THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES #25 - Growing Dark

MAG012 - Case #01519014 - Mark Bilham
Statement regarding the events that culminated in a visit to Hither Green Chapel, London.
The Magnus Archives tells the tale of a young man whose partner’s friend seemingly found religion in dark places and under strange, somewhat disturbing, circumstances.
Starring: The Archivist - Jonathan Sims
Writer: Jonathan Sims
Director: Alexander J Newall
Editors: Alexander J Newall, Mike LeBeau, Murray Porter
MERCH:
Crowdmade: crowdmade.com/...
Teepublic: www.teepublic....
Redbubble: www.redbubble....
For more information or to hang out with the Rusty Quill community, visit:
WEBSITE: www.rustyquill.com
FACEBOOK: therustyquill/
TWITTER: @therustyquill
FORUMS: rustyquill.proboards.com
REDDIT: www.reddit.com/r/TheMagnusArchives/
DISCORD: / discord
EMAIL: [e-mail]
The Magnus Archives is distributed by RustyQuill.com and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.

[@megancress1384]

I know that torch is just the british way of saying flashlight but every episode involving one i still imagine the characters holding an actual burning torch

[@rachelwaln4728]

Same

[@epsyblue7714]

Oh I had assumed the torches were lanterns.

[@mun_404]

Same

[@briawilson9200]

Same !!!

[@puffy1169]

I had to Google it, cause i did the same thing xD Funny enough i should be taught British English by school and I'm more familiar with American xD

[@conandenz8413]

I literally start screaming every time I hear anything related to Jurgen leitner, an eye, or any bugs in this series. Just like "ahhh yes. A symbol. Hmm i wonder what the symbol is? Could it be an eye?" "a symbol of an eye" "DAMNIT!"

[@neroquin]

Also burning. So many things burn.

[@kinghydra4225]

And worms.

[@calamity2383]

May I introduce you to the Jurgen Leitner rant?

[@conandenz8413]

@@calamity2383 introduce me? i know it by heart :D

[@hawkgirl9984]

Honestly same. Anytime I hear a story that connects to leitner i get super excited and listen even more intently

[@toastghost9145]

May 15, 2015 was a busy day. The chapel started screaming, Gertrude died, and I had a birthday party.

[@cawareyoudoin7379]

Like in the year 1969. Everything important happened.

[@debbiebishop86]

terribly underrated comment

[@user-gz2hy2wu5g]

nice

[@starsixseven9259]

These three are connected. Aren't they?

[@gh0sthotel418]

lol I also had a birthday party

[@andrewclarke5972]

If I had a dollar for every time he said "I would ignore/disregard this if it wasn't for..." I would have 25 dollars, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it has happened every time

[@MagnusThiHan]

nah. every time the books are brought up he goes "jesus christ this bullshit"

[@Alex-tx7ih]

Probably cherry picked. We're being shown the more interesting episodes; he's apparently working full time trying to catalogue everything, so I imagine most are just duds.

[@calamity2383]

@@Alex-tx7ih You are actually correct, he only reads ones that he at least mostly believes

[@ashtasheran6970]

@@calamity2383 Major spoilers for the later season We only hear the ones that are true bcs the Web is pulling the strings he recorded much more statements than that what we hear (well that is in the first 2 seasons cuz he definetly didnt care about his job in season 3 and 4) in digital media but the ones we hear always had their files corrupted by the Web wich made it so John had to record them with the tape recorder wich is an artifact of the Web

[@calamity2383]

@@ashtasheran6970 yeah I know don’t worry :) I meant he only records ones he knows are true I actually finished mag last week! But I already had spoilers for everything lmao

[@stork7541]

If i had realized that the lightbulbs were unscrewed then i would scream wildly at how much money i wasted at changing them

[@broblerone413]

same when he said that i was just thinking of all the money wasted

[@midnights2631]

WAIT WHAT

[@eazyemman]

Same! IN THIS ECONOMY!?!?

[@bugjams]

I love that characters in TMA can be so painfully aware that something is wrong but also too Britishly polite to be rude and say something about it. It's like, "Yeah my flatmate started singing in tongues, unscrewing all the lightbulbs and also I heard sounds from her room when she wasn't home. Said something about joining a new religion. But I wouldn't want to make a fuss about if, I might come off as rude!" This setting would 100% not work in an American setting. Guns would start going off like fireworks the moment something spooky happened.

[@Idran]

After this comment, I'm very curious if you've reached episode 31 by now :3

[@levchenkodarya]

Sounds like the typical medic student for me

[@iamaunicorn1232]

Thats un-American. We report them to the cops so the cops can shoot them. Unless you're in Texas. In Texas you hunt bad roommates like prarie dogs.

