Dreams of an Insomniac: An Analog Horror Enigma

[@Pastraspec]

Genuinely means the world to me to see my passion project getting an in depth analysis like this from you, thank you so much! I understand that DOAI's start may have been a bit rocky (what with the crazy deadline volume 0 had as well as some AI stuff that has aged terribly) but myself and everyone who helped work on it have been trying our hardest to improve upon that foundation and make something REALLY worthwhile. Videos like this are a big inspiration for why I wanna keep working on the series in the future. I promise it'll be worth the wait!

[@racoonlover9847]

Hey Pastra, love the work you do, keep being great. Also this is probably an unpopular opinion but, the ai generated kids are actually unsettling to me, like the video itself is warping reality.

[@EGGGUY-57]

Good to see pasta is watching these videos and being inspired by them, considering the fact that he's a HUGE inspiration for people like me. We all are patiently waiting for DOAI. I know it's going to be good.

[@A.please_insert_witty_text.M]

Oh hey, Pastra. Your doing great work. Very cool. Very noice even.

[@petermacmillan2428]

Thanks for the series! I like how the story is coherent, and doesn't just put in random jump scares for cheap shock value. Also, I do think that the use of AI for the kid pictures is not only ethical, but also really adds to the feeling that the tapes are warped. It gives it a kind of uncanny valley vibe.

[@Candlelightning]

If it isn't the funny pasta man themself! Just dropping a comment to say keep up the great work and thanks for such a great series! ❤😃

[@skem9622]

I think pastras got a point, using photos of real children is uncomfortable and their style isn’t very realistic, so it makes sense to use some other method to get the pictures

[@ModeratelyTerrifyingHallway]

i'd say this level of "this is an ai-generated image" takes away from the horror aspect, making it less believable. didn't thispersondoesnotexist have a good level of generating believable faces even at that time? though i obviously agree that using real children's photos would be quite distasteful and generally not a good idea.

[@berserkerciaran]

@@ModeratelyTerrifyingHallway Actually, these feel kinda on par with thispersondoesnotexist

[@skem9622]

@@ModeratelyTerrifyingHallway Yeah, I do agree with you, it takes away from the horror and is kinda unethical, but the other options are either expensive(hiring artists) or invasive(Using real photos)

[@coolguywithhat5419]

Frankly, I think it's fine, especially since people could get harassed for being a kid in an analog horror series. I remember when fnaf first came out, people found a real freddy fazbear's pizza and kept calling in either to troll or thinking it was actually relevant to fnaf's plot or something. It's best no one ends up like the baby from the one nirvana album cover

[@CosmindArt]

I feel like using adult photos with one of those baby snapchat filter and a bit of photoshop could have also worked out (like stock photo edits even) and be "100%" ethical

[@chidosan2639]

Personally I believe using AI to make the kids faces was a perfect call, because of two reasons specifically: 1. the bad AI of that time generated uncanny inhuman images that made the video even more disturbing 2. and most importantly, it works so no real children are exposed in any way to a massive audience

[@bashartz]

If only AI wasn't heavily trained to the point you can easily recreate someone's face now with AI to near perfection. I wish it stayed the way it used to be back in the day, just a simple tool rather than a way to make a product more easily.

[@vanilia131]

they can always pay an artist (s) to give the same effect through other media ( there are yes many many out there, easily reachable) instead of using such an unethical tool for their own creative product.

[@rtwoxd1355]

​@@vanilia131why is the ai unethical? At the end is a tool like any other, is unethical only if you decide to use it in that way.

[@vanilia131]

@rtwoxd1355 I'm sorry but that is not the case, I wish it was.

[@rtwoxd1355]

@@vanilia131 sorry, but what I want to know is the reasoning behind what you say

[@A.Z.296]

For the PSA, I think that's just Clyde's face from the last tape burned into the screen, since his face is composed of bright colors, which in high intensity would always burn themselves into those old CRT's As for the goggles, I believe they had two effects. The first one was to obviously hide Winfrey's room from the staff so nobody wanders in by accident. The second effect was to strike fear into the patients by associating the red lights with the Caretakers or Dr. Lankmann himself. That's why they were always scared of the employees. They thought they would be taken away if they stepped out of line.

[@birbos7542]

I think because the psa says "it is aware it's being hunted" Clyde somehow got a TV and is watching the broadcast

[@A.Z.296]

@@birbos7542 No, in PSA we're still from the dudes perspective. Plus, his face is in the same shape as Volume 0, so his face is genuinely burned into the screen. Plus, I'm pretty sure there would be wanted posters hung up or he could pass by one of those old TV shops that displays shows and might've seen a broadcast there.

[@Dookieman1975]

I thought it was that the monster was still around years later, stalking our pov character

[@GigasGMX]

Thanks for the reminder that the videos are canonically Not On KZbin. It's easy to forget, since most horror series involving old VHS tapes have them have been digitized and uploaded in-universe.

[@Dingus-69420]

25:11 My idea is that Lankman framed the whole situation as Kruger dying so they can take him to his facility to use him in someway. The voice, _”I still have use for you”_ could be Lankman. Especially since we saw red eyes after that, and Lankman is Pastra’s only character with red eyes.

