The Most Annoying Trope In Horror (And How It Can Be Done Effectively)

[@disintegrated0576]

jerma being in the thumbnail absolutely took me out 💀 great video

[@heavysbeltbuckle]

@@disintegrated0576 La Hermá...

[@TwiRat_09]

I was looking for this comment lol

[@The_Copper_Element_Itself]

The Impostor Incident

[@DuumKraddle]

To be honest, his presence alone is considered horror beyond our understanding of his unusual and inhumane personality

[@samsparks151]

Fr it’s the reason I clicked on the video

[@workingself]

Honestly, Mandela Catalogue gets a pass for this, one because it was one of the first to do it, and two because Alex Kister doesn't rely on the faces anymore. But stuff like the batman one... man that had potential

[@waffler-yz3gw]

@@workingself hard agree on your whole comment

[@Iamasimplecreature]

@@workingself yeah after he got more budget the alternates look absolutely horrifying now

[@MrNonexistant]

@@workingself I mistook “one of the first” as “the first” I was bouta say

[@tiktokhouseclean8731]

Agreed. It’s like calling the original Halloween movie cliched

[@melonbutters3568]

Tbf it cooked as much as it could, the idea of questioning who are you praying to or if your prayers are being hear by something else is fire, is the first I knew to do so, fits so well for Lucifer.

[@johnathanmonsen6567]

Pretty major candidate for "what looks like a human, but isn't, that we needed to be afraid of": Corpses. If you see a corpse, that's fresh enough to still look alive, then something dangerous is probably still nearby.

[@LatchinOn]

@@johnathanmonsen6567 Ooh that's a creepy concept.. I've always been creeped out of corpses The fear isn't from the corpse itself though, it's from the idea that someone turned a once living being into a corpse

[@myhonestreaction3120]

This is unlikely, we have to remember that the uncanny valley is also triggered when something ACTS human and very clearly isnt. The most likely candidate for this would be the competition for survival between other homo sapiens species, its not hard to assume most of them would not get along with us humans, a few neanderthals that mated with us being outsiders on this.

[@HappyTheHuman]

Like how people aren't afraid of the dark, but of what is in the dark.

[@johnathanmonsen6567]

@@LatchinOn ...Yeah. It's called killing. Not wanting to stick around a place where someone recently died doesn't seem that creepy to me.

[@IsaacOfTheSaints]

And also because [fancy colorful title card]: *Disease*

[@thatgamingkiwi1630]

Back in MY day we used to have evil moons, planets, and monuments instead of heavily photoshopped Jerma faces!

[@legitusername-zl7to]

we have flesh asteroids and digital spirits too

[@OnlyIfiCould]

Don't forget the flesh roots that turn anything organic into red spaghetti sculptures

[@legitusername-zl7to]

dont forget about a mascot robots that is haunted by an entity that will kill you, shove you onto other robots and send you to some sort of realm

[@mikomakowski7907]

Bro, monument mythos is something Like you’re telling me there are special trees that cause people to dimension hop, glass that when people get decapitated by it, are still alive, and turn into giant flying monsters unless rubbed down with vinegar, and in one universe Richard Nixon became the supreme god and created super man who died in Vietnam, along with 2 other “super men” And that alone isn’t even 1/8th of the crazy shit that happens in it

[@yoavbenclaudia3073]

Dead Space?

[@SpookySquid14]

It definitely doesn't work as well now, but Gabriel's distorted smile is absolutely ICONIC.

[@kze24]

I've seen it so many times that it's not really scary to me anymore. It is still extremely iconic and I love jumpscaring my friends with it.

[@johnathanmonsen6567]

I never found it scary to begin with. Especially the cartoon-y outline on the eyes, it just immediately struck me as _goofy_ rather than frightening. I expect the image was more effective on people with phobias closely related to the uncanny; fear of clowns, fear of mannikins, things like that.

[@fanOfMinecraft-UAs_channel]

@@johnathanmonsen6567 I haven't watched the thing myself, so maybe the sound would make it more scary, but yes, it feels really goofy as an image

[@A-Rather-Dubious-Character]

@@johnathanmonsen6567 Fair, but I'd like to mention that, at least in this video's case and likely others, the smile is shown out of context. Just there on the screen for a second or two and we're onto the next point of the topic. If you were to watch the original video it came from, I'd argue it wouldn't be nearly as goofy after the tension and dread had been built up.

[@ABAShortfilms]

Seeing a lot of people go after this part but I guess I didn't clarify enough, my problem wasn't with the mandela catalogue but rather everything that tried to do the exact same thing as it

[@Venom96930]

Why is every single superhero analog horror "A SUPERHERO TURNS INTO MONSTER AND KILLS EVERYONE"?

[@forestboy8]

@@Venom96930 I'd love to see a Batman Analog Horror that focuses on Arkham Asylum and the villains within it

[@karenbonds264]

I suggest you check out The Arkham Tapes by The Batfeed. It’s right up your alley!

[@Mesozoic6667]

Reminds me of that one movie 'BrightBurn'

[@gregormcscrungus9727]

@@Venom96930 The Arkham Tapes almost had it, but they went in the monster Batman direction

[@kwayneboy1524]

​@@gregormcscrungus9727I mean it's an interesting direction if done right

[@iamjackspyramidshapedhelmet]

It’s the googly eyes for me. The spooky faces would be much more unsettling if they didn’t have big cute eyes lmao

[@HYDROCARBON_XD]

But they should be deformed because thats creepy

[@Shyy_Guyy]

@@iamjackspyramidshapedhelmet I’m not entirely sure if we’re thinking the same thing but something like Walten Files and a few cases of Mandela catalog eyes with that black shadow/hollow look around feels like said character is wearing a mask is what usually gets me personally, I wish I can post images on examples of the ones I have in my head

[@Axl4325]

@@Shyy_Guyy Wendigoon put in in a way that made it creepier for me. Gabriel has googly eyes which isn't that creepy, but then you have to remember that this is a cartoon version of what actually happened. If the cartoon version of Gabriel looks like that, how does the real one look? It's a really cool concept and I think Alex Kister went with it because in further iterations we don't see Gabriel's face again, just glimpses or blurred out images

[@Linkonpark100]

When it comes to googly eyes, I think of Christopher Walken's plants. "The eyes...are the windows...of your face!"

[@PlayTimeIncorporated]

They look a bit like hamsters

[@blackosprey2219]

Regarding scary grins, it's not that deep. Wide unfriendly eyes and bared teeth is a ubiquitous threat/aggression display across a huge variety of animals, including us.

[@twoshu8940]

What’s your point? It’s not scary in media anymore

[@MikaOfficial999]

How could we make it scary again?