[@AnotheraccountonYT]

Well we wouldn't want to be rude now would we? At most we may ascend to true Britishness and become extremely passive aggressive but only in dire circumstances. Who are we to control how others live their life?

[@Bip4rl0]

Spooky?! 😡

[@fred_______]

Most people; Bible verse Mark, an intellectual: *Bible quote*

[@masonwindu6370]

Truly top of the line big brain Mark possesses

[@WiIIowisp]

bible lyric

[@nateds7326]

I'd like to think that it's actually Markiplier now. *This is big brain time*

[@rilla5058]

A scripture

[@togahimiko8083]

i heard one person call it a bible lyric-

[@dirtyraccoon3014]

People in the comments, thank you so so much for catching little details and helping me remember names. I have terrible memory lol

[@Afromonkey1998]

I love raccoons 😗

[@jeemsers]

"The lightbulbs kept blowing" I find it interesting that the exact same wording is being used as in the episode with the serial killer dad, even though the character telling this story knows that's not what happened at all. It seems awfully deliberate.

[@nanahuatli2144]

I'm working under the assumption that anything that seems like a connection is a connection. It seems like that kind of story.

[@crepezzzzz]

the serial killer dad and natalie were both doing weird, culty things, specifically during the night, perhaps they knew eachother?

[@minty7945]

Yeah and every time there's odd chanting I connect it to episode 9. There was some of that in episode 12 too

[@senormooples2354]

I feel like I remember that in a fathers love, Julia mentioned that they were blowing, I assumed that that means she was present and saw that the bulbs would just turn off but then again she was a child so maybe her father was unscrewing them since both stories have parallels on growing darlness

[@vighneshravindran3270]

@@crepezzzzz Its the same cult Julia's mother was in.

[@amandafrazier9724]

So there are two significant eye symbols: the closed eye, which seems to be a cult symbol (here, and A Father's Love)and the open eyes, which seem to be a protective ward (First Aid, and the Black Forest ep). There are also frequent instances of a finite space becoming temporarily infinite or at least larger and distorted (the cave, the sky, the graveyard/fields, and here, the dark/chapel.) Damn, this show is good.

[@emilybarclay8831]

Idk how far you’re in now but **SPOILERS** The closed eye is The Dark, and the open eye is The Eye. They’re kinda natural opposites given that one depends on obscuring, hiding and the other depends on being exposed and seen. The Eye may not directly harm you physically but it is definitely NOT a protective entity unless you’re the archivist

[@holycarp1676]

@@emilybarclay8831 or otherwise a servant or follower of The Beholding also the symbols of The Mother of Puppets and The Watcher are the closest to protective symbols

[@melissaharris3389]

​@holycarp1676 I wouldn't say any of the entities are protective. They are possessive, though. Visibility wearing any symbol of a power may discourage some avatars from attacking while conversely encouraging others. They act more like warning signs and badges of alligance.

[@korickarmstrong3468]

So, something I don't see a lot of people talking about is the number of "sudden heart failures" we see across this series. I think we're up to like, 4?

[@FreshSqueezedSlugs]

More if there is a father figure involved

[@michellemcelhinney2765]

Sounds like there is a connection to the previous episode where the dad had a shed of hearts in jars (A Father's Love).

[@littlerain8032]

Don’t worry about it it’s Kira lmao

[@justeundonut-moi.7979]

@@littlerain8032 Heyyyyyy nice 😂

[@cheddarcheezit2647]

Kira is that u Edit: someone beat me to it 😢

[@b-blythe6763]

im so worried about that "spinach" Cathy ate

[@Персик-н2к]

Might've been those worms

[@ann-margretparke9525]

Never eat what you can not see. Picked up a sandwich in the dark once, took a bite and 'yuk', it was covered in ants. Think that was the sort of scare they were going for. Could have been anything in that bowl.

[@jaderush4141]

The dishes they served in Resident Evil 7?

[@_mel_9953]

@@ann-margretparke9525 Oh my god that’s terrifying, I’d just pass out right there. Hope you were alright after that

[@alessiapalma8823]

@@Персик-н2к OMG you are right 🤮🤮 I thought it was like intestine which wouldn’t be too bad considered it’s a thing ppl eat as a delicacy in some places but those worms.. poor Cathy

[@imakedoodleslol]

oh my god her mum dying of 'heart failure' has a whole knew meaning with this cult knowledge we learnt about in ep 9. that totally flew over my head the first time.

[@ZeroOhClock]

Wait... explain ?

[@tillyeh2866]

Zero 'O Clock might be something to do with how the father in ep9 was killing women and ripping out their hearts for a ritual ? a weird ritualistic focus on hearts ?

[@ZeroOhClock]

@@tillyeh2866 Ahh! I forgot the specifics of what he was doing. Thank you!

