The rise of analogue horror
From jump scares to slow burns, horror has come a long way in finding new ways to unsettle its viewers. Within horror, a subgenre exists – analogue horror – known for using analogue formats like VHS recordings to tell spooky stories.
Analogue horror has taken the world by storm over the last couple years. While the concept is not exactly new, with movies such as The Blair Witch Project, the genre has been generating buzz on platforms like Netflix, with shows like Archive 81 and Incantation.
In recent years, independent series on YouTube such as The Backrooms, The Mandela Catalogue, Local 58, The Walten Files, and Gemini Home Entertainment have been receiving more attention with growing followings.
One of the significant characteristics of analogue horror is the use of found footage. Found footage as a story-telling medium, especially for horror, is quite effective as it puts viewers in an intimate position. The format quite literally puts the audience in the hands of the characters to experience exactly what they see and hear.
The unstable camera and the limited vision all add to the suspense that horror fans crave. The nostalgia evoked by the format of some of the videos feel like they have been ripped straight out of the past, placing us somewhere between the known and the unknown.
Creators on YouTube have spooked us in ways that no other form of media has done before. The fact that some of these creators are teenagers makes the genre even more impressive.
The Backrooms, created by Kane Parsons when he was only 16 years old, currently sits at over 36 million views. The series employs the use of unsettling liminal spaces by creating a seemingly never-ending labyrinth. Since its creation, the series continues to grow and evolve, with each video giving the audience another piece of this elaborate puzzle.
Similarly, The Mandela Catalogue, created by another young filmmaker Alex Kister, has been gaining a lot of popularity. The web series introduces us to a grim world plagued by creatures called "alternates" and tells the story through nothing but dash cams and security cameras.
In today's world, where our memories and our pasts are encased in tapes and on cloud-based storage platforms where they are likely to remain forever, the concept feels oddly personal and real, which is what makes it so terrifying.
These creators plague us with suspense, keeping us at the edge of our seats as we never quite know what to expect. Given their lack of dependency on jump scares, we are not offered any form of relief. It is never quite over, and the tension rises with every passing second. By the end, your muscles are in knots but and your mind is blown.
There are so many other channels that I have not been able to cover, but I would suggest that you go check them out yourself. Grab some popcorn, turn off the lights, get under the covers, and enjoy the show.
Syeda Erum Noor is dangerously oblivious and has no sense of time. Send help at erum.noor1998@gmail.com