[@ChanceGuevara]

@MikaOfficial999 Let it die

[@Rabbit-o-witz]

​@MikaOfficial999not using it. Angry/sad faces are creepier

[@ChanceGuevara]

@Rabbit-o-witz not really that's just yout personal guy reaction. Honestly these games focus on a specific demographic of people with active imagination and that fill in the gaps themselves to appear "creepy" or weird, when in reality these áre just constructs that hold no weight or effect

[@nonsuspicioustrenchcoat]

There are some scientific theories about why we’re unsettled by the uncanny valley. One is that we used this to distinguish sickly humans in our community. Back when we didn’t necessarily have proper medicinal practices, a sickly person could’ve been a danger to the whole group. Two, “Homo Sapiens” weren’t the only species of human. There were other similar, adjacent human species that, for some reason, went extinct. We believe this could’ve been because we out-competed them or they just blended into the gene pool. But it’s possible that we learned to distinguish between ourselves and these other similar species, which is why we’re so scared of things just slightly different from us: we probably competed with them a lot. Those are two scientific reasons, but I’m sure there are others if anyone else can think of any.

[@bonebrokebuddy5248]

Did a paper on this in college, the whole “uncanny valley is because we used it to detect other species of early hominids” hasn’t had really any research and is just a theory spread really prevalently from a tumblr post that coined the theory. Other theories are: early human warfare!! We were our main predators and it’s theorized a lot of attacks were bloody sneak attacks during dawn and dusk. And I mean like, seriously dlsfguring the hominids that were being attacked. Being able to see and identify faces in the dark + a victim of an attack would let you be alerted and have the chance to run before your group was invaded. So add a dlsfigured hominid + shadows = open slack mouth, shadows creeping over the eye sockets, with “looks human but isn’t human” due to the lighting & injuries caused to the body etc. and you have a pretty decent image of a modern day classic distorted face in analogue horror! If you have the time, I’d highly recommend looking up theories about early hominid warfare, not only bc it’s fascinating but it’s a subject rife with academic drama and competing theories. Also, sorry if this post comes across as harsh, it isn’t meant to be. I also thought that myth was true and found out whole writing that paper that it wasn’t.

[@DMinus10]

​@@bonebrokebuddy5248I also did an essay about it and I reached almost the same conclusion but it is still an interesting topic to research about

[@nonsuspicioustrenchcoat]

@ no, thanks for sharing! I swear I thought I heard that theory from one of the actually academic channels I watch but I got them mixed up, I suppose. This sounds really interesting, I’ll look into it :>

[@bonebrokebuddy5248]

@@nonsuspicioustrenchcoat you might’ve seen it in academic circles actually! It’s so damn prevalent that it’s seen as a fact by many regardless that there aren’t papers to back it up. It’s one of those things that’s Seems obvious at first but when you look at it closer, it starts to break down and somehow I haven’t seen any research that actually evaluates that claim. In truth, not a lot of hominid species were around during the same time, near each-other and it’s theorized that interactions between them weren’t common enough to be the cause of the uncanny valley effect, same-species warfare is seen simply as far more likely of a cause.

[@bonebrokebuddy5248]

@@nonsuspicioustrenchcoat here’s some places to start if your interested! Carrier, David R. “The Advantage of Standing up to Fight and the Evolution of Habitual Bipedalism in Hominins.” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, 18 May 2011, A incredibly, incredibly flawed paper that I find utterly delightful in how this decently respected man in academics narrows down evolution to “hrmg. Hominid learn to stand to punch each other in the face and no other reason. definitely one main reason and one reason alone, totally not due to a bunch of factors, no siree!.” (He contradicts a lot of his theories in different papers he’s written or coauthored and the stats he pulls are super flawed. Like in “Protective Buttressing of the Hominin Face.” he pulls stats from males going to the hospital for injuries for proof & comes to the conclusion that the most injured place in altercations is the face, when it’s a survivor’s plane bias. People who get an injury to the head in an altercation are more likely to go to the ER & will likely treat bruises and wounds to their torso & limbs themselves & claims that’s a major factor in the hominid to homo sapien face shape change, completely going against the popular self-domestication theory) Other pieces of media: Wade, Nicholas. Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors. New York, Penguin Press, 2006. A FANTASTIC book “Human Evolution Interactive Timeline.” The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program, 27 Apr. 2021. A nice and easy resource to refer back to if you want to learn more about a specific area of hominid evolution.

[@danatheOG]

its lowkey funny how you gotta put a warning "this is my opinion" in the beginning

[@ABAShortfilms]

@@danatheOG Some people lowkey act like I murdered their family if I say I dislike something sometimes lol

[@Hound98]

@@ABAShortfilms GUHHH HOW DARE YOU DISS MY FAVORITE ANALOG HORROR?1111? AM GONNA REPORT YOUU!!1111

[@jamy_the_undead]

@@ABAShortfilms grr how dare you express your own thoughts on a subject i like!!!! im gonna tell you to do not very nice things and you should go be uhhh bad!!!

[@GrugTalks]

To be fair there a lot of "This thing is objectively bad" types in this realm of discussion. It's worth distinguishing yourself from them so I know if I can take you seriously or not.

[@TheRestartedOne]

@@ABAShortfilms HOW DARE YOU HAVE A OPINION??/? 😡😡😡😡🤬🤬🤬 IM SUPER MEGA ULTRA MAD GRRR!!11!😡🤬😡🤬 IM GONNA EAT THE FLOWER IN YOUR LAWN BECAUSE YOU DISLIKE MY FAVORITE PHOTOSHOPPED JERMA FACE IN A BAD ANALOG HORROR VIDEO!!;1 😡🤬😡😡

[@mentalkay]

1:54 realistically, either neathertals or dead bodies. I lean more towards dead bodies. Being weirded out by rotting corpses meant staying away from them and the diseases that might carry.

[@tnap09]

@mentalkay I believe this fear has nothing to do with Neanderthals, as our species stuck in groups and the other early human species stayed alone, which is why we survived and they didn't, so corpes like you said are very reasonable for this fear

[@floof6896]

not neanderthals, homo sapiens (our ancestors) bred with the neanderthals, and some modern humans today have neanderthal dna. i'd say probably other human species that we didnt breed with (or corpses)

[@InternationalAwesomeFoundation]

@@mentalkay also we interbred with neanderthals so i don't figure we were THAT scared of them really

[@collapsednan4131]

I actually think its more likely a clash of multiple signals in our brain. Part of our brain is telling us human and part of it is telling us its not human, rather than a fear evolved of a specific thing. Brains seem to get detrimental effects when two things that shouldnt be true together are both true, like car sickness, where our eyes tell us one thing and our inertia detection tells us another.

[@absolutezerochill2700]

@@InternationalAwesomeFoundation I mean, how many men today are terrified of women, and yet the populations still growing lol. Maybe it was like a "fear and mystery leads to attraction thing". Kinda like how people have a thing for demon and monster girls now... but less out there.

