nostalgia, connection, which is then disfigured with the isolation, alongside the elements mentioned prior.

I have never worked inside an office job, yet when I look at images of those brown walls, carpeted floors and artificial lighting, there still remains a recognition of the location’s familiarity, the architecture being, at least at first glance, something recognisable as human built, however lacking the same history or presence that the likes of the haunted house would have–rather than intrusion, distortion, and isolation.

"I can't tell if it ends at all, it's just houses, more and more of them. And that bird i'm hearing, it just keeps looping over itself, and it sounds like its coming from every direction"

Hymns For The Road; "The Quiet Street"

I stepped outside, looking down the street. There were no lights on in any of the houses, but the identical lampposts bathed the place a sickly orange as far as I could see. I decided that the roads must be the problem. They were what was keeping me trapped in this place At the start, I was counting how many houses I passed but when I got to a hundred I stopped. It was beginning to eat away at my careful rationalizations and I couldn’t have that.

Statement; The Magnus Archives; MAG 150 "Cul-de-sac"

"The Backrooms":

Which brings us to “The Back Rooms” as my example for an idea that slowly became less focused on the true “horror” aspect the original aimed towards, due to oversaturation (and the addition/lore-creep that it creates), alongside the concept of what made the original backrooms “Good” (it’s a 2 paragraph story so I’m unsure to call it “good” in the traditional sense, however in the realm of “short horror” or "two sentence horror stories" it is quite good).

People should be allowed to have their fun in any ways that they want to, and I quite frankly don’t really care (plus I don’t think there's too much overlap in the sort of “Expanded-backrooms” community and my target audience), however that being said, some examples of the sort of “expanded lore” so to speak will be used as examples of what I named “lorecreep” and how it works against the original concept.

Note that I will not be talking about any specific incarnation of the lore(s) that surround it, and I do actually quite enjoy renditions such as the Kane Pixels’ series, albeit for other reasons than the original.

Also “The [Back] [Rooms]” does still fit the naming convention I think.

So, right at the forefront of this section, I want to address the idea that having monsters or “entities” in the Back Rooms is against the original concept. It isn’t. Allow us to look at the original paragraph:

If you’re not careful and you no-clip out of reality in the wrong areas, you’ll end up in the Backrooms, where it’s nothing but the stink of old moist carpet, the madness of mono-yellow, the endless background noise of fluorescent lights at maximum hum-buzz, and approximately six hundred million square miles of randomly segmented empty rooms to be trapped in.

"Segmented EMPTY rooms-"... so fairly clear cut from what it seems, but there is a remaining sentence:

God save you if you hear something wandering around nearby, because it sure as hell has heard you.

Alright so we’ve both now read the original for context, and we’ve addressed the point of entities for the time being, however they may return (may as in I don’t know).

So, where do my problems with the Back Rooms begin? 

People.

The Backrooms, in my view, function purely off of their isolation, the endless hallways and electrical hums work in tandem to create the atmosphere, however neither function in full without the context of you being alone, in the complete absence of humans, or even any signs of humanity, the knowledge that you are not only dead, but alone.

Humans are inherently social creatures. Extended periods of social isolation are draining, even to those who choose to keep to themselves most of the time; The simple presence of another person, the knowledge that you are not alone, can soothe this.

You cannot picture eternity. This time it is not a question. You cannot; No matter how long one imagines, eternity is fundamentally beyond that estimation.

Eternity is an abstract fear, as is insanity, which often pairs in tandem, and as such it cannot be pictured as easily, nor as universally across different audiences.

Time is another topic that I wish to discuss at a later point, but this acts to describe what I found so appealing in these images of isolation: Being alone is typically temporary, and is an emotion familiar to not only myself but to almost everyone in the world, yet it is strictly that, temporary. 

The concept of an eternal isolation, not just separated from interaction but from the mere presence of humans in whole, is the most appealing concept from the Back Rooms to me (“appealing”).

This concept is, from my somewhat limited searching, best described through the “level 1000/0” on the Back Rooms wiki, in which has a quote perfectly summating my mentioned idea of “lorecreep”:

The mono-yellow halls used to echo with confusion.But the confusion has gone, leaving nothing but resignation.

This same concept applies to almost any media that begins in vagueness. Time passes, concepts grow from what mysteries were laid out before them, eventually new ones start to grow.

But these mysteries need not be answered.

As more information is gained, more lore is formed, as new realities begin to emerge, the human instinct to build a story emerges, and in a way that is a wonderful thing to see.

I am so very happy that the internet exists, that we live in a time and world where such a thriving community can be spawned from a two sentence horror story, I really am. So many realities exist descendant from the central idea of the backrooms, including my own viewpoints on it’s existence, formed simply over time from the base concept, and with all of these stories come answers, answers to the existence of the backrooms, to what lays within, to the people that have past through these halls and to the floors they found themselves within, but once the confusion fades, the curiosity is satiated, there is no longer any appeal.

This is my main problem with the existence(s) of the Backrooms, the human presence, not only those writing the story, but those within the world, those who have passed through the backrooms.

Naturally, I would be afraid of a creature sprinting at me in these infinite hallways, but the documentation, the foreknowledge of its potential existence changes this fear into that of purely survival; There is hardly a difference in my eyes to a "documented" creature from this place chasing me and being chased through a forest by a natural creature.

The existence of exits, or of entrances at all; of organisations and settlements that explore these halls; of humanity–These are the ideas that I dislike from the backrooms, there is little room left for ambiguity, for one's own paranoia to take hold, for this location to be left wholly foreign.

The pile of flesh within it grew larger and larger, sat there in an awful, half-solid slurry, chewed and crushed together. It was impossible to tell what had once been animal, and what might have once been us. It was all just meat.

Statement; The Magnus Archives MAG 130

Part 0.5: Horror classifications, a return:

We discussed the two elements of "Terror" and "Horror" in the previous section of "Classifications", but if you remember, there was at least one more undiscussed.

I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I'll go for the gross-out.

-- Stephen King; Danse Macabre

The gross-out, the repulsive actions and events that may take place. Terror is the suspense, horror is the reveal, and the "gross-out" is the gore, the aftermath.

The three core levels of any horror media, the authors attempts to terrify, to horrify, and to mortify the audience.

These are the only truly functional borders that I can define for horror as fear is a unique experience for each person, different bodies, different minds, different fears, different impulses. That being said, these three concepts are not at all "Genres" of horror, which will be discussed if not here, at some point in the future; Like mentioned before, Signalis incorporates all three elements into its identity, the tension and suspense of the atmosphere, the adrenal fear of the enemies, both mentioned before, alongside the meaty bits, the "Flesh beneath", the fleshy organic masses that are spread across the game, all playing off this third pillar.

It is not to be said that this third pillar of horror is strictly literal in its nature of "grossness" or repulsion. While there is the obvious example of body horror, gross perversions of flesh and meat, the instinctual reaction that most have to blood of viscera, there is also the example of something that is "Morally repulsive".

This can be understood peripherally with things such as common trigger warnings in media, while some are regarding the physical elements, blood, gore, body horror, nudity, others are more thematic: manipulation, insanity, depression, instability--While still things that one may find repulsive, they take on a less tangible nature, being a personal experience and understanding.

Similarly, this "reprehensibility" can come from displaying things that most people are, understandably, uncomfortable with; The prime examples of how moral reprehensibility is used in horror is in the deaths of children (which many series refuse to include for this reason), or the presence of sexually implicit or explicit material.

Part 1.5: "Bad" horror:

Urbanspook:

I think that in terms of shocking, reactionary, or "mortifying" horror, this is the obvious choice on how exactly not to do it.

I never wanted to go too far in depth regarding this series in the first place because you can't lead a dead horse to water, and beating it won't help; There are painfully more detailed criticisms and I feel that there's no way to discuss this in any new, non derivative manner

The two most painful aspects of Urbanspook in my opinion are both those relating to our first pillar, "Terrify", regarding their suspense.

0:20 into the first episode we are greeted with this. Actually one of the problems goes earlier than that but still.

Carla Grey, to the audience, is simply a name on a screen. Carla Grey is not a character who was murdered, not someone who existed outside of this singular mention, not a real "person" with any meaningful importance to the audience.

Horror is an audiovisual medium; Horror films are, typically, framed differently to purely audio or text, as we are witnessing the acts happen to someone, we are an outside party who is witnessing the fates of these characters. If I may, there is an example from The Magnus Archives which summarises why Urbanspook's immediate rush to 'mortify' fails as such:

Episode #100. "I guess you had to be there": This episode is a collection of statements taken live in the archive by the assistants, the first of which is as follows.

Well, yeah, I did. I saw a ghost. [...] Yeah. The story is: I saw a ghost. [...] Erm… it was… scary and it made me feel… scared. I’m sorry. Am I doing this wrong?

-- The Magnus Archives; MAG 100

The statement goes on for a short period longer before ending.