[@trucetruce335]

tilly eh wasn’t just women

[@rotemsosna8893]

holy shit i didn’t even think of that! good catch

[@dannymern6425]

The plot chickens

[@metagro5441]

The plot chickens indeed

[@nonapplicable7093]

I really like that sentence

[@alessiapalma8823]

What does that mean? Is that a hidden spoiler?

[@amniamin22]

The plot thickens. But chickens.

[@alessiapalma8823]

@@amniamin22 oh okay lol

[@rotemsosna8893]

so there’s the same cult as mentioned in “a father’s love” and i could be reaching with this, but the same motif of darkness in that episode, where in “a father’s love” there’s the wave of darkness that shuts off the street lamps, and in this episode he mentions the streetlights/ his car lights being too dim as well as Natalie unscrewing the lightbulbs and darkening her room

[@Skali4President]

Does anyone else think this might have been the thing that stole the sister in the caving ep?

[@christianmoralesortiz4688]

@@Skali4President most likely

[@emilybarclay8831]

@@Skali4President SPOILERS That was The Buried, but The Buried and The Dark, the subject of this story and Father’s Love, are naturally quite similar and overlap a lot. Just like how The Stranger, The Spiral and The Web are so often associated with each-other. These entities are parts of the same whole, according to some. So there’s naturally overlap

[@Dani_1012]

Things that so far are related: - Closed and opened eyes from "A Father's Love" - Striped wallpaper from the priest episodes, could be skinning people again... - The chapel from "Alone" and the German tomb episode - Yet another person that died of "heart failure" - light bulbs not working and darkness from "A Father's Love" - places suddenly growing large or reducing in size, like "Lost Johns' Cave" among other episodes - things crawling out of holes/worms, like Martin's hella creepy episode... I wonder how they're going to tie everything together

[@Sxcheschka]

I wonder indeed, hee hee, relistening for like the 5th time lol.

[@non-bb4756]

Same I love this so far

[@BeauxBeetles]

Very late to this but just to ask, who else died of heart failure? I vaguely remember the guy's dad from "Dreamer" but is that it?

[@marcellesantana5813]

@@BeauxBeetlesi think the girl who got exorcised by the “cannibal” priest

[@nehirbilmenegerekyok4473]

​@@BeauxBeetlesalso Evan Lukas in ep13

[@rain-qb2xv]

the imagery of someone singing in another language outside your room at night time is honestly really fking creepy

[@TIGGYQUE]

*remembers that 90% of her country population is obsessed with American and British bands and badly butcher lyrics while singing with the headphones on* yeah creepy...

[@aneta3098]

I mean depends on the country, guess in UK, US and such it could be

[@jvg9349]

Nobody has mentioned the stripped wallpaper. This could just be a coincidence but it reminds me of the episode with the priest. One of the houses he visited had wallpaper stripped from the wall and the word mentis.

[@Skali4President]

Woah

[@aesynthi6884]

as an american, it took me almost the entirety of this episode to realize "torch" meant "flashlight" lmao

[@aoife8977]

Shoe's on the other foot now lmao. Weird the differences between what's basically the same language lol

[@late_prince8945]

At first, I thought that they are really using ,,torch,,

[@Companion92]

I'm german and I had the same problem XD

[@fred_______]

So am I so every time they torch it tajes me a split second to think if the right kind of torch

[@em-wg7xg]

as a non native english speaker i was so confused by how often they used torches lmao

[@2001Pieps]

So the eye is related to the cult referenced in episode 9 "A father's love".

[@a_blitz]

The eye has been referenced several timed not just in gather's love but yeah i think that it was first mentioned there

[@dawhandaonli5925]

Jared Key is also covered in similar tattoos

[@nanahuatli2144]

@@a_blitz Yeah, but I think A Father's Love is the only instance before this episode where the eye is *closed*. I'm going to assume this is important.

[@ano2959]

What about the episode first aid? Didn’t a guy have tattoos of eyes? Or did i mishear it

[@darlingrosiebun8952]

There was the lady covered in eye tatts too and the drawing of an eye on her wall someone made for her

[@levchenkodarya]

I'm surprised that it was a *medical student* who thought of Natalie's behaviour as strange, considering all the strange things that I was doing during being one myself. For example, I would sing our University anthem (it's on Latin) out loud, not turn on any lights besides my table lamp (which saved me quite a lot of money for electricity bills) and come to my flat with a bag of bones...