[@TheSoftMinkStudio]

"why do we have this fear of something that looks like us" ENEMEY CAVEMAN UNGA BUNGA

[@BrianHenrie]

You’re actually correct here. Though It was other species of humans that we probably evolved it for. We kinda had an entire race war with Neanderthals.

[@Pumpkinchu.]

no its because of corpses

[@BrianHenrie]

@@Pumpkinchu. While that makes sense and it’s likely the reason is both, it makes more sense to me that it was because of other species of humans. (I know saying that it makes sense to me is reminiscent of several logical fallacies but I couldn’t find any research on the reason for the uncanny valley) While corpses do look creepy, they don’t really trigger the uncanny valley (at least for me.) a fresh corpse might make you some slight unease (probably as a result of you knowing someone is dead) but the unease isn’t the same you feel staring at a distorted face. On top of that we already have a reaction to corpses. Disgust. If you see anything rotting or smell anything rotting/decomposing you become disgusted as a way to protect you from diseases. The uncanny valley would be redundant if it was evolved for us to avoid corpses. (Though evolution is full of redundancies.) On the other hand, other human species basically fit the criteria for the uncanny valley. Something that looks human (or homo sapien in this case but isn’t). The benefits for evolving this trait are obvious. Homo sapiens wiped out every other human species but us, therefore making us more successful due to a lack of competition. Therefore the uncanny valley would be an beneficial trait to have, as it would make us wary around potentially hostile human species who might seek us harm. (Sorry this got so long)

[@artemefimov8215]

@BrianHenrie and we fucking exterminated them. Metal.

[@TotFak]

Ooga booga

[@Jeb-Slim-Jonson-mb3qx]

Tbh uncanny faces don't work at all without good build up, atmosphere and soundtrack/ambiance.

[@buddy-tb5ik]

That's what I'm saying. Also not to mention some analog horrors don't make the distorted faces... Well... More distorted. A reason why I love the walten files was because of the distorted faces. You know you're looking at a human's face, but you really never thought that a face could become deformed like that. Example being Charles in bunnyfarm which is also from the walten files.

[@DIVINE_WEAP0N]

Exactly. It makes me think of “rushmorerevenge” ..the video that got me into the monument mythos. I saw this at 3am and the sudden facial distortion and not knowing what the video was from deadass scared me

[@BibleStorm]

The sound does literally everything. The whole genre of analog horror is just hilarious faces with scary music/atmosphere. It honestly seems like the genre is a joke.

[@maitele]

​@@buddy-tb5ik When I watched the original Mandela series I always found the most horrifying concepts to be the pictograms of the Alternate that was upside down and the Alternate whose head expanded seemingly into infinity. Both of those were infinitely more terrifying concepts than any actually portrayed Alternates, and annoyingly it seems like the new version cut both of those out. It's weird.

[@Cypmongolien]

this is a really good video the "oooh scary distorted face" trope has done so much damage to analog horror

[@CasualCat64]

The last time I’ve jumped in a “scary” piece of media was a fnaf jumpscare when I was 9 horror just don’t be hitting the same no more we need a hard reset instead of the same formula

[@oraclecloud5261]

It was never scary imo, it felt like a cheaper scare tactic than jumpscares

[@balacleaver583]

Lets be real, analog horror was never all that scary in the first place.

[@ilzuab8467]

​@@balacleaver583 It was to me, a lot more than any conventional horror movies or series at least. If you consume a lot of horror media, you will eventually get resistent to pretty much everything. However, analogue horror to this day is the scariest form of horror to me (along with the spin-off digitial horror) because horro films today are trash mostly, and even if they're good, that rarely has to do with them being scary rather than telling a good story with good themes (like Midsommar).

[@Meowdab]

made me laugh how the Batman analog horror capitalized "Man" in this day and age and expected to be taken seriously

[@legitusername-zl7to]

why did man make analog jonkler, is he stupid?

[@samtinkle9076]

Man Ham: Ape

[@an-animal-lover]

I've never seen it, what was the context?

[@Meowdab]

@@an-animal-lover a moment in this video shows it at one point, I can't remember when exactly though

[@Jay1ean]

@@Meowdab i couldnt even take the Batman one seriously with how many spelling and grammatical mistakes there were, i was legit laughing during it

[@gaydemon5708]

The "uncanny" faces are becoming the analog Horrors verison of "hyperealistic blood and hyperealistic eyes!"

[@mistertwister2000]

I really appreciate Vita Carnis for being such an original idea and clearly having a lot of love put towards its world-building before it even tries to scare you. That Mimic scene is 100% earned, and having it be an entirely practical effect adds to how special it is

[@Mepharias]

A lot of what makes the Mimic work is answering the question posed in this video. Why are we afraid of something that looks human, but isn't quite right? The Mimic is a predator that attempts to feed off that. To usurp our place in the food chain. The fear of being predated upon is something modern humans are almost completely unacquainted with and it works really well.

[@owenrobbins5677]

I agree, the world building in vita carnis is really good

[@ModernHero7]

1:10 Me when the water keeps rising after I flush the toilet:

[@thatweirdbwah_]

@@ModernHero7 LMAOMXDKDM

[@catalyst9955]

dude this totally broke me

[@seatherny_y]

Crying right now 😭😭😭

[@AltixBR]

@@ModernHero7 marry me

[@pyle5433]

Jerma being on the thumbnail had me let all my guard down

[@defaultyboi6937]

Totally agree. The waltan files is a great example of using the distortred faces and even added a partial reason for the faces within episode 4 when they talk about the facial recognition software in the robots. I will say I really like that the series has started to do its storytelling differently and strayed from constantly showing the distorted faces. It really shows that an anolog horror can be experimentive and not use the same scares over and over without losing its identity.

[@daderowley4514]

I know this is a bizarre example, but it fits within this context. There was a whole episode on My Little Pony that talked about how trends can kill creativity. Basically it was about how a character known as rarity makes a really flashy dress, and a friend of hers wants rarity to mass produce it because it’s popular. At first, it doesn’t seem like a bad thing, but when rarity tries to make another type of dress people reject it because it’s not part of the popular dress trend. It gets so bad that she doesn’t enjoy her hobby of making dresses anymore and was going to give it up as a whole. Fortunately, she made some other design dresses that other people liked and wanted. It brought back some of her motivation and she decided from then on she was going to make what SHE wanted and told her friend this as well. Overall the message is that the excessive indulgence of a trend can kill people’s creativity to make new stuff.

[@quik4783]

@@daderowley4514 get out

[@spookey2004]

That’s hella deep, I love it when kids shows don’t talk down to kids and can tackle really interesting concepts like that

[@daderowley4514]

@ ikr

[@TheRedMan77]

MLP being a genuinely peak kids' show, as per usual. Seriously, I've heard nothing but good things about this show writing-wise.

[@carebear6798]

If you like mlp, you can look up mlp infection au & some of them also use the distorted image method of making the ponies look scary/unsettling.

