The TRUE Story Behind The Blair Witch Project

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The Blair Witch Project captivated Americans in 1999, spurring a craze of people who believed that the found footage horror film actually used real footage, that the actors were real people who went missing, or at the very least that the legend was real. Of course, the legend of "the Blair Witch" was fabricated by the filmmakers, but it wasn't entirely fictional. So, what is the real story of the Blair Witch? Welcome back to The Lore Lodge...
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0:00 - Intro
2:02 - Background on Witchcraft
11:46 - The Found Footage Format
28:20 - The Legend of the Blair Witch
56:44 - What Is The Blair Witch?

[@TheLoreLodge]

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[@Nightshade17655]

Have you ever thought of looking into the legends and stories from around North West Queensland and Tasmania in Australia. There are 2 main stories that come up from things people have seen and indigenous dream time stories. I myself live in Mount Isa, Australia. And I've heard and seen questionable things in the bush. Mainly I remember seeing something move in the shadows near a cave, it's figure was short and stout but it was gone quick. An indigenous elder told me about the cave people who live around this area. A version of them is said to live in Tasmania as well. All over Australia you hear people talk about the Yowie and many people where I live have stories about times they encountered the Yowie.

[@auntiehollyd6395]

I'm 42 from WV. My sister and her bf went to Burketsville MD to see the movie. We thought it was real actual found footage for quite awhile. Sis' bf was a journalism student btw. Also the 90s internet was luke the wild west.

[@alexlobato-nv6lx]

@TheLoreLodge Another awesome show, I loved how you took something I care nothing about, horror movies and the Blaire Witch, and turned it into something I'm passionate about; history, folklore and the occult. I love your style and information. At what point am I allowed to start quoting or referencing you as source material?

[@CleoHarperReturns]

Thanks for another great work as always, Aidan M. Never knew this topic could be as fascinating as you've made it. Noticed YT unsubbed you so I'll fix that promptly. BUT this comment is actually for Aidan T: You have gorgeous eyes. Your representation of the 90s (as someone who was there) is the first accurate representation I've seen so you also have a gorgeous brain. You need more screen time!

[@jerryobrien1088]

the movie appeared in baltimore only and just a few theatres. I loved it and saw it twice. You had to buy tickets in advance and was sold out. there was a real buzz and everyone was excited to see it. I can not remember a movie that had this much buzz. No cared whether it was real or not and was just terrific. Everyone stood in line to get in and i can not remember any movie that had this much buzz. Everyone came to have a great time and was not disappointed.

[@christianavance9124]

I had friends who watched this movie when it came out. They decided that the scariest part of the movie was when everyone ran out of cigarettes. That was a personal hell for them.

[@veloriahex1593]

Hahaha! Relateable.

[@jonathanridener9673]

Truly hell on earth.

[@GopherHayes]

Lmoa

[@Mr.InbetweenFX]

RIP😢

[@devin-wyldeheart1233]

🤣

[@NannerPuddin144]

My dad was one of the actors in the documentary about the movie, so I knew it was fake. My roommate knew it was fake since she'd watched the documentary with me and my dad. She knew it was fake when she went off with friends to the theater. But, she still came back from the theater freaking out and suddenly believing it to all be true. I could not convince her otherwise. So, when she went to the bathroom, I got up and stood in the corner facing the wall. Probably the meanest thing I've ever done. No regrets.

[@TheARESClanGaming]

I couldn’t imagine how funny that would’ve been 😂

[@Blissfulnessence]

😂

[@ricksilva5574]

lmao!!

[@maryannebphillips9124]

Of course it's fake! Excellent movies.

[@jayeautocorrectstohate5054]

Your friend is an idiot.

[@sarahhales1505]

Fun Fact: The tall, pail figure that chased Heather, Mike, and Josh in the original was shot with a crew member dressed in a white body suit and running along side them. Josh was supposed to turn the camera when Heather yelled “what the F is that,” but forgot to.

[@slwtgf]

Whatever it was, it did the job, cuz we got scared 😱 in the theater , and on way driving home - so we sure loved this movie ;)

[@JayB2]

It's amazing that the budget for the film was only $35-$60k. But the Box office profit was around $250 Million!!! That's a stunning profit ratio. One of the most profitable movies of all time.

[@mlw5665]

Almost none of which benefited the actual creators and workers. Welcome to America

[@chancelambert8462]

Funny story about Burkettsville... my dad had a girlfriend that lived there and she told the story of a bunch of goth kids decending on her sleepy town right after the movie came out. There are wooded areas there and many times the police would get calls of these goth kids lost after going out into the woods to re-live the movie. They would wind up on desolate roads at all hours of the night. Interesting because the police said that there would be no real way to get lost in those woods as one mile in any general direction would lead to a road, but they were getting lost anyway. The town citizens decided to turn it into a money-making venture and made little Blair Witch trinkets and sell them from their porches to these naive goth kids running around town. The locals made up stories about their "wares" and where they were found, and of course, many of these kids were buying into the stories while buying the trinkets the locals were making at their kitchen tables. ...Just something funny about culture and society. Carry on, great vid guys!!!

[@thomashunt6000]

City folk lmao

[@A.Girl.Has.No.Name.]

Sounds like the sequel lol

[@chancelambert8462]

@@A.Girl.Has.No.Name. Haha "NoName Girl" it would be there as a documentary as to the absolute sillyness of those who took the movie seriously... and sell better than the sequels! I like the way you think!

[@luminous3357]

​​@@thomashunt6000there was no mention that they were all from a city. More likely locals

[@Kaare-The-Heathen]

​@@luminous3357 I don't know, I grew up a city kid, that sounds a lot like what city goth kids'd believe.

[@tmcgwow]

I want to point out, Heather could read the map. She navigated them to all their points. It was only after they began being "stalked" they started being lost. With or without the map.

[@sabresister]

THANK YOU justice for Heather 😤

[@carnuatus]

THANK YOU. It pisses me off, so much. Heather IS stubborn to their detriment but they consistently get lost because of the aforementioned shifting of time and possibly space that is central to the Blair Witch lore. They are in the time loop and can't get out!!