[@TIGGYQUE]

lol if only people knew how hungry med students become at the anatomy lessons ahahahah but you know joking about wanting to eat meat while looking at some preserved hand with muscles and tendons is okay but methodically unscrewing lightbulbs juuust a little so they don't work... (also I still don't consider accidentally eating human skin cannibalism)

[@farahch7466]

Mark has the same surname as one of the students who got killed, Christopher Bilham, from MAG020 Desecrated Host (the one who wasn't eaten). Could be pure coincidence but at this point I feel like you really can't overlook anything in the series lmao

[@ano2959]

Omg, i suck at remembering names but yea! Like good job finding this out!

[@azrielspringer546]

I was thinking about that too

[@farahch7466]

@Ida Juelsson the priest who was possessed then killed and ate the skin of 2 students

[@farahch7466]

@Ida Juelsson not an inconvenience at all! i love the show and i have a whole google doc listing names and episodes because of how complex it gets haha!

[@glassesinthetub]

@@farahch7466 I was wondering if you could share your Google doc with me 😭 I'm having a hard time with names myself

[@CristopherNigh]

Notable (possible) clues marked by a blind listener: -Hear failures (lots) -(perhaps?) Two cults, eyes open or closed. -Failling lightbulbs. -Bilhem, like the killed. -The rich "religious" family from Alone, and their creepy chapel-cemetary. -

[@CristopherNigh]

Heart*

[@P4perD0ves]

​@CristopherNigh they loterally just said they were blind. Tf The work they've done is very good, even for a fully seeing person.

[@rubyscorpion5213]

@P4perD0ves mate, i think you might be the blind one lol. the person you replied to was correcting themselves. also, "Blind listener" is a saying meaning someone who knows nothing about the media they are listening too

[@fitz9358]

who drives to check out a creepy possible gathering place for a cult that is some ways away from the closest town in the middle of the night by themselves??

[@tomboi941]

Mark Bilham apparently

[@alicepatton3040]

Someone who is whipped af for his girlfriend

[@f_mva]

istg the only smart protagonist so far was the lad from the closed box story

[@jaderush4141]

What about the Anglerfish dude?

[@maguc5906]

@@jaderush4141 most of the protagonista have been decently smart people all things considered

[@cendre4605]

"Anything your phobia is, there is a Magnus Archive episode about it", they say... Didn't think it could apply to my very specific phobia of lights not working / not being as strong as they should for no apparent reason and abnormally vast spaces in total darkness-

[@bro_im_tired]

Everytime he says, "statement ends" im reminded of the fact that, for the most part, its just john voicing these statements. But the tone is so different and sometimes im just rly invested in the story that i forget its not another person talking.

[@RoseMultiverse]

*The entity like a boomer:* Damn kids and their new fangled technology!!

[@eskay4023]

"Night's gonna last for a very long time" I got shivers

[@frostflaggermus]

"Nee Alesund is a small town in Norway" As an actual Norwegian, this sounds like a really weird name. Unless.... could you mean Ny-Ålesund? (i googled and it turns out it's a real town too, all the way up at svalbard, with a permanent population of around 35 people. neat!!) Å does sound rather different from A, but since he's britishly clueless and only reading it out, I'll forgive it.

[@Enithyla]

I live in Ålesund- thought it said near Alesund, was terrified then really confused until i realized he meant Ny-Ålesund! I originally though the subtilitets got it wrong then i heard Norway and basically screamed XD Now i know how those who live in London and the areas previously mentioned felt :P

[@not_llike_that]

His Russian pronunciation is awful too hahaha

[@beltaya276]

God that is definitely the same cult from ‘A Fathers Love’, and the same song ? Possibly? From ‘First Aid’. Also.... this may be a stretch but i noticed a parallel from Lost Jons Cave of the scenery around you changing in pitch black darknesss.. with a hand involved. Hmmhmmmmm

[@starshinegroup3047]

Same cult, different song, unrelated to the cave

[@beltaya276]

@@starshinegroup3047 hahaha ik im caught up

[@labrat_1]

ok so about the gertrude thing at the end, when asked about why she died everyone just said she "died while working" or something like that. She may have died to that cult while doing more envestigating into that statement. also im a new listener so no spoilers pls

[@davv6628]

Also a new listener. That all makes sense and I agree. It's the only thing that makes sense and with this series it seems there aren't ant coincidence but rather only connections

[@getolde7966]

As a new listener, I strongly suspect she was murdered by intervention of something supernatural, possibly one of the many cults in this series. Someone wanted her gone and I partially suspect it has something to do with Elias.

[@rilla5058]

@@getolde7966 Same, I'm getting a slightly strange vibe from Elias. Might be misplaced but eh

[@ErrorNotFound-nl1sh]

New listener too, remember what it said in the dreamer episode, I think, about her dying in the line of duty...

[@Misty_Grey744]

New listener here too, that does sound very compelling but in the dreamer episode there was something to do with the colour red. I haven’t heard anything to with it other than that episode though…

[@tearez13]

creepy chapel in the middle of a cemetery? that sounds familiar...