[@teege007]

this trope is basically "hyperrealistic bloody eyes" all over again

[@delicacies4362]

@@teege007 lol

[@classic.3747]

My favorite instances of distorted faces in The Walten FIles are when they are used to represent the mangled state of a victim after encountering Bon. The implied brutality behind each distortion is a lot scarier than just the faces themselves

[@ciguatera780]

reminds me of a horror game ( i think it was japanese?) where after being tailed by unseen spooky for a bit, it finally appears to kill you and it's just a giant black censor box chasing you around. you can hear every foul and wretched noise it makes as it approaches but you can't or weren't meant to see it. it's a bit lazy and crude in implementation but the implication is powerful

[@ルイィズ]

@@classic.3747 the walten files distorted faces are the only ones that actually get to me I hate them so much (in a good way), I always look down or away from the screen when they come

[@swarple]

The uncanny valley is weird for me. Spooky distorted faces pretty much never get me (even that Ring one you showed didn’t unsettle me), yet I have had actual nightmares about the Working Joes from Alien: Isolation, and that grainy “photo” of Smile Dog, which is hilarious considering most people aren’t scared of it. Super odd. Fear is so weirdly subjective.

[@osymosys5751]

I'm in the same boat as you when it comes to an image that genuinely sends me into a panic but most find goofy, the jeff the killer image and all iterations of it. It has an interesting history, but my god I cannot handle looking at it.

[@GafferPerkele]

@@swarple Wadn't the lore of the SD that if you saw the real picture of it, usually implied to be the one posted, said creature would haunt you during sleeping or your dreams? Not life-threatening per se, just a constant sanity drain. Fitting reaction to it and probably why it spread so well. Enough people likely had nightmares about it.

[@swarple]

@@GafferPerkele Yeah, actually! You would have nightmares every night until you “spread the word” by showing the image to someone else. I definitely think it’s funny that it had the exact effect as in the story- besides the “dog” talking to me, thank goodness.

[@swarple]

@@osymosys5751 Gonna be honest that one scared me for a long time too, even as an adult. A KZbinr- MidnightCrick- did speculate that the fear from the SD image comes from its eyes more than the smile, and I would say the same for Jeff. The gaze is very intense and trained on you. Me no likey.

[@mje71103]

Hey, I can finally share a similar sentiment with someone. I'd say I'm tough to shake in terms of being actually unsettled on things even since my youth, and that extends to the uncanny valley as well; the entire analog horror genre (if at least the topical exaggerated smiling features) just never did anything for me. Yet, even though I'm not frightened like I was when I was a kid, it was that other image of Smile Dog - the more famous violently red one - that sometimes throws me off when the image crops up randomly. This as well for both SCP-087-B face and the Jeff the Killer image - the famous edit, the one where he looks like he has jaundice and with the same smile as the former two, but not the presumed original edit people point to. I think it's something about the high contrast and photoshop quality to these images that has some effect on me. The stark black backgrounds thrown off by the deep red teeth, be it the overflow of human and animal teeth for the dog and the SCP, or the mouth too *wide* for teeth with Jeff's gums being more prominent than his actual teeth if anything, mixed with the blank, bright and shrunken white eyes on faces that typically don't have any other features where they should. From a short glance it *looks* about as real as can be, but any closer or longer and it obviously falls apart, and it's debatable how much this actually does set it apart from the style analog horrors tend to go for, but that very obvious "you can tell this was thrown together in Photoshop in ten minutes by college students" quality to them honestly feels a lot more authentic compared to the modern "trying to the point it loops back around to not being effective to begin with" approach.

[@vidaistvan1418]

Scary Face Syndrome and it's consequences have been a disaster for amateur horror

[@ARSGstudios]

@@vidaistvan1418 I know what you are

[@Crestfallen_Warrior]

I know what kind of man you are.

[@WorldWeave]

I think the main problem with using the “stretched out faces” method of the uncanny valley, is that the uncanny valley is typically (at least in my experience) in regards to something being SLIGHTLY off…like smiling with just the mouth and not the eyes, or a robot that just…isn’t quite expressive enough

[@OneSickBastard]

Totally agree. It's a "valley" with peaks into "canny" on either end so it can be pushed too far just as easily as not enough.

[@inknteethstudio1181]

I do wish that a new analog horror series would try something different, yet take inspiration from the first analog horror series like “local 58” for example. Make it feel like something you’d watch on tv. Maybe have the series be about a cryptid channel that explores different kinds of otherworldly monsters other than nessie and Bigfoot. INNOVATE! Not IMITATE they always say. Speaking of creative stuff, there’s a series called “Winter of 83” which does something different by using living snow! I’d recommend you readers to give it a watch when you have time. 😀

[@Cypmongolien]

@@inknteethstudio1181 arcadia tv is a really good one and is massively underrated

[@hono.sapiens]

local 58 isnt the first analog horror

[@yeleiralopez9945]

Reject analog horror return to found footage

[@LeadintheHead]

Have you watched Dr Nowhere’s “The Oddity Compendium”? It’s literally that suggestion at the end of the comment

[@SketchyScares]

I’ll make something real soon in Christmas…watch.

[@GalacticStudios69]

the FNAF purple guy one always gets me when they use the sound “criminal, criminal, criminal” like it disturbs me beyond belief.

[@Cynic15]

yeah, that one makes me uneasy because i always expect a jumpscare after, but it never comes. i think part of the reason why that one is so effective is because we know criminals are bad and need to be avoided, so when there's a voice saying "criminal" at the pace of an emergency siren (which we also know are bad,) and we can't get away? that's bound to make you a little anxious

[@hwalnut7202]

i think that one is so unsettling because of the way it slowly fades in as opposed to just appearing instantly

[@ThatCatCast]

All of doctor nowheres analog horror is really well made. I honestly hope that the locust will get the same attention the boiled one is getting

[@suburbiaawhereyoubelong]

exactly

[@kze24]

The Locust actually has more views than the Boiled One somehow

[@seekgaming303]

@kze24 ever consider the fact that is was made before the boiled one

[@bearturtle6058]

​@@seekgaming303 The Boiled One seems to be shadowbanned from the search results for spme reason. I could pnly find it in the creator's channel. Possibly because of KZbin counting it as weird gore.

[@Skeletonarchmage]

Locust?

[@korbinhranac5550]

That's why I love Gemini Home Entertainment, it uses the uncanny valley without a single distorted face, just some random dudes acting off in a perfect manner

[@problemperson4221]

oh true, i was terrified of the clips of the infected humans acting stiffly, especially the one through the window, absolutely terrifying.