[@SHANNON1225NICOLE]

“ I kicked that map in the creek” 😂

[@exodous02]

I remember it this way also. Getting lost was because they were being hunted. Getting lost was supernatural, not poor navigation.

[@DonovenGrey]

I want to point out, Heather led them to their deaths with and without a map. They are dead because of her.

[@LilyoftheLake14]

I wish the ending to the 2016 film was Lisa getting out of the house successfully into daylight, possibly through a portal (which would explain the light that came through the house from outside) so she celebrates her freedom... but she walks to town, only to find someone/see the town and find out that she's traveled back in time, either to the 1940s or earlier like 1690s or whatever lol. If she traveled back far enough, she could even "become the witch" lol. That'd be cool.

[@nasty9305]

saying that the Appalachians and the Highlands were the same range "many many moons ago" might be the greatest description of geologic timescale ever. You are certainly, technicaly, right. I love it.

[@Ida-Adriana]

Was Shetland part of the same piece?!

[@MeanMrMustard1]

It doesn't make sense because the mountain ranges would have been connected millions of years ago. There were no witch worshiping Cults back then because there were no humans. So they could not have built a fairy Mound where Rustin Parr's house would someday stand.

[@geehammer1511]

True they same colour bricks are seen in New York and Scotland meaning the same clay was used to make them. I would guess the northern islands like Shetland were also part of it due to them being close to the north of Scotland.

[@dougcline79]

The girl I was dating at the time it was released was completely convinced Blair Witch Project was real. She didn't believe it wasn't until Heather did an interview on some random show.

[@coffeeandcupcakes7310]

I mean that sounds pretty crazy nowadays but anyone who grew up in the 90's when the internet wasn't very rampant, and these kinds of movies didn't really exist might not think too much about it. I had friends who were convinced it was real as well, it was just the innocence of the time, enjoy the silliness of those memories, the world will never be like that again I'd wager ;)

[@-Zer0Dark-]

​@@coffeeandcupcakes7310People believing fake things are real is more prevalent now than it's ever been, actually.

[@dougcline79]

@-Zer0Dark- if my 71 y/o father is any indication, you're right.

[@bondickle]

​@-Zer0Dark- tbf the quality of fake things has improved too which doesn't help lol

[@gabusdeux]

​@@bondickleidk, the bible is pretty old and *shouldn't* have been changed, plenty of people believe that.

[@MoparMelanie]

I saw this at a theater when it came out with a coworker. Now, I'm A country girl and spent a lot of time running through the woods at night as a teenager. I didn't think it was that scary. My coworker however, was a city girl and she was beyond freaked out.

[@brandonetter]

Super impressive

[@ZiggyPlayedGuitar1225]

I get what you’re saying. I grew up in the woods and still live in the woods. As a kid my brother and I would explore. What scares me are big cities. People are there and they are far more dangerous imo. I still walk my dogs and let them run in the woods twice a day.

[@zanemob1429]

My woods is a lot more damgerous apparently. Its black and there are holes and dips not to mention rocks and crags everywhere. Oh! And various animals that will not hesitate to attack you and have tried many times plus the occasional crackhead and unexplainable happenings. I carry a weapon at all times and am prepared and had to fight anything that attacks me. I’m brave but I’m not stupid so I’m staying in the light of my street lamp that covers the whole yard in a circle of light.

[@lunarvision]

Saw it on a date in a little indie/art theater the weekend it came out. Totally packed. The hype and mystery was palpable… By the end of the movie, nobody said a word. Some were truly freaked out, some were dizzy from the camera movement, and some were just totally puzzled. Later that night I hung out with a friend… as I walked up to his house I remember actually feeling uneasy/creeped out. As a horror fan, I was impressed that a movie could still make me feel that way.

[@mhmbunbun1527]

@@zanemob1429 where do you live that the woods has this much going on 💀 it's really not that scary

[@akfloof1170]

There's not enough comments getting hyped that Thornburry is in front of the camera and talking. This is really cool.

[@TheLoreLodge]

I’ve been trying to make him do that for years so I’m excited to show him these comments

[@sdriza]

@@TheLoreLodge The guy is great - need more of him. He speaks really well.

[@andrewdau1299]

@@sdriza HIs voice reminds me of Itsjustsomerandomguy.

[@NEKRWSPHERE]

My favourite mock-umentary is "District 9". They made it in such a way that the viewer couldn't convince himself it was a documentary for too long, but just long enough that the dramatic and bizarre action footage that suddenly replaced it was absolutely hilarious to experience. It was also unpredictably sentimental and elicited a shower of complex feelings. I watched it a couple of times and took something else away from it each time, rare films were like that for me.

[@gingernightmare9152]

I loved the prawns 🖤

[@tammyhawk6805]

My daughter loves that one too!

[@raymondteodosbandlabvlog1676]

Great film!

[@christianavance9124]

Loved that movie, it was actually heartfelt, and was an amazing way of getting around discussing the horrible conditions that people in South Africa are actually experiencing.

[@ddarroch9]

Recently rewatched it myself and I'm still shocked that we didn't get a sequel. Where is Christopher and his son!?

[@melissadwiggins]

I really love family Guy's joke about this movie. It was Brian sitting in the theater with a blind guy watching Blair witch project and he's describing the movie to the blind guy and he says "okay so they're in the woods, the camera is moving around, nothing's happening, they're looking for a witch or something; I don't know, I wasn't listening. Nothing's happening, nothing's happening, something about a map, nothing's happening. Aaaand It's over; a lot of people in the theater look pissed."😂😂😂

[@Gonk]

Those who were pissed were the dumb ones, movie was awesome. :)

[@dianaw.8497]

Stimmt. 😂😂😂😂

[@g.f.demille1598]

​@Gonk Nah, as a horror movie fan (even the bad ones), BWP was super boring and a massive let down. The remake in 2016 was also bad, but at least things actually happened that might’ve been scary if you were 10

[@Gonk]

@@g.f.demille1598 Incorrect it just points to your lack of imagination is all.