[@LockNessChompers-vd3zo]

Alex is one of my favorite analogue horror protagonists ever. He checks off all the boxes for me: 1. He was added to the story in such a way so that he has actual direct ties to the plot 2. He isn't this stereotypical "strong, gruff guy with a haunting past" 3. (And this is important) He actually feels like *_a real person_* instead of a random prop used to move the story along

[@little_wintry3098]

exactly!!! plus Pastra has such a naturally soothing voice which just really sold Alex's softer moments

[@teatous7444]

@@LockNessChompers-vd3zo he's also kind of an asshole, not really caring about how he caused what happened to the woman 😌

[@TheUnmitigatedDawn]

@@LockNessChompers-vd3zo Granted, the reason Alex isn't a typically strong guy is because, they're not a guy. Enby rep in da house.

[@snubcaboose132]

@@little_wintry3098 Nah it was far too distracting to hear his voice, I couldn’t take his character seriously. The acting wasn’t very convincing and the fact that I recognize the voice, it pulls me out of the whole story.

[@foxpatternedferret476]

​@@snubcaboose132 Wow, someone likes to be a downer

[@Greyscayl]

Few series can take characters I find adorable or cool and make them absolutely TERRIFYING. Pastra did an amazing job with the series

[@giantpinkcat]

I saw the thumbnail not reading the title and thought "Oh my God what did Pastra do?!"

[@That-much-better]

Made something terrifying

[@katherine_rosalita]

Ooh fair, it looks quite similar to the controversy videos

[@orisfamaemon]

He ate the moon

[@julialungan4722]

Murdered a bunch of people

[@charlies-trainhopping]

OML IM NOT THE ONLY ONE 😭😭

[@majorghoul9017]

The most commendable part of DOAI to me is its impressive success at taking the cartoony, tim burtonesque designs of the monsters, and translating their appearances into a realistic setting. It's really cool to see

[@DevonDeDemonRR]

I still have the opinion that Dreams of an Insomniac Vol 0 is the best introduction video for an analog horror ever made.

[@thedoglovinggamer5825]

Hey, did you make your pfp? Also is there a place where I can see more of your art? It looks nice.👍

[@evilplushiex]

As an artist who is staunchly against genAI, the timeline of *when* the images were made absolutely matters. 2022 AI & 2024 AI are two massively different beasts. Correct me if I'm misremembering, but 2022 was when we were all laughing over the silly AI tool that could generate amongus trailcam footage. That's a very different beast from the plagiarism software it's since degenerated into.

[@AnnSpecter]

Very true, I remember the 2022 Dall-E generator where the images are the definition of abstract and uncanny valley that can almost be an inspiration for horror movies. Like you said we did not take it seriously until 2024 ai gradually became a huge issue for artists.

[@aclown9127]

yes! visual ai has always been plagiarism BUTTTTT we didnt really clock that factoid until honestly pretty recently

[@autumnsprite]

Not to mention: the AI was used to generate photos of missing children. The alternatives there would be either to use real photos of real children, or commission an artist to sketch photos of real children. Both of those options are more unethical than AI

[@purplepedantry]

@@autumnsprite Would stock photographs or pre-50s sepia photographs not be ethical in everyone's eyes? (Also, an artist could just make up an entirely new child in their head to sketch, rather than base it specifically off a real person.)

[@Mr.Lanternn]

@@purplepedantry I guess yes, but due to the sensitive nature that any horror show has, it still is a bit weird. Imagine being a kid and your parents one day decided to take professional pictures of you and sold their rights to some random stock images gallery just for you to end up in a series with monsters that torture people. That said there's space for debate, its just my opinion.

[@loorthedarkelf8353]

38:50 I NOTICED THAT TOO!! Quick bit of Color and Eyesight science gushing for those who are into that; The human eye had 2 types of light receptors. Rods, which detect if any light in the visible spectrum is *present,* and cones which each detect a specific wavelength light. Cones are different depending on species, with cones to detect the wavelength we see as green being the most common in creatures with eyes who live in terrestrial enviroments. Not surprising, the wavelengths that we see as green are the ones that get reflected away by chlorophyl, the keystone to plants being able to resparate carbon and release oxygen. Terrestrial creatures *need* oxygen and release carbon. Being able to detect where that symbiotic relationship is abundantly represented makes our brains release the happy juice; heart rates slow, resperation deepens, and the sympathetic nervous system reducues activity. Green is also the color that's easiest for the human brain to process, and the one that indivuals can see the most shades of when tested or surveyed. Seeing *shades* means not just that we *have* cones for green, but they've developed over time to *differentiate* between a tiny amount of green or a LOT of green, each shade of green along that scale being the tiniest incrament we can tell the difference between. Blue is kinda our middle of the road cone. Your dog can detect blue, but your cat can't. Your cat can detect red, but not blue. The ability to see red wavelengths is energy intensive; its one of the harder colors for the human brain to process, and we can't see a whole lotta shades in it-- we don't even call it red when its dull. We call it *pink.* Pale blue is still blue, but pale red is thought of closer to orange; rust colored. Now. You may have noticed. We don't have a cone for yellow. You may have heard somewhere that the color purple Isn't Real, because we cannot actually detect the wavelengths for the color produced when red and blue pigments / light are mixed together. So our brains have a range of interpretations of wavelengths that set off both the red and blue detectors; the color is real. Our eyes detect red and blue, and depending on the ratio comes up with a best approximation of what that color is, and that's what we see. But what about yellow? Since blue and yellow *make* green when mixing pigment and light, it can't be first verse same as the first. But that's the trick. We see green. We see blue. Yellow is what we see when the rods detect light, but none of our cones do. Yellow has to be *pure* to be yellow. Add even a *hair* of blue and now we detect the wavelength as green, suggesting that in humans our blue cones may have developed *as* our green cones got better at detecting degrees. Yellow is *the hardest color* for the brain to process. It is the fastest to cause eye strain, and because of the required effort It Is Something Our Attention Snaps To Right Away. It is the hardest for us to look at, but also the hardest to ignore. In studies, yellow lighting in rooms consistantly made people uneasy and anxious. The space felt hostile. Red is the next hardest color, and has similar effects to yellow in studies but is less pronounced. This fact of how our eyes are built and our brains process color is the basis of legit color theory. Not "vibes" but measurable research that I've found endlessly fascinating. Anywhoozit purple is real and yellow is a lie, pass it on 😂