[@Bobo-ox7fj]

Well, there was the skeleton

[@Lo-pingOrg]

I'm so tired of hearing that, "Oh the uncanny valley of due to some mysterious predator from our past". Guys, it's not that complicated. It's corpses and sick people. That's it. They look like a normal person, but something's off about them so we have an instinct to avoid them for self preservation due to the presence of disease

[@glados2788]

1:50 The most likely explanation is 3 reasons. 1. Back in our early history, we weren't the only species of human. Different species of human, such as the Neanderthals, were our natural competitors. We would of course want to spot said competition more easily and have that sweet adrenaline kicking in so we could more easily fight or flee, much less try to get too friendly with them or else we might run into some hybridizing issues. 2. To better detect more major and debilitating mutations and physical deformities. Of course, these days we don't have to worry as much about such a thing now that we've advanced beyond the need for survival of the fittest. Our physically and mentally disabled can still live rather comfortable lives with WAY less judgement. However, when we were still basically another species of wild animal, we would have had to have a way to weed out anyone that wasn't fit to survive and mate with. Physical deformities were definitely something to be avoided. Everyone who avoided those with deformities got to more successfully pass on the genes and eventually the avoidance was just natural. 3. Similar to number 2, this could also be a way to avoid sickness. When people are severely sick, they can experience mild deformations such as a more jaundiced look, skin boils, off color look, etc. Even in behavior, some diseases will change things about the way animals and people act. Take rabies or prions for example, diseases that attack the brain and are incredibly deadly. We can even find similar behavior in other animals. If you've ever seen videos of cats getting scared of cat masks, dogs getting freaked out by fake dogs, horses being startled by horse costumes, that sort of thing. Their brain is basically screaming how this is a fellow animal but something is wrong with it and therefor needs to be avoided. Edit: @neoqwerty came up with another good proposal: uncanny faces often coincide with facial emotions and what we're seeing in uncanny faces are those emotions exaggerated unnaturally. To us, these facial expressions innately indicate aggression and volatility. A really good point imo.

[@YourCasualGargantuanLeviathan]

I personally subscribe to the first idea.

[@iamahiphopfan3759]

@@glados2788 if this first idea is true it didn’t work because our early ancestors did fuck neanderthals.

[@fandomfanatic2001]

@@glados2788 also dead bodies could be another contender. If somebody’s dead from something besides old age/natural causes, that can be an indicator that there’s something to watch out for

[@jacobsonstudiosgoji]

@@glados2788 it could also just be an extension of our innate fear toward other humans

[@neoqwerty]

@jacobsonstudiosgoji Building on that one, the uncanniness of the distortions matches with facial distortions that we see in EMOTIONS. Widened eyes and gaping mouths are screams-- either of rage or terror, the signs match both. Messing with someone's pupil size usually means there's some sort of unusual mood going on, from excitement/fear (pupils dilate, all-black eyes are common in being unnerving and if you've seen someone on some drugs or even a cat that's scared to hell, you know BIG PUPIL is a big indicator of fear/aggression) to mentally checking out (pupils can constrict when they're not reacting to the light coming in at ALL and instead the brain thinks there's too much light in here), so messing with pupils would exaggerate the feeling that this is unstable and dangerous and likely to hurt you if you draw its attention to you. I think it could be an innate fear not of other humans, precisely, but of human emotional volatility. We're inherently not very stable creatures and have to exist in a sweet spot, so an excess or drought of facial emotions would send alarm bells in our social hindbrains. All the face warpings are setting off an ancient "THIS IS NOT A GOOD EMOTION THEY'RE FEELING AND IT'S DANGEROUS TO YOU" red flag.

[@SwaggyG_2102]

The Mandela Catalogue, to me, is the best and worst thing to have ever happened to the analog horror genre.

[@MarcusGreen-y7g]

One bad trope in horror is the “random old footage” trope. Idk if there’s a name for it. But I’m talking about those videos where it’s just a ton of random old grainy footage of different non related things without context, accompanied by eery music and randomized loud sounds in the background. An example of this is the video called “this is only a test” here on yt. It’s a good video, used to scare me when I was a kid. But now I see so many horror videos like that and it’s boring now, does nothing for me

[@Ceciless_Watcher]

My theory about why humans have the uncanny valley is to avoid diseases or corpses. Same reason some might have of bugs or rats or the notorious Mysterious Trash Liquid ™️. I think it was likely sewn deep in the human mind to be afraid of things that don’t look exactly human is to avoid “ew gross don’t touch that” My brother’s theory (which he’s mainly not serious about) is that each animal has an ‘odd’ counterpart (Bees have hornets, rabbits have hares, butterflies have moths) and at some point we had an odd counterpart (possibly other primates of the homo genus), or, my part of his theory: it’s still around, and just really good at hiding. Anyway, this was a lot longer than I thought it would’ve been, thanks for reading :]

[@kamikeserpentail3778]

We had Neanderthals.

[@jmoam8483]

Is that jerma on the thumbnail

[@schultz02]

Yea lol

[@ChaosHorseStudiosReal]

⁠sus

[@StephenBurchel]

4:26 I think using Vita Carnis as an example is a disservice to that series. The main point of fear within that scene I would argue isn't the face of the Mimic rather it is the situation. The camerawomen is confined to her closet being chased by a predator that is practically unstoppable and her fate is sealed. The face is simply a cherry on top of the underlying more helpless horror that scene creates.

[@Aranthappyrobot]

The Mandela catalogue got under my skin a lot with the doppelgänger concept of its plot. The religious undertones also got under my skin pretty well, though that might be a me thing more than anything.

[@Cynic15]

those two things REALLY got under my skin as well cause i'm christian, which puts me DIRECTLY into the priority targets for alternates

[@KayButtonJay]

To me the best kind of uncanny valley isn’t from goofy faces. It’s from entities trying to act like humans but failing in very subtle ways. And the more you notice and the most suspicious you get… then the more threatening they become. That can be horrifying. Especially if you’re alone and vulnerable

[@siennaforrester2166]

@@KayButtonJay Thats why i love Get Out. Trying to posess/impersonate being a nomal person will forever give me chills. Acting too formally in the wrong setting, staring at me for just a lil too long, bodies moving a little too perfectly is definitely unsettling

[@rolandocarrillo4570]

My fav scary face in the walten files is when sha says "am i still beautiful sophie". Because the face is so visceral and is rosemary trying to call out to sophie. The face is also the only one that keeps me up at night.

[@Pulvrk1n-ti5hp]

@@rolandocarrillo4570 samee

[@SirTriton]

I thought at first that this was gonna be on the trope of “what if good guy was le bad” but after watching the video you made me realise how much the faces thing comes back in almost every single analog horror

[@classic.3747]

That one is a contender for second most annoying trope, tho. If I see another "kids media is evil!!!!!!" series I'm going to kill myself

[@ChaosHorseStudiosReal]

@SirTriton did you think Jerma was part of it?

[@Xiiki]

Stuff like the boiled one probably perfected uncanny valley, the way it moves is so simple yet it’s so grotesque at the same time.