[@g.f.demille1598]

@Gonk How can I be "incorrect" about an opinion? It is my opinion that BWP is boring and thus a bad movie. It is my opinion that the worst thing a movie can be is boring. Even objectively bad films can be entertaining and thus "better" movies or more accurately more enjoyable and feel like less of a letdown. If you enjoyed that movie, I respect your opinion and would prefer to agree with you, I just don't. My opinion is that the film suffers from the eight deadly words: "I don't care what happens to these people." Thus, there's no tension for me and no stakes, so no investment and much boredom. What scares it does have might be more interesting in a better film, but here it just fails to keep my attention. I'm probably not alone in that feeling, but even if I am, please don't make assumptions about me or my imagination just because I didn't enjoy the same movie you did.

[@SilentGloves]

You guys nailed what it was like when the marketing campaign was happening. I was 20 and everybody was talking about it, although there was a fair amount of skepticism. My friends and I went back and forth as to whether it was real, or "made up." We didn't really have any familiarity with the term "found footage" at the time, although we did know of other adjacent types of films, such as Faces of Death, which none of us had seen, but everyone was aware that it existed. That's one thing that was wonderful about growing up before the internet; urban legends and local mythology could exist and there wasn't really any way to verify of debunk. We all got to enjoy hearing and telling stories, and taking part in spooky rites of passage.

[@erinvendetti5812]

Hell yeah to all this

[@redneckreviews3016]

Yeah! I was like 18 or so. And the only reason I knew it wasn't real. Is because my older sister had a dvd of a movie called "the last broadcast" so I had a very small idea what found footage was

[@kenny832]

Saw Faces of Death in my teens. From what everyone was saying about it I thought it was pretty tame.

[@AyeliaGDoren]

That opening weekend people I knew definitely thought it was real and it scared the crap out of them. After that first day or so people started realizing it was fiction. I wish I had gone before it was confirmed as purely fictional.

[@michaelblaine6494]

I was 19,otherwise that’s exactly what I would have said. Thanks for saving me the time😅👏

[@sodievox]

I grew up in Leonardtown, within walking distance of where the Moll Dyer legend is based. We walked to her dilapidated home, which was just a tin roof on the ground and a stone chimney, many times as kids in the 90s. A few things: - There is a road called Moll Dyer Road in Leonardtown. If you were to take that road to the very end and then hike straight back off it, that's where the house was, deep in the woods and there were only foot paths/horse trails to get there - Where the house was were two above ground cement graves which, of course, people smashed holes into the side of. We could see in them and there were a few bones but for the most part animals or idiots got to them first - The rock in your picture is sitting at the Tudor Hall Manor and is a tourist attraction today, legend is you can run your hand over it and feel a hand print - My childhood home was in the forest where she allegedly died with her hand frozen to the rock, it was lowkey creepy at night, but mostly because there was very little else back there at the time - As you mentioned, there are a few different stories, but pretty sure the consensus was she lived "on the edge of town" because she was in an inter-racial marriage which wasn't easily accepted at that point in time - As far as I know... I'm not cursed

[@michaelblaine6494]

Growing up,the idea of living in a sparsely populated area seemed terrifying. Whenever I imagined it I pictured it being exactly like you described,holy shit that sounds scary😅

[@Dirt-McGirt]

I also grew up in Leonardtown and remember hearing different stories about Moll Dyer. As a kid i remember thinking it was weird to have a road named after a witch.

[@Edgeofthewood]

Ditto. I went to Leonardtown high school. And I ran the group with all of the alt kids in it. We would visit the forest at night on occasion. It was creepy and fun.

[@ferb3643]

I’ve lived in Leonardtown for 17 yrs and I find it interesting that the time the town of Leonardtown began “respecting” Moll Dyervis around the same time the town began growing and becoming more successful

[@oliver7garden]

Moll Dyer is just a tale with no actual records of the incident. Meanwhile no one mentioned Rebecca Fowler the only person actually convicted and executed in Maryland on October 9th 1685. It's documented and you can visit her grave in the historic St Mary's City cemetery.

[@seeminglyseph]

I think the Blair Witch Project was the first Horror Movie I ever watched intentionally as an elementary school child. It was because my drama teacher wanted me to learn about improv acting. I still question her choices but I did end up a horror fan, so I guess it worked out somehow.

[@sabresister]

I didn’t watch it until I was an adult, but the quality of the acting was my biggest takeaway, all of them did a phenomenal job of making the premise believable

[@imshinycaptain]

lol I was in middle school when it came out and really wanted to see it. I snuck downstairs and watched it in the middle of the night before the tape had to go back to Movie Gallery (woof that sentence dates me). It ended with me, on the couch in the pitch dark, entirely too frightened to go get the tape out of the VCR and put it back. This is sadly one case where I was not kind and did not rewind. XD First R rated movie I ever saw.

[@seeminglyseph]

@@imshinycaptain lmao that is almost exactly my experience watching The Ring. I know they're totally different movies, but the comment fully sent me back in time to regretting every second of putting a rental VHS in the VCR alone in the basement at night. Sorry rental place, I definitely didn't rewind that one, I just ran off like a coward baby XD

[@_.ffischll._]

coolest teacher ever

[@CCIPres]

"How do you know she's a witch?" "She turned me into a newt!"

[@laurentucker7471]

.....i got better

[@jendoe9436]

“And what do you burn besides witches?” ‘More witches!!!’

[@agentverona]

My absolute favorite Blaire Witch theory is the one from The Film Theorists channel, where they suggest that the whole scenario in the movie is the two guys plotting to kill the girl and succeding.

[@dominichammond683]

matpat media analysis doesn't hit often but when it does it HITS

[@erikquimby9617]

Dude same that FT episode felt like it fit so well.

[@AyeliaGDoren]

I honestly really liked that approach as well. I prefer to take the movie at face value, but that theory would make a great story as well. Especially if an entity actually pops-up to confuse things.