[@sock_investment]

tldr please?

[@JackHallowLantern]

​@@sock_investment Yellow bright and scary and might not be a real colour cause our eyes arent built to see it. We're built to see blue/green/red, but not yellow. AKA Pastra Analogue Horror scary cause so much yellow

[@alexdoorn234]

Oh that is very interesting, the inverse is also used then with showing Alex Williams with mostly green something that is easier on the eyes which is why we feel calmer during their segments until at the end where they were suddenly shown in red. Fascinating.

[@loorthedarkelf8353]

​@@JackHallowLantern very sussinct, thank you. I am poor at summaries 😅

[@simonautic]

@@loorthedarkelf8353 this just reminds me that our bodies are literal machines and now i’m stressed existential dread aside, thank you for sharing this niche science knowledge

[@EGGGUY-57]

Minaxia making a video about pastra is exactly what i needed today. Thank you.

[@Junebugarts]

Agreed🙌🏻

[@ilaria-un7tv]

We love pastra 🙌

[@SeerOfSand]

I'm a casual Pastra watcher and I never knew he made his own analogue series, thank you for making this 😭😭

[@CharaDreemurr-UT]

SAAAAAAAME

[@TylerGoatMan]

1:06:28 “To meet someone you never thought you’d see again” *Immediately gets an ad about commercial flights.*

[@garbagecrow9886]

I wonder if Tommy’s name is supposed to be a reference to Marble Hornets, seeing as he shares a last name with Jay from it.

[@emanresU2020]

It probably is considering all the other references to horror media like Officer Krueger referencing Nightmare on Elm St

[@samtinkle9076]

I guess watching old tapes containing entities that should never be seen runs in the Merrick family

[@Stannewjeansrn]

I think it's really funny that there's a lot of unintentional (I think) references, but yeah the same can be said for the goggles which kind of remind me of a creepypasta i read in 2015

[@sunshines4898]

@@Stannewjeansrnfr

[@mirrord-insanity-ballin]

The alex williams 2nd indroductions is just a parody for waltuh white

[@marcydarcy37]

important things or interesting facts to note 1: the entire soundtrack was created by pastras friend Lyrahorrorz 2:pastra made dreams of an insomniac a narrative writing project originally, but turned it into a analog horror after his ARG he did 3: lankmann is a popular character pastra made but he is NOT a veldigun, his cartoon form is stylized the way that it is because in the original DOAI story it was due to the hallucinations winfrey (an actual veldigun) was causing to the employees 4: snakebat and grimmzo aren’t veldigun so they won’t appear as an actual character 5: Mortimer gray is inspired off of pastras character Mortimer (he isn’t a veldigun) 6: all information in the first DOAI story is NONCANON until it is confirmed in the series itself 7: the phone number for the lankmann foundation hotline is the same number for smormu in smiling friends 8: alex williams is played by pastra himself 9: all 6 veldigun are inspired off of some of pastras favorite horror media 10:there are 3 more veldigun that went unmentioned along with klaus so i’ll go over them real quick, jack is the long green veldigun and is heavily inspired by bonnie from fnaf, Klaus is the smallest veldigun and looks similar to mickey mouse, his inspiration is based off the disney creepy pastas, next is the flock, they are not actually a fully evolved veldigun yet, they are still in their void state because they haven’t consumed a human yet, they are inspired off eldritch entities, lastly we have simon, he has a large potato sack over his face and looks very similar to clyde, he is inspired off of the scarecrow from DC which is pastras favorite villain Lastly is a little theory i wanted to put here on what the mysterious incident was at the foundation, veldigun actually hunt in pairs(this could be deconfirmed in the actual series since it’s from the first version so take this theory with a grain of salt) Clyde is with winfrey, jack is with klaus, and the flock is with jack. since winfrey was captured by lankmann maybe clyde tried to break in and free him so they can hunt again.