[@Suspiria-Baybee]

A great example of this trope has to be the work of Masaaki Nakayama. FUAN NO TANE and PTSD RADIO make great uses of uncanny faces in a way that still gives me the creeps, and I haven’t really seen anyone else able to replicate Nakayama’s style to the same extent.

[@neoqwerty]

well that's going right into my to-reads

[@Suspiria-Baybee]

@ PTSD RADIO is definitely one I recommend. One of my all time favorite manga and a horror story unlike few others I’ve read.

[@problemperson4221]

oh dear, fuan no tane definitely struck fear into my child brain. i did NOT want to meet that thing that kid drew that changed faces when it got angry.

[@aethersflamessv]

I always thought that the reason why certain traits set off the uncanny valley response - yes, human-looking but not quite enough in its broad definition, but more specific cases with lanky bodies and limbs, bony fingers and gaunt faces, gaping mouth and sunken eyes too big or small, pale and hairless skin, moving in unwieldy janky manner... these are traits associated with corpses. in ancient times, when you see a dead body of your fellow kind you'll be inclined to stay away from it AND hopefully whatever killed it, whether that's a predator, poisonous substances, and especially diseases.

[@2tonpotato]

4:40 THE JONKLER 🔥🔥🔥

[@TheFryingPanMan]

wow i expected this to have way more views very well made video bro

[@enzoarayamorales7220]

Often times I’ve seen that the most uncanny looking faces are ones that aren’t trying to be scary, like for example the Giga Chad.

[@fiishgirl]

i think the lacey games series does this well too, for a couple of reasons the cutesy doodle-looking art style is a very big contrast to the more realistic (but still stylized) live action footage, which is jarring in and of itself, but what i like is that lacey games doesn’t use the “scary real person face” nearly as often as other internet horror stories also the pictures are so heavily edited that they kind of loop back around to match the janky glitchy look of the more standard scares

[@tzeentch7900]

Cry of Fear had one of the most effective methods to make you feel unsafe all the time, still never gets old.

[@dumblenutz5561]

*chainsaw rev*

[@gLiTcH3d_sUnFL0w3R]

Ok but 4:25 legitimately scared me SO BAD

[@Stear3d]

i saw the time stamp and still got scared lmao 😭

[@euronico7949]

Yeah shit pisses me off ffs

[@Kyoryu_Unshaken]

I’ve never found the idea of a humanoid figure killing humans particularly frightening. The "oh no, it's a human-like figure!" trope just doesn’t strike a chord of fear in me. Humans or human-shaped creatures lack that visceral edge for me, which is why the concept of the "uncanny valley" feels more peculiar or eerie than genuinely unsettling. Give me a beast, though A monster or animal that doesn’t kill because it wants to but because it needs to It’s not malice it’s nature. You’re not facing something that hates you or takes joy in your fear. You’re dealing with a predator, a force of survival so relentless it triggers something deep within your psyche. It’s the realization that, in that moment, you’re not a person, not a unique individual you’re just prey. It doesn’t see your hopes or dreams, your plans for tomorrow. All it sees is food, a means to its survival.

[@swarple]

Similar for me, with some exceptions. I think that’s why I’m pretty freaked out by a creature that SOUNDS human but isn’t. Imagining some obviously non-human creature being able to hide and make a human-sounding voice to lure people closer to it really freaks me out. The one exception I’ve had is the Working Joes from Alien: Isolation. Those things terrify me. But maybe it’s because we see them move and hear them talk, and their unnatural behavior is what scares me? Idk

[@Kyoryu_Unshaken]

@@swarple I think the weird birds arg made me a bit wary of mimicking creatures

[@dragodracon7785]

EXACTLY! Weird Birds was so good because it was just animals being animals. That’s terrifying enough, especially since it’s when they’re animals people don’t recognize. If you showed an image of an Azdharchid to a person, most won’t know what that is. To them, it’ll look alien, which exemplifies the creep factor.

[@Kyoryu_Unshaken]

@@dragodracon7785 There really needs to be more prehistoric horror

[@alexf8260]

I agree 1000% percent. I think the whole “human but not” trope can be good if executed well (like the Boiled One in my opinion), however the trope is so damn overdone that it tends to lose its touch over time. natural world is filled with creatures that justifiably invoke more fear than a human-like figure with a distorted face. We, as a species, have traded in our natural prowess for our big brains, unlike most other apex predators, both in modern day and in the fossil record, who could easily beat the shit of us should we encounter them head on, even if we had some sort of weapon in our hands in some cases. Displaying yet another humanoid creature with a disorted face sort of takes away the reason why we actually get scared in certain cases, like being in the dark. As we evolved, we never had to hide from scary stick figure men with big smiles, it was rather beasts that dwelled in the night that could easily tear us limb from limb or spill out our insides with large, powerful arms and sharp talons and fangs like knives. Having a monster that kills people not out of pleasure, but to actually survive sounds like a SIGNIFICANTLY more terrifying concept, because it will display desperation and try harder to ensure that you die, lessening your chances of survival when encountering such a threat. That’s why I like the creature in the movie Nope a lot, because it kills people in such a horrifying way, and does so simply because that’s just its way of eating.

[@Gawarhen]

Working on a horror game that uses Analog Horror elements, and I definitely agree. But I wasn’t sure if I was the only one who felt that way, glad to know I’m not!!

[@ABAShortfilms]

Good luck on your game!! That shit's hard to do

[@zivamayne]

The Mandela catalog was so intriguing when it came out, and it actually managed to keep me a lil scared at night like I was a kid again

[@DrunkenEros]

When it started using real people and good effects or when it was a horror themed youtube poop with bible cartoons and goofy eyes?

[@Cynic15]

i had a more visceral reaction to it cause it kept me up at night until 2 am once. mainly because i'm a christian and in the series, the alternates go after christians, meaning that i was at high risk of being attacked

[@booloo3616]

-guy in distress ask for help -guy screams -cuts audio off mid scream

[@NekoUrabe]

I am so glad a video like this exists. I could neeever take any of these big analog horror videos seriously when I just think of the Jerma Sus face whenever they do it. I don't care which one did it first I will always see it as silly.

[@nivannakingsman1383]

@@NekoUrabe same it always makes me laugh not be scared

[@finleymorris04]

People seem to forget Mandela Catalogue actually had an in universe reason for the faces. It’s there to represent the actual physical shapeshifting of the alternates. It’s not scary because of uncanny valley - that’s only part of it - the fear is really the existential fear of the unknown, the implication of what the image stretching represents to us as we fill in the blanks of how wrong it is and what the alternates are capable of. That’s why Caesar’s scare is accompanied by screams and that bass boosted noise, to further increase stress.