[@rougestarlight4308]

Nah, that's some mental gynnastics right there, saw the movie twice after mat's video and nothing clicked

[@fluffycakes5898]

I really liked theirs theory too it seems more likely tbh

[@baddragonite]

Interesting little detail about the story of Molly, the part about where she lifts her left hand to the sky to curse the town. In many magical/occult practices "left hand magic" is often considered to be black, or dark, or bad/evil magic as opposed to "Right hand magic" being good or white magic. Hence the detail and why she would lift her left hand to the sky for the curse

[@Think_legit]

I love listening to Legolas Aiden talk about how film making works. As someone who works in the industry it’s nice to hear someone explain it in a non condescending way 😊

[@susannem3526]

I loved the movie so much, that 17 years after I first saw it I dragged my husband and daughter to where it was filmed (Seneca State Park, Maryland) We traveled all the way from Sweden. We also visited Burkittsville and the cemetery there. ( Also in the movie).

[@laurasexton7450]

I live on the mountain above Burkittsville. Never seen anything in 50 ears.

[@boki1693]

@@laurasexton7450 I have to laugh You "Never seen anything in 50 ears?" You must have been a very bad ear doctor. So sorry but I just couldn't resist.

[@sabresister]

As a Maryland native this makes me so happy, I hope you enjoyed your visit!

[@lunarvision]

Wow, props to you for being such a devoted super fan!! I love to hear that.

[@susannem3526]

@@sabresister It was lovely! Such a beautiful landscape!

[@katerinaschmidt2403]

I grew up right near Burkettsville, and while the original movie scared the hell out of me when I first watched at like 10, as an adult I find it really funny. The ridge near there is only like a mile or two across, so if you walked in any direction but along the ridge for more than a few hours you'd run into farmland or a highway or something, and even on the ridge, youd eventually hit the river or a trail. So some fae nonsense is really the only way someone actually could get lost there

[@quillencre8719]

If they played into the local angle more with kids that "grew up there" and showed off the true landscape, they could have used that to their advantage. Honestly, I think fae nonsense makes it scarier

[@vincentellsworth7905]

idk why they set it in burkettsville, the legend is based off of Moll Dyer from Leonardsville, MD

[@katerinaschmidt2403]

Especially doesn't make sense to make up a witch in Burkettsville when the Snallygaster and the Dwayyo are right there

[@boki1693]

Not from anywhere near there but I always thought any woods on the east coast would be very hard to get lost in for days.

[@DovahFett]

@@boki1693 You'd be surprised. I live in Maryland, and there are parts of it and neighboring states that are still surprisingly well-forested.

[@benhagstrom2185]

The ARG's of the early internet days were insane because nobody knew what was real. I still remember looking at Freakylinks thinking we were uncovering a huge mystery

[@ballistics343]

Gather round, children, as I tell you the horror story of 90s/early 00s internet: there were, in fact, no "tabs"

[@CreepyTikiHome]

This is exactly the niche video I've craved. I'm so glad we got to have an industry film history and view, along with the deep area-rich mythos. A+!

[@lunarvision]

I know right! This is a pretty great video. Love the topic.

[@kaitlint3987]

Writing in the form of letters or travel journals is one of the oldest forms of writing, I think quite a few ancient books were framed as travel journals

[@TheLoreLodge]

Yep! There are some who consider Greco-Roman travel “journals” to be the first “adventure novels” because of how perfectly absurd they were

[@EmiStar070]

It's not ancient, but The Travels of Marco Polo definitely was at least sort of in that category

[@lunarvision]

The excellent Griffin and Sabine novel helped me reconnect with an ex gf and establish a happy little life…for a while at least.

[@kingpaddy9009]

The most popular ancient Mythos is made of the same basic narratives: Atlantis is completely based on a literature philosophical dialogue with one participant claiming that he has old knowledge he heard from this guy and this guy was there and there and learned it from this egyptian priest. Insane how good this narrative principle works out over the centuries.

[@seeminglyseph]

I love stories about Fae Folk immigrating to North America (or factoring in that they were already here because Under the Mountain or Under Hill etc can include a mountain range that was connected in Pangea. Which is a wild connection I hadn’t seen explored before) and the ways that gets weird. Having “witchcraft” stories not be about Christianity is extremely refreshing for a storytelling perspective. Absolutely desperate for narratives focusing on the potential of Faerie Rules.

[@lunarvision]

I don’t know much about what you are talking about…but it sounds cool/interesting and hopefully Lore Lodge will cover!

[@seeminglyseph]

@@lunarvision honestly Fairy/Fae/Faerie legends vary depending on their source and can get fully wild when it comes to how we feel like interpreting how that extends to modern day, people who emigrated, multicultural interactions etc. and Lore Lodge always brings so much research to the table so I hope so too!

[@samspurgeon4222]

Your theories on being out of time remind me of the Lovecraft story about the witch house where the math student starts dealing with a witch because of the odd geometry of her room that he lives in. I never knew about the connection to Celtic lore and whatnot, but it gives that story some added dimension (sorry, bad pun).

[@brawnhilda7203]

I was in high school when The Blair Witch Project came out and the description of the era is really hilarious to me! Now I know how my dad felt when people talked about his childhood/adolescence lmfao

[@Tomas-gw6rd]

We didn't even have tab browsing back then! You had to open a second window!

[@samuelelder8051]

Hi! I'm an anthropology student and the definition many of my classes rely on for magic is "any act, ritual, or item that is used to affect the natural world via the supernatural." I feel that it is a nice, clear definition that almost all practitioners agree with.

[@ChefBoyarDEEZ]

As a native Marylander, this movie was nuts. When it came out EVERYONE was heading to the hills to check out the myth. EVERYONE. Everyone had to go see where it was filmed, investigate the Blair witch, look into the history. It was the talk of the state. It was wild.

[@TrixyTheWonderDog]

I work with an older gal, her parents listened to War of the Worlds as it happened. She said her mother vowed to punch Orson Welles if she ever met him. They were living in a very rural area, and the farmers that heard the broadcast were freaking out, watching the sky with their guns ready. It was so realistic and convincing because they didn't have any other means of receiving information. They only bought newspapers when they traveled in to town, what they heard on the radio was "real-time news" and they trusted what they heard. That stunt caused such terror that her parents recounted the story and she recounted the story and her kids... I'm sure hers isn't the only family that held such a grudge against Welles.