[@Milkywaytrain_VR-yy7bb]

Uhh so hypothetically if I said I couldn’t read

[@familytablet6453]

ok, so do you mean the flock is with simon? you said jack twice

[@aidenmb7932]

10:53 I'm disappointed that just over half of the people that talk about this series don't know this is Army of Darkness

[@catgirl_dumbass]

army of darkness being the third evil dead movie, right?

[@kungfuskull]

@@aidenmb7932 ditto. 😠 Especially since it is so widely known, but, somehow not with these people.

[@TheUnmitigatedDawn]

Pastra's rewrite of Jeff the Killer is hands down the best version of the story ever.

[@fedeinoman3418]

@@TheUnmitigatedDawn, no better words have been said, brother.

[@sketchyiris]

Amen

[@Garfeed_Awesome]

I can’t get scared of Clyde after seeing his plush form, but Winfrey’s design just DOES IT for me man.

[@dunsparce7174]

audio glitch at 27:38 is just too perfect and suspicious, maybe im just paranoid tho

[@SophiaScragg-hz3mm]

If you want to learn more about the Veldigun, here's the information I can give to Minaxa! So basically, The Veldigun are a class of monster created by Pastra himself, and they were first discovered in the Middle Ages. Yep, they're an old race. These monsters have stages of bodily form as well, in a void stage, in which they are a mass of living goop, and a solid stage. Their form changes depending on the number of lives they claim. The Veldigun's source of food are the memories, identity, and sanity of their victims, and have also been known to mimic their voices. Some Veldigun even get names from a specific victim they have claimed. So far, only six canon Veldigun Pastra uses himself are Clyde (Vol. 0), Winfrey (Vol. 1), Jack, Klaus, Simon, and The Flock. Starting with Clyde, Pastra commonly uses him as a channel mascot and a source of his PNGTuber avatar when he makes videos and livestreams. Clyde has gone through different design iterations throughout the years Pastra has been online. In his lore, Clyde has gotten his name by consuming a man named Clyde Lankmann, a relative to the Lankmann character Pastra had created. After breaking his ally Winfrey out from the Asylum, he consumed the Lankmann we know about and his entire personality changed from there. He became more sadistic, and eventually became the leader of the Veldigun, using Lankmann's voice to keep the others in line. Next with Winfrey, he was one of the concepts for a channel mascot, and Pastra had already planned channel accessories with Winfrey being front-and-center. He received his name by consuming musician William Winfrey. In his backstory, he was imprisoned by Lankmann and taken to the Asylum where he would be fed minds. After Clyde broke him out of the Asylum, he consumed all the minds within, eventually being driven mad by all the voices inside his head and becoming more animalistic and savage.The reason why he was so tall in Vol. 1 is because his canon height is FOURTEEN FEET. Jesus! I'll only do the two Veldigun we see in the analog horror, so that's the Veldigun lore from an experienced Pastra fan's view!

[@guts60]

Let’s hope Minaxa sees this

[@Nana721nah]

52:20 i just want to add that when I was in psychiatric clinic there were instances of a corridor with numbered rooms (ex. 75,76,79 etc.) and suddenly going to numbers a few highier XD noone from personel could answer why, so i can believe that the the room 66 exists on expense of idk 37 or something like that

[@loorthedarkelf8353]

15:29 yeah generative AI is a crock of shit when used to replace the work of designers, drafters, writers, character artists, photographers, cinimatic artists, animators, muscians, and so on. Like photoshop, it Is Not Fit For Use to turn a person with no creative practice into a capable artist, and when folks try its *very obvious.* But for generated images mimicking photographs of kids for a horror series? Yeah. I'd rather that than the usage of *actual photoes of children who cannot consent to the usage of their image.* The casual usage of people's faces, people an artist has never met, has always been a problem. And I mean *images of faces,* not drawn recreations. An artist needs to study a subject to art them, an image can be captured in an instant with minimal effort and no consent. Using AI to generate faces for stuff like this makes sense to me because *you are not denying a photographer a paycheck.* You are denying someone who uploads pictures of kids site traffic.

[@loorthedarkelf8353]

That said, AI does not *make* anything, it mushes together images in its database. Whether THOSE images are of poor ethical capture is not knowable unless you're someone familiar enough with how those images are sourced to *check* the database. I do not have that expertise nor knowledge. AI databases that use stolen material are Copyright Theft Machines. There is no ethical usage of material that has been taken from a creator without their knowledge nor consent while they are alive. Usage of the generations of such databases is just as much theft as their inital imput. If an AI company will not SAY where their data is sourced from, they do not deserve your trust by any measure. If they won't answer the question, if its not even *acknowledged* in an FAQ, you cannot trust that database or the people running it. Anything else nice they say is ass covering. Stay safe, friends.

[@loorthedarkelf8353]

All that said, theft comes out of a system that theft went into. If the holder of a Database Won't Tell You Where Its Sourced From, they deserve as much trust as a *Journalist* who catagorically won't name their sources. If they were trying to engage legitimately, they wouldn't need to block access.

