Is Siren Head the Ultimate Modern Monster? | Monstrum

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Lumbering through the countryside blasting its eerie messages from metal speakers perched atop a forty-foot wooden humanoid frame, Siren Head is a prime example of modern folklore born on the internet. Featuring insights from Siren Head's original creator Trevor Henderson, this episode looks at how social media contributes to horror in the 21st century.

The world is full of monsters, myths, and legends and Monstrum isn’t afraid to take a closer look. The show, hosted by Emily Zarka, Ph.D., takes us on a journey to discover a new monster in each new episode. Monstrum looks at humans' unique drive to create and shape monster mythology through oral storytelling, literature, and film and digs deep into the history of those mythologies.

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Written and Hosted by: Dr. Emily Zarka
Director: David Schulte
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Producer: Thomas Fernandes
Editor/Animator: Jordyn Buckland
Illustrator: Samuel Allen
Executive in Charge (PBS): Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming (PBS): Gabrielle Ewing
Additional Footage: Shutterstock
Music: APM Music

Descriptive Audio & Captions provided by The Described and Captioned Media Program

Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.

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Bibliography

Cowdell, Paul. “‘Practicing Witchcraft Myself During the Filming’: Folk Horror, Folklore, and the Folkloresque.” Western Folklore, vol. 78, no. 4, 2019, pp. 295–326.

Folk Culture in the Digital Age: The Emergent Dynamics of Human Interaction, edited by Trevor J. Blank, Utah State University Press, 2012.

Folklore and the Internet Vernacular Expression in a Digital World, edited by Trevor J. Blank, Utah State University Press, 2009.

Garner, Bryan. Garner’s Modern English Usage, Oxford University Press, 2016.

Hall, Alaric. “The Etymology and Meanings of Eldritch.” Scottish Language, vol. 26, 2007, pp. 16–22.

The Folkloresque: Reframing Folklore in a Popular Culture World, edited by Michael Dylan Foster, and Jeffrey A. Tolbert, Utah State University Press, 2015.

Tolbert, Jeffrey A. “Chapter One: ‘The Sort of Story That Has You Covering Your Mirrors.”’ Slender Man Is Coming: Creepypasta and Contemporary Legends on the Internet. Edited by Trevor J. Blank and Lynne S. McNeill, Utah State University Press, 2018,
pp. 25–50.

Zulli, Diana, and David James Zulli. “Extending the Internet Meme: Conceptualizing Technological Mimesis and Imitation Publics on the TikTok Platform.” New Media & Society, 00(0), 2020, pp. 1–19.

[countessD]

Even Junji Ito, the horror manga artist himself, expressed nothing but praise for the Siren Head art. Congratulations to Trevor Henderson for receiving such a shoutout.

[kid]

I feel like things like Siren Head, Slenderman, the SCP Foundation, and The Backrooms are really popular because they exist outside of copyright laws. Copyright as a systems is fairly new things to how humans interact with stories and myths, since copyright was made into the system we know in the early 1700s. Before that if someone wrote a book, play, poem, etc. there was no legal precedent stopping others from taking it and expanding on it with their own twists.

I feel like a lot of people are gravitating towards these more open source/public domain characters now because they can make their own dent in the mythos instead of cowering in fear of being sued by a big media company. Like I have had a super hero fanfiction/fan comic kicking around in my head since I was like 12, but I haven't made it because a company would swoop down and attack it if it ever gained popularity.

Just throwing this on at the end here too, screw Disney for turning copyright and intellectual property into the nightmare landscape it is now just because they couldn't handle making 2 billion instead of 3 billion every day.

[burnished]

Sirenhead is honestly one of the coolest modern monsters. Henderson definitely deserves the recognition.

[izabellahortega]

The best part of modern monsters is that we can take a look into the subconscious of humanity during the present, instead of interpreting the past. And in the future, new monster experts can look at the past with a detailed and well documented archives. Thank you Dr.Z!

[travisshallenberger]

This is what I love about this channel; the willingness to look at all kinds of monsters. All cultures and locations, the serious and the hokey, and not just the old folklore but the new ones that are still emerging. In this day and age with the technology we have available we can watch these stories go from a momentary distraction to an actual legend, and this channel doesn't shy away from these just because they're new.