[@kingpaddy9009]

What seems ridiculous for the present wasn't so much back there. With the 19th century a century of a unbelievable progress so it seems that every science fiction is only a matter of time. With that experience space travel wasn't such a ridicule idea. And even there was even theories about civilization on a different planet (like Mars) to astronomical observations of seemingly artifical structures on the surface. Today aliens travelling through space and maybe looking for worlds to conquer and colonize being an absurd idea (based on the knowledge of space travel and distances we have now) was very likely at least thinkable option. Would it have been different from what the indigenous people of the americas experienced when the europeans arrived at their shores? That their beyond the horizon is a whole other world, with totally different people in posession of technological advancements unbelievable and they appear seemingly out of thin air. When you think this through for a moment: In alien Invasion like played out in War of the Worlds is not so much different.

[@fictionalreality3238]

My brain immediately went to the witch, actually being some sort of fae, and that they definitely went to another plane, much like how stepping into a fairy ring will bring you to the fairy realm. Kind of reminds me of the other mother Coraline theories on how the other mother might actually be some sort of fairy that needs the lives of people to stay alive herself. Really enjoyed this video :)

[@lajvkatt84]

This is one of few movies that scared the absolute crop out of me.

[@dannybookay152]

By far the best sponsor transition ive ever witnessed.

[@watchingu2b]

Before the tv show LOST came out, there were actors on Hollywood Blvd handing out MISSING flyers saying "Have you seen my friend? He's LOST!" and we felt so sorry for them until we found out it was a PR stunt. 🙄 In some sense this really detracts from people who are REALLY missing.

[@kol2456]

Fun tie in, the name Blair comes from the Scottish Gaelic word "Blàr", used in a lot of place names. It means Plain, Meadow, or Field, just as another connection to the Cloverfield franchise. Also, Blair Castle in Scotland has a bunch of history with witchcraft and witch trials.

[@mandalorianmama]

I am insulted by the description of imagining going to see the movie in 1999 😂 It scared the absolute SHIT out of me!! We definitely thought it was real. And I worked at a summer camp in Maryland about an hour from Burkittsville. I did not sleep that night

[@n.d.m.515]

I don't know how anyone thought this movie was real. Maybe I was just older and had enough life experience to roll my eyes, even if I liked the movie at the time. It was reported as an entertainment mockumentary, not hard news coverage of lost and murdered students.

[@Gonk]

@@n.d.m.515 you're not tough from not thinking this movie was scary get over yourself maybe go hate on every horror movie post on facebook site lol

[@n.d.m.515]

@@Gonk I didn't say the movie wasn't scary. In fact, I said I enjoyed the movie at the time, although not after a second viewing later in life. What I said was it is hard to understand why anyone would think it was real, other than based loosely on real events.

[@rogerramjet6429]

​​@@Gonkyou can't even grasp context then go onto rubbish a post that's completely valid, just because you can't read properly. Get over yourself, and deal with your lack of illiteracy. Maybe if you spent less time playing games, you would have been educated much better.

[@lunarvision]

Oh dang, I don’t blame you!! 😱 I grew up going camping; but for a time after watching the movie, I had no desire to go anywhere near woods, ha ha. 🫣 Your mind can play tricks on you when you’re deep in the woods and it’s dark.

[@likebutton3136]

Lenardtown is a 10 minute drive from me. The curse had to be permanent and never ending construction on route 5. I swear 30 years and I have never seen that 3 mile strip of route 5 without cones, metal plates, uneven pavement, and random painted lines.

[@lil__shmeat]

Can we please get more Thornyboy in futures videos? Dude has a knack for long form/dissertation style content

[@13donstalos]

I really like the idea of fleshing out lore that is only revealed to a small extent through a story. It's like solving a mystery, kind of like piecing together what happened to someone who never came back from the woods. You did a helluva job filling in the blanks. Nice work, sir.

[@chloemackinly6762]

Please please please do a video about John Carpenters The Thing? I know it's been done to death, but I love to imagine the implications of how the world would react if two arctic research stations were destroyed in some unknown horror

[@shaneisimperium3210]

Born in Leonardtown and raised in St. Mary's County, this legend is a big part of the culture in the area. The rock upon which her hand was frozen is a tourist attraction and sat outside our old jail in front of the courthouse for years until it was moved to Tudor Hall Mansion. Adian got alot of the points correct. There was a plague/sickness afflicting the town at the same time a bad harvest had happened. On top of that, it was a very harsh winter, and when Molly (Moll as well, its a common nickname for her in the area) Dyer was driven out of her home, the mob knew it was effectively a death sentence. There was an episode of sime tv show on the weather channel of all places that covered the legend too. All of us folk in the area got a chuckle at that. Very cool of the Lore Lodge covering a story from my hometown. Love the content. Keep it up!

[@heidihendrix5073]

😊

[@maxattacks25]

Man. Awesome and well-informed theory! I can’t say I’m educated enough on the topic to opine, but I just wanted to say: this movie SUPREMELY scared me when I first saw it. I was at my cousins’ house in the upper peninsula of Michigan, in a house surrounded by thick woods. Beautiful area, but I couldn’t work up the nerve to walk outside at night, as you couldn’t see through the trees almost at all. The PERFECT setting for a young teenager to get scared shitless at that movie.

[@aff77141]

Okay literally though the appalachias having parts in scotland makes so much sense given appalachian folklore and the amount of irish/scottish people that ended up here. It's like they were drawn to it.

[@Nightshade17655]

Just watched a ton of lore lodge videos. Im so excited for this, cause i know it will be jam packed with info.

[@p.k.5455]

I remember going to see it and actually believed it to be true! My friends and I came out of the theater with plans to go look for the witch. Being from Pittsburgh and having family in Baltimore it was only a few hours away. We were so pissed to find out it was all bullsh!t...great video guys, really good topic!!!

[@FreeOpenTruth]

You were upset that you weren't really able to go to the woods to be butchered? Interesting....

[@p.k.5455]

@@FreeOpenTruth we were 18 and of course invincible! No witch was going to butcher us...lol...being older I can see the crazy in us!

[@p.k.5455]

Plus it was only a few hours drive so close enough to check it out

[@FreeOpenTruth]

@@p.k.5455 - I get it. I just found your comment amusing. God bless!

