Throughout October we’ve been delivering a weekly series of articles where we explore the best spooky movies in different horror subgenres — but now we’re throwing a couple bonus lists into the mix, with this one focusing on the analog horror subgenre.
Although not quite on the Hollywood scene yet, analog horror has been taking the internet by storm in recent years, with a wide variety of titles that are as terrifying as they are incredibly accessible and plentiful across both YouTube and TikTok.
Here, we have a selection of analog horror titles both new and old to sink your teeth into during the Halloween season!
‘Local 58’
We’ve all been awake late at night watching television. Usually, the late nights are filled with reruns, teleshopping commercials or other pieces of unengaging content. However, what if we were shown something much more chilling? Kris Straub’s Local 58 is an anthology web series that explores a community television station that is continuously plagued by horrifying interruptions with dark messages. Told simply through the aesthetic of analog television without any voice acting or jump scares, Local 58 is a horror series that finds terror in the subtlety with its exploration of terrifying concepts and beautifully crafted atmosphere.
Local 58 is available to watch on YouTube.
‘The Walten Files’
Inspired by the Five Nights At Freddy’s video game series, The Walten Files is an animated analog horror series from Martin Walls that follows a family restaurant with a dark history behind it that spans multiple decades. Audiences will be quick to draw comparisons between this and the FNAF games, but very early on The Walten Files becomes a much darker and grizzly piece of its own. With unsettling art, a fascinating story and an absolutely incredible hour-long episode set entirely in a video game, The Walten Files is a boldly confident analog horror series that is ambitious as it is gloriously welcoming in both its influences and accessibility to its story. At a time where many analog horror series take on longer form storytelling to mixed results, The Walten Files is a refreshingly simple but well-written series that will both scare and intrigue from the moment it begins.
The Walten Files is available to watch on YouTube.
‘Marble Hornets’
Arguably the one to start it all, Marble Hornets is quite possibly one of the most influential pieces of media ever made on the internet. Created by Troy Wagner and Joseph Delage and inspired by Slender Man, Marble Hornets was a series that follows a group of people after the filming of a student film goes wrong. Told across over 100 videos, Marble Hornets is an incredibly engaging and atmospheric internet horror story that wears a lot of its found footage influences on its sleeve to tell a story that’s refreshingly original and fun to watch unfold. Some of its effects may look dated now as many internet productions have evolved from these humbling beginnings, but without Marble Hornets and its part in helping popularise the character of Slender Man, internet horror would likely be in a very different space.
Marble Hornets is available to watch on YouTube.
‘The Mandela Catalogue’
Watching The Mandela Catalogue is an experience like no other. Created by Alex Kiester, the series follows a series of disturbing events that occur in Mandela County, Wisconsin. The complex story balances themes of manipulation, religion, and government coverups with a truly terrifying visual style and some of the most inventive scares ever crafted on a web series. The story might be a little confusing for some and may require further investigation, but even for those just looking for quick scares, The Mandela Catalogue will deliver that in spades. In the wide world of analog horror, this is a series that is quick to redefine what the subgenre is capable of and that ambition is why this series is so incredibly effective.
The Mandela Catalogue is available to watch on YouTube.
‘Petscop’
The internet has been forever fascinated with the idea of what a cursed video game might look like. Whether it’s Godzilla NES or Ben Drowned, gaming and horror have gone hand in hand in the online era we know today and yet, Petscop is a much different beast of its own. Created by Tony Domenico, Petscop documents the experiences one player goes through as they record their time with a fictional PS1 video game that hides many secrets within. Taking on the form of a “let’s play”, Petscop quickly engrosses you in a tragic horror story with a commitment to authenticity that is amplified by the natural creepiness that many PS1 games contain. When you’re not sitting there gobsmacked at how wonderfully made the fictional game of Petscop is, you’ll quickly be blown away by just how fantastic the writing of the series truly is.
Petscop is available to watch on YouTube.
Looking for some horror movie recommendations for this Halloween? Check out our list on The Best Found Footage Movies To Watch This Halloween.