[@saurabhsharma6939]

"alone"

[@SolarSeaSlug]

That's exactly what I was thinking. I'm willing to bet it's the same one from the episode with the car crash lady and her fiancé's funeral

[@aybukebulat]

And the one in the Germany when the man found an old cemetery

[@aimeesmith3505]

I don’t know if I’m reading too far into it, but I think the church is the same one as in Alone

[@Alexandra-lj5dr]

My thoughts exactly! Or at least a similar situation as both times it was dark and the place ‘morphed’ into another. And both times the people gained help from unexplainable sources (this would be Mark suddenly feeling his phone and Evan telling Naomi to go left). This helped both of them get back into reality. Also we can’t ignore the fact that while in those places, beings tried to get both Naomi and Mark to stay (the open grave for Naomi and the fingers for Mark)

[@brokenmir5164]

it's interesting that the closed eye appears in the episodes about darkness. We often see eye symbols, but the closed eye was only in the ninth episode. Does that mean the darkness is against watching, making your eyes close?

[@toadstooldarling9937]

okay so....theres alot of eye symbols yes. but I feel like theres a difference between the closed eye one and the open eye one. or atleast some reason, I dont think theyd make note of it if it wasnt important

[@peachypauper]

An open eye opens investigation, curiousity, a want to 'see the truth' A closed eye could be an invitation to ignorance, and to be 'kept in the dark' ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@archermon373]

Opposed factions?

[@TheNitpickChick]

👀

[@emilybarclay8831]

I ain’t spoiling but you’re onto something 👀

[@toadstooldarling9937]

@@emilybarclay8831 I love looking back at my comments after listening to the whole series, like "haha yeah you go buddy"

[@alessiapalma8823]

Guys what if the closed eye drawing turned into an open eye when all lights are off, kinda cool like they’re watching u when u can’t see. But I feel more like there are two cults, one of the opened eye one of the closed eye. The open one protects u from the dark arts of the closed one (remember how in first aid the eye tattoos protected the guy from the lightless flame?). Also in the Black wood episode (that german name sch smt) in the tomb there were open eyes as to protect the place. Also in a father’s love the dad was scared when he realised his wife hadn’t her opened eye pendant on her, which I suspect protected her. And what about pageturner, Gerard Kaey had a painting of a GREEN open eye on his wall, and he seemed to be in the good cult bc he helped out the main character and burned the evil book (the one with human skin pages) and also in first aid he had killed the man evoking the lightless flame. Omg too many references to fit in this comment. Plz let me know what u think about this theory

[@saurabhsharma6939]

you have connected the dots my friend...i like it..I feel too that the state of eye makes a difference.......I wonder if it connects to that blackwood man without eyes...

[@jasonschuler2256]

Small correction: the pedant the wife left behind in “A Father’s Love” was a CLOSED eye, not an open one.

[@emilybarclay8831]

Without spoiling anything, the closed and open eyes are for different cults but one thing you got wrong is that the open eye ain’t protecting no one lol

[@biancamlf288]

It's not black wood but black woods/forest (literal translation of Schwartzwald, an actual forest/area in Bavaria). The only Blackwood is Martin, but judging how this was a year ago, I'm sure you know all this by now. (Commenting for first time listeners.)

[@craterface2940]

23:28 awful pronunciation of "Ny-Ålesund" took a while to figure out what place he meant. but yeah, its on "Svalbard" a group of islands about halfway between Norway and the north pole. so yeah pretty far north. do what you wish with this information :)

[@JesseColton]

I only know Svalbard as the place childrens daemons were being stolen from them in His Dark Materials

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

What else could a native English speaker do? They can't say å.

[@jackolantern9034]

places rlly far north tend to have winters where the sun doesn’t shine so everything is in complete darkness for half the year, so that might have something to do with it

[@ghouletteren]

Ah yes, the scary scary place of Ny-Ålesund where nothing happens apart from the occasional polar bear sighting. Still fun that they mentioned my home country in this episode ❤️🇧🇻

[@Enithyla]

@@ghouletteren I live in Ålesund so i got a double scare untill i rememberd there was a place called Ny-Ålesund XD

[@martinag5479]

I thank both KZbin's automatic subtitles and whoever did the transcripts on the web. I'm Italian (my English isn't that great) and I can't understand that much if I listen only.

[@dendakrmelova1201]

hi! here are transcripts for all the episodes, i think that coul help snarp.github.io/magnus_archives_transcripts/index_reverse.html

[@nopeimout3182]

Oh ciao, I'm Italian too :)

[@martinag5479]

@@nopeimout3182 Omg quindi sei italian*?

