It’s not yet Halloween, but you’re in for some scary treats today. Suppose you want to take a breath of fresh air from today’s most popular and mainstream horror series, such as “American Horror Story,” “The Walking Dead” and “Stranger Things,” and revisit how shows were produced in the past. In that case, you should watch some analog horror series.
Analog horror is a subgenre of horror capitalizing on the eerie quality of archaic technologies, grainy footage, and distorted audio to create an unsettling atmosphere. Think of the styles of old VHS, Betamax, and other pre-digital formats. Thus, they look like old news broadcasts, local area warnings, and information videos. But, this emphasis on analog, traditional media makes analog horror very distinctive, relying on indirect incitement of fear from viewers.
However, despite such an unconventional way to tell their stories, these analog horror series are nothing short of creepy. Through the years, several of them have made viewers turn on their lights as they sleep the night they watched the show. Here are the spookiest and most disturbing analog horror series of all time.
The Most Traumatizing Analog Horror Series Created
‘Midwest Angelica’
“Midwest Angelica” begins with an innocuous VHS tape from an old thrift store. This show’s story follows the VHS tape as it falls into the hands of its victims, its viewers, who soon find out its malevolent secrets. It presents the work of an association chronicling the discovery of what seems to be an alien corpse.
Each episode of this cosmic analog horror show builds up the intensity, suspense, and dread. It’s the blending of horror, investigation, retro aesthetic, and a terrifying plot of a contagion impossible to stop.
‘The Tangi Virus’
Stories about viral outbreaks have always been correlated with the horror genre. “The Tangi Virus” is one of them. This analog horror show is pretty simple and straightforward. Its story revolves around a scientist who documents her research of an odd and swiftly mutating organism found in the waters of several local lakes.
She attempts to sound the alarm, only to discover that her mission to contact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was thwarted. The local authorities did not want to lose money from tourism to the sweet, beautiful lake.
The outbreak of the Tangi Virus is unstoppable, and this gives the series that eerie notion of familiarity that makes this horror subgenre very effective. “The Tangi Virus” is creepy as it banks on reality, revealing its most hellish extremes.
‘GREYLOCK’
Also on this list is “GREYLOCK.” Also known as “The GREYLOCK Tapes” and “The GREYLOCK Archives,” this analog horror series was created by Rob Gavagan and hosted on the YouTube channel bearing the same name. Gavagan is famous for his coverage of true crime, absolute horror, and other anomalies as depicted in series like “Anatomy of a Murder” and “Seriously Strange.”
You’ll be surprised how this series gets so close to the real world. “GREYLOCK” tells about the strange and paranormal events surrounding Mount Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts, and the government conspiracy going around them.
This location has often been associated with scary stories about ghosts and witches. Gavagan was so genius to have this place as the backdrop of this how’s story. He presented it using thought forms and figures made oh-so-real by people’s constant thoughts. They can appear like ordinary people, pets, or items, but they can act differently and in threatening ways.
‘The Minerva Alliance’
“The Minerva Alliance” is another story of the investigative type. Shrouded in mystery, the Minerva Alliance was gradually unraveled by a persistent investigator determined to get to the bottom of this group’s activities. But twists follow. Along the way, things take a darker route as a disturbing string of enigmatic clips seems to prod from the nature of realities.
Viewers will feel uneasy as they watch this show, which draws inspiration from realistic footage depicting its immersive story. There are also coded messages and unsettling visuals, quickly drawing its audience before terrifying them with its escalating surreal levels of horror.
‘Boisvert’
“Boisvert” is some sort of an experimental horror show, not to mention it was created by a netizen like you. It is an abstract surrealist YouTube series created by an artist who goes by the name @xreamm on X, delving deeper into depression brought by the isolation from the recent pandemic quarantines. “Boisvert” has also served as an artistic outlet for @xreamm.
It is quite new, which is an interesting take from the concept of analog horror being old. Its story follows several characters amid a plot that is hard to decipher in itself as it is hidden within QR codes, Morse code, French, Hebrew, and American sign language.
The characters are trapped in a cycle of depression, but the clips here are depicted with little to no agreed-upon and solid theories as the visuals are so raw, such as those only discussed in the comments section and on the official Discord server of “Boisvert.”
Conclusion
There you have it. Some of the best and scariest analog horror series for you if you want to explore this genre. Should you want more titles, you can look at this list below:
- “Winter of ‘83”
- “Vita Carnis”
- “Mystery Flesh Pit National Park”
- “CORNERFOLK”
- “The Monument Mythos”
- “The Man in the Suit”
- “The Walten Files”
Analog horror series are for those who want something new and unique without taking away the idea of getting scared. These shows are not as famous and mainstream as your favorite horror series, but they sure have etched a mark in pop culture.