Before I continue to my point, I want to note that, despite both being presented in a "reported" style, Urbanspook and The Magnus Archives are different kinds of horror (in the sense that one is audio and the other audiovisual) meaning that it is not a perfect comparison.

In the usual style of The Magnus Archives, we get to know the characters telling the statement, in part from Jon's entranced reading of the statements, but mainly from the statement givers' preambling about themselves and what led up to this experience.

To use episodes that we have already discussed in this project:

"Anglerfish" contains no mention of anything related to the supernatural for the first 3 minutes of the roughly 9 minute statement; the entire first third of the actual story is reserved entirely for establishing character, connecting us, the listener in an almost conversational, casual tone as if speaking this story directly to us.

This same idea is found in "Upon the stair", which begins to concern the supernatural at around 3-4 minutes into the 12 minute statement; and in "Still Life", where the first "abnormal" description is 5 minutes in, and the first outwardly paranormal event happens (either 10 or 12 minutes depending on what you count) into a 14 minute statement.

You can understand the idea right? All of these episodes spend a decent portion of time to establish the characters as more than simply names on a screen; even if you don't remember the characters name after the episode, even if you forget it during the statement itself you can understand the statement giver as a character.

Return now, to Urbanspook's opening. This is 20 seconds into the first episode of the entire show.

"Clara Grey" only exists for the next 20 seconds, before it rinses, repeats and recycles the exact same concept twice more, after showing a "Spooky face".

"[number] victim's name is [who cares], they were killed in a slow/sexual/painful manner, this is their painting: "

This is the entire premise from my understanding. This is also a minor nitpick but honestly Urbanspook reads(?) more like something that an edgy teen made thinking it was funny, rather than scary; eg. the second victim was "Stabbed 27 times in the perineum (Taint)".

This is the exact concept that was brought up before, gratuitous violence being used as the core premise of horror; Most horror shows needn't rely on sexual violence or child-death in order to create horror because said shows understand that there needs to be more substance than the simple events being described.

And the second problem

There is a (slightly grainy) stock "spooky" music droning during the entirety of the episode. I like to play music in the background almost all the time, when i'm making something, when i'm playing a game, or when i'm trying to sleep. I make specific attempt to not play music when reading or consuming horror, which should rightfully demand my attention.

Let's once again return to the concept of obfuscation, of paranoia, of being inside your own head: let us return to McGrath's "The Corner".

In lieu of any other stimulus, and out of intrigue from whatever story is being told, your brain will naturally begin to speculate on or revisit different details of the medium. Note that I said without any other stimulus. This includes, most notably, sound. This is not to say that you need absolute silence to create tension, I'm incapable of being in complete silence (Tinnitus) and this concept still applies.

This is why audio and text based horror media are, in my opinion, "better" horror than visual, in large due to the fact that you are physically incapable of seeing the events. You can speculate to how something looked, to small details, to the motives, methods, and means that go unseen more freely when you no longer need eyes to see.

In my eyes, Urbanspook is undoubtedly bad for its complete reliance on sexual or violent acts, being simply shock horror with no substance to hold the tension or dread that it (attempts to) invokes.

From this we can gather the fact that "Cheap" or "edgy" horror and violence make for bad horror writing. Much like the edge of a blade, there is a sharp plateau followed by immediate fall in tension; as mentioned earlier, terror is the 'prime' of horror stories, and horror/disgust should be used in assistance to it.

"Each thing we love takes a little piece of us whether we give it willingly or not. By the time we find the person we were meant to be with, we’re a honeycombed shell of what we once were. Each person we love turns us into the strange thing we become."

-- Eric LaRocca; The Trees grew because I bled there: Collected stories

This Skin was Once Mine:

“This Skin Was Once Mine” is the first story in its namesake collection “This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances”. This section is about the first, namesake story, rather than the collection as a whole.

Note: this section contains minor references to childhood trauma and abuse; And Self Harm. To avoid this please continue to “Blink, Flesh and Stone”.

This story is not bad horror. This story did indeed horrify me reading it. I feel that there is a sort of commendation to be made for stories that are horrifying to an extent that I feel unsure whether to praise it in as high regard, especially after it has kept returning to my mind weeks after reading it.

I have my problems with this story, most notably the pacing and length, but that is not the point of discussion for today. Instead I want to talk about how this story contrasts to Urbanspook, both being stories that present abuse and trauma to raise tension, but which handle the surrounding atmosphere drastically differently.

This Skin Was Once Mine is a (collection of) story about the nature of human relationships and suffering, “Specifically the ways in which we inherently harm one another and the obsessions we nurture to prevent further suffering” (Eric LaRocca, Author). 

The biggest divergence between these two pieces of media, other than the fact that one is well written, is the fact that This Skin focuses on the pain and trauma of our main characters; the cycle of abuse that is perpetuated through harm, the self loathing of a one sided memory, and the little distorted perceptions of love that form over time.

Though not all clear from the very beginning, this book’s depiction of abuse is immediately more poignant through its opening line:

“The worst thing another person can do after they’ve hurt you is let you live. That’s how you truly and unmistakably destroy another human being.”

From this chapter and the next, all we know is of Jillian’s self loathing, our very first time meeting her marked by the inability to claim that others like her:

“‘People like me,’ the woman says. I can’t help but laugh at myself. The muscles in my throat flex as I swallow hard. The words–too difficult for me to repeat. ‘People like…’ But I cannot finish the sentence”

Followed by a depiction of self harm as a coping mechanism:

“I hold one of the wooden needles I’ve fashioned from the model airplane set and I guide the tip between a pinch of skin across my wrist. ‘Very good.’ the woman says as I stab myself”

Almost this entire story works to build tension. Jillian is clearly deeply unwell–as she is the narrator of this story, we not only see her distorted visions of the past in future chapters, but also see the thought processes behind her suffering. 

Though there is much said throughout the book, the most important information is that which Jillian has repressed, the information which she never wants to know about her own past, alongside the information that perpetuates her, and her family’s, suffering. 

From the 6th entry (or chapter. Sections are marked with dates akin to a diary) we can already gather the nature of Jillian’s past, especially that which she is unaware of herself.

“I notice my father’s hands disappear below his waist as if he were to adjust his belt. He rakes his head back and closes his eyes, exhaling.  [...] I crank the music box again and it plays gently. My father returns me with a smile, his unseen hands still moving below his waist.  His lips gently part, another word to be flicked from the fork of his tongue. [...] his reflection in the mirror begins to ripple like the surface of a lake. A diamond headed snake curls about his neck, rearing its head and violently hissing at me”

Throughout the book there are constant callbacks to the concept of a snake, especially alongside Jillian, who is called “Little Jay”, as in the bird, by her parents. 

The most important part about the prior section however is this: There is little that is told. We see things from the distorted memory of Jay as a child. Should the book have outright made a declaration “Jay was assaulted by her father as a child”, even though a horrifying prospect, the tension of the entire story is lost. This kind of horror, one of deeply human prospects, the cycles of abuse and perpetuation of trauma; horror that takes an unreliable narrator, one who is clearly disturbed, resting on a facade of repressed memories is akin to mystery books, or those of the crime fiction genre.

This story is, in terms of its depiction(s) of trauma, one of the best I have read in recent years. Then however comes the section wherein we get a “reveal”—We do not get any reveal of Jillian’s past in this story. We never learn what Jillian does not know herself—which I feel would have been much better should the story have been longer. 

For the sake of anyone who has not read the story, I will not go too in depth on the remainder of the story. Though I do not think that it was as good as it could have been, it was still an extremely disturbing story. This story ends on page 99 (at least in my copy). The ‘reveal’ or ‘shock’ occurs on page 74.

The reason I dislike the full execution of this story is due to the tonal shift during the final sections, moving from a disturbingly realistic depiction of trauma to a story which, whilst still a depiction of perpetuated abuse, takes several rash turns and skips over what I feel should have been explored concepts (such as the gradual uncovering of Jillian’s trauma).

While this story is undoubtedly horrifying. The final chapters, through their aforementioned failings, continue to resonate with and disturb me deeply.

Despite the depictions of similar monstrosities as other, worse, horror, the depictions and intentions alone make this more horrifying than something along the lines of Urbanspook. 

We are allowed to understand the suffering, experience it from their own perspective, the perspective of both the sufferer and the one who perpetuates the suffering. Both of which, in the end, are the same person.

“But then I remember that the worst thing a person can do to you after they’ve hurt you is let you live. That’s how you truly and unmistakably destroy another human being. I can tell for certain that’s what she wants. That’s what she’s been waiting for and that’s what I deserve, after all. She’s going to let me live”

-- Eric LaRocca: This Skin Was Once Mine

The Magnus Archives:

And here we return to the same discussion as long before, what constitutes "bad horror" other than not being scary. And that sentiment; Not being scary to you?; Not being scary to me?; Not being scary to other people?; where do we get to draw the line as to "good horror" and what makes our thoughts on it more valid than anyone else's?