[@brokentoy8616]

yeah id universally prefer a generated image of photographs for children and such so we dont use actual photo pf people for things they cant consent too, plus the ethical dubiousness of using actual photo's of people who suffered a crime or tragedy just for a horror piece

[@stormhought]

The AI kids do add a sense of uncanny-ness that a normal/edited photo wouldn't, though I think Pastra, being the genuinely talented artist that he is, could have created some kids photos and the police officer in the style of is the rest of his artwork and maintain a thematic style to the rest of the stuff he creates for the demon charater.

[@bluewolf6323]

Even LyraHorrorz, Pastra's friend and work partner in DOAI, had a work around this issue while talking about it and she came up with using her childhood photos to help as a ref. That's her way, and I don't think a lot of people would be OK with that. Everyone has their own ways, and very early A.I is good for the material it's in

[@GoodGirlLuna3]

No matter how scary Clyde gets, I'll never disassociate him from Stream Pastra, most specifically them saying "Consider." when Wesker was mentioned in one of i think Phisnom's RE lore streams?

[@user-bebra24]

The screams of pure pain and anguish they let out during that one stream where they watch their old videos are now forever etched into my brain

[@GoodGirlLuna3]

@@user-bebra24 the Radical Raptors (and that one pokemon trainer countdown) shall be charred into my memory for eternity

[@shorterazer6858]

Or that one time Phisnom pranked Pasta during his RE2 stream, that "YOUUUUU" scream is legendary

[@usernamemusntbeblank]

Vol.1 >Someone's tryna break in >Hide❎❎❎ >Scream and let em know where you're at✅✅✅

[@catgckool428]

When you panic, intelligence often goes out the window.

[@LookiePookDaBoi]

Man wtf am. Supposed to do if a Demon is hunting me? I would also probably scream for help ngl

[@Infernum43]

@@usernamemusntbeblank I'm dead as heck if that thing breaks into my house dude I'ma be dead as heck

[@TheRPGNerd]

as an artist myself, i think the best use of ai IS for this. to create images you literally couldnt get otherwise. using pics of random kids would be weird, and stock photos would be too obvious. so using ai to make fake kids you can use without worry is good! ai has its uses, it just cant replace an artist.

[@KingDaveth]

"Which I assume to be from a piece of horror media" SIR! THAT'S ARMY OF DARKNESS!

[@nicholaspeters9919]

@@KingDaveth Well, he’s technically not wrong, but still, sometimes it is a little sad how many people haven’t gotten into Evil Dead.

[@double_chomps]

Pastra made an analog horror? Let's go

[@minasthirith6314]

@@double_chomps He made a whole AR game to go along with it. You should check it out if you have the time.

[@SmugBlaza]

42:24 pastra really loves putting stripes on his mascots

[@softSynthetic]

It's *THE* Spooky Series! IT'S THE THING MY FRIEND MAKES! WE LOVE TO SEE THAT!

[@breadboiyt35]

Pastra collecting children like they’re Pokémon cards

[@farawayxgalaxy]

My biggest question of this series is the name itself. Like we haven’t really seen much involving dreams. We have a lot of talk about not being able to sleep- but not dreams specifically. I’m really curious if it’ll be answered and how

[@LockNessChompers-vd3zo]

That can most likely be solved by the simple formula of *It Sounded Really Cool™*

[@levievil9220]

@@LockNessChompers-vd3zodefinitely a pastra move to name it something cool and weird

[@poserville_]

considering that the tapes continuously call back to tommy- especially when he should be resting, and the tapes are distorted in such a way that they no longer mimic reality (dreamlike) i think its supposed to call back to how the Veldigun are starting to alter his perception and sanity. Many people with a history of insomnia (includinh myself) often have more nightmares than those with healthy circadian rhythyms.

[@farawayxgalaxy]

@@poserville_ That’s a great theory! I really like it!! Also ayoooo fellow insomnia haver nice to meet ya

[@poserville_]

@@farawayxgalaxy 🤝 brother in arms

[@generalred6260]

Someone on the last video commented "Babe wake up, the funny red box man uploaded another video" or something along those lines and I think about it daily. Can't find the original comment.

[@Nevernamed]

As an artist myself, I do not give two flying fucks if you use AI to generate photographs of fake children for a horror series where they're going to experience a horrible fate. I've seen people say "just hire an artist"- and that absolutely holds up *when the subject is in the style of a drawing*, but when we're talking about photographs, I think it's telling that nobody thinks to say "just hire a photographer". 99% of artists arent going to draw you a photograph, and it's always extremely obvious when a series shows a painting of a person and tells you its a photo. People say that seeing wonky AI gen faces takes them out of a series, but I've always felt the exact same way about being shown a drawing and told "this is a photo of a missing child", it's just silly. Personally, I think this is one of the most ethical uses of AI. It's something that isn't taking work that artists could reasonably have done better (we can have a whole other discussion on the nature of portraiture photography as art), and it isn't exposing photos of real children to a massive audience in a brutal context- anyone who thinks that it's a good idea to use real kids for your horror series and thinks that will have no repercussions for their lives has not been on the internet very long. Good luck explaining to that kids parents why there's suddenly a fanfic on AO3 about them kissing jeff the killer (Not supporting that behaviour, but saying that the internet is a rabid wasteland of amoral people whether you like it or not). Really, actually sucks to see people going all tribalistic on AI. All this AI criticism online started in a genuine place of concern, with real arguments articulated by people who were accurately assessing harm in specific situations, but now the internet is turning AI salem, where ANY use of generative AI models is frowned upon regardless of how you're using them. I'm staunchly against the use of generative AI models to replicate the work of artists, but come on people.

