The Internet’s Saddest Analog Horror

Brought to you by Raycon.

ABOUT THE SHOW:
This show celebrates Ryan's love for film, games, art and entertainment through personal retrospective analysis that aims to explore what made them so good.

MUSIC:
Ether Oar by The Whole Other
Lights by Patrick Patrikios
Where Are My Clothes by The 129ers
Sinister Cathedral by Asher Fulero
Breakfast Alone by The Whole Other
Frost by HOVATOFF

[RyanHollinger]

*What should I cover next?! ... Let me know in the comments!*

[kingbash]

While I don't think the Mandela Catalogue is that scary in of itself, I absolutely adore the concept of Satan and his demons overtaking the Earth by essentially replacement God and His creations. As a Christian myself, the very idea of the Lord you've prayed to and worshipped might not have been the entity you've been talkingnto is haunting and gives me all types of horrifying thoughts.

[princeapoopoo]

I forgot how young Alex is. This isn't my favourite analogue horror series, but it's existence excites me to see how Alex grows as a creator.

[nonbinarysunset]

I do think people have meme'd this series to Hell and back for its aesthetics and how it shaped Youtube horror, but people forget Alex was a minor making this. Part of how fascinating it is to watch is seeing him grow his talents and working with others for stuff like the cg. It is seriously impressive and genuinely creepy. Takes me back to the days of Marble Hornets and EverymanHYBRID watching the crews there grow more talented over time.

[HawkTeevs]

The Mandela Catalogue touches on so many heavy topics, but the most terrifying one to me is the question:
What if the God you worshipped and prayed to wasn’t the God you believed in?

“Who have I been praying to all this time”

[pan-semitistcommunist]

God... The shot at 13:07 has lived in my nightmares since i originally saw that video, the choice to simply use a censor bar instead of actually showing anything is brilliant, my mind working to fill in the blanks of what exactly is behind that black rectangle is infinitely more disturbing to me than if they actually decided to showed me something "scary".

[laurahenriksen]

Those images of Thatchers dead partner grinning at him from the darkness were some of the best imagery on the series and they were hella creepy. Gave me chills! X

[attackfrogs]

i _adore_ the body horror in this series, especially when it's _animated_
seeing the alternates warping their faces right on screen is SO sick, love it love it.

[nickn]

That face in the dark staring around the corner is scarier than pretty much every horror movie I’ve ever seen.

[HypnoBeams]

This is gonna be fantastic, would love to see you look over the Monument Mythos next, an absolute mind fuck of a series.

[EddieM]

I kind of like the weird CGI and sets of the later volumes. It reminds me of the Silent Hill movies, where the monsters were made to look artificial to communicate that they didn't belong in our world. I get the feeling that the world of Mandela County belongs to the alternates now, and it's the real people that don't fit.

[christopheraustin]

A lot of analogue horror, I feel, falls into the same trap a lot of kids horror like five nights and Freddy’s and Poppy’s Playtime do: where there’s always this all-encompassing thing that has insurmountable power and it’s only purpose is to mess with you 24/7

It’s like those old horror movies based on animals attacks where you could impale the shark/lion/bear onto a pike and it would willingly impale itself further in the *slimmest* of hopes it could still kill you even if it ensures its death.

It reaches a point where it’s not as scary as it is silly.

[justsomeepicdude]

If you haven’t already, I’d recommend the series “monument mythos.” It is peak analogue horror (in my opinion)

[FisherKing]

This was one of the most desperate and sad series I’ve ever seen. Beyond cosmic horror’s existential dread of insignificance, the everyday experience of shadows has been one of my most persistent childhood fears, and this series added religious dread to the mix. Watching it after effectively losing any faith I had was fucking terrifying.

[benjamina]

I kind of liked Dave Lee’s death scene. The windmills stopping, followed by the murky sound of the choir getting louder and then suddenly dropping by a half step as light comes through the clouds was creepy. I also just really liked the shot of Gabriel appearing in Dave’s sunglasses. Was it a bit goofy? Yes. But for whatever reason it made me sad seeing our silly little tech store owner dead on the ground.

[wstine]

I never miss a Ryan Hollinger retrospective video. Especially while using my Ray-Con earbuds thanks to the HOYEVER code.

[cupofcait]

"The big cheese downstairs" has to be the funniest way I've heard the devil referred to in a long time

[psionicsknight]

That idea of the Mandela Catalogue being about depression is a very interesting theory and I like it a lot! As you said: the characters’ guilt, despair, and pain are given just as much (if not more so) importance as the scary creatures and things happening around them. Plus, I think it gives a sense of realism to the story—a lot of horror films just have the surviving characters focused solely on surviving and being terrified of getting killed, but in Catalogue we see that the survivors also have to deal with the grief of losing people they know. It’s something I hope more horror stories do, since that is more realistic and more human in my opinion.

Now, if you want to see some Analog Horror stories that do what this series does but a bit better, I have a few suggestions:
The GREYLOCK Tapes (honestly, I’d say this is what the Mandela Catalogue should have been).
The Monument Mythos
Midwest Angelica
Winter of ‘83
White Door Opened
The Painter (Heads-up—this one gets *very* dark, even by horror standards, fast).

[Pewpewpew]

Ryan thank you for posting this video at the end of a very crappy week. I’m seriously smiling with a cup of coffee in my hand watching your fine work!

[benjamina]

Fun fact 1: Mark Heathcliff is named after Markiplier.

Fun fact 2: Thorne Baker, also known as Teenage Disaster, and also the actor for Thatcher, was originally discovered by Alex through his short game based on Mandela. Thorne Baker also wrote Thatcher's monologues. This means he is a musician, game developer, actor, and script writer.