Like I mentioned before, I am not scared of most "almost human" objects/creatures such as mannequins, dolls, clowns or the french, but there are many many people out there who are.

Turning this the other way around, i'm sure that most people are not afraid of fungi/mushrooms, when that is one of my biggest fears.

Do we draw a line simply at Terrify and Horrify, leaving the "Gross out" or "Mortify" as examples of "bad horror"? I cannot say that meat, flesh or blood scares me as someone who has handled blood, and is also about 8% blood by mass, that they don't "scare" me so much as they may be simply 'gross', but we may once again reverse this to my perspective: it isn't as normal to simply be scared of (holding) sharp objects or tools yet is this not also valid fear?

I can say, at the very least, that because of the wide range of fears that The Magnus Archives attempts to play off, there are more than a few episodes which I can say did not scare me--I have spoken to friends who shared this same sentiment, simply regarding different episodes, because, as I have said, fear is a deeply personal experience.

Most notably, as just mentioned, I am not really afraid of fleshy bits or meat, nor any of the body horror, gore or related topics in the podcast.

There are more various episodes which simply didn't scare me for various reasons, of course excluding episodes that are primarily majorly plot advancements; The most notable episode that, is certainly well written, but doesn't invoke any "fear" in me, is "The Man Upstairs":

The premise of the episode, and the main hook, is the idea of rotting meat, most specifically the smell. There is a constant reference to the odor that comes from the apartment upstairs, in fact it is the first mention of the man upstairs within the statement itself:

We locked eyes briefly – at least I assume we did – I couldn’t see his eyes but I felt him looking at me – and I could swear I smelled the weirdest odour. It’s hard to describe, halfway between the smell of a pavement after rain on a hot day and chicken that’s starting to turn. It was unpleasant, to say the least[...]

-- The Magnus Archives MAG 18

Pus and rot are very odd, as while they can incite a sense of fear, in almost all cases they simply disgust the listener; if you are someone who is averted to blisters and boils, and especially to rotting meat, then this episode will do its job, but for me it simply doesn't.

This is why the section title has quotation marks around the word "Good". I am not the arbiter of what horror is good or bad, I can only comment on my own personal views on horror and see how others react.

In the end, it isn't only up to creators to make the horror, it is also up to audiences for them to find horror that matches their taste.

“Hm, more meat. Interesting."

Jonathan Sims; The Magnus Archives MAG 30

Part 2: Genres and classifications of horror:

As much as I hate reducing the nuance of a topic (which is why I dislike tier lists/numbered rankings), using different labels and classifications is extremely useful when searching for media overall, especially when looking for something like horror which potentially includes sensitive content.

This is also a good time to note that the person writing this is a pedant who can and will define "Cosmic" "Eldritch" and "Lovecraftian" horror as different genres. You have been warned.

Like I have said horror, and truthfully any kind of art, is difficult to classify. To name something is to define it, and to define something is to limit in in a sense. A prime example is that of Liminal spaces. In my section above I specifically refer to "Liminal Horror", this is because the horror is not the sole existence of these places. People can extract comfort, nostalgia, longing, sorrow, all alongside or in place of the fear that another person feels from an environment, and this is the key problem which I have for classifying genres.

I mentioned this briefly before that the only proper lines I draw in horror media is the distinction of the three pillars of fear, "Terrify", "Horrify" and "Mortify, but at the same time I have been referring to different genres throughout this entire script. Psychological Horror, Quiet Horror, Revealed Horror, Jumpscare Horror, Analogue Horror, Liminal Horror, Body Horror–Not even three paragraphs ago I said to define three very closely knit genres as different, so evidently I do indeed use these kinds of classifications.

Labels should be used to describe rather than to define things. Strict categories and classifications are made through definite statements which cannot carry over into an abstract understanding in the same sense.

Part 2.5: A Semi-warranted tangent about epistemology

There are three kinds of "Knowledge" in epistemology: Propositional; Practical; and acquainted knowledge. (Epistemologists don't kill me for simplifying the knowledge about knowledge)

Propositional knowledge, also known as "Know-that" or "Knowledge-that", is in essence facts put on paper; Knowledge that is transferable through a proposition or declaration. The easiest way of explaining this kind of knowledge is using its other listed names, by adding "I know that[...]" before a declarative statement.

(I know that) The Magnus Archives is a podcast (I know that) London is a city in the UK (I know that) this project got out of hand and has gone on for far too long (I know that) declarative knowledge can be conveyed through definite statements about the subject.

Practical knowledge is also known as "Know-how", for similar reasoning to the previous type, and is knowledge that regards a process:

(I know how) to change my clothes (I know how) to write essays (I know how) to cook food (I know how) to ride a bike

Practical knowledge is applicable to certain situations, while propositional knowledge exists as declarations. One may know how every step in a cooking recipe, know "That the chicken must be cooked for [x] until it is [y]" and then "that the food must be transported onto a dining safe plate" "that the food is to be eaten" etc.; or alternatively one may know "how" to cook some chicken. Practical knowledge is not transferable in the same way or ease that propositional knowledge is, as it is largely gained through the process of doing; This concept is called tacit knowledge, knowledge that is present to you but is unable to be conceptualised or taught in a constructive manner. The alternate is "Explicit" knowledge, which Propositional knowledge consists of.

Finally exists the concept of "Knowledge by acquaintance". While it is similar to practical, tacit knowledge gained through experience interacting with the subject, they act somewhat differently. Acquaintance is as the name suggests, knowledge borne from familiarity with a subject, not necessarily a specific action or task but knowing and understanding something over time, akin to "knowing" your friends.

"I know my friends" "I know the train systems" "I know League"

This familial knowledge is the most useful for what we are discussing today, which is horror genres in case you forgot (I certainly did while writing), as it does not rely on a strict definite set of rules or restrictions. My "sweet spot" for horror genre definitions, if needing to be put into words, is that they need be just vague and specific enough at the same time. As I said before, genres are incredibly useful for categorising and finding works that one may enjoy and that one may want to avoid–Without a definite statement there is no correlation between various people's views of the genre, yet with too many constrictions there is no room for experimentation or uniqueness.

(I know that) Religious horror is horror that uses various religious themes and iconography heavily throughout.

Religious horror is an interesting one to note as well due to the multiple understandings that it can take depending on one's personal experiences and familiarity to religion as a concept. Religious horror can take the normative form of "horror that features demons" or "uses an exorcism", however media portraying indoctrination, manipulation, and abuse of belief systems can also easily be understood as religious horror.

I know (That) many people are uncomfortable with body horror. I know body horror is horror media portraying the changing and distortion of one's body.

This definition is one statement that describes the primary examples and principles of the genre. Genres are built on familiarity, as already said, of their relativity and differences to the core statement as well as their fellow works within the genre. I want to also note that this definition is not universal, and several others will use different descriptions for the genre: Ronald Allen Lopez Cruz describes that:

“body horror finds strength in the way it goes against what is considered normal anatomy and function in biological species (not limited to human)”

-- Mutations and Metamorphoses: Body Horror is Biological Horror

While Ricki Hirsch describes it as

“Anxieties and concerns of having a body blown up to extreme proportions”

-- “Understanding Gender as Body Horror”.  

Horror is hard to define and incredibly easy to describe; Horror is a deeply personal genre overall and one's perception of the world around them influences their understanding of the horror itself. It is easiest to invision suffering when you have hurt in the same way before; the horror of loss, grief, suffering, of any and every kind is the most painful when you have met before.

Horror, like all art, only properly exists when understood by an observer.

Part 3: Individual interpretations of Horror [Media]:

Horror is in all likelihoods the most personal genre of fiction that exists, playing off your personal experiences and anxieties in the world to an extremified degree, oft requiring an individual understanding or relation to the depictions in order to function.

Breaking it down to the most bare essentials, there are two fears that exist, fear of the known and fear of the unknown; Fear of the unknown can be largely understood as instinctual, something so foreign to you that you understand nothing except that it is wrong. Fear of the known is more personal. Fear of the known is when you understand what it is that makes you afraid, the diseased smell of rotting meat, the crushing, weightless pressure of isolation, the stinging pain of the flesh, all understood through one's own visceral experiences.

It was mentioned before, but the best way of understanding this is through liminal spaces. Not everyone is afraid of liminal spaces, some may find nostalgia, comfort, or for some it may invoke no emotion at all. I am personally afraid of many Liminal spaces, a concept that will be discussed again, but this fear is only from my personal understanding of this concept.

The most simple concept that this can be understood from is the concept of Queer Horror:

Queer Horror is an odd classification. At first the concept may seem quite simple, being horror media that is focused around or depicts queer people, but I am unsure if I truly like this description.