[@p.k.5455]

@FreeOpenTruth God Bless! And yeah I guess looking at it again that it would sound somewhat foolish...lol

[@KillerCammy85]

I loved the flow of this video, it felt like it was much more engaging than usual. Also, having Thorny hop in to cover that section was really good. Definitely need to pop him in for some topics more often. You guys have really come a long way in everything. Love seeing the growth.

[@T3nch1]

The only part of Blare Witch that is done correctly is that the monster is never explained. The quickest way to defuse the horror aspect of horror is to explain what's happening or what the monster is.

[@carnuatus]

Or shown! And that part was completely by accident. Though, to be fair, it's pretty thoroughly explained in The Curse of the Blair Witch. Still though, not EXPLAINABLE.

[@lunarvision]

Yep. To this day The Blair Witch Project still holds a lot of creepy mysteries, even though it’s been talked to death. I mean, here we are now! So many strange and unsettling little “clues” peppered throughout the film, and it’s lore… But all very ambiguous. It allows your imagination to run wild.

[@lunarvision]

@@carnuatusWait, what part (by accident) are you referring to?

[@ShaawtyB]

That's the best and most terrifying thing, not knowing what it is exactly, who or what that something looks like. But in the most recent Blair witch they show the witch 😑😑 killed the mystery behind it

[@choosetolivefree]

Most times, yea, but not always. The 80s movie The Thing does a great on revealing the monster but still keeping it scary

[@katiegwynn4495]

This was fun! I saw the first one (only) as soon as it came out. I found out a couple days later that the footage was fake. I was pissed! My boyfriend at the time was upset too, but he was trying to play it off. He said, " the scariest thing about that movie is how not one of them had a sense of direction!" I thought that was pretty good

[@lunarvision]

That’s hilarious. You were pissed that those kids weren’t murdered in the woods. 😨 I get it though.

[@katiegwynn4495]

@@lunarvision this has me laughing first thing in the morning! Thanks for the comment

[@Silver_Girl178]

A tulpa works for the third movie...but with all of the thought/energy that went into setting up the lore for the first movie, I actually wonder what you'd find at the original location, even now.

[@benfrancois7856]

I would like to see a movie combine the Blair Witch project with the real Missing 411 phenomenon considering how similar they are

[@skidspace2452]

Really love the explanation of how the War of the Worlds broadcast was a sort of precursor to Found Footage as a concept in film. Like, I have been aware of the infamy of that broadcast for years and have studied film a bit myself and know about the whole found footage phenomena, but I never made the connection between the two. Thank you for sharing your insight Aiden!

[@Killer_Rhapsody]

I'm loving this video! It was awesome to hear more about the filming/media and how that made such an impact. Im extremely impressed! Great job guys!!! 🎉❤

[@MT-ll3tu]

Ghosts don't like being mocked by a character that accidentally describes them. The Ringu flims where plagued with folk seeing paranormal activity with Ringu 0 being the most infamous.

[@realsupercobble]

Aiden did amazing! I was enthralled by the knowledge he was shoving into my brain cavity. I hope he comes back eventually for more stuff like this. It’s cool, the dynamic of knowledge between you two. Very cool, keep up the good work guys!

[@markspain2219]

I am 37 and I saw this movie opening weekend and visited the website prior. I was blown away by the experience at the time being only 13. I still watch it around fall/ halloween every year. There's something about it that pulls you in. I'm still waiting for a proper sequel that gets back to the original roots. Great video, love the cult theory and parallel worlds!!

[@juliasky6149]

This is genuinely my favorite films of all time and so under appreciated.

[@michaelberrier9766]

Why are we taught to fear the witch, but not those that burned them?

[@ryankrelic971]

I mean it took like 20 of them to burn one person, one on one I'm not too afraid.

[@dewetmaartens359]

Healthy to fear both.

[@MP-ry5zr]

Because at the time witches supposedly ate babies, and they burned baby eaters. The Witch 2015 portrayed the time periods beliefs pretty well

[@michaelberrier9766]

In my experience, witches are good. Without the Appalachian granny witch, I doubt any of us would be here. They were the OG Drs. The ones you went to for a cure. They were midwives. They delivered countless of our ancestors. But, just like everyone else, if you cross one, then you have f'd around and found out. It wasn't until the church came along and told us they were evil.

[@TehFlush]

Cause they were based

[@slenkish]

"...opened up a new tab". Sir, I regret to inform you that tabs were not a thing in 1999. ...so many windows

[@cu_ri_o]

That was freaking crazy and awesome at the same time!Never would have thought you can get so much out of something that doesn't show much Blair Witch Project is one movie that always creeped me out, and I still can't put my finger on way exactly.

[@JK-gm6kk]

"Opening up a new tab" he says, talking about dial up internet in 1999. 😂

[@AyeliaGDoren]

Great video. Really appreciate you taking a a serious, academic approach to analyzing something totally fictional and thinking about it's place or relationship to existing lore. Stories are important to and deserve at least some serious treatment.

[@Ultoriel]

New headcannon; the Blaire Witch Project and The Ritual share the same universe where old myths are dying out and desparately trying to maintain themselves, but only the scary ones can because they're the ones willing/capable of doing horrible stuff to people to stay alive.

[@dylanhoyal3150]

The fact he didn’t catch on to or failed to mention that “Ellie Kedward” is clearly a purposeful respelling of Edward Kelly (who’s a very famous occultist and alchemist from the time period… ) is really interesting to me seeing how many rabbit holes these dudes fall into

[@CallieRiggs5711]

My best friend and I have been obsessed with this move since we were 10. I can still tell you exactly where I was and what I was doing when I found out that it wasn't actually real lol. We live semi-close to Burkittsville and have visited the graveyard and have plans to do the Seneca Creek State Park heritage hike that explores filming locations in the woods next year.

[@dungeonsanddobbers2683]

I agree that the spirit is likely representative of Celtic tradition, but narrowing it down to being specifically of an Irish tradition is a bit of a reach. Especially since the Irish traditions share a lot of similarities to Scottish, Welsh, and Cornish traditions, only with different names and flavours for their mischievous spirits (many of which fit the bill for what the Blair Witch is).