[@troin3925]

I feel the exact same way. There’s only a few conditions where I think AI imagery draws the line: using it for profit, relying on it 100%, posting it on an art website like Artstation or Deviantart, using it in an art contest, using it to replicate artwork (not surreal live action imagery) that can easily be achieved by actual artists, and not making their own edits in post in some way. Everything else is fine (plus, this was made in a different time). Update: Another thing that crosses the line is if it’s a big budget company/production doing it. Hollywood has all the money and resources they need, they have no excuse to use AI.

[@GPS.J1932]

55:16 I'm surprised you didn't mention it but during this part there flashes of things, most of these being things we saw before (caretakers, Clyde etc.), except two, which are texts that seem some reports of a surgery, and considering we are shown these in his face reveal, I possible it was the procedure that Lankmann went through (just look at him, his face just messy) (if I messed up the information, that's fine. I'm not a medical expert to begin with)

[@darkwind30]

The texts are about how to perform a lobotomy

[@Blue_Octo3118]

9:46 Jesus Christ, that one caught me off guard. I actually jumped at the sudden change in sound

[@IrregularityRowan]

Same, the bones showing through the skin is what grossed me out the most

[@Winwo-cq8sr]

I noticed 911 asked where is your emergency instead of what and thought of the implications like how they must get many calls

[@B_4035mn]

I've got a head cannon that lankman is just a cover-name for a veldigan that is attempting to link both their and our world, considering the portal, the sacrifices, abnormal anatomy, and otherworldly knowledge.

[@Ion_Graphics]

23:28 as the doctor started walking away, my dad started whistling in the background and I legit thought the doctor was whistling

[@ashes405]

Hearing the 911 dispatcher hang up on her filled me with such intense DREAD and horror, my heart leapt into my throat and sank at the same time. Sure, police may be shit, but a 911 dispatch hanging up on you? Unparalleled heart sinking dread. I'll be thinking about that moment for a long time

[@daranaqelforastero319]

28:07 I remember Pastra saying on a stream that he names his characters either making names up or giving them normal names that are supposed to be their first victim's name, sooooo....

[@ToccataEtFugue711]

@@daranaqelforastero319 I thought so!

[@daranaqelforastero319]

@@ToccataEtFugue711 creepy

[@cloudykid7278]

I mean his art style is really beautiful and damn is it amazing to see him finally have his own horror project run by himself!

[@FaultyStar274]

Pastra is honestly one of if not my favorite horror youtubers. Hes so unique in that not only is he a good person, but his content has a lot of thought that goes into it.

[@tigerarainbowra]

YAY more DOAI stuff I love this serie very much, very good video!

[@hyperswag506]

I know its not analog horror, but I'd love to watch you cover the Rusty Lake series.

[@IrregularityRowan]

I love the world building of rusty lake! Roots is one of my favorites

[@creatorglitch]

27:34 that audio glitch was so perfectly-fitting though

[@chelledavis-hull5116]

The most Perfect length for a video

[@Just-a-Juggalo]

11:54 if that had been on my right where my window actually is, i think i would have actually just outright died

[@eliottsmallwood2140]

New upload yay! You're my favourite KZbinr right now :D I love your horror overviews and interjections

[@christaalvaro5886]

I’m so happy, I watch Pasta and it makes me excited to see a video from a favorite creator about one of my favorite creators!

[@cyrusmann5443]

Something I noticed is that in a lot of areas with the monster the color yellow is prominent, this makes sense as humans are naturally coded to fear the color yellow.

[@LockNessChompers-vd3zo]

But... Rubber ducks :(

[@cyrusmann5443]

@@LockNessChompers-vd3zo The symbolism of the color yellow is happiness. Even if it doesn't match with the natural meaning. So yes to rubber ducks.

[@LockNessChompers-vd3zo]

@cyrusmann5443 yippee! :)

[@Nevernamed]

Source? I'm only finding references to xanthophobia, which is not innate to all humans.

[@Nevernamed]

Also if this were true, you'd think that marketers- whose whole job is to prey on the human psyche to get you to buy products, wouldn't use yellow in advertisements for trillion dollar corporations.

[@meaninglessmeep]

10:46 Idc that this video is 3 months old, but this footage is from the 1993 horror comedy 'Army of Darkness' which is the 3rd installment of the original evil dead trilogy (and for my pre edit comment, Ash williams my beloved ❤)

[@BandyMandy]

1 hour 11 minutes and 11 seconds, perfect

[@clichedtopic4363]

this is my first video of yours that I have seen and for a second I thought you wree Pastra by how you sound. Good job you win internet points

[@Miss_Rydia]

Thanks for addressing the AI elephant in the room. I also got a bad feeling when I first saw the pictures of the kids, but upon reflecting on it for a second, I realized that it was better than using real kids, and the AI does add that uncanny valley effect. Also, that one other analog horror by two big KZbinrs about a haunted amusement park also used AI, and I liked that one, so it was unfair for me to judge this one negatively over the same thing.