If we return to "This Skin Was Once Mine", I found it described as a "Queer Horror Novel". First of all it isn't a novel it's an anthology. Given the title of the story, alongside its "Queer Horror" description, I originally expected it to be focusing around the trans experience, reflection on the past that was once you, shedding past it like the snake on the cover.

This titular story, as I came to find out, is labelled as "Queer Horror" as the protagonist, Jillian, is a Lesbian.

While I do not mind the classification of "Horror that includes/focuses around a queer character"; My personal interpretation of Queer Horror was always that of "Horror discussing shared themes and experiences of queer people/communities".

In my eyes, media that shares themes of bigotry, discrimination for identity, repression of the self and/or a "forbidden" personhood are all able to be read as queer horror, despite not all of them explicitly containing queer characters.

I don't consider Carmilla as queer horror because of the fact that there are lesbian characters: I consider Carmilla a queer horror because of how it represents a "forbidden sexuality" and how vampires are associated with lust to begin with... Ok also because there are lesbians however.

Your/my individual experiences of horror:

I am not a fearless person, I feel I have made this clear throughout the previous sections. I am afraid of most things, entrapment, time, insanity, worthlessness, people, insufficiency (if you aren’t reading this then that’s why), and most of all, FUNGI. I HATE MUSHROOMS SO M-

Throughout my life I have had severe self doubt, through several periods I have been worse, the concept of being stuck in a body that is not my own is one of the most visceral forms of horror that I can imagine.

Biological/body horror is not, however, what scares me the most of anything. Body horror is, to me, oddly beautiful (in the sense of metamorphosis and rebirth), the idea that one is changing, no longer entrapped in their body. This can of course be reversed, horror in which one is stuck within a body that is not their own is something that I quite frankly cannot consume for my own sake, this even includes concepts like zombification, or any concept in line with the central theme of stagnancy.

Your/my individual experiences of horror:

Every piece of media can be understood in virtually any way. I have a (paused/scrapped) project about how every piece of media should be understood in its relation to the reader, every theme of life, death, longing, joy, and grief being so integral to a person’s life, and life being so strongly linked with its repression, that almost every story can be read as that of a Transgender/queer person. 

This concept is not just applied in terms of those universal themes, but also the individual aspects, the traits of something that calls out to you specifically, the recurring motifs and ideas that speak to your life and past, in this case, for what makes you afraid. 

The most notable example is one that was spake above: Body Horror. All forms of body horror, no matter the context, can be understood as trans horror, or even as trans comfort (like I mentioned above), such as fellow Tumblr user @mossy-green-aka-ferrythem 's description of Romina of the Bud:

You know. Romina instills such powerful thoughts within me... The burning sting of losing something, but the brilliant, twisted realisation that you can grow anew... Sometimes I fantasise about myself lying down to slumber... and as I sleep, my body begins to change. I feel as though ever since I have made the steps towards deciding I was trans, I feel like a bud. Pre-transition, I feel like a bud, waiting to bloom... This bud... Will transform... I fantasise about my body transforming, in a twisted, and beautiful way... I fantasise that my bottom half grows long, and takes the form of the torso and bottom of a centipede... A torso long enough so that I could be the one who cradles myself to sleep... So I can comfort myself...So I can have a form that truly feels special. A strange girl. A strange and monstrous girl, who draws both adoration and terror. Something truly beautiful...

-- Tumblr User Mossy-green-aka-ferrythem; On Romina of the Bud

As mentioned, i cannot do the same justice to this idea as she has, and i do not wish to try.

As she mentioned in her post above, there exists the "burning sting of losing something", the grief of loss, death of your past life, where you look back at what could have been — Alongside this death comes the beauty of a second birth, of a new form, a new life, standing straight, looking forward at the newfound path in front of you, and continuing forth to every possibility that can be. Moving forward in this new life with the fearlessness to keep on living, leaving behind your past, the weight and sorrows that are bound to it.

Becoming a better you. Becoming You.

Change and transformation are not inherently horrific, though often described as one of the most integral aspects of body horror, it is the lens of understanding that one uses which defines any piece of media.

The same concept can be applied to robots or augmentations, the ability to choose your body and change it as you wish, to shape your image in infinitely more malleable methods than the normal human form, or alternatively completely lacking any way to escape one's body. This doesn't need to be understood through a trans perspective either, I know many, many, MANY cis friends who hated growing up for fear of unwanted changes in puberty

For example in The Magnus Archives the episode "The Gardener" focuses on the dysmorphic side of what horror the body and flesh can utilise; Eating disorders, self doubt, disassociation. This episode is one of the most viscerally disturbing to many people who I have talked to due to how it clicked with them, this being the first episode of flesh and bone to truly be understood, reflecting their past doubts and insecurities:

the deepest fear must be laced throughout what the Gristle-bloom Orchid is fed: That they’re not enough. That their inadequacies are embedded all the way into their flesh, and they must always and forever be more. [...] Never let it believe itself good enough, and continue always to ensure the body that it is certain it must attain is that impossible, distended mess to which it will endlessly contort itself until it dominates your garden in its sheer, impossible, beautiful mass.

-- The Magnus Archives; MAG 171:Cultivation notes for Fuertisium reese. Commonly known as the Gristle-bloom Orchid.

The soil for the Bone Rose must be thoroughly rotten, a mulch of corrupted romanticism turned toxic and watered by an uncertain desire that curls back upon the roots and feeds into it a single, constant, pulsing thought, an instinct that fuels every cell within the rose: To be wanted you must be less. Light should be unrelenting, allowing every flaw and mark and sag to be stared at and warped and ogled. With this preparation, the Bone Rose will conceive a grotesque horror of its own flesh, of the skin and fats and all that makes a body present. It will tear and starve and leak until there is nought but bones, the hungry bones so desperate to be touched, to be held. To be wanted.

-- The Magnus Archives; MAG 171: Cultivation notes for Gristleium patricia. Commonly known as the Bone Rose.

On a surface level this is the same description as before, the contortion and manipulation of what is considered "normal" biology, the distorted growth of these "plants" into one's disturbed perception of beauty in your flesh.

Comparatively to the examples above them, these descriptions of one's mind are fairly horrific, largely to those who have experienced regular self doubt or body problems, because there is no euphoria in these outcomes. This is what separates these two transformative examples from one another in the lens of horror.

Strongly linked to this same concept of rebirth and transformation is the idea of death, one which I have already written about in the past, being both a comfort and a dread for different people.

The Funeral Of Dead Butterflies from Lobotomy Corporation:

Lobotomy Corporation, for those unaware, is a management simulator game which is arguably a horror game depending on who you ask, as it includes some existential horror and themes concerning human nature, it is also my favourite game of all time.

The Funeral of Dead Butterflies is, to put it simply, the archetypal figure of death, as seen in the Hero's Journey and The Tarot.

Death, while also the archetypal marking of an ending, is representative of transformation, the old idea of life coming from death.

The Funeral of Dead Butterflies in large represents this transient nature to life and death, being two parts of a greater whole in ballance, as above so below, as below so above. This is best encapsulated through its story log in Lobotomy Corporation:

“Until then, they flutter their wings uselessly. The wings that may have been many jumbled into one, or one split into many. Butterflies are supposed to pollinate flowers, but not a single proper flower blooms in this place. There is no choice but to wait. After all, there must be an end to every world.”

-- Lobotomy Corporation; Funeral of Dead Butterflies Story Logs

There is a comfort in endings, closure, acceptance. Without an ending there is no way to move past something, there is no room for a new, happier life to begin. Not a single proper flower blooms in this place. There must be an end to every world.

Death is best understood as integral for life to exist. Symbols of death and actions taken in knowledge of it are what allows one to live, these experiences and structures one has made as they live is what allows one to truly die and move on. This can be understood in the means of horror, the looming death that approaches for those characters we follow, the ever present knowledge that there is no escape nor survival, and this encroaching dread acts to motivate the story forward in fear of what is to come. This can also be understood in this same transformative manner however, the acceptance of a final rest, a time where pain finally ends.

Being denied this death, trapped for eternity, is yet another lens that one may take in viewing horror. Ghosts, spectres, damned souls, or simply eternal wandering, all serving as different kinds of fear. Like I said before, you cannot understand what eternity is, to quote the shepherd's boy:

"In Lower Pomerania is the Diamond Mountain, which is two miles and a half high, two miles and a half wide, and two miles and a half in depth; every hundred years a little bird comes and sharpens its beak on it, and when the whole mountain is worn away by this, then the first second of eternity will be over."

-- Brothers Grimm; The shepherd boy

No matter how long you picture, eternity is fundamentally more than that. What if a soul never was to rest? What if the death of your body simply leaves your mind without a vessel, leaving you without a means to interact with this world for all of eternity to pass. This is the plot of "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream":

I was in hell looking at heaven! I was machine. And you, were flesh. And I began to hate. [giggles] Your softness! Your viscera! Your fluids, and your flexibility. Your ability to wonder, and to wander. Your tendency...to hope...

