Alicia: Hey, just a heads up: the episode
you're about to listen to is about Marble

Hornets, directed by Joseph DeLage and
Troy Wagner and written by a Troy Wagner.

Some relevant trigger warnings for
this movie include stalking home

invasion, physical assault, blood.

And our hosts ranked this movie
as pants-shittingly terrifying.

If you'd like to learn more
about the movie, discussed this

evening, please visit our website
progressivelyhorrified.transistor.fm

for show notes and transcripts.

After the spooky music, we'll
talk about the movie in full.

So be forewarned, there will be spoilers.

Emily: Good evening and welcome to
Progressively Horrified the podcast

where we hold horror to progressive
standards that it never agreed to.

Tonight, we're talking about something
a little out of the ordinary, a

classic analog horror web series of
the mid aughts: it's Marble Hornets.

This week Jeremy has been whisked away
by uh, whatever convention he's at.

I don't know which one it is, but
since this will be coming out later

on, you can pretend and make it up.

He will be appealing and appearing
at conventions coming up.

So keep an eye out on his Twitter.

Meanwhile, enjoy your host tonight.

It's me, Emily, your friendly
neighborhood, mega moth, and I

have as per usual, assembled a
panel of cinephiles and cenobites.

Starting here with my many times
co-host here to challenge the

sexy werewolf/sexy vampire binary.

It's Ben Kahn.

Ben, how are you tonight?

Ben: Oh, man.

Did someone just order up a heaping
serving of being high at 19 in my

college dorm room with the lights off
being scared outta my fucking mind?

Emily: Yeah I'm not going to
say that drugs are required.

Um, I do live in California.

I don't know anything about cannabis.

But what I do know about
is some awesome people.

We have an awesome guest tonight
with us is Amanda an artist of great

renowned, comic artist and illustrator
uh, notably of the Dames Zine

Amanda, how are you doing tonight?

Amanda: Doing fine.

Doing great until you said of great
renowned and then I'm like, woo

Emily's hyping me up a little too much.

Emily: Listen.

You will be.

I'm gonna jump in a little bit here
to talk about directors and writers.

This is a web series.

First video was posted on YouTube
that wonderful film distributor,

YouTube uh, June 20th, 2009.

Ben: So you can all find it all in one
thing, but this was originally released

over the course of uh, a while on YouTube,
through multiple YouTube channels.

There was also a Twitter account that
also was adding to it, which is hard to

experience now, but this was very much
of the two thousands, like, alternate

reality games, like that kind, that
Lost fucking loved back in the day.

Amanda: Yes.

I was about to ask like, cuz some
people don't qualify it as an ARG,

but would you qualify it as an ARG?

Ben: I don't feel like getting into like
hair splitting dictionary definitions,

but if it's not the multimedia immersive
audience participatory elements

of it, certainly give it a lot of
influences and make it of that era.

Emily: I think that's an important
point though, because we just

watched the YouTube first season,
edited together as one long video.

You know, you could definitely
see that there were breaks.

The format was very unique to that kind
of sporadic posting as if it is genuine

found footage, like someone trying to
document this weird shit going on and

it was created according to my Wikipedia
here um, which is my go-to source the

series was created by Troy Wagner um, you
know, based on the Slender Man character?

Phenomenon?

Ben: which is Okay I, I can be our
little Slender Man historian here.

This was started on the
uh, Something Awful Forum.

A thread about create
your own horror monster.

Emily: Yes.

Ben: And what would became the runaway
most popular of the thread was this

character called Slender Man, a
no-faced, suit wearing elongated limbs

figure, sometimes with tentacles,
but not in Marble Hornets, um, figure

who like appears in backgrounds
and it was like the night, early

eighties, black and white photo, like
always just like in the background.

And, you know, it was a very creepy
some one sentence story of like,

oh, this photo was taken the day
that 14 children went missing.

And that just like sparked in imagination.

Took off.

At the same time, this was happening.

Troy Wagner, who was a long time
member of Something Awful was at

the same time looking to make a
supernatural horror web series.

And so pretty much within days of this
character Slender Man being created,

they started work on Marble Hornets.

And again, like there was just a
few Photoshop images and some one

sentence forum, post stories, and
they really created a lot of what

became like the foundational lore
and properties of Slender Man.

Amanda: It feels like you got
a completely different side of

Slender Man fandom than I got.

Like you got the source and the side that
I mostly experienced as a kid was when

the Slender game came out and then people
started shipping themselves with them.

Emily: Yes.

Amanda: People were into Slender Man.

Ben: Oh.

That was definitely an element.

I mean, the tentacles and the
no face who can blame 'em.

Uh, But yeah, that was another huge
element was Slender Man: The Eight Pages,

this um, web based series, where, again,
you're just going around hunting for

pages in a creepy forest while Slender Man
fucks you the fuck up through creepiness.

And this came out very much at
the dawn of when Let's Plays

were becoming a very big thing.

There was a whole era of the 20,
early 2010s when fucking every Let's

Player had a fucking video of them
playing Slender Man and screaming

their heads off in order to get views.

Emily: When did the game come out?

Ben: That came out in 2012?

So that would've been a few
years after this started.

Okay.

After Marble Hornets started.

Emily: Okay.

So, Yeah.

The uh, Wikipedia article that I'm
looking at right here is saying

that yes uh, the Marble Hornets
is an alternate reality game.

And then the Slender Man game
that Amanda is talking about

is actually like a video game.

Ben: Before we get too deep into it.

Let's uh, just dive into the recap.

No heroes journey and definitely
no three act structure here.

So bear mind, this is very different
than your traditional movie, which

again makes it just so unique.

Marble Hornets follows a film student
named Jay who one day finds the tapes for

said film, Marble Hornets and unfinished
student film made by his friend, Alex.

After Alex ended production early,
he gave the tapes to Jay, then

cut off contact and moved away.

Now three years later, Jay decides to
watch the tapes and chronicles what he

finds onto YouTube to try to figure out
what happened to the film, to uh, the set.

uh, The early portion of the
series chronicles, the filming of

Marble Hornets and how Alex was
stalked at nearly all times by a

faceless, suit wearing, distorted
humanoid figure called The Operator.

Alex's physical and mental condition
worsens the longer he's stalked.

He becomes highly paranoid,
irritable and mean as well as

falling into intense coughing fits.

Alex takes to filming himself at
all