#true crime YouTube

[f1r3f0rf1r3]

Does anyone else religiously watch HannahTheHorrible, Nexpo, Eleanor Neale, Bailey Sarian, Wendigoon, etc? I’m mildly addicted to them

[mask131]

I hadn’t planned for this post, I’m just throwing this right now.

I used to regularly look at channels that covered creepy Internet incidents, weird ARGs, bizarre Youtube videos, the debunking of horror rumors, etc etc... I used ot but I don’t anymore - not because my passion for these videos has stopped, but because so many of those I followed shifted their content to “true crime” and talking about actual murders and suicide cases, and stuff that have nothing to do with either 1- fictional horror or 2- the Internet. 

If I want to see “true crime” content, I won’t look at a random Youtube video, I will look for more professional media. And while it is these people’s decisions to run their channels how they want and to go with whatever has the more views on the Internet (we know thanks to the success of some talked about TV series that true crime always attracts more audience), it isn’t why I make this post today.

I make this post to share a very sudden, very new, very fresh unease that just formed itself over this lack of interest I talked about above. One of the channels I regularly followed was ScareTheater, and while I am still following the channel, I have been looking less and less at his videos because, as I said, they are not the type of content I originally followed him for, or they are things already covered enough and much better by the news or experts or actual investigators. 

And he just dropped a video today about a disturbing and frightening footage recording some of the last moments and dialogues of divers that got trapped into a pipe and died there. Real-life stuff, a quite recent thing. And upon starting the video it suddenly hit me that this video was just voyeurism. A bad form of voyeurism.

I am not talking about or criticizing the man behind the ScareTheater channel, who seems to be a very decent and kind fellow. But I am talking about the direction his channel (and other similar channels) have been taking, and the shock I had just now. Because... it is a real-life case, as I said before, and the footage from these real life deaths, which is quite disturbing in itself, is not something that went viral or was massively spread over the Internet (at least to my knowledge). It was sought and researched for the making of this video over a pretty popular channel.

I know and I understand that talking about these incidents is needed, and that by sharing the stories of disasters and tragic death we can learn very useful information. I am myself a “fan” (if the word can be used for this) of a channel covering mass disaster and accident-caused deaths, “Fascinating Horror”. But the video of ScareTheater did not felt like a documentary recording the incident - because it was centered around the “horrifying found footage” of the last moments of these people that died stuck in a pipe. The title is about the found footage, the video opens with “Let’s discuss the found footage”, it all relies on us hearing the last words, and seeing the footage... It is about the footage, not the incident, and as a result this made me realize how ScareTheater had fallen (probably unconsciously since it seems to have just been a slow shift many channels that try to cover “true crime” topics fall into) into one of the big flaws of covering actual deaths and recent accident cases. A bad case of sensationalism, by highlighting a very gruesome and disturbing fact (last recorded words, videos of the cause of a death), and playing on the voyeurism of the audience so that the video would be shared and liked. 

It isn’t like when he covered last videos or last photos of persons before they went missing - because in these cases, talking about it might help find back the person or understand what happened. And it isn’t like talking about something that happened a very long time ago, so that the case is closed or most people directly impacted/involved by the case are out of the picture. It is still very fresh, and these last moments are incredibly private and horrifying, and to see this shared online massively and used as the subject of a video, when it is still so fresh... it feels perverse. But not that ScareTheater seems to have done it on purpose - but this video clearly works in a way that it will appeal and attract the perversity of the worst voyeurists. This is a bit more than just a morbid curiosity, this feels almost indecent. 

Because again - we are not talking of something that was purposefully posted on the Internet by someone part of it. When it comes to disturbing and horrifying footage actually sent on the Internet purposefully, it is important to talk about and analyze it and explain it, because it is already there and people are being exposed to it. But with this... it is something brought onto the Internet, brought onto the platform for people to see...

Honestly I don’t know, I can’t put my words in place. Yesterday I watched a video of disturbing footage found on the Internet - you might have seen the one, with a man filming as his house was being hit by a tornado, and the “man at the door” video of a dangerous criminal coming at the door of the one he wanted to turn into his next victim... And these didn’t felt like voyeurism. It was videos posted on the Internet, it was treated as content to be contextualized and analyzed, it was explained, it was informative of dangers... But tonight I see ScareTheater’s video about the last moments of those stuck divers, before they die, and I am hit with the knowledge that “This video is voyeurism. The bad type of voyeurism bad true crime-info channels or bad criminal magazines use, to form an audience by building on the perverse curiosity to glimpse into the last breath of a dying man or to see what the mutilated and torn up body of a murdered woman looks like, or to assist to the suicide of a desperate person that was in need of help”. 

