Analog horror

File:Peringatan Darurat.png. Originally made as analog horror, it became widely used as a pro-democracy symbol during the 2024 Indonesian local election law protests.{{Cite web |date=August 21, 2024 |title=Dunia Hari Ini: Penjelasan 'Peringatan Darurat' Demokrasi di Indonesia |url=https://www.abc.net.au/indonesian/2024-08-21/peringatan-darurat-demokrasi-indonesia-keputusan-mk-pilkada/104250598 |access-date=August 21, 2024 |website=www.abc.net.au |language=id}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o_9gZhoyI4&ab_channel=CNNIndonesia |title='Peringatan Darurat' Usai Rapat Baleg DPR |date=August 21, 2024 |last= |language=id |publisher=CNN Indonesia |trans-title='Emergency Warning' After DPR Legislative Body Meeting |access-date=September 29, 2024 |via=YouTube}}]]

Analog horror is a subgenre of horror fiction and an offshoot of the found footage film genre,{{cite web |url=https://georgiastatesignal.com/analog-horror-the-bizarre-and-the-unsettling/ |title=Analog horror: The bizarre and the unsettling |last=Wehs |first=Garet |date=February 22, 2022 |website=The Signal |publisher=Georgia State Signal |language=en-US |access-date=January 26, 2023}}{{cite web |last1=Maison |first1=Jordan |title=Everything there is to know about the analog horror genre |url=https://www.videomaker.com/how-to/directing/film-history/everything-there-is-to-know-about-the-analog-horror-genre/ |website=Videomaker |access-date=February 6, 2023 |date=October 14, 2022}}{{cite web|last=Kok|first=Nestor|title=Ghosts in the Machine: Trick-Editing, Time Loops, and Terror in "No Through Road"|url=https://fnewsmagazine.com/2022/03/ghosts-in-the-machine-trick-editing-time-loops-and-terror-in-no-through-road|website=F Newsmagazine|access-date=March 18, 2022|date=March 18, 2022|quote="No Through Road" has amassed over two million views, spawned three sequels, and is considered a foundational work for both analog horror enthusiasts and indie found footage buffs.}} said to have its origins in online horror of the late 2000s and early 2010s, including creepypasta stories and found footage series such as No Through Road, and Marble Hornets.{{cite web |url=https://robots.net/entertainment/local-58-the-analog-horror-series-an-introduction/ |title=Local 58: The Analog Horror Series (An Introduction) |last=Cases |first=Kenneth |date=2022-09-16 |website=Robots.net |language=en-US |access-date=2023-01-26}}{{cite web |last=Szczesniak |first=Alicia |date=2022-01-13 |title=A look into analog horror |url=https://www.thepostathens.com/article/2022/01/analog-horror-internet-reddit-series-episodes |access-date=2023-01-26 |website=The Post |publisher= |language=en-US}} The genre gained more widespread popularity with the release of Kris Straub's Local 58 in October 2015, with the series' slogan ("ANALOG HORROR AT 476 MHz") providing the genre's name.

Characteristics

Analog horror is commonly characterized by low-fidelity graphics, cryptic messages, little to no traditional jump scares, and visual styles reminiscent of late 20th-century television and analog recordings.{{cite web |url=https://deltastatement.com/7476/features/what-makes-things-creepy/ |title=What Makes Things Creepy? |last=Saucier |first=Emily |date=April 25, 2022 |website=The Delta Statement |publisher=Delta State University |access-date=January 26, 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://www.slashfilm.com/723377/archive-81-review-analog-horrors-haunt-netflixs-uneven-new-supernatural-series/ |title=Archive 81 Review: Analog Horrors Haunt Netflix's Uneven New Supernatural Series |last=Evangelista |first=Chris |date=January 11, 2022 |website=SlashFilm.com |publisher=Static Media |language=en-US |access-date=January 26, 2023}} This is done to match the setting, as analog horror works are typically set somewhere between the 1960s and 1990s, or work with elements from that time period. Analog horror is often noted to use visual and audio distortion, as well as glitch-like effects that emphasize and replicate the technological limits the subgenre works with.{{Cite web |last=Williamson |first=Samuel |date=February 7, 2023 |title=What Is Analog Horror? The Subgenre of 'Skinamarink' Explained |url=https://collider.com/what-is-analog-horror-explained/ |access-date=January 30, 2024 |website=Collider |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Adeishvili |first=Luca |title=Examining the Uncanny Allure of Analog Horror |url=https://stuyspec.com/article/examining-the-uncanny-allure-of-analog-horror |access-date=January 30, 2024 |website=stuyspec.com |language=en}} The name "analog horror" comes from the genre's aesthetic incorporation of elements related to analog electronics, such as analog television and VHS (Video Home System), the latter being an analog method of recording video and audio.[https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/530352/this-disturbing-found-footage-masterpiece-is-now-streaming-free/ This Disturbing Found Footage Masterpiece is Now Streaming Free – Dread Central]