[@pixelgoat7317]

3:34 I actually laughed at this jumpscare in MC because it sounds like the 'Kayak Bear' Girl from that old meme video 😆 🤣

[@notdalaz]

I agree. Digital horror is so much more than just a scary face. Why this used to work is because it was unexpected. Now its become so oversaturated. I am happy that there are less of these boring scary face analog horror series though, and just analog horror in general. Analog horror always has felt like a box, while general digital horror you don't have the restraints of just using VHS footage. Although, that doesn't mean all analog horror inherently sucks, it's just hard to pull of like local58 and a few others. the scary face trope is usually used, and its totally lame.

[@spookey2004]

My favorite example of uncanny horror is the Dopplegangers in Twin Peaks, particularly Mr C. The scene where the FBI agents visit him in prison believing him to be Dale Cooper is so dread inducing, he acts like and looks like Dale but theres a perpetual coldness to him, when he smiles it’s so empty. There’s just nothing behind his eyes. Then later there’s a scene where he stares into a mirror for a while, his face distorts ever so slightly, I didn’t even notice it on first watch but it made me nauseous with dread just the same. It’s a lot more effective than the crazy Jerma faces to be very subtle with face distortion. For a show that isn’t exactly horror, when it does go for scares Twin Peaks knows how to leave an audience absolutely traumatized

[@kingleonidas2182]

“So what IS the uncanny valley?” gets an ad for Infinity Nikki

[@ginamaynard2698]

"Why we experience the uncanny valley is unknown" Pausing here to say that there's a strong chance that it's the result of a combination of evolving alongside other early hominid species (hence the "looks like us but not quite right") and an innate aversion to disease ("not acting quite right") These may not be horror movie scary explainations, but they're very likely and scary in their own right (and now I will finish the video)

[@isaiahthomas6744]

the boring but most likely reason for the development of the uncanny valley feeling is to distinguish the look of a dead body. One of the major reasons why we can tell when someone is just laying still with their eyes open and what we describe as the "light" in their eyes going out.

[@bingbong8239]

I remember watching the Jurassic Park analog horror videos and anytime each video followed the format of "Informational video/warning video distorts and it shows a still image of a dinosaur head with a high-pitched looping sound effect", I legit needed to think how anyone found this scary

[@evilyoshimaster]

I'd argue that Mimics in Vita Carnis also do it pretty well, as they're not really supposed to be mimicking humans yet, we know they WILL after a successful hunt, but until then, they're just a dangerous, powerful predator that for some unknown reason, looks like a skinless human.

[@greyardwhite2683]

I have to say IMO one really effective way this trope was used was in „Who‘s Layla?“ (though that’s a game not a show) as it basically forces you to create or deconstruct the uncanny valley faces yourself in rather stressful situations

[@alexbenavidez4500]

I'm so glad someone is saying this. I started clicking off some series because it just did nothing for me at all. It's frustrating because what was originally something so unnerving feels downright lazy now Channels be like "THE MOST HORRIFYING ANALOG HORROR YET" and it's literally just a knock off version of the Mandela Catalogue and you can straight up predict what faces are going to change and when, and if the story isn't even that intriguing, then there's no scare factor to keep me interested at all

[@grrrr255]

I guess TECHNICALLY it isn't analog horror (for me it's close enough), but Morley Grove was easily the scariest internet creation thingy I've seen in a long time. Other analog horror series? Not so much.

[@Nachtmar3]

4:23 Vita Carnis is sick af though. Mans made a whole real ass prop 😭 Great video by the way couldn’t agree more.

[@lilwaterbottle7002]

That's why The Boiled one Phenomenon is so good bc it's so much more realistic looking and doesn't have any cheesy scares or anything. It looks like it may have actually happened in real life

[@klaykid117]

I'm so glad someone else is taking umbrage with this. I felt like a crazy person yelling into the void about how all these analog horror series simply rely on stretched faces. I think a big issue is a lot of kids make analog horror and they only copy what they liked from series without understanding the why. And it's unfortunate that analog horror is merely just an aesthetic and not actually a true genre

[@benlittle8922]

2:00 I mean it probably just evolved to detect dead and rotting corpses.

[@VaydenMan]

I think what needs to be a more common trope is actually making the "lore" deep and having a fuller overarching story. As well as that, even a species or an evolving one of creatures. Such as Vita Carnis or the Tangi Virus. Those were so great due to the honestly very real and possible idea that something could evolve like that, and didn't really use distorted faces, but rather the fear of the sheer detail and possibility of the species/virus.

[@RebatDialga]

I think the progenitor of this stuff was the CRIMINAL face from FNAF VHS which actually had two levels of uncanny valley -- first was a photoshopped face to look more subtly uncanny, then the distorted purple version that looked more like the purple guy from FNAF. It also wouldn't be as spooky without the context. The video is Facial Recognition Test, based on how the fnaf 2 toy animatroincs were designed to have facial recognition to identify criminals (mainly to catch predators which is...ironic because of the creator)

[@yoavbenclaudia3073]

The uncanny valley is like the AI/ChatGBT of the horror sphere. It becomes a crutch for the lazy or uncreative to create art. When the uncanny valley is reached, not by a primary focus, but as a result or consequence of genuine creativity and passionate development, it works well. Even though Slenderman can technically fall into this trope, the fact that he was never the primary focus of any of his original photos-but something you could easily miss if you aren’t analyzing the photos-makes him work so well as to develop a following. It’s easy to reach the uncanny valley, so it shines in art by those who don’t focus solely on that aspect of horror, but allow it to just come about as a result of their completed craftsmanship.

[@saphirestorm7952]

I like an uncanny valley focus when done well, I think the smile series does that well as the whole point is that a disease deforms you to uncanny levels that causes your death

[@danek_hren]

ChatCBT*

[@MrNonexistant]

Please don’t diss the Walten files in this or I’m going to cry (Edit) Guys stop flirting in the replies

[@mogusisfunny]

@@MrNonexistant I think they ended up crying

[@MrNonexistant]

@ the Walten files wasn’t dissed in this video thankfully

[@profoxster9254]

Tbh it seemed boring and cringe, like middle school type analog horror

[@MrNonexistant]

@@profoxster9254 Don’t diss the Walten files infront of me vro ☹️

[@profoxster9254]

@@MrNonexistant trust me, 3 years or 4 from now (unless ur in elementary) u will realize how cringe it is

[@rinzzzzie718]

I don't know if anyone has talked about it but, while I do love analog horror and Mandela Catalogue, my pet peeve for the doppelganger/alternates stories is how some examples come off as ableist? Like "do they suddenly have incomplete facial or body parts? They're definitely an alternate." I'm not updated w/ the MC series now but I hope doppelganger stories address this or have disabled characters in the series and discuss how the mass hysteria towards doppelgangers affect them.

[@vettekaka]

also, i think the boled one is just sooo good because it doesnt rely on jumpscares made of tv statics and some creepy face. he is just there with you.

