What is Analog Horror?
A simple question, with a complicated answer.
To start, I’ll paint you a picture.
Imagine walking into an abandoned, musky, murky home. It’s clear that no one has occupied the building in years, yet somehow, facilities are still operational. You step over old clothes and shoes, paintings on the wall so aged, that you can barely recognize the photos as people.
After a few minutes of exploration, you enter an old home theater.
The TV is a massive cube, that’s clearly too heavy to move, so you press the power button— just to see what happens…
And it turns on.
It’s connected to an old VCR player —reference the picture below in case you don’t know what a VCR player is— and a tape starts playing. The screen flickers, the tracking struggles to stabilize, and instantly you’re transported into a fuzzy home-video-style horror picture.
Welcome, to analog horror.
The eerie, nostalgic, and thoroughly unsettling mix of outdated technology and classic horror tropes.
The Birth of Analog Horror
In a nutshell, analog horror is a genre that amplifies the unease and fear that we enjoy in horror movies, via outdated technology formats like VHS tapes, CRT TVs, and vintage broadcasts. It’s a unique blend of retro aesthetics and spine-chilling storytelling, that feeds both our nostalgia, and our thirst for fear that we can experience from the comfort of a couch and a TV.
Pun fully intended, understanding the origins of analog horror, means we need to rewind (See what I did there?) to the era of analog technology.
All the way back to the days before digital streaming, flat-screen TVs, Social media, or even HD graphics. Back in the days of the 90s baby, people consumed their media through VHS tapes, or —if you were ahead of the curve— DVDs.
These formats had a distinct warmth and a fun charm that made Disney movies extra special. Plus, the limitations of the technology were fun to deal with. (observing the static as we rewound Lion King, just to watch the movie all over again was one of the highlights of my childhood.)
These very same elements made analog horror movies more scary the more you watched them. You see, VHS tapes weren’t exactly reliable for a long time. We all knew back in the day, that we had a 6-month lifespan if we watched a movie often, and a few years if we watched them occasionally.
Over time, we would get freezes, static, and random artifacts showing up on screen, simply due to wear and tear on the film.
(But more on that later.)
Of course, there was more to the genre than just this.
What Makes Analog Horror Brilliant
A big part of analog horror’s appeal is the unique ambiance created by limited technology. But, not every grainy VHS tape with a few jump scares can accurately be called analog horror. So, what exactly fits the genre?
Here’s a quick breakdown:
While the technology itself doesn’t make the horror, you can’t have an analog horror without an analog feel. Grainy footage, VHS filters, and audio distortion are your best friends.
Aged technology added something unique and highly variable to analog horror. Watching The Last Broadcast on your friend’s VHS cassette could be an entirely different experience to your own copy. Visual artifacts, random static, audio skips that would make the normal seem paranormal— every VHS was different.
Unlike much of what we call horror nowadays, with stories that are far more fantastical than practical, analog horror is characterized by a unique believability. Pretty much any analog horror could have featured any one of us as the main character.
Their believability added to the unique immersive experience.
Rather than be direct, analog horrors thrive on the power of suggestion. Giving viewers just enough information to build the scariest monster possible in their minds, rather than explicitly showing everything
Mix in the right amount of these four elements and you have the recipe for an era-defining movie.
That said, now that we understand a little bit more about the genre, here’s a quick look at some of the best analog horrors on the market.
The Best in The Space
Like most other movie genres, the classics in the analog horror space transcend generations, with many of them retaining some of the original popularity even today.
Though it wasn’t the first in the space, The Blair Witch Project was era-defining. Released in 1999, this horror is a “found footage” experience that follows three students who venture into haunted woods to investigate the legend of the Blair Witch.
Whoever was responsible for marketing this was a pure genius. At the time —and I remember this personally— much of the public was convinced that the events of the Blair Witch Project were real.
This marketing angle and the realistic portrayal of the film’s events mark The Blair Witch Project as one of the genre’s greats.
Whoever was responsible for marketing this was a pure genius. At the time —and I remember this personally— much of the public was convinced that the events of the Blair Witch Project were real.
This marketing angle and the realistic portrayal of the film’s events mark The Blair Witch Project as one of the genre’s greats.
If I’m being honest, Local 58 is a masterpiece.
Created by cartoonist Kris Straub, the series somehow —despite being entirely fictional— crosses the boundaries between reality and fantasy almost imperceptibly and in a very real way draws viewers into a world of intrigue, chaos, and a series of events that are a little disorienting to process.
Local 58 tells the story of a local news channel that’s seemingly being hijacked by an… entity… of some kind. Who’s objective seems to be the death of as many of the American populace as possible.
Kris was inspired to create the series following the wildfire success of a creepypasta that he wrote based on a fictional kid’s show named Candle Cove that was broadcast on Local 58.
The creepypasta was essentially a thread of users all recounting their memories of Candle Cove as kids. As the thread progresses, they remember increasingly bizarre or gruesome details, that don’t quite seem to add up.
Culminating in the eventual realization that—
Well, I won’t spoil it, but it’s certainly worth reading in your own time.