[Narokkurai]

I think anyone who grew up in tornado zones knows the implied threat of Siren Head. Every first Tuesday of the month, at 10am, they test the tornado siren, and man does it sound creepy. It immediately scratches this animal part of my brain that tells me I'm in danger, so that even seeing a siren that isn't making any noise is a little bit unsettling.

The presence of a siren means that the place you're in is dangerous. *Could* be dangerous, at least. And even though the siren is the warning and not the threat itself, you implicitly come to recognize the siren as a danger.

[tommyliddell]

Siren Head is such a brilliant monster. The sound of sirens is always unsettling with their foreboding nature, the design is perfectly balanced and there's even a slight melancholy to the concept itself. Great episode and kudos to Trevor Henderson!

[lordundeadrat]

Siren head is a combination monster. It first represents a fear that the past resents the present. The things that we left behind as the world moved on can find their own unnatural life. They shamble aimlessly. Looking for it's lost importance on the outskirts of both time and place.

Secondly, The choice of a siren in the first place mirrors it's eldritch horror appearance. Sirens like these hold a special place in the human psyche. The same thing to everyone around the world. They warn of Tornadoes, Tsunami, Monsoon, Earthquakes, Wild fires and the like. Powers so far beyond human control that the only thing you can do is run. Whatever's coming can't be reasoned with or bargained. The same Siren sounds are used in the SilentHill franchise to evoke exactly the same fear. A fear of an unreasonable fathomless power not unlike the fear of gods of Kathulu myth.

It's fitting that we can talk to the creator of Siren head. As it evokes a fear of the things we have created and lost control over.

[juniper]

I wish Trevor Henderson got more recognition for creating Siren Head. I'm glad you guys did your due diligence and got him for an interview for this episode.

[theelementalstation]

Also, lets face it, any kind of alarm, be it fire or tornado is terrofying and having a monster blast out those deafening sounds while chasing you is just nightmarish

[itwasagoodideaatthetime]

This is one the few 'modern internet monsters' that actually scares the crap out of me. Even though I know it's not real it's still creepy as all Hell! 😖

[Spicie]

I never heard of Sirenhead before this video, but my first thought, was that it represents the fears of bad news and what sirens means. Relevant in this time with a lot of wars, invasions, and threats of war and/or invasion around the world.

[youremakingprogress]

I think Siren Head's skeletal frame, its resemblance to outdated technology, and its originally living in sparsely-populated places all invoke ruin and decay. The fact that it's predatory reminds us that ruin and decay are coming for us all as individuals, societies, and humanity in general. And if it's intelligent, then we're being directly targeted by these things. That IS scary.

[jorenbosmans]

I loved Hendersons down to earth attitude while talking about his creation. Like just being happy that others brought his creation so far. This was really a special episode

[lizhasasthma]

As a midwesterner I think part of Sirenhead's appeal for me is the way it is familiar and almost comforting despite it's association with disaster. The area I live in tests the tornado sirens the first Wednesday of every month, so whenever that first Wednesday rolls around and I hear the distant whine of the siren I feel a little excitement that it's the First Wednesday. On the other hand if I hear those sirens and the sky is green, it's time to get the dog and hide in the basement (not before standing on the porch with my hands on my hips gazing at the sky and remarking on the color. Real Midwesterners know).

[megancanada]

I love that as humans we still want to sit around and tell stories to scare each other. It doesn't matter if it's with a campfire or a screen lighting our faces.
I also love some of the communities online where everyone can contribute to a greater narrative.

[megakenzie]

This reminds me of Keisuke Aiso's Momo statue and the strange lore that quickly built up. Parents were told that she would pop up in youtube videos and convince their kids to do bad things or inflict self harm. Its wild how quickly things can get out of control.

[bethanylovelace]

My nephew introduced me to siren head and the way he did terrified me. We live in northern Alabama and so we get tornadoes in the spring. I have been through one and ever since the sound of tornado sirens has terrified me. Well my lovely little demon of a nephew is on YouTube and starts listening to siren head videos for fun and one sounded like a tornado siren. Didn't help that it was tornado season!

[kingmdalby]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the SCP project. It's like sirenhead but x1000. I love the idea that certain things could be so wrong that they ruin the fabric of our reality. Some aren't traditional monsters too, nothing to watch or chase you or eat you.

[Teryn]

The idea of the modern 'telling stories around a campfire' reminds me that I'd love to see a video talking about the whole phenomena around the SCP Foundation and related things.