[@Radio-Crab]

this is the piece of video i needed today. thank you

[@Definegod]

Dude pastra is such a cool creator. Like the way he does normal videos while also fusing an ARG into it like holy cow it’s amazing

[@infinityzer054]

only fear from me when with analog horror artist content: 1: anxiety of not being able to get merch (1: too late. 2: don't have the balls to do it since it would be an awkward product to explain to my parents) 2: head hurt (my impatience wants me to learn it quickly, and its hard to understand since i'm not with a group)

[@aclaymushroomwithaberet7084]

0:07 Oh god I'm country I thought it was pronounced P-aa-st-ra not p-ah-st-ra

[@DeniInDenial]

Well, Pastra himself usually calls himself P-aa-stra

[@Phoenix-ug7ct]

Found you 2 days ago and have watched 8+ hours of content please keep on making content I love it

[@squeakerboodle]

this seems like the perfect video to watch before going to bed

[@guts60]

The thing about small town, local police is that they are usually not corrupted even when money is involved. At least not forever. So it leads me to believe that the Eastridge police were not only paid off but also threatened in some way. Probably with being taken to the asylum or straight up death.

[@puimercado1262]

11:49 you do not recognize the bodies in the water you do not recognize the bodies in the water YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE THE BODIES IN THE WATER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE THE BODIES IN THE WATER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE THE BODIES IN THE WATER

[@Enigmatic.cs_]

AI should be a tool, not a crutch or a replacement for real artist. Pastra used it well

[@Dab-studios]

Exactly. I mean pastra would understand, he is an artist after all

[@erinbathie-moore8478]

And here I though I'd be able to watch this series... I love a good spooky story, but the scariest I can do is FNAF and Little Nightmares. I tried watching one of your videos(?) about the horrific Fnaf VHS Tapes, and never finished because I found it too upsetting. Oh well... Love Pastra and his video essays, but I think I'll skip out on this one

[@karathewolfsfanficchannel933]

I saw the thumbnail and had a heart attack thinking there’s pastra drama

[@SquirreI_Brain]

Saving this to watch later, so that way, I can actually sleep tonight because I can’t risk getting horrifically freaked out

[@minerlady140]

12:20 - 12:47 this is one of the coolest sequences I’ve ever seen!

[@OneAndOnlyCookie03]

this is one of the few times i defend ai. using fake pictures of children helps keep real children safe and the slight uncanny effect works

[@SkeletonLeiutenant]

my only problem is how the start with a monster coming from nowhere and the stuff with the foundation feel disconnected

[@Moonlightshine996]

I love your channel, and how you cover the analog horror!

[@OggsterToggster]

MY TWO FAV CREATORS COLLIDE, LETS GOOO

[@Yamilsaccount]

12:20 is me when I’ve been playing valorant for 32 hours without stopping

[@MTN6516]

Ive been taking intro to film as a class this semester, and what the "do not trust anyone wearing this costume" reminds me of is a scene in "Shadow of a Doubt". Early on, there is one scene where some charecters are playing a card game, and one charecter, without saying anything, is shown to have a hand of every single card of spades. That charecter was Alfred Hitchcock playing some random guy, but it was meant to symbolize that he held all the cards in his own movie. This feels almost like if we shouldn't trust someone wearing the suit, well guess who wears it in every single video we see? Pastra themselves. It almost feels like a warning to not trust the very creator of this series itself, layered beneath the actual explicit danger. Like they have control over everything in a strange and twisted way.

[@Sort-of.Trying]

Honestly, if you want more epic music in the horror niche you should definitely check out Happy Meat Farm. Very cool, very grotesque at times so fair warning, but overall interesting and disturbing. Exactly what horror should be

[@hailbopthecomet]

I love this series, but i cannot stand some of the acting, Alex had extreme protagonist voice vibes, that is literally my only complaint, the rest is perfect

[@ShmebsTheGn0me]

That knocking at around 11 mins really got to me dog

[@ryanlally8116]

I love DoaI, but something about its horror doesn’t really work for me. Maybe it’s just something with me, but it isn’t really all that scary

[@NATALIEBATCHLER0192]

Me too

[@LockNessChompers-vd3zo]

What makes it not all that scary for me is that the monster on screen is just that silly little orange dude that talks about creepypastas and hello neighbor. He feels goofy to me because I know him for... Being goofy. That being said, there were some moments that genuinely got me, like most of in loving memory. I'm I still really like it :)

[@Whispersmith646]

​@@LockNessChompers-vd3zo yea, I watched doai Before seeing pastras yt video, and Clyde was significantly scarier to me than people are describing here

[@Sundance967]

HOLY SHIT ONE OF MY FAVORITE KZbinRS COVERING ONE OF MY OTHER FAVORITE KZbinRS’ SERIES???