The genre is also known to show manipulated pre-existing media from the time period it is trying to imitate, as seen in series like The Mandela Catalogue.{{Cite web |last=Kister |first=Alex |date=June 9, 2021 |title=overthrone |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0EpOiu8YkI&list=PLkk6ZuwrqcsGv_7LnbJC26M3ve7P_TqV3&ab_channel=AlexKister |access-date=April 15, 2024 |website=YouTube}} Oftentimes, analog horror works use their formats' supposed limitations to their advantage. Analog effects and graphics frequently obscure or abstract events such that the viewers are left to wonder at, and consequently fear, what they are witnessing. Works such as The Backrooms use the limitations of the equipment that they are replicating to disguise the use of Blender and Adobe After Effects, making the series appear more visually realistic.{{Cite web |last=Lloyd |first=Andrew |date=March 29, 2022 |title=The Backrooms: How a Creepy Office Photo Became an Internet Bogeyman |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/is-the-backrooms-real/ |access-date=April 15, 2024 |website=Vice}}

Analog horror may also be influenced by horror films such as The Ring (1998) and The Blair Witch Project (1999).{{cite web |last=Heath |first=David |date=January 24, 2023 |title=12 Scariest Analog Horror Series |url=https://gamerant.com/best-analog-horror-series/ |access-date=January 26, 2023 |website=Game Rant |publisher=}}[https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/analog-horror-explained-examples-78326/ What Is Analog Horror? Definition + Examples|Backstage] David Lynch's Inland Empire heavily influenced Petscop,{{cite web|last=Peters|first=Lucia|title=The Weird Part Of YouTube: The Making Of "No Through Road" And The Power Of Unanswered Questions|url=https://theghostinmymachine.com/2020/11/16/the-weird-part-of-youtube-the-making-of-no-through-road-and-the-power-of-unanswered-questions-found-footage-stevenage-broomhill-farm-time-loop|website=The Ghost in My Machine|access-date=November 16, 2020|date=November 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116175053/https://theghostinmymachine.com/2020/11/16/the-weird-part-of-youtube-the-making-of-no-through-road-and-the-power-of-unanswered-questions-found-footage-stevenage-broomhill-farm-time-loop/|archive-date=November 16, 2020|url-status=dead}}{{cite magazine |url=https://egmnow.com/theres-something-hiding-in-petscop/ |title=There's Something Hiding in Petscop |last=Moyer |first=Philip |date=March 18, 2020 |magazine=EGM |publisher=EGM Media LLC |access-date=January 26, 2023}} a web series rooted in analog horror.{{Cite magazine|last=Barron|first=Alex|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/rabbit-holes/petscop-the-creepy-youtube-series-that-confounded-gamers-on-reddit|title="Petscop," the Creepy YouTube Series That Confounded Gamers on Reddit|date=August 31, 2017|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=November 24, 2017|issn=0028-792X|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201034310/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/rabbit-holes/petscop-the-creepy-youtube-series-that-confounded-gamers-on-reddit|archive-date=December 1, 2017|url-status=live}}

History

Analog horror could be regarded as a form or descendant of creepypasta legends.{{cite web |url=https://uppercutcrit.com/public-memory-crafting-analog-horror-in-video-games/ |title=Public Memory: Crafting Analog Horror in Video Games |last=Tee |first=Samiee |date=May 28, 2022 |website=Uppercut |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230104093728/https://uppercutcrit.com/public-memory-crafting-analog-horror-in-video-games/ |archive-date=January 4, 2023 |language=en-US |access-date=January 26, 2023}} Many creepypastas anticipated analog horror's themes and presentation: Ben Drowned and NES Godzilla Creepypasta, among others, featured manipulated or contrived footage of "haunted" media, and Candle Cove, a creepypasta from 2009, focused on a mysterious television broadcast.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy_wOZnDJD0 The Web Series & Creepypasta That Defined Analog Horror – Ryan Hollinger on YouTube]

Some commentators have drawn parallels between analog horror and 20th-century radio and television programs that presented fictional stories in the style of "live news broadcasts," such as Orson Welles's 1938 radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds and the shot-on-video TV movies Special Bulletin (1983), Ghostwatch (1992) and Without Warning (1994).{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmdcq36lYQo|title=Broadcasts That Caused Nationwide Panic|last=ScareTheater|website=YouTube|date=November 20, 2023 }}{{Cite web|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3806276/frogman-vhs-six-horror-movies-shot-on-vhs-to-watch-tonight/|title=Six Shot-on-VHS Horror Movies to Watch After 'Frogman'|website=Bloody Disgusting|date=March 28, 2024 }}

The subgenre is typically cited as originating between the late 2000s and the mid-2010s Internet (mainly with YouTube) videos, specifically from Steven Chamberlain's No Through Road in January 2009, and gaining substantial popularity on the English-speaking internet with the release of Kris Straub's Local 58 in October 2015; the series' slogan ("ANALOG HORROR AT 476 MHz") gave the genre its name. Local 58, which quickly became successful, inspired later works such as The Mandela Catalogue and The Walten Files. Another YouTube channel, the Polish-language Kraina Grzybów TV, anticipated many motifs of the genre, as in December 2013 it began publishing videos stylized as a TV program from the 1990s that contained disturbing and surreal imagery.