[@AdmiralJT]

This was such a fantastic video. While I've never fully watched any of the series, I do remember bits and pieces. I really like how you broke it down into parts of history of witches of that area, lore from a movie prospective, the film history (nice addition of having Mr Thornbury step in), lore from a "real" prospective, and then a what it really sounds like it could be if true. Great work!

[@smekdei]

I've been absolutely loving your videos recently, banger after banger

[@ronzeffir5139]

Loved the video!! Thanks Aiden for the deep dive into found footage genere and thanks to Aiden for trying to figure out what the "witch" actually is. The mind messing and cult theory reminds me a lot of another horror movie from2017 - The Ritual

[@sliptrick6711]

The game also has a lot of lore additions. It takes place 2 years after the original movie. In it you're haunted by multiple stretched out entities that are scared of bright enough lights and a bare white tree on a mound is where you first encounter them (could be another Unseelie fae connection). You travel through time a lot more openly as well (a major mechanic in-game is using a camera and cassettes to reverse events, find a missing person's report from 4 years in the future, there's a part where you're speaking over a radio and there's a discrepancy on how light out it is in the moment, you find corpses that couldn't be as old as they seem to be, and a major plot point I won't spoil here). You also get a former police dog turned emotional support dog, named Bullet. He is a good boy and helps you solve puzzles and you need to be nice to him to get the 'good' ending. The entire plot and major events are listed on Wikipedia, if anyone's interested but not into stealth horror games.

[@ChadVulpes]

Oh man, that dog seems like the best thing about the game! Granted, I've only seen gameplay videos, but idea of implementing a dog as an emotional support in a horror game is an awesome idea.

[@joyous1011]

This video came up in my suggested and im so glad it did!! The amount of background you guys did and explained is amazing! Love the story to help others not around at that time to understand 😊 definitely subbed! 👍🏼 I remember this time! I was so hyped to see this movie, i was a young 20yr old new Mom. I literally took my new baby sleeping in his car seat to see this movie 😂 he slept the whole time! A classic for sure

[@animan095]

This is such a good analyisis of the movies! I love how you put everything together!

[@godofzombi]

Having a witch with powers over space and time is similar to Keziah Mason Mason from H.P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the witch house. You can also find the concept of a malign force twisting the road so characters can't escape in the Revelations of Glaaki.

[@jordancrossgrove8827]

Other Aiden should get into voice acting, like good lord he’d be so freaking good!!

[@Capronice]

I think he sounds snobby

[@boki1693]

Love videos like this that tell the actual stories and backgrounds. Well done.

[@Mansquid13]

It's ridiculous how great your analysis at the end is. It reminds me of The Ritual, which has perhaps the scariest and coolest movie monster I've ever seen: big Leshy vibes. And it requires worshippers and sacrifices to remain powerful, forces people to choose between worship or death, there's time skips and memory manipulation...just a great movie. I haven't had that creep factor for a while, and just your description of this being tied to a malevolent Sidhe elevated the whole concept of the movies (and gave me the shivers). Well done!

[@cassinipanini]

regarding Parr having the kids look in the corner, if the witch was present during the killings, its possible he wanted to keep the children alive long enough so that *he* could kill them, thus making them face the corner so they wont die before he gets the chance. could be smth to do with what they use the kids for idk im spitballing, but thats what i can come up with for explaining bad movie logic lmao

[@theshenpartei]

Fun fact there are Blair witch comics and games when the original movie came out

[@andrewdau1299]

I remember seeing a playthrough of the video game and it confirms the whole pocket dimension thing.

[@reverendredbeard7774]

I've been a huge fan of the Blair Witch films and lore since the first time I saw the documentary back in the day. This was a great video and I don't think I've seen many people try to analyze them seriously so thank you.

[@princessinmittens4783]

I just found you and I love this content. I did not expect this. Thanks!

[@kellymiller1247]

I went to visit my parents and my brother still lived at home with them. He was telling me about this movie and I had no clue what he was talking about but agreed to go see it that day with him. Went back to my parents place after in shock 😂. Never had we seen anything like it and it freaked us out.

[@verdantmistral442]

To tie in the Faerie Mound... I wonder if the tree the witch was executed at was a dryad's tree or something. The fae could have been a spirit of the wood. Though that doesn't really fit in with the house.

[@MissJoy16]

Thank you for this video-- very well done and gives a lot food for thought.

[@RedneckHillbilly-ho9md]

I just watched a 37 minute commercial the whole way through on a Herbal Seed Kit from Dr. Nicole I hope you get a decent kickback.

[@jellomob9363]

Actually the response to the war of the worlds radio show was highly exaggerated by print media at the time

[@B-Nice]

I was 14 when this movie came out. My buddy showed me the website and we would go to it almost every day for a week or so, until the movie came out. I remember having to grapple with the fact that I was upset when I later found out that 3 people didn't actually 'die' in the woods. The 1900's were wild!! Oddly enough, I never saw the Matrix until a few years ago. 🤷🏽‍♀️ Keanu's performance in Speed made it impossible for me to believe the Matrix was any good 🤦🏽‍♀️

[@yuno1781]

Lmao watch the matrix series and the comic! Timeless

[@lunarvision]

This is an excellent memory and comment. I remember feeling kind of the same… like, let down that these teenagers didn’t die in the woods (ha ha), then feeling guilty.

[@MPT1983]

I know what you mean, I was 16 and probably 50/50 on whether it was real or not, then when the actors appeared on an award show it kinda ruined it for me lol

[@lunarvision]

@@MPT1983 I remember that!! Think it was the MTV VMA’s that year.

[@OldsmobileCutlass1969Va]

I guess you never saw Keanu in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure 🤣

[@msevfreak23]

I’m so happy I was recommended this video! I’m obsessed with the marketing and atmosphere of this movie! It’s so so fascinating and I would do anything to have lived the experience that people in the late 90s did when it came out!

[@nicklewnv]

I appreciate the cut out segment about film process.