[@nopeimout3182]

@@martinag5479 Yup! Figo incontrare altri italiani qui! Non ne ho visti molti.

[@martinag5479]

@@nopeimout3182 Scusa se ti chiedo, puoi scegliere di non rispondere, ma quanti anni hai?

[@weirdhails3802]

Really loving how all these stories are beginning to tie in with each other in various ways

[@Rin-qj7zt]

it's all coming together.. =O

[@noyes1382]

I recall people saying that there’s a magnus archives episode for every type of fear. As someone who’s always been afraid of empty darkness and who is currently watching this in the dark, this one definitely got me on edge.

[@heftyglorps1387]

I'll say "every type of fear" is legit. Mine was "the sky ate him" *shivers*

[@emilybarclay8831]

For anyone listening for the first time and noticing the eye motif (this podcast LOVES eyes) without spiking anything, the closed eye and the open eye are different symbols for different groups :)

[@jakebrill5990]

THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE BONNET LMAO

[@thestrongestjoestar8342]

"..the lightbulbs kept blowing..." Me who heard this while jogging: *STOPS*

[@charmii4475]

First time listener! There seems to be a similarity in each episode's horror that could be categorized. The current one is related to darkness, same as "a father's love." Then some related to insects (squirm, arachnophobia, colony). And in "Schwartzwald" the coin's flipside had sumn that translates to "for the silence" and the servant that took the coin died in a brutal way that exceeds human violence (remember vampire killer, how the vampires prey and dont speak at all?) Also this might be a bit of a stretch but "Burned out and First Aid" might worship something that relates to fire. Last and this might count as a spoiler but ive seen comments from freefall and strange music about "the vast" and "the stranger" respectively? And these somethings might be worshipped by diff cults? Tl;dr There are different horrors that can be categorized and each have their own cult. E.g. The darkness, the silence, the insects (?), sumn related to fire, and *spoilers i saw from comments* the vast, and the stranger.

[@basilzsunflovverz3191]

entities.

[@Emkito]

First time listener as well, the fog seems to be a recurring theme too!

[@ghouletteren]

ah yes, the mysterious place of Ny-Ålesund, a place where 130 people live at most because of the cold and where literally nothing happens ever, apart from the occasional polar bear sighting

[@heftyglorps1387]

How do YOU know? Unless YOU live there, those 35-130 people might be part of a cult and just act normal when other people show up like in hot fuzz or midsommar. You don't know what they do in the dark even if you have relatives or whatever there. People can act normal when outsiders are around. Plus 6 months of darkness is a perfect place for creatures of the dark to move into.

[@RoseMultiverse]

Interesting how the entities seem to teleport people into a different dimension or at least some of them do 👀

[@TheNitpickChick]

It is interesting! My guess is it depends on how much power or influence the entity has over either the location or the statement giver. *****SPOILERS FOR THOSE NOT CAUGHT UP***** I’m just theorizing, but there are spoilers! . . . . . . . The Dark and the Lonely seem to do it the most, probably because it can get dark, or a person can be lonely just about anywhere. The Vast does it a lot as well. Then there’s more specific examples like the corridors of The Distortion, or the Flesh making that one abattoir infinitely bigger than expected. They have power in those specific places, so that makes sense. Then there’s fears like the Corruption or the Hunt that work best by making their victims feel the horrible reality of the situation, and thus don’t need to alter perceptions or reality in order to be effective. I find the way the Fears work, in general, to be fascinating and I love theorizing about their impacts on the world. (Before... y’know... what happened in ep 160, of course. lol) 😊

[@JartinVartinJlackwood]

I gave up note taking on episode 9 so thanks for all the red string notes and character recalls in the comments!

[@lucasmcginnies8916]

First time listener! Noticing colours making appearances often "enjoy blue skies", "hither green descenters", the red calliope, might have missed a few bit likewise might be looking for patterns where none exist XD

[@thatoneperson2731]

1:55 My name is Harper, and hearing Jonathan say my name makes me so happy

[@slice_of_void]

I just paused the episode to get out of bed and take a shower when I heard a "crunch" under my feet... it was a spider nedlees to say I'm terrified now

[@LittleBitch-bi3fx]

Ok mark is sooo in love witg cathy it’s cute

[@epiphanierosenstern5635]

"You worshipped them as we speak" Nat' Deary. What did you make to eat? You scare me

[@lyx8039]

Bit scared because the priest religious episode said the thing WANTED faith

[@Daggerswamp]

Im noticing a lot of similarities between the fog and the darkness. They both triggered no alarm in the statement givers until they were fully engulfed. They both made them feel as if they were in immense danger. Though the fog didnt seem to care about light like this dark did. The fog was around the church, though the dark was seen elswhere. While writing this I remembered the ipen blue sky or whatever it was called. It also seemed to engulf someone and make them panic until it suddenly stopped, though unlike the other two the sky ate someone. I could be horribly wrong here but the dark, the fog, and the open blue sky feel like they could be connected.