Regardless, Local 58 takes the story of the fictional TV channel deeper, leveraging audio and video degradation to amplify the eerie nostalgia and take us on a journey through the “what if” our emergency broadcasts were hijacked by… Something that means us harm.
Local 58 tells the story of a local news channel that’s seemingly being hijacked by an… entity… of some kind. Who’s objective seems to be the death of as many of the American populace as possible.
Kris was inspired to create the series following the wildfire success of a creepypasta that he wrote based on a fictional kid’s show named Candle Cove that was broadcast on Local 58.
The creepypasta was essentially a thread of users all recounting their memories of Candle Cove as kids. As the thread progresses, they remember increasingly bizarre or gruesome details, that don’t quite seem to add up.
Culminating in the eventual realization that—
Well, I won’t spoil it, but it’s certainly worth reading in your own time.
Regardless, Local 58 takes the story of the fictional TV channel deeper, leveraging audio and video degradation to amplify the eerie nostalgia and take us on a journey through the “what if” our emergency broadcasts were hijacked by… Something that means us harm.
You could argue, that the Last Broadcast gave birth to the “found footage” craze that would ultimately become analog horror.
Created by indie filmmakers Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler, the film blurs the lines between reality and fiction in an unsettling way, drawing viewers into a world of mystery, conspiracy, and unnerving events.
Here’s the low down:
A news/documentary crew heads out on an expedition to find the mythical Jersey Devil in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
Unsurprisingly to some —definitely to me— they wind up dead…
(As it turns out, hunting a mythical demon-goat-bat that has lived for centuries and can survive direct hits from a cannonball, may not be the best idea…)
Regardless, one crew member survived the expedition and was charged with the murders of his crewmates. The Last Broadcasts tells the story of a documentary maker, David Leigh, who’s after the “real truth” behind the murders.
The film was a precursor to the found footage craze, weaving together interviews, archived footage, and digital effects to tell a haunting story of ambition, mystery, and terror. The filmmakers were inspired by the eerie potential of blending documentary-style filmmaking with horror, leading to a narrative that feels disturbingly real.
Interestingly, the Last Broadcast was the very first feature-length film to be filmed with consumer-level digital equipment, which only added to the immersive experience.
The Walten Files is what Local 58 would be if it were inspired by Five Nights at Freddys…
Which it is.
Created by Martin Walls, the series uses a blend of animated visuals and the creepy, skin-crawly storytelling that we’ve come to know and love from the analog horror genre, to tell the story of Bon’s Burgers.
Originally an idea conceived by two friends, Jack Walten and Felix Franken, Bon’s Burgers was initially positioned to be a go-to source of animatronic entertainment and fun for kids.
(Sound familiar?)
Well, unsurprisingly— people end up dead. Starting with Jack Walten’s two children Edd and Molly, who were killed in a car crash thanks to Felix’s drunk driving. From there, the story goes on to recount the murders of several people and the disposal of their bodies inside the animatronics originally intended to entertain children.
Initially, Martin intended the series to be a “fever dream” constantly jumping beyond the borders of reality and disorienting viewers just enough to fully immerse them in the story being told.
The last entry in our list (for now) the Mandela Catalogue is also one of the more recent entries into the genre, with episode one being uploaded on June 9, 2021.
The Catalogue follows the fictional Mandela County as they battle against ‘Alternates’. Shape-shifting demons that take on the appearances of any human they wish in order to create chaos.
Unlike the other entries on our list so far, the Mendela Catalogue carries far more overt tones of the classic battle of good and evil, with episode one beginning with direct references to Christianity.
Creator, Alex Kister, uses a clever combination of found footage, emergency broadcasts, and eerie audio recordings to capture a fragmented, non-linear narrative that slowly reveals just how bad the Alternate invasion is.
The story follows a number of main protagonists and antagonists and gives us a thrilling peek into an alternate world where the demons and angels spoken of in biblical lore, are still very much actively involved in our lives and seek our destruction.
The Catalogue follows the fictional Mandela County as they battle against ‘Alternates’. Shape-shifting demons that take on the appearances of any human they wish in order to create chaos.
Unlike the other entries on our list so far, the Mendela Catalogue carries far more overt tones of the classic battle of good and evil, with episode one beginning with direct references to Christianity.
Creator, Alex Kister, uses a clever combination of found footage, emergency broadcasts, and eerie audio recordings to capture a fragmented, non-linear narrative that slowly reveals just how bad the Alternate invasion is.
The story follows a number of main protagonists and antagonists and gives us a thrilling peek into an alternate world where the demons and angels spoken of in biblical lore, are still very much actively involved in our lives and seek our destruction.
Wrapping Up
I don’t think anyone would have guessed that the quirks and flaws of VHS tapes and analog broadcasts would go on to create one of the most iconic genres of horror. Something about the skips, freezes, audio bugs and random bits of static add an extra layer of unpredictability that helps users feel even more immersed in the story.
By tapping into our memories of the past and corrupting them with elements of fear, it creates a powerful and lasting impact. Whether you're a fan of the genre or looking to create your own analog horror project, there's no denying the eerie allure of this retro-fueled fright fest. So, next time you find an old VHS tape in your attic, be sure to pop it in—just be prepared for what you might uncover.