Analog hardware, such as VHS tapes, early cable TV broadcasting, or FM radio, have a unique character that seems to evoke something special in modern audiences. It may be nostalgia for those who grew up with it or amusing anachronism for those who didn’t, but somehow, it has a way of making things scarier.
Analog horror isa uniquely online trope, for the most part. Ironically, the newest form of media distribution seems to be the one most obsessed with the old-fashioned look. Analog horror is more than just an aesthetic, it has certain hallmarks that go with its typical narrative.
RELATED:Log Off: 5 Underrated Horror Movies About The Internet
Analog horror does everything in its power to make its modern creation look faithfully like footage captured on older hardware and preserved for decades. It’s a sub-genreof found footage horrorwhich almost always makes the camera part of the action. Found footage as a gimmick has come and gone in popularity. It was briefly seen as the dominant look in the genre, but it’s since become less popular and more occasional in its application. Analog horror diverts from the found footage style by making the footage part of a fictional video or broadcast that is somehow hijacked. It’s usually portrayed as lost media and typically starts relatively normally before shifting into cosmic horror. Analog horror works can appear as fake programmingfrom a fictional TV network, an attempt at shooting a documentary that ends in disaster, or other examples of broadcasts cut short by horror.
One of the first examples of this trope, bizarrely, is the 2015 trailer for Crowbar Collective’sHalf-LiferemakeBlack Mesa. The game’s long development process went in phases, starting when two dueling teams of developers merged back in the early 2000s. As release dates for the project were gradually pushed forward, multiple versions of the game hit the Steam store. The free mod was available a decade ago in September 2012, but a full version of the game was still on the horizon. In 2015, the full game became available through early access, and Crowbar Collective dropped an iconic trailer to promote it. It’s pitched as an old VHS from the archives that depicts the use of new training areas and weapons development. As a chipper scientist and a smug military man sing thepraises of Black Mesa, something appears to go horribly wrong. Screams to “shut it down” herald the video’s sudden end. It’s simple, yet effective, and it kept viewers excited about the game.
ThoughBlack Mesamay have gotten there first, the analog horror trope is much more common in internet-only projects. The classic work of analog horror began the same year as the release of the aforementioned trailer. Writer and cartoonist Kris Straub began uploadinghis well-known creepypastaCandle Covein 2009, but he properly published the work in 2015.Candle Covetold the story of various forum posters recalling a cartoon series that appears to have become lost media. The fictional network which aired the in-universe cartoon was called Local 58, and that concept went on to be the basis for a spin-off.Local 58continues to this day as a horror anthology, with each episode connected only by the analog horror gimmick. This has been the work that codified the trope but, other online series likeGemini Home EntertainmentandThe Mandela Cataloguefollowed similar directions.
Candle Covewas adapted to the first season of the Syfy original seriesChannel Zero. It’s the same basic concept, but it largely ditched the analog gimmick. But, the analog horror gimmick isn’t completely new to the slightly larger screen.Netflix’sArchive 81isperhaps the largest profile example of the analog horror trope. The series follows an archivist who takes a questionable gig restoring the HI8 tape collection of a wealthy recluse. As he gets into the work, he discovers that the material contains something beyond imagination. It’s a solid example of the trope that gets to the heart of what’s so powerful about analog horror. Unfortunately, fans won’t get to see what else that narrative had in store, since Netflix canceled it after its first season. Analog horror’s first chance at TV success was short-lived, but it’ll almost certainly be back.
Analog horror is still alive and well online. Arguably, almost every piece of Slenderman material has fallen into the trope. Something about the simple wholesome world of daytime TV or instructional video beinginterrupted by something horrificspeaks to the hive mind of the internet. Analog horror could be the basis for a feature film or a TV project again someday, but its true home has always been online. Old examples could even trick viewers into thinking their interrupted show was real, leading to a great deal of shock. Though the trick might not always work, analog horror is a great aesthetic that deserves some more usage.