If it was just about the incident itself, about the media coverage, the way the rescue was handled, the reason these divers died, if it was just a video about the accident I probably wouldn’t have felt that - but it was about the found footage, and the last moments, and the last recorded words, as these poor people were stuck in a pipe certain of their death... I don’t know. Or rather I know that saying this invites to a lot of comparison, evaluation and re-evaluation of a lot of other content on Youtube, and opens a whole debate to “Where is the line? Where should Youtubers stop exploring disturbing footage, and what should one post on the Internet when discussing about it?”. It is not an easy debate, and it is precisely because it is such a complex issue that I am left with this “I don’t know feeling”.

But the thing that I am certain of, and that frightens me, is that I had probably grew a bit desensitized and complacent towards the voyeurism of those “death-covering” and “true crime” channels, about the general morbid voyeurism and view-collecting sensationalism of channels that are well-meaning even though in the facts they seem to do things more badly as time goes on... And this video shook me and woke something up in me, and made me go “Wait, that’s voyeurism, that’s not a good way to share this video, and the people who will watch this video probably will do it badly”. I mean, I just looked at the comments and most people just go “I feel bad for those people.” It is a sentence that comes up again and again “I feel bad for them”, “feel bad for them”, “this makes me feel so bad”.

Commenter on Youtube - seeing the last moments, the last recorded words and actions, the last of the life of people who just die isn’t supposed to make you “feel bad”. It is supposed to make you feel deeply disturbed and shocked. It isn’t about it being “uncomfortable”. It is another human being trapped into their death! It is horrfying and sickening and terrifying! One says “I feel bad this guy” when someone’s is the subject of something like a public humiliation, or falls prey for a scam, or has a nasty allergy - it isn’t supposed to be something you say upon watching the LAST OF SOMEONE LIFE! I am not particularly religious, but if there is something sacred in this life and that should be treated with respect, it is certainly the last moments, the last words and the last breath of a living being! It isn’t just some Youtube video you look at and say “Aww, feel sad for me, :( “. NO! 

Anyway... I will certainly unsuscribe from ScareTheater, and my dislike of the current state of Youtube will go ever growing - and my suspicions and cynicism towards humanity will blossom a bit more. But I just wanted to share that because honestly I have no one else to share that with, and I want to have it recorded somewhere. 

I am not a prude, and if this content is indeed present on the Internet I do think peope should explain it, and talk about it, and contextualize it, and warn people about it. But I am also a man who is for decency, and it is something people on the Internet clearly seem to have forgotten the existence of sometimes. I am sorry this all falls on ScareTheater’s video because clearly he isn’t himself a voyeurist, a perverted or an indecent person, but his video was clearly badly made if it managed to re-open my eyes about the morbid vulture-nature of Youtube. 

[amemoryofmalice]

Episode 19 - Photos

1 - 4) Daniel Robinson.

5) Screenshot of a tweet by journalist Shayla Davis that made this case go viral and get public attention.

6) A photo of Daniel with his mother and grandmother

7) A photo of Daniel's Jeep when is was found in a ravine in the desert.

[fortunelowtier]

true crime youtubers after spending an hour talking about the most gruesome, vile, and graphic series of events you could think of: “But you know who ELSE needed better security? You! With todays sponsor NORD VPN you can-

[butchjo]

if i see another youtube thumbnail like this i think i'm going to bomb someones house

[amandaanddonnie]

TODD CHRISLEY Ordered to Pay Tax Investigator over $700k for DEFAMATION ...

[teagosworld]

I would really really like to see the conversation around the ethics of “true crime content” progress, but I literally only ever see people coming after women who make this type of content. Granted, this criticism is deserved, but I never see people critiquing the most popular channels which are mostly ran by men. Every critical video I can find when I search YouTube is almost always directed at the women in the community.

As I said before, people who make “makeup and true crime” content should be criticized, real life tragedy doesn’t need to be paired with a Smokey eye tutorial or a mukbang. But what about the “body language experts”? What about the channels who make FOIA requests for interrogation footage of minors who’ve committed crimes? Remember a few months ago when a TC creator made a FOIA request for autopsy photos of a child?? I was surprised at how strong and swift the backlash was against her, considering there’s a huge channel (with over 2mil subs) who does the exact same thing, but he get praised for it.

Please do not misconstrue what I am saying here are me defending that creator in anyway, this is just a pattern I’ve noticed.