[@cringeworthy4755]

"Someone had been unscrewing them." NOPE-

[@leojacobson1274]

This might be a stretch, but in the clown episode, the creepy clown had eyes painted as being closed. Maybe the same painted eyes?

[@alessiapalma8823]

Omg u r right

[@crimsonowls9834]

As a Norwegian it took me a good while to realize “Nieallesund” was supposed to be “Ny Ålesund” which is on Svalbard… i figured it was supposed to be Latin or something until the end

[@levchenkodarya]

I'm thankful for the comments that tell about recurring people and places, because I'm *really* bad with names and stuff, but goodness gracious me, every time I see something like "nobody mentions" or "don't see anyone talk about" and etc. and then them mentioning some very tiny detail, like, bloody hell, guys, are you learning this statements by heart or what?

[@cactusc9519]

: ) but yea, the comments section, or at least these particular comment sections are a cool place! i sooo much agree!

[@-haclong2366]

21:40 When I hear the word "torch" my first thought is a mobile telephone, only afterwards do I think of actual standalone torches.

[@thething2723]

I think the cemetery and chapel sounds a lot like the one from the episode where a girls fiance died and she got lost and ended up there. I think it could be a coincidence, but a boarded up chapel with a surrounding cemetery?

[@albuseisenhorn3385]

The comments below about theories and putting the pieces together brings me much joy having been there years earlier

[@pappanalab]

Ok so what I have so far is… -creepy books -that one moving company -Gerard and Mary Keay -a recurring theme of eyes -parasites targeting Martin - a strange uprooted tree And my predictions based off all this are… - there is a cult that has something to do with lots of eyes and the books - the Keays probably are involved in the cult somehow -uprooting that tree either released something or put something to rest, I’m not sure exactly which one’s right -cult activity might be messing with lightbulbs? There was something about exploding lightbulbs in the serial killer case and this one too. My questions… - what happened to the previous archivist? There are clear connections between some of the stuff, so why did they ignore it? -what does the Magnus Institute actually do? It’s implied they research the paranormal and that they take statements of experiences but that can’t be all of it. I’m pretty sure the Institute has other employees not tied to the archive so what do they do?

[@marly_goblin_boig4295]

I have a suspicion that what ever natalie had served weren't exactly "vegetarian" (I'm thinking their some kind of bugs) persay and now I'm concerned that its gonna have consequences

[@PedroKing19]

21:32 the moment he said "flash" all the lights around me in the street came on. maybe its real

[@wolfordragondemon]

Anyone else notice that the light bulbs blew out like in ep 9?

[@hapmon8114]

Fun-fact: Ny-Ålesund is actually a real settlement on the island of Svalbard which of course is Norwegian:)

[@Alsarnia]

So, I've been keeping notes and determined a couple of...factions? That keep popping up. The meat/worm people, the eyes/beholder people, and the fire/heat people. Previously, I thought the shadow themes were part of the meat people, because of ep 10 with the serial killer dad, but now I'm thinking there's a different shadow faction, related to this church, which was also mentioned in episode 10. Plus, we now know that Jane Prentiss is a major person in the meat faction and we heard the name Mr. Pitch here from Natalie. I feel like a detective. What is this podcast doing to me???

[@owenr-m4619]

I don't know how far you're into the series but keep those notes up! You're doing good detective work!

[@molol44]

That village in Norway reminds me of Barrow, Alaska. In the middle of winter, the sun doesnt come out for a month! That is a long night.

[@melissaharris3389]

⚠️Spoiler for season 4: This is the first mention of Ny-Ålesund. All the way back here in season 1. The foreshadowing was long for that one.

[@gingergamer8204]

eyes come up a lot, and i'm not sure if they're all connected, but I feel that this specific story is related to "a father's love", what with the whole darkness thing

[@signumriver1909]

First time listener here - Slowly I begin the get confused by all the names, characters and locations :D I should have taken notes from the first episode on :D

[@Sxcheschka]

But that's the kind of fun not doing it. Adds to the insanity.

[@NightOfTheRevolution]

Is the church and graveyard from Alone?

[@sgtpepper91]

yes

[@sgtpepper91]

no

[@beltaya276]

ooooooh maybe that would be really interesting. It also matches up with the scenery changing when it goes dark

[@melissaharris3389]

Spoiler: The Dark and The Lonely are very closely related.

[@NightOfTheRevolution]

Damn I never realized I got this far last time I listened to the series lol

[@Mothman1992]

Finished the series around this time last year. I'm listening through again now that I know where it's going

[@humblehive6502]

I’m not stupid i won’t go in......................but?