[@DDYTEDDY]

I absolutely love his art style, love to get a tattoo in his style

[@swineonline05]

The weirdest coincidence just happened. I was watching this while playing Pressure (that one Roblox game) and one of the monsters had the face of Clyde

[@lifebombs]

okay but are we going to talk about how beautifully pastra included color associations and how it helps people that don't watch their other content to follow along with everything? yellows and orange are the snatcher, red is used exclusively for anything that has something to do with Lankmann, and green was used for Alex Williams. The yellow streetlights in the search video already puts us on edge BECAUSE the tapes in volume 0 kept giving us clear imagery of the Snatcher BEING yellow and orange. The brownish orange costume that gets stolen, the security footage of its face, and even the PSA for Halloween all show clear associations between the creature and the color orange. Heck, the entirety of Volume 0 is basically BATHED in Orange and Yellow. Thus, he blindingly bright yellow light anytime the man has an encounter with the supernatural makes it easy to guess 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 exactly he encountered. and then there is Williams, who, in the witness report, showed up in an 𝘖𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 sweater. Then later, in his own volume, Williams is reintroduced to us with GREEN lighting. green lighting that stays consistent for quite some time before its replaced by the Lankmanns red. a red that is consistent with the asylum, the goggles, and anyone/anything that has close ties to Lankmann. And Williams doesn't react to the change in lighting at all. but if his only focus is to just 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, why would he bother changing the room lighting? The Red also changes BACK to green before the door opens. Maybe to let us know how much Lankmann might have heard of the recording. to let us know roughly when he arrived. Or maybe I am reading too much into the colors. But the fact that they gave Alex the complimentary color to red makes me think that maybe, just maybe, this wont be the last we hear of him.

[@TeethSkylark]

I watched the first episode I think, and generally enjoyed it. The only thing I really wished was that he had created an original design for it rather than it being his channel mascot

[@Kacszu]

I love that the video is 1:11:11 minutes long. I just like how neat it is

[@ryandunham1047]

Want to point out that the movie before the EAS is an Evil Dead movie, don’t remember which one though. Also, you thought about maybe reviewing RADAR? Lyrahorrorz, who worked extensively on this analog series, dude an amazing job with her own analog horror video. ;)

[@muggzer4000]

tried falling asleep too this, made me stay up till 3 am

[@legoqueenleah3080]

THE WAY PASTRA ANALOG HORROR GIVES OUT BIG HORROR AND AI IS SO PURE GOLD. MAYBE YOUR NEXT VIDEO CAN BE ABOUT A FNAF FAN GAME CALLS “TALES OF THE BUNNY MAN” AN AMAZING HORROR ABOUT WILLIAM AFTON AND HOW HE KILLED THE 5 MISSING CHILDREN.

[@chris08crimson08]

Touch a demon, boop. *STARTS BLEEDING FROM EVERY ORPHEUS*

[@scotcheggable]

Leave Orpheus alone he already lost the love of his life in Hades

[@zavexcapricious2519]

Using AI for the child photos was the right choice, for the same reasons many people in the comments have pointed out. AI is NOT unethical in and of itself, the whole thing of them being trained on art artists "didnt consent to" is no different than how a lot of those artists traced art to learn how to draw, something that is quite common. However, what IS unethical is using AI art to make money by selling it like you are a real artist who drew it, or using it to actually fire someone and replace them with it, THAT is when it is unethical. Which isn't the case here, thankfully

[@geoshark12]

One thing to note tommy is stated “ it has been so long since you stepped foot here “ meaning he has been there before and “a husk of its former self” seems to imply he has seem what it was before, That last line i think is meant to imply being taken by clyde

[@dominicburch2374]

I knew you would cover this eventually! Thank you. I know that I mentioned this to you during that Minecraft Stream, but I don't think it was me who got you interested in this. Which is fine by me.

[@ffobliv]

finally someone talking about this underrated series

[@erroroccurred404]

@@ffobliv It’s underrated for a reason. And I hope it stays that way.

[@octonomer]

​@@erroroccurred404 ???

[@NATALIEBATCHLER0192]

​@@erroroccurred404 why?

[@erroroccurred404]

@@NATALIEBATCHLER0192 It’s too full of tropes (it’s basically Mandela catalogue) and it hasn’t scared me once.

[@Leader7353]

@@erroroccurred404 everything has tropes lmao

[@PuppetMaster-o1n]

I watched some of Pastra's videos before this and his mascot scared me without any of this, now I will have nightmares!

[@Spookii-i3x]

Yooo, this is what drugs and alcohol would do to a youtube celebrity. Now he's a kidnapper? Prayers go out to Pasta

[@Lowfe]

This is most likely just a coincidence but the photo at 34:43 is almost identical to and shares the same name as the EP “I Love You” by Meth. Considering how small the band is I don’t think the creator was influenced by it, but it’s certainly a cool coincidence

[@elreturner1227]

The plot reminds me kinda of the tangi virus where you can’t trust anyone even the people “helping”

[@familytablet6453]

43:58 when you watch a streamer so much you can recognize their voice instantly:

[@P.A.L.09]

My favorite analogy horror series

[@ivydbomb-6969]

Haven’t seen anybody mention the video length is 1:11:11