[bootlegspiders]

Hey, so for Watcher fans who may not wanna pay for another subscription or just wanna watch something new here are some other youtubers you should take a look at if you want to get a spook or learn some history

(* = potentially triggering topics covered usually associated with crimes, so be careful)

Ghost Hunting and general spooky vibes:

AmysCrypt - Your typical ghost hunting show with two Australians traveling the world, though I will say they do go to places I've never heard of before and they do very good research. And there are some goofs along with the spooks.

The Ouija Brothers - Two British dudes finding ghosts in England. The vibes are generally pretty chill and it's a good time

The Paranormal Scholar - A mixed bag of all paranormal happenings from ghosts to demons to cryptids and aliens. Sort of an overview to deepdives on various paranormal occurrences. The research is immaculate and their voice is very soothing in my opinion.

Paranormal Quest - Ghost hunting in the US, sometimes goofy sometimes serious, but they do go to some interesting places and some familiar ones too

Weird History:

ObsoleteOddity* - This guy is great, like 80% of the things he covers I've never heard of before. Very atmospheric, fun little visuals, and a large variety of weird events and people for topics.

Georgia Marie* - A little bit of everything, but she focuses on strange things that have happened, lgbt history, true crime, and historical disasters. She covers enough of everything that I'm sure you'll find something

Stefanie Valentine* - I'm not sure if she even posts anymore, but I thought what she was doing was great. Think Vampira or Elvira but for older true crime and ghost stories, I think the latest covered would have been like early 1900s. Idk I just thought it was like a cute spooky lil storytime

Caitlin Doughty or Ask A Mortician* - Pretty sure y'all would know who she is but just in case, she's a mortician who covers topics relating to death! From odd ways people have died, or odd things that have happened to people after they've died. And just odd or tragic things that have happened through history. It's silly, but done with levity and care and respect the topics deserve.

General History:

Part-Time Explorer - Mostly history on ships and ghost towns with the occasional train. Lots of research and interviews, very well done and worth checking out even if it may not be your thing.

History's Forgotten People - Talks about sometimes obscure, or sometimes not, historical individuals. Even if you've heard of the person in the topic, they'll talk on something obscure about that person.

History Tea Time with Lindsay Holiday - A heavy focus on royalty around the world, a generally upbeat dive into historic individuals.

(Or you could always go watch time team, that's an option and it's my guilty pleasure love me some archeology)

True Crime:

There are so many out there, so I'll just recommend two of my favorites

Gabulosis* - She focuses on vintage cases 20 years or older (literally in her opener) and is well researched and respectful. Another one that talks on cases I've never heard of that deserve to be heard.

Mysterious WV* - True crime and missing persons based in the West Virginia area and neighboring states. Idk how to even explain the vibes. This guy is just great please watch him trust me you won't be disappointed.

That's all for now, feel free to add your own recs out there!

[cicekwizard]

Another iceberg

(I'm not sure how many of you saw this but I still wanted to post this here, in case someone didn't saw this)

[strawbebehmod]

Me: ugh this true crime podcast is so fucking boring i can’t work to this

Also Me: oh fuck yes now this is entertainment

[crimeronan]

always thinking about the time i made a "how many people would you kill with the death note" poll and very thoughtfully plotted out how many people i'd need to gratuitously murder before any actual helpful change was achieved & came to the conclusion that i'd eventually (over the course of many years) be responsible for probs somewhere between 10,000 and 100,000 deaths. even while being very discerning in my choices.

and then that answer was like. 1% of people. bc everybody invariably responded "ehh, i could fix the whole world with less than ten murders :)"

NO, THE FUCK YOU COULD NOT. DREAM BIGGER?!?!?!?!?!

[amethystina]

So things are kind of shit right now...

And I haven't been able to write and draw as much as I had planned because of it. Or even answer comments. I feel like I just disappeared off the face of the earth or something.

And I just wanted to say that it wasn't intentional and I'm still here but I'm also really stressed and basically on the verge of a breakdown (due to various things happening in my life right now) so we'll see when I'll get everything sorted. I'm trying my best but I admit it's hard. I had so many hopeful plans and it sucks that I have been forced to postpone pretty much all of them :C

I hope you're all doing well, though. I'm very much out of the loop right now but I'll try to get back on track, slowly but surely. Please take care 💜

[amemoryofmalice]

Episode Delayed

Today's episode will be delayed for one week ('till 03/24/2023).

Unfortunately, I underestimated the amount of research that had to be done on one of my cases, and it threw me off.

[violenturges666]

I was tired of people trying to villainize hybristophiliacs and talking about us without even asking about our opinion so I made a video. If you even care.

[akai-anna]

Round 5

Round: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

[elizaville]

The Mysterious Death of Jason Chase

| Urtica Ferox