Some analog horror series have been adapted into different forms of media. In 2020, Netflix announced that it would adapt the analog horror podcast Archive 81 into a series of the same name.{{cite web |last=Kanter |first=Jake |title='Archive 81': Mamoudou Athie, Dina Shihabi To Star In Netflix Series Inspired By Horror Podcast; James Wan's Atomic Monster Producing |url=https://deadline.com/2020/10/archive-81-mamoudou-athie-dina-shihabi-to-star-in-netflix-series-1234603213/ |access-date=May 5, 2021 |date=October 26, 2020 |website=Deadline Hollywood |publisher=Deadline Hollywood, LLC}} Despite its positive reception, the show was canceled after airing only one season.{{cite web |last=Romanchick |first=Shane |date=November 30, 2021 |title='Archive 81' Images Reveal a Time-Bending Horror Show on Netflix |url=https://collider.com/archive-81-images-horror-series-netflix/ |access-date=December 21, 2021 |website=Collider}}{{cite web |last=Andreeva |first=Nellie |date=March 24, 2022 |title=Archive 81 Canceled By Netflix After One Season |url=https://deadline.com/2022/03/archive-81-canceled-netflix-one-season-mamoudou-athie-and-dina-shihabi-1234986278/ |access-date=March 24, 2022 |website=Deadline Hollywood |publisher=Deadline Hollywood, LLC}}

Marble Hornets had a film set in the same setting release in 2015, which was negatively received.{{Cite web |last=Clow |first=Mitchel |date=April 8, 2015 |title='Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story' movie review: Tell, don't show |url=https://www.hypable.com/marble-hornets-movie-review/ |access-date=February 18, 2024 |website=Hypable}}{{Cite web |title=ALWAYS WATCHING: A MARBLE HORNETS STORY |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/marble_hornets_the_operator |website=Rotten Tomatoes}} A film adaptation for The Backrooms was announced to be in production in 2023, with Kane Parsons set to direct it.{{Cite web |last=Grobar |first=Matt |date=February 6, 2023 |title='The Backrooms' Horror Film Based On Viral Shorts By 17-Year-Old Kane Parsons In Works At A24, Atomic Monster, Chernin & 21 Laps |url=https://deadline.com/2023/02/the-backrooms-a24-developing-feature-based-on-viral-horror-shorts-1235249413/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206160550/https://deadline.com/2023/02/the-backrooms-a24-developing-feature-based-on-viral-horror-shorts-1235249413/ |archive-date=February 6, 2023 |access-date=February 6, 2023 |website=Deadline Hollywood |language=en-US}}

On August 21, 2024, a short video resembling an EAS titled EAS Indonesia Concept (October 24, 1991), ANM-021 (Mesem) - First Encounter, gained widespread attention on Indonesian social media. The video was posted to in support of pro-democracy movements in Indonesia. The widespread sharing of the symbol on platforms like Instagram, Twitter (X), and WhatsApp was a form of protest against the House of Representatives' attempt to overturn the Constitutional Court's decision regarding regional election laws. The analog horror video, central to mobilizing citizens for the nationwide protests on August 22, 2024, became a key impetus and driving force behind demonstrations across Indonesia. Many pro-democracy activists, including public and political figures, adopted and shared the short video and it's screenshots across social media platforms.{{cite web |title=Ribuan Buruh Kepung DPR Besok: Sampai Kiamat Kami Akan Perang |trans-title=Thousands of Workers Surround the House of Representatives Tomorrow: Until the End of Time We Will War |url=https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20240821193142-20-1135893/ribuan-buruh-kepung-dpr-besok-sampai-kiamat-kami-akan-perang |access-date=August 23, 2024 |website=CNN Indonesia}} The image was reused in the 2025 Indonesian protests with the blue replaced with black to signify greater urgency.{{Cite web |date=February 7, 2025 |title=Peringatan darurat hitam: Mengapa 'peringatan darurat' ala garuda hitam di media sosial tetap dibutuhkan sebagai kontrol sosial? |url=https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/articles/c17e2w84nyko |access-date=March 25, 2025 |website=BBC News Indonesia |language=id}}