[@brendancarney1388]

Closed eye, open eye, two factions?

[@lisdumatin8008]

I crochet to these episodes lol

[@AnanasVert]

Same ahaha

[@madisonlane5169]

fell asleep half way through and woke up with my airpods still in on ep 29

[@fayrouza7415]

Sometimes I replay some old episodes so that I can sleep. It helps me a lot.

[@madisonlane5169]

@@fayrouza7415 honestly that’s smart his voice is so calming even if it’s a creepy ep if I listen at night I start to fall asleep lol

[@fayrouza7415]

@@madisonlane5169 totally, his voice and full accent, too.

[@madisonlane5169]

@@fayrouza7415 yes exactly!

[@brainworm232]

I've relistened to the tma like 5 times already. And one question still bothers me.... SPOILERS Did this guy just casually interrupted the ritual of the Dark by shoving his smartphone in its face????

[@cooperdavis9663]

"there just wasn't enough for it to be a crime" um, didn't Natalie take all of Kathy's stuff too?

[@jackleneoakes3707]

I'm brand new but if they did disappear investigating this case, then why this case vs all the other ones? I can't wait to find out why in the coming episodes 😊

[@nightowl8477]

What if the records are already in the right order? The ways in which the stories relate. Maybe that's why the last archivist died...

[@maydayduckie1264]

“It can’t have been actually supernatural like ghosts and stuff” My Supernatural (the TV show) obsessed @$$: Bet.

[@the_next_da_vinci1056]

Im going absolutly crazy trying to figure out the plot as i go but theres just not enough info and so many things r connect. Ive been taking notes but i still miss so many things lmao

[@ann-margretparke9525]

It isn't such a secret in the end. But finding the forshaddowing is fun.

[@saurabhsharma6939]

I keep reading comments thats why...if I miss something

[@lucindagomez7878]

"Some boring book on the history of the bonnet or something" Dude that sounds rad af what's with this guy?

[@cactusc9519]

yea, that does sound cool - and rad af!

[@hawkgirl9984]

Anyone else kinda dance around to the audio of the lights turning on? Whenever that happens in the intro I stop what I'm doing and point around as the lights turn on one by one (or at least I assume that's the sound of lights turning on)

[@emilyk38]

That's what that is! I had recognized it as familiar and never quite placed it as those like, industrial lights you get in large buildings.

[@hawkgirl9984]

@@emilyk38 my grade school gym had those big industrial ceiling lights so I know that echoing metallic sound anywhere. I imagine it's supposed to be the sound of the lights coming on in the archives. I always picture the lights coming on row by row, illuminating countless shelves of documents.

[@T.V102]

Yknow how scared i got from the start!? Before the story was even told! THE STATEMENT WAS GIVEN ON MY BIRTHDAY!? (Not the year ofc but still!?)

[@SyaShim]

Reading comments it’s so interesting, how narrator way of phrasing influences commenters writing. Ads a lot to paranormal investigation atmosphere:D Or it just me

[@wonderwhatsgonnahappen579]

AYO, I DON'T THINK THAT'S SPINACH !!!!

[@Mekabear1991]

The fact my first thoughts when she found a new church was that of the cult, i tell you im trying so hard to connect these dots and just hoping im wrong so i can find some new puzzle piece

[@f_mva]

was cathy eating a bowl of worms

[@mechengr1731]

I was really scared what she was actually eating. I think we all know it wasnt overcooked spinach. Sometimes, it's best to live in ignorance.

[@aliviabowler5423]

All the story’s are connected

[@milleliza1490]

"when my torch died" OH FUCK NO

[@ghulehvoodoo]

an old abandoned chapel in a graveyard, you say ? sounds rather *lonely* , if you ask me. please tell me someone else made that little connection ?

[@emmah1161]

An episode of magnus archive for my specific fear!!! Weird roommates!!

[@mae_er3]

natalie just went around unscrewing the lightbulbs slightly? lmao

[@poisonink5164]

Not me crocheting while listening to him describe crocheting

[@anromeow]

is this not the same chapel that Naomi saw when she got lost on the cemetery?? because I could swear it's the same one!

[@alysstreaty6794]

Does someone of you also notice how sad Jonathan seems to be at "end of statement"?

[@senorsapo1810]

Leathery fingers? Isn’t that how the spirals hands are described feeling like? Or maybe it’s just zombies. Because graveyards.

[@not_llike_that]

So I've noticed a very strange and very specific occurrence that no one else seems to mention: both the anglerfish AND the singing dispelled when a person turned on the torch/light on their phones! Which is interesting, because simpler electrical devices clearly stop working around whatever this is. But not the phone!