[@SpectrumAnalysis]

I wasn't expecting an episode about this, nor to see other Aiden on screen! This is awesome! But as a man with a film degree myself, and a big nerd on The War Of The Worlds, I must comment on one thing: The War Of The Worlds broadcast fiasco was a myth, as far as my research has gone. The newspapers reported that people were going mad and calling into police stations, arming themselves and stockpiling food for the invasion, when in actuality that didn't happen and maybe three people were actually convinced it was a real broadcast. At most, people thought it was real, kept listening till the end to get all the info, only to realise when the credits rolled that it was a show and then called a bunch of people to complain. This either was purposely warped by papers wanting a sensational headline, or it was misinterpreted by the media as genuine concern. It's an urban myth, and I'm surprised people are still parroting it. Unless I'm wrong and the disproving has been disproved, which could be likely... Honestly, since one of you is a film and media buff and the other one is a student of culture and lore, I think it'd be great if you did a video about how alien folklore was influenced by H.G. Wells and The War Of The Worlds. The idea that aliens come from Mars, invade Earth, are associated with the colour green, are more advanced than humans, the concept of the energy weapon, the use of chemical weapons in warfare, aliens using humans as a food source, terraforming... these were all ideas that originate with Wells and his book, or at least were put into pop culture firmly by his book if he didn't invent them. He also predicted The Tank, The Second World War, he pushed the concept of an Invisible Man and time travel into the pop cultural zeitgeist, and even influenced Winston Churchill with his writing.

[@JDM-is-my-name]

Iirc there were a few people who freaked out and did call in, but it was only a small handful, while the news blew it up to EVERYONE freaking out with only a small handful not doing so. There were some people, who iirc, did believe it to be real, but they mostly just called to ask their friends and relatives if it was real, was told it wasn't and then the complains were about how scared people had been and a few people did call u nto complain to the station that broadcasted. I'm not 100% I'm correct, I can only tell you what I believe happened based on what I remember. So not completely false, but massively blown up

[@SpectrumAnalysis]

@@JDM-is-my-name That's essentially what I've heard too, and that's why I tried to get across in my comment.

[@JDM-is-my-name]

@@SpectrumAnalysis I think you did for the most part, I mostly felt the need to add that most of the people who called in was to complain, I didn't think your comment mentioned that a lot :) I hope you didn't take it was me trying to "speak" over you, if that makes sense, just wanted to add my 2 cents

[@SpectrumAnalysis]

@@JDM-is-my-name I didn't take it as that at all, no worries! I did mention that aspect a bit actually, but I could have emphasised it more, yeah.

[@JDM-is-my-name]

@@SpectrumAnalysis I might just have missed it? I'm not entirely certain, I just felt you didn't mention it enough for some reason. I might just have missed it. I'm glad you took it well! I get so worried when commenting because I know I sometimes come across as a little aggressive and I'm not really good at the / mood indicators :)

[@JoeMac1983]

I remember the commercials for this movie before its release had everyone talking, because it came across like a legit documentary. There was a huge letdown when people caught on. Kinda like when Discovery Channel made the mockumentary on the existence of mermaids 😂😂😂

[@Mr.InbetweenFX]

I watched that and thought there was legit evidence of mermaids and loved it, but watched it again within days and realized it was a freaking mockumentary and was so pissed at myself lol. I still like to think mermaids could be real, but that special wasn’t.

[@dangerxbadger2300]

​@Mr.InbetweenFX we've only explored about 10% of the ocean. It's absolutely possible that mermaids are real! In fact, there is a bit of African folklore that suggests that there is an underwater race of people that evolved from the pregnant women who were thrown overboard from slave ships during the slave trade of the late 17th early 18th century!!

[@dangerxbadger2300]

​@Mr.InbetweenFX I was also fooled into thinking that the mockumentary was real and was deeply disappointed when I realized it wasn't. I've been obsessed with mermaids since I was a small child, and it broke my poor little mer-heart. 😢

[@tommauro3052]

It was a fun experience to take part of. Glad I was able to see it in theaters and be young enough to still feel spooked out by the movie

[@maevemaiden]

Hi! I’m an Irish practitioner from Maryland. The thing about Celtic practices it is absolutely passed down in ancestry. I work with the Morrigan and since I was a little girl I’ve known things. It’s in our DNA and mostly can’t be explained and isn’t talked about it’s understood from aunt to aunt mom to daughter to son etc. the Irish were infamous for not keeping records because it’s innate. We have always just inhabited the gifts and used them in spiritual practices without keeping notes. I started researching druids and Beltane without ever knowing anything about these topics. I grew up Catholic so my parents didn’t believe anything other than their church beliefs but my grandparents came from Belfast back in the 40’s. Anyway I live in Germantown which is where parts of the movie were filmed (the woods were in Germantown not Burkittsville). I’ve always loved the movie and fun fact I managed a property one of the directors , Roberto Sanchez, owned. Small world. This was a great analysis and breakdown of the movie. New subscriber✨🇮🇪☘️

[@Athlynne]

I'm excited to watch this - I remember seeing Blair Witch when it first came out, I came home, went right to the computer and pulled up the Maryland state archives to search the characters' names. (I didn't think the footage was real for legal reasons, but thought maybe it was based on real events.) Nothing, which helped convince me it was all fiction. I loved how they presented it as real, though; the SciFi channel's doc on the background was awesome.

[@erickcartman8758]

I watched this in theaters with a few friends and we legitimately thought it was the most terrifying thing we’d ever seen. It took us about a week to figure it all out. Then we felt pretty dumb. 😂

[@lunarvision]

Same. Those feelings were short lived but effective.

[@cierrarachael9949]

You've thought more about this story's lore than the story writers. Thank you, your stuff is always entertaining.

[@sassysuzy4u]

Great video. I like this kind of breakdown and the ideas about what the lore actually is.

[@Tomas-gw6rd]

I was about 12 when this came out and we all wanted it to be real, even if deep down we knew it wasn't. It was a trip to get caught up in that marketing, we wanted to be because it felt so exciting.

[@kelpie1533]

It's interesting how similar the entity you're describing is to the supernatural creature in The Ritual. It's another movie about being lost in the woods based on a book of the same name. In that case I believe the creature is linked to Norse mythology.

[@carlycrays2831]

They should do that movie! It's right up their alley!

[@SarahGreen523]

You really spun this into a story that was much more interesting than the actual movie. It was enough of a good take that I watched it over again to really absorb the nuance of the lore/myth connections. Well done!