-- Harlan Ellison; I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

I am afraid of what someone may become, trapped for eternity. I am afraid of what I would become. And once again, this fear is not universal. Being denied a death is the same as being denied a life, two sides of the same coin, one can never exist without the other's shadow. As above, so below. As below, so above.

"It is the basic condition of life, to be required to violate your own identity. At some time, every creature which lives must do so. It is the ultimate shadow, the defeat of creation"

-- Philip K. Dick; Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

In at least some regard, everyone has been denied something in their life, had to hide themselves even as it hollowed their existence unbearably. I am queer, which is my personal lens of understanding this concept. I know viscerally what it feels like to be denied this kind of free-life that I see others around be with, I understand the bubbling emotions that I feared would one day spill over. All of this made me afraid, all of this still does make me afraid around those that I have not told. This fear, like all the others that we have mentioned, is a personal lens of understanding.

Fear and horror are some of the most innate human emotions that one has. Fear serves to protect you from perceived threats, and horror acts upon these personal fears.

I cannot write in this section about what makes *you* the reader(s) afraid in the same depth that I can discuss my own thoughts. I am fundamentally not the same as you, I am my own person, I am my own thoughts and fears, and these fears are borne and seen through my own lived experiences.

Discuss among yourself(es) (I mean open up a document or draft and discuss) your own fears, that is the only way to truly understand horror media in my eyes, I have provided the tools needed.

The purpose of this was not to define horror in any meaningful way, In fact I feel more confused about what horror truly is than when I started researching for this project, more to encourage discussion and self reflection about horror.

There is no such thing as good horror on a universal level, there is only horror that works for you.

God that ending needs some work-

Special thank you(s) to:

Connor McGrath: Whom I plagiarised heavily from throughout Riki Hirsch: Who's videos assisted greatly in articulating thoughts about body horror My friends: who put up with my ramblings about various aspects of horror for the past 2-3 months. Every referenced/quoted media.

uh. also. Tell me if you actually did the homework/reflection that I mentioned because I think that would be funny

Hey you made it to the end of the essay... why would you do that to yourself? If you're reading this then I didn't end up scrapping the project (either good or bad depending on your experience reading it).

This is the first full extended essay, however there will be related projects releasing at a later date that you can read, unless you have better things to do. Or taste.

Nonetheless I want you, reader, to know that you are genuinely appreciated for just reading the way through; I never thought that people would be interested in my writing which is why I never really posted any before recently (and still mostly do keep it to myself). The thought that anyone would willingly read what I had to say is wonderfully foreign, and I'm sure that my past self would be very confused if you told them that they would be writing essays, not only for fun, but for free: they would probably think something along the lines of "What the fuck? Who are you? How-... Who-... what are you doing in my house?"

[manyworldsofdarkness]

What is CURSEBORNE?

This might be of interest to any World of Darkness or Chronicles of Darkness fans or any fans of Onyx Path Publishing and White Wolf in general. We could be getting a new urban fantasy horror game series soon.

On April 10th, 2023 Onyx Path publishing’s blog brought up a hypothetical of making their own urban fantasy game series. Of course this was in response to their lack of any new WoD or CofD products as they do not own the rights to those IPs and must have approval by Paradox before working on anything. Currently Paradox is more focused on supporting their v5 products with their in house studio, Renegade Games and are no longer contracting other studios to right supplements for them for the foreseeable future. Because of this, the 20th Anniversary World of Darkness games and Chronicles of Darkness lines aren’t getting any new releases and what has already been announced and put into production are the only things to release in the near future. The only way for Onyx Path to make more urban fantasy horror games is to make their own and while they only mentioned this as a possibility, the comments section of this blog post exploded into discussions over this new potential game.

The next few blog posts afterwards continued the discussions asking people what they would like to see in a new potential horror game, such as a Masquerade system or signature characters as the comments sections only further spawned more discussion over this new world. Around this time too, Onyx Path announced their new unified version of their in-house system called Storypath Ultra, which should go without saying but will definitely be the system this potential game will be using. Then about a month later, on May 19th, on the official Onyx Path YouTube channel, this video was released https://youtu.be/fL1VPUzoB_Y?si=cR4ZPeb0wf9Kt6mM

A short seven second long animation of a murder of crows flying against a snowy tree line and the word “CURSEBORNE” forming as they all fly away. A short, mysterious teaser? Well for the next eight months Onyx Path would release a total of 30 videos of similar nature as of writing this post. Strange and short vignettes of classic horror tropes such as fog, spiders and recordings of monsters. Some would even be rereleased with minor differences and even text. I recommend watching some for yourself, there is a really eerie vibe to some. These capture more “modern” horror vibes when compared to WoD or CofD, some even feel inspired by analog horror or urban legends, the “Train” short particular reminds me of Japanese urban legends. Blog posts more or less stopped mentioning this potential game as time went on and mentions were then replaced with a strange picture of a moth, the same one at the top of this post.

On January 31st, 2024, 7:00 EST this website appeared https://www.curseborne.com/

CURSEBORNE, the title in all of those videos. The website has no text, just images of the same moth from the blog just posted all over a black background. Some will slowly fade in. Clicking on them will lead to a new page featuring one of the many teaser videos playing in your browser. Going back to the homepage, you’ll see a moth that appears to be glowing when compared to the others. Clicking it sends you to a Typeform quiz asking “Who are you?”. Answering it gives you a strange title such as “Raptor”, “Gaki”, “Archivist” etc. with a description of how you act. If I’d have to guess, these titles could be the names to new monsters or factions in CURSEBORNE. I’d like everyone who’s interested to please take this quiz and post your results on this post to see how many titles, or “paths” are found.

In short, it looks like Onyx Path is gearing up to make a new urban fantasy game using their own system. It’s not going to be World of Darkness with different names, but its own unique take on the concept.

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

I request infection au stuff

People turn into literal analog horror creatures within a week. There is no known cure yet.

It affects all humans and monsters, including the skeletons.

Nowhere is safe. These things are everywhere. They are not sane and will actively hunt others.

Killing them is the only way to stop them. This is hard to do, as they regenerate unless their souls themselves are destroyed.

They can't go back home, there are too many infected there due to the boss monsters being the first ones that were infected.

The few of their friends they have found were already infected. All others are missing.

Their brother has gone missing. They have found confirmation that he is alive. They do not know if their brother has been infected yet.

Undertale Sans - He's not sure how he's still going. Maybe the hope to see his brother again. He built himself a little shelf in the mountains and he tries to use his sci-fi knowledge to survive, one day after the other. He knows he's hard to reach, so he's not too worried about the infected one, but at the same time, he's scared no one will find him and he will stay all alone his whole life. For now, he tries to stay positive, even though it's not easy.

Undertale Papyrus - He's on the road with Undyne and Alphys. They're good at protecting each other. Well, they were good until Alphys got infected, and it's clear she's doing worse and worse, but that's fine, they still have some time. Undyne is not ready to let go yet and Papyrus respects that as long as Undyne respects him not sleeping at night because he's scared Alphys might attack and infect Undyne and he just can't lose her. He doesn't know if he's selfish, but he's not sure what he would do all alone. At this point, he's pretty sure his brother didn't survive, so Undyne is the last one he can rely on to keep some hope. He's optimistic things will be better eventually. Or maybe he's lying to himself. Either way, he's not giving up now.

Underswap Sans - He used his leadership skills to build a small community of monsters and humans he's protecting. He's good at that, thanks to his experience as a police officer. He terribly misses his family and friends. Even though he made new friends along the way, it will never be the same. He tries not to think about his brother, it hurts too much. In an ideal world, he would be alive, but he knows Honey is not exactly a survivor. Just imagining him like those creatures is making him sick. He focuses on protecting his people, hoping they can maybe rebuild some kind of civilization eventually.

Underswap Papyrus - He never thought watching so many zombie films would save his life someday. Sure, he lost his brother, and everyone really, but he still has Asgore. They're living together in his house, which they upgraded as time passed to avoid horrible creatures to intrude. And so far it's working! They even grow some vegetables. He could never be thankful enough to find himself locked with someone who knows how to grow vegetables from literally scratch. They're keeping company with each other and trying to stay optimistic, even though some days are more difficult than others.

Underfell Sans - He's back to his old habits, trying to survive the best he can. He's glad he grew up weak in a shitty Underground. It's almost the same. Well, except he has to take care of Frisk and he never realized how hard it is to be a dad. The kid is scaring the hell out of him, randomly disappearing from time to time and he swears he can't continue like this. But at least he's not alone. He would do terribly on his own. Keeping Frisk alive is kinda the only thing that keeps him going. He promised Toriel he would watch over them, he's not giving her up. Plus it's fun to teach them new things!

Underfell Papyrus - He's living with Undyne in a small house they upgraded to resist the apocalypse. And Doomfanger. Living with Undyne is hard, not because of the apocalypse, but because they can't agree on anything and constantly bicker. They keep saying they will kill the other eventually, but the truth is that both of them are ready to die if it means the other will survive. They're not too worried though. Both of them are good fighters, and they want to survive until things get better. They know they can do it!