[@legitusername-zl7to]

midwest angelica too

[@ilzuab8467]

Mandela Catalogue popularized the "similar to humans" thing in the analogue horror genre. It was the first really popular series that used that concept effectively so calling it a trope in that series is kinda wrong. In todays Mandela Catalogue, alternate faces are rarely used as scare factors and mostly black and white/silhouettes.

[@swipefounddead]

1:58 a lot of people think this may be related to mimics or something, but there’s actually a very logical explanation. A long time ago, there were multiple species of humans, so we learned how to differentiate them as an instinct.

[@Morganwoolford]

I don’t know if it counts but the only time I’ve seen this kind of thing done effectively is the very last shot of Skinamarink

[@Don-ds3dy]

There is an easy explanation as to why we have a natural fear to uncannyness...our ancestors grew up alongside dozens of similar looking humans and apes like Neanderthals, Dinopithicus, Homo Erectus, etc, most of whom were rivals, enemies and possibly predators to our human ancestors. And so we developed a fear for things that looked similar to us but weren't us.

[@SirClawedfrog]

@@Don-ds3dy Exactly. It pays to be able to distinguish if something is your species or not at a moment's notice.

[@glitch_wurld]

@@Don-ds3dy actually, the reason we developed the fear of because there was a race of stretched face people with big eyes that were scary to us

[@fluff-puffgaming520]

my favorite theory is the uncanny valley theory. a theory that goes like this, the reason we get the feeling we do when we see something that looks human but also isn't is because somewhere in human evolution there might have been a point where we had to beware of things trying to mimic us

[@SlitWristMisfit_]

@@fluff-puffgaming520 Not something to imitate us, but something just doesn't look right. That's a really cool and creepy concept though! Is there any horror media that explore that concept!?

[@ilikesniffingpaper]

Back in human evolution we had competitors that were also evolving into ‘humans’. I cant name them. But we had to be aware enough to tell which were our species and which were ones to flee or fight with

[@smallxplosion9546]

@@SlitWristMisfit_ Vita Carnis is exactly this

[@smallxplosion9546]

or at least it explores the first concept pretty well, idk too much about analog horror to say anything about the second concept

[@oreosmith69420]

The fear is sick people and corpses

[@matttale7918]

Honestly I agree in that many try to ride the coattails of Mandela catalogue and its rise to popularity. That being said, considering that Martin walls made return of the pumpkin rabbit on a phone I would say that the Walten files low production quality keeps improving over time and it’s nice to see the evolution

[@TaylorRussell_TheAnimator]

Mandela Catalogue gets a pass only because the creator clearly stepped up and the later parts of the production are legitimately well made and actually frightening. I remember when it was first getting traction and those stupid angel faces, even back then when it was "new" just made me roll my eyes. Tryhard without trying hard.... Then Alex actually tried hard. and I was so impressed with how far he'd come with his visual scares that, yeah, I like Mandela now......... Which is more than I can say for Walten Files. I seriously can not understand how the 5-nights at Freddies Copyright infringement gets the traction it does. completely baffles me. I really do not understand you people.

[@mindmagicianfromstickworld]

Great video! Honestly yeah I agree with most of the stuff said here

[@justaserbiandoomer497]

The trope that annoys me is when people just plaster vhs effects on what is otherwise found footage or digital horror for no good reason. Not everything needs to be analog and set in the 80/90's.

[@legitusername-zl7to]

digital horror is better

[@justaserbiandoomer497]

@legitusername-zl7to amen, brother

[@Cubicnoir]

I don’t find analog horror boring but it’s sometimes entertaining for a while.

[@kuzeydemidbozdag1484]

Walten Files is still a great Analog Horror despite all of that!

[@SwaggyG_2102]

I wish more people called this shit out rather than just patting these creators on the back for literally just rehashing / reusing the same concepts over and over again.

[@CabezasDePescado]

I usually find the "analog horror face" more goofy than anythkng else.

[@SilentSnake1998]

I was hyped for the Batman analog horror series, but then instantly got disappointed when I learned what the premise was, and how shallow it is. There’s so much source material from the books you could use for horror, but what they went with felt beyond surface level, like the kind of knowledge tumblr users would have on the lore and characters.

[@discount_d0ll]

I’d argue that this trope is the equivalent to the “hyper realistic + bloodshot eyes” trope we used to see a lot in creepypastas

[@chattychatotchannel]

I hate when people use this trope to be awful to disabled people irl and compare them to horror or even worse use them explicitly in horror. Like people who move in a staggering way due to palsy and neurological or muscular issues. Or people with facial differences or who cannot smile properly due to a stroke. I don’t like the prevalence of ‘invader’ games recently where someone looks slightly different and that’s how they show they are ‘evil’. It makes me sad.

[@LeoJimenez-j8j]

@@chattychatotchannel the two invader games in existence, so horrible! Your making up a issue in your own mind.

[@Cynic15]

name one person who did that. also those invader games aren't meant to shame those who are disabled, you're making up issues. those games are meant to scare you with the already scary concept of home invasion with an added bit of unnerving details. in fact, it makes me wonder what YOU think of disabled people if you think of them when you see an analog horror creature

[@momiji_number1daughterwife]

@@LeoJimenez-j8j please be patient with them, they have a pride flag in their pfp

[@Nah-t1h]

This is why I love the fnaf vhs tapes. Those dont rely on stretched out faces, although they do sometimes they use the actual characters close up, or just jumpscare, they use actual videos, even a whole movie for fnaf 3. Itd peak

[@WarpingFist]

Hi, had a fun time watching this and your points are intresting. Though, since I myself don’t consume a lot of analog horror I don’t have a keen eye to spot the kind of tropes you’ve gotten so used to so I think I found a bit more enjoyment out of these stories compared to the average analog horror connoisseur. Except for Urban Spook, that one is ass.

[@Scottyjscizzle]

The biggest problem for me is it’s not even uncanny valley, the reason uncanny valley is scare is you “know” the face you are looking at is wrong, but it’s close enough to make you question. These are literally just goofy.

[@SB-129]

7:46 I swear, that monster was made from one of the scenes of "Come and See".

[@J-xo8hr]

@@SB-129 now that’s good horror

[@gabrielmayen3933]

I really liked this video, your perspective, examples and opinions are great. A bit of constructive criticism though, I am not aware if you have a speech inpediment, but some sections in which you talk you slur your words, stutter or correct mid way and it makes you lose the plot of what you're trying to say. I suggest perhaps shorter strings script that you can read slower and more concisely

[@waffler-yz3gw]

tbf mandela catalogue was like the first to do this and i think the reason why they did it was valid, the rest were pretty bad tho

[@augtober]

oh wow this is good, way more put together and thought out than what i did lmao, keep it up bud!

[@ABAShortfilms]

Thank you, glad you liked it! How's your channel doing? I enjoyed your points quite a bit.