Horrortale Sans - He adopted a wolf-like style, living in the forest and hunting what he could find, animals or humans. He's fine on his own, back to a feral state, and it's best to not crossways with him. He's very dangerous. He stopped counting the scars, he's just survival instincts now. He'll be fine. He keeps searching for his brother.

Horrortale Papyrus - He's with Toriel and Grillby, on his farm. He refused to leave. The three of them already survived together, it's simply like the Underground, except there are more chances to find food. Since his farm is already producing vegetables and fruits, they're fine, and almost living normally, except they had to build barriers all around the farm to protect themselves. Willow still hopes Oak will come home someday, but he knows he's alive. The rare survivors that come and go all warned him about a weird monster roaming in the woods, hunting them. He knows it's Oak. He's not too worried. It's not the first time Oak ends in this state, but at least in this feral state, he's almost unbeatable. He's confident they will see each other again.

Swapfell Sans - He's terribly upset. Because the Queen forced him to follow her and separated him from his brother when it was the last thing he wanted to do. Then the Queen got infected and killed all of his soldiers, leaving him the only survivor and the one who has to deal with the consequences. Even if he's finally free, Nox can't celebrate. He's terrified his brother thought he gave up on him AGAIN and that he simply gave up somewhere, or got killed, or infected or... Nox is on his own on the road, desperately tracking his brother. He knows he's alive, or was alive a week ago. He just needs to find him. He refuses to give up.

Swapfell Papyrus - He's not doing well. He's not a survivor, he never was, and each day is a new hell. He's on the road, trying to flee the horrible creatures that are following him, and he can't rest anymore. He doesn't know where is his brother. He waited for him for as long as he could and just accepted he was probably dead, until a human told him they met a skeleton a few days ago. Rus still hopes his brother will find him before he gets infected. He's not sure how long he can still hold on. He's tired.

Fellswap Gold Sans - He has no limits since he lost his brother. He feels guilty he wasn't there when their camp got attacked and now his brother is probably dead. He's on a killing rampage. If someone ends on his way, they die. He doesn't trust anyone anymore and he's going to make the whole world pay for the loss of his brother. That is until he spotted some hints that Coffee might actually be alive, and focused only on this. He will find his brother.

Fellswap Gold Papyrus - He had to flee when some creatures ambushed him while he was waiting for his brother, and since then, his existence has been a nightmare. Coffee is starving, dehydrated and he didn't sleep for days. Maybe it's luck or destiny, but some random children saved him from agony. He's following them around now, hoping they can make it until Wine finds them. He knows Wine is coming. Wine can't die, he's the strongest monster he knows. He just has to be patient.

[jacobsbadwig]

I have this long standing analysis of YA media dropping the ball on themes and consequences for its main characters giving them huge plot armor. What I realize the frustrating part about them is that often they are fantasy or fantasy adjacent, the authors accidentally create these huge worlds and severe problems and implications, but ironically, their main characters are separate from the world they inhabit via tone or their characteristics or mindset not aligning with the world (aka 21 century American mindset in a fantasy that takes place in 18th Russian analog iykyk)

Like Bella’s story being a romance while everyone else in a horror or gothic novel or pseudo vampire thriller or fantasy series is like odd as @panlight often points out mentioning SMeyers unwillingness to really lean into the vampire of it all. Honestly in a non first person story, this could be played for laughs to even be interesting.

(Never mind Smeyers surface understanding of the novels and plays, that she references as Bella’s favorite stories. As a former English teacher, her understanding and Bella’s understanding is in fact of someone who read some classics in high school but didn’t necessarily delve into the commentary and themes of the works focusing on the aesthetics of the romance rather than understanding what said purpose romance actually serves in the narrative as a critic or other wise. Insert ‘Smeyer doesn’t know what star crossed lovers means and refuses to learn rant)

Ironically, Bella having a romance in her world is portrayed as the exception when we look at other characters, even the uncivilized vampires, she is in fact the norm.

What makes Bella special other than her shield she gets at the end? She isn’t even the only one with great control. There are other hybrids. She is special because the text tells us she is. I’m not going to compare her to other female protagonists because my point isn’t about Bella as a character but rather how her narrative allows her to be special without really, really setting her apart from everyone else.

Just about everything the narrative says is specific to Bella’s story can be found in other characters backstories (that honestly don’t matter but do matter as a comparison that Bella is the exception to the rule rather than the example as I stated above.)

I think a lot of people cling to the Twilight saga (and other YA novels) but simultaneously desire more from the narrative because we want to feel special without doing the work, which isn’t wrong especially at a young age when you are finding yourself, but once we reach a level of maturity, we want our gifts and specialness to allow us to love ourselves and move in society as it drives our lives.

It’s why we cling to characters like Carlisle who doesn’t have known powers and has had series of trauma and has to actively rise above it. Or Jacob who is beaten by the narrative and should have been a symbol of how fate is myth and bullshit and circumstances may forge your path but choices and perseverance can alter it or make the path better.

I wanted to discuss @fuckmeyer Come Nightfall along with other Twilight reimaginings and how I feel as though, hers is the best damn thing we have. But while trying to write out my thoughts and why I feel as though I could never accomplish something like that, I ended writing this post after many posts about Star Wars. Honestly, I am reminded about two ideas: we are protagonist in our own stories and we are also side characters in others. Meaning we are chosen ones chosen for something greater but that doesn’t mean no one else is a chosen one.

Maybe that’s why I have out grown YA novels. Adulthood is in fact learning that you are hot shit but not always hot shit but other people also make sure your shit stays hot and you also make sure theirs stays hot too.

At the end of this thought process, I am left asking what was Bella actually chosen for. To be born a vampire? A Cullen vampire? A vampire in general? Edward’s wife and Renegades mother? Did she actually take the Volturi down (no but I’m posing the question) Or did she deny the call to what her purpose was.

If the last thing is true, then someone must rise to take her place.

I think Come Nightfall and other ideas answer this question and make it clearer that Bella chose her path rather than it being forced upon in a way the OG Twilight didn’t convince me. At the same time, fics and musing that pose other answers are just as compelling.

As for me, I believe Bella Swan denied her call arguably the call was declined for her the moment Edward entered the picture or maybe when she went to the Volturi (the Volturi of it all is for a other post but they should have killed her or turned her like WTF? Dumb). But also Bella Cullen’s only purpose in the narrative was to be Edward’s wife and Renesemes’s mother regardless of her earlier apprehensions.

[proselfshipsafespace]

(I love how friendly and responsive you are to every ask, it makes this blog feel fun and interactive ^v^)

Anyways, I'm a soulbonder who both selfships with and is soulbonded to my fav characters from my fav shows and I love them all SO! MUCH! 💖 These characters are my partners, my family, my friends, and it's been amazing having all of them come into my life (I have ~25 now!). We play games together, we kiss and cuddle, they make sure I'm never alone, they take care of me, support me, I support them and help them through griefs they have leftover from their canon sources, and of course, we have kinky, sexy fun too 😉 I also love the rich worlds they live in and I love seeing what they're up to and how they interact with each other (polyselfshipping for the win, we are just a big love nest of interconnected relationships!) I would love to share the wonders of soulbonds/thoughtforms to the selfship community and have more of us be soulbonders so we can all smoochy smooch and be there for the autonomous/living character versions of our F/Os and have them hang out with us in our daily lives as much as we imagine scenarios of us and them together in various AUs. If any selfshippers are curious about soulbonding, what it is, how to do it, why would you/the benefits, etc. I would love to answer questions about it! (I also hope to very soon make a lot of thorough how-to and essay posts too) Also, it's possible many of us are already soulbonders (interacting with a character that has "come to life" in our minds) without even knowing it!

(thank you!! i really do try my best to give my responses or perspective or advice because ive seen other blogs in the past that use the same responses for things and i want to stray from that as much as i can and give my actual thoughts or responses so i appreciate it ^^)

soulbonding is interesting to me, and while i have tried to read about it, i got too busy or distracted so i just ended up squinting at my screen like an old person LOL but from my basic understanding of thoughtforms (NOT FROM ANALOG HORROR I PROMISE (LYING THROUGH MY TEETH)) and soulbonding, i feel like my adhd distracts me too much to be a soulbonder because i am WAY too focused on a million things that sometimes im just like "OH SHIT OH SHIT- oh hi blorbo :) i love that guy. OH SHIT OH SHIT-"

maybe if i make a thoughtform of my f/os theyll do my work for me /lhj

[deviiancetv]

The Misconception of Doja Cat (Controversy & Era Analysis)

Heyyoo, so this post is going to be a smaller version of a bigger analysis video I plan to make in the near future about Doja Cat’s Scarlet album. I’ll be sharing my thoughts when it comes to Doja Cat, her recent Scarlet era, the controversies that have followed, as well as how I think she could’ve been conceptualized this era.

There will be a video that comes along with this post some time in the future on my channel, so follow me on YouTube ≫ deViianceTV

In the meantime, let’s talk briefly about this Scarlet era. The themes, concept, and messaging + what I would’ve fixed if I was in the room with her

Scarlet is an album that thematically is about Doja creating this alter ego to be used as a way to lash out at her haters and people who wanted her to fit in a box that critics placed her in. A scarred starlet rebelling against the public eye and people’s perceptions of her.

The concept is a bloodied version of Doja’s alter ego, Scarlet, who symbolizes the bruised and broken version of her that is being reborn into someone confident, tapping into her inner creativity, esoteric intrigue, and embracing her natural beauty.

There are MANY things from this era that I would fix such as making this era a dynamic story of self-discovery through visual and sonic versatility. One example I would’ve loved is, if she had split this album into two separate pieces of art that bounce off one another in themes and symbolic representation. The first side of the album having dark horror Punk/Rave Rap elements, odes to video games and horror movies she likes. The other side having sultry R&B elements with a lighter tone of inner peace as she accepts her more melodic and jazz roots.

I don’t take Doja as much of a lyricist all the time. She has instances when she can be very witty with fun bars that have pop culture references, and double entendres, but she’s not overly lyrical in her songs. She should’ve taken more time on this project to better compile and write her songs with formatting structures and great analogies that have you think… instead, we essentially got her venting about how rich she is and how she was being attacked online. And then there’s the butter toast line which was just not good lol.

Honestly, another thing that ruined this era is the fact that there were too many controversies involving the time she dissed her fans, her romantic relationship with J Cyrus, and her self-identity issues that have plagued her career since she became mainstream. A lot of these things could’ve been handled better, had she not lashed out on social media, and showcased the cracks within her character. She is to blame for the many times she’s been canceled, by not growing and evolving or even holding herself accountable for her transgressions.

I may be overly critical of her, but that’s because I KNOW she can do so much better, than what she’s given us. I’m hopeful that the next era will be more developed, thought-out, and less drama-filled, focusing on just the music, with standalone videos. Doja IS meant a bonafide star, but Scarlet is a bloodstain on her discographic career… an aesthetically pleasing bloodstain, but still a bloodstain nonetheless.

[freddy-and-friends-au]

The Freddy & Friends: Legacy ask box is now open!

——————————————

An introduction to Freddy & Friends: Legacy

Freddy & Friends is an AU created by Roux36 Productions set in the Five Nights at Freddy’s IP.

As opposed to focusing on a single “what if?” question for the AU, F&F is a rewrite of the FNAF story in its entirety, constructed from the ground-up to tell a more realistic, character-driven take on the original story, initially intended to be an animated series.

This version of the AU is no longer being worked on. The current version of the AU is called "In Loving Memory", a Five Nights at Freddy's analog horror series with a vastly different story.

——————————————

What asks will I answer? (Examples provided)

Lore (Ex: How do the spirits work?)

World-Building (Ex: Who made the pizza recipes at Freddy’s)

Headcanons (Ex: Who’s Jeremy’s favorite music artist?)

Events (Ex: How did _____ react to ______?)

Beta content

———————————————

Click the keep reading to learn more about the Freddy & Friends AU! >>>

If you want updates on what Freddy & Friends currently is, visit the In Loving Memory Tumblr at https://www.tumblr.com/in-loving-memory-au

——————————————

How much thought did you put into this?

It’s not that I’m a massive nerd, but it’s just that I’m actually a massive nerd.

Animatronics are loosely grounded in real-world mechanical engineering, giving them plausible designs for them to have existed in the 1980’s (down to the very components that make them function.)

The restaurant itself has regulations and procedures to manage the animatronics during the day (this varies depending on the restaurant).

The restaurant layouts themselves have been redesigned to be more coherent with the rules of architecture.

The animatronic characters themselves have their own lore and personalities within the cartoon world.

I have a full list of employees who worked at both Afton Robotics and Fazbear Entertainment.

The rules of the spirits are grounded in real-world cultural beliefs, as well as typical ghost hunting traditions.

No character is written to be two-dimensional. The characters don’t just do stuff for the plot; they do them because it’s in-character for them to do so. They’re not just ghost children haunting the animatronics. They’re also human.

Note: In regards to In Loving Memory, this section remains mostly unchanged.

———————————————

What was canon?

Basic media taken into consideration:

Five Nights at Freddy’s

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2

Five Nights at Freddy’s 3

Five Nights at Freddy’s 4

Five Nights at Freddy’s: The Silver Eyes

FNAF World (Surprisingly)

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location

Five Nights at Freddy’s: The Movie

Details Only taken from:

Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach

The ideas of these media were the content detrimental to the story of Freddy & Friends. However, the story of them had been changed so drastically that canon knowledge was considered unreliable when talking about the Freddy & Friends AU. Some things remain the same, but it’s recommended that knowledge of canon game/book/movie events NOT be used as a reference regarding Freddy & Friends content.

What was the same?:

Mike Schmidt and Abby Schmidt’s character had remained almost exactly the same as in the movie. (Movie)

Michael Brooks is Golden Freddy (Novels)

Elizabeth Afton being killed by Circus Baby (Games)

The Bite of ‘83 (Games)

The Bite of ‘87 (Games)

Bonnie is blue

What had changed?:

Michael Afton does NOT exist—was replaced by Fritz Afton

FNAF 4 Crying Child became the Puppet

FNAF 4 Bullies were the Missing Children

FNAF 4 Bullies were NOT bullies

The haunted animatronics have personalities, and are capable of verbal speech.

Sammy (Charlie’s twin brother) was killed instead of Charlie

Sammy became Spring-Bonnie

Charlie is NOT an android

Very few employees (including night guards) actually died at Freddy’s

Foxy was responsible for the Bite of ‘87

The animatronics are limited by the technology of the 1980’s, and therefore have software limitations that aren’t present in the games

Circus Baby’s Pizza World was renamed to Circus Kingdom Pizza World

The names of the Funtimes were changed to align with the re-theme

The Funtimes were NOT built with the intention of kidnapping children

The Funtimes were haunted

The Scooper does not exist

The FNAF 4 gameplay is a dream, and not child experimentation. (What FNAF 4 specifically was will be elaborated on in its own post.)

The Toy animatronics have been renamed to the Junior animatronics

The Junior location is Freddy Jr’s Pizzeria

The individual Junior characters have in-universe names beyond “Junior Freddy” and “Junior Bonnie”, etc.

The Juniors were haunted

There is no such thing as “Remnant”.

Vanessa Shelly is NOT William Afton’s Daughter

Steve Raglan and William Afton are two different people

Removed Herobrine

Please note that not everything has been changed in the transition over to In Loving Memory.

(Aforementioned name changes):

Spring-Bonnie - Springles the Rabbit

Circus Baby - Circus Sadie, AKA Sadie the Circus Princess

Funtime Freddy - Freddie the Ringmaster

Funtime Foxy - Foxy the Flying Fox

Toy Freddy - Freddy Fazbear Jr.

Toy Bonnie - Riley Rabbit

Toy Chica - Penny Pecks

Toy Foxy/Mangle - Bridget the Fox

——————————————

Thank you!

If you made it to the end, I wanna thank you for showing interest in this AU, especially if you were here when the Tumblr went live! It's been a long road with at least five rewrites and twice as many redesigns. I'm happy to have shed some new light on the project with a new direction and a new story!

If you want updates on what Freddy & Friends currently is, visit the In Loving Memory Tumblr at https://www.tumblr.com/in-loving-memory-au.

- Roux

[starfayy]

Writeblr Intro (cuz i forgot about this)

AYUP everyone my name's Fleur, i'm a 19 years old woman, im cishet and painfully neurodivergent (AuDHD and MADD). Im also brazilian and christian so there's that! (Trilingual beast coming at ya!)

I've been a writer since who knows when, started to write fanfiction in the worst fandom i could've started (...the beatles), went to an amazing fandom -that turned out to not be that amazing but my writing and storytelling evolved exponentially so im grateful- to now being more focused in original works

I'm currently writing a book with my friend (@serenity-of-waffles)*, and i might probably work in scripts for comics, animations and maybe games????? Let's see-

yeah im an artist too hehehe

Genres i enjoy reading/writing: Fantasy, Scifi, Romance, Thriller/Suspense, Horror, Slice of Life, Supernatural

Here comes the lists of things i like to see in a book and that i tend to write it in my own stuff:

FOUND FAMILY!

A good well written romance sometimes doesn't kill ^.^ (im a cliché beast, careful)

Tragic Backstory? Sign me in

NEURODIVERSITY

Supernatural ocurrences and creatures. Analog Horror, Psychological Horror as well

Super heroes? Yes

Mythological metaphores

I write for both Youth and Adult (im a sucker for children's books they can get so dark suddenly and is amazing)

Mystery elements yesyesyes a good suspense

Deep relationships

Consequences. I love consequences.

Historical plots and period inspired fiction

Super powers, creatures, magic, a whole well made worldbuilding (Tolkien wannabe)

SOOOO what am i looking for??

FRIENDS! People to rant about my silly stories and worlds!

More writers to follow and engage and and- ykwim

Current WIPS? hmmmmm

• Eden Fables: The Inkweaver's Diary - (*NOT WRITING ALONE) So this one i won't give much detail, just know that me and my friends we're going absolutely insane over this book and the entire possible series and is our child, you're not fucking ready. The best fantasy book i ever written in my life TRUST ME. Blame Tolkien and C.S Lewis for inspiring us so much- (sorry for the vague synopsis muahahahah) A story of a boy displaced in time and space as he finds his heart and returns to his throne, finding a family along the way while dealing with the craziest adventures.

• Boreal City (future comic :O) - A retrofuturistic cyberpunk super-hero universe about many different points ot view and adventures that are actually connected (like the Marvel Comics universe or DC comics). Its being one of my favorites so far im having so much fun doing it hehe

Its very inspired by many superhero and retro-cyberpunk media, i cant count here how many hehe Synopsis (for at least one of the stories): From a family of superheroes, turned into a villain by his own demise, and disappearing for 5 years, GlitchWave makes his stupendous comeback in an unexpected redemption arc, and it all starts when he meets his brother again.....

• Gritia's Great Mystery - An amazing story about a corrupt kingdom trying to hide all evidence that god exists, aside from other...cruel crimes against certain groups of people. The aesthetic is a mix of enlightnment era, renassaice and victorian age, all together mixed with elements of thriller, romance, mystery and BIG drama. Maybe one of my most serious stories, since i wont hold back in the critics n shit

The Crown Family of Gritia, for centuries, tries to make the existence of the Mighty King, aka god, a tabboo, or even erase him from all existence, alongside his followers. Anything that goes astray the status quo is suscetible of punishment (or worse....)

That makes Spencer's life a bit complicated, even if he doesnt know abt the Mighty King's existence, he's part of a secret society...lets see where this goes right?

OOF DAMMT I SPOKE A LOT HUH SORRY IM A TALKER! Hope to find more writer friends along the way ^.^

[trickstarbrave]

actually setting aside the controversy for urbanspook/the painter. i saw some people trying to defend the story's goals as "he's inspired by slasher flicks, and slashers are horror. why does every analog horror series HAVE to be psychological? we just arbitrarily decided that"

and i dont think that's fair. we didnt arbitrarily decide all analog horror has to be psychological. there are other genres in analog horror--it can be social commentary, focused on disease, focused on technology. there are mysteries in some, some also function as ARGs, and some where there simply isnt anything to focus on. some are more psychological and narrative focused and some have pretty gratuitous violence or showcase some absolutely stunning technical skill be it in art, programming, or film making.

but the reason there is no slasher genre is because analog horror is a long form story telling medium. it is primarily shown in analog style visuals in piecemeal 'episodes' on youtube. slasher flicks are a valid horror medium and they have their strengths and weaknesses, but i don't think any slasher fan has ever gone "man i wish this movie was actually in 15 parts online". im not the biggest slasher film fan, but the biggest things i seen when people who ARE talk about it is the sense of build up and release--a catharsis. it is much harder to do that in a long form video series without appealing to speculation. its hard to just say "wow someone got brutally murdered in this graphic description and heres the portrait the killer made of their victim based on how they died! wish we could catch the killer" for 15 videos.

like maybe if you were very skilled you could make a slasher style analog horror. the painter definitely isnt that despite the inspiration. shock value is just ONE part of slashers and still needs to be utilized appropriately. showing people disturbing things because said disturbing things Exist is not the only thing that makes up slasher films and is stupid to try and reduce it to that. he didn't utilize the shock horror well. he isn't taking into account how good slasher films are made and what their strengths and weaknesses are compared to the strengths and weaknesses of long form storytelling like analog horror. instead it feels like he just used analog horror because analog horror was popular, which isn't a good reason to pick a particular genre or medium.

[nice-to-meet-you-im-a-crytid]

How To Be a Magical Girl (Introduction)

This is an introduction to my original story as the title states. This will not be a comprehensive lore dump just a ramble of what the story is like and the many (many inspirations behind it

Disclaimers: This is a story in EXTREMELY EARLY production, This is mostly for fun and for me as a writer to both build a fanbase around my work and get used to jotting down ideas.

Inspirations: I'm staring with my inspirations for the story since they heavily explain where I was heading for pretty much the rest of the story.

First really big one is the anime Madoka Magica, so there's a lot of cutesy-ness mixed with body horror and some darker themes too in my writing. This also effects my art style quite a bit if you've seen any of my work on my tumblr page. Of course there's the magical girl aspect and an obvious school setting. Speaking of school settings my other inspiration would have to be My Hero Academia. I'm mostly referring to the slice of life/school aspects and the earlier class focused episodes. I think the world building in My Hero is really cool and I think it shows quite a bit in my own world. Also the technical aspects of becoming a hero in the earlier episodes have given me a good idea of how I'd like my own story's made up profession to work on it's own technical scale.

Setting/Plot:

How To Be a Magical Girl is a novel in the works centered around the coming of age stories of a large cast of girls (15-16 yr olds) who go to a magical school and as the title states learn how to be a magical girl both as a job and as people. One really big theme is light academia which includes love of learning, friendship, and overall loving life. Another is also perspective as many of the mini stories are written is different POVs and hopefully if I can get a book or two into the world each one would also be in a different POV. This does lead to a large cast of characters all of which have different backgrounds, cultures, and unique dynamics with each other along with different places in each others stories. This is also one big coming of age story which is very dear to me as I, myself am coming of age as a young author, so this story is a huge reflection on my own experiences. The biggest most prevalent theme besides light academia is trauma and more importantly healing! The main monsters that these magical girls fight in fact come from trauma and each of the girls have their own troubles to work through along the course of the story. The literal setting of the book is of course the school: St. Amia's International School for girls! Pretty much think Hogwarts but made of quartz. Legit though lots inspiration came from European design and architecture (Scottish castles, French Chateaus, etc.) in alignment with the book's theme. Here is link to the Pinterest mood board Worldbuilding: Obviously there is magic in this world. It takes place a couple hundred years into the future, magic is very well integrated into the modern world, i.e it's used as an energy source, magical creatures are common place across the world, it's even a normal and often required course in schools. Magic itself is a learned skill that all people can have the ability to advance in and excel at. My best analogy for it is it's like sports, if you run everyday you gradually get better and you could even make it a profession with enough training. And also like sports there are certain skills and abilities that are better for each one, flexibility and strength are both good for all sports but would be best used and trained in particular ones. This also translates over to types of magic and skills. (These are not the best comprehensive notes of my story's world so I might make an in depth post for the whole thing, tell me in the comments if this gets enough attraction!)

If this post somehow reaches you and maybe you even like it give it a reblog so others can have the chance to find it too in mess of an algorithm. And maybe even leave a comment if you'd like to see more from me!

☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

[persy-r-bozo]

My dreams are so wierd.

Like im at someone's beach house with friends but I'm uncomfortable so I text my mom to come get me . it's 10 pm and the house is in the middle of a small parking lot In front of the beach, there's a golf course a few walks away. And a train track RIGHT next to the road that's up the cliff by the parking lot.

Then a wierd apocalypse happens, it's on the news. Zombie monster like creatures that run and crush you. And an alien that lives in the sea. It has a smart mouth. Teasing you as it breaks people in half and eats them with popcorn.

My mom gets me and we drive down this road I never seen before. But in the dream I know its the way home. But she suddenly lunges the car into the woods and meets up with a friend of hers I've never met. She Has four horses.

They talk about plans and what they are going to do but I am Lazer focused on a giant wierd wooden clock that is above her window. I just stare at it while they talk.

There are mice people too apparently. They are really chill and wear lil clothes. But they have thier own issues. Seeds are making thier forest unbreathable at night. But they don't want to come here, we clearly have our own problems I suppose.

But they give us a vhs tape, and I play it. It's a old video of a suburban house at night the camras shakey, every once in a while white screen with black text appears.

It reads.

"I wonder what my daughter is doing

And I wonder.. why or how she's doing it.

But I wonder

If she even exists."

And the house that they are filming lights turn off.

I spent the rest of the dream looking and petting horses.

Truth be told I honestly love it when I have dreams like this, they are wierd and all over the place. But they follow a story line. Like some 4th grader was asked to make a story for class and they made this.

I'm thinking about that video the mice gave me still. No clue what it could mean if anything. Maybe it was my brain trying to make some poetry for whatever reason. Or make a analog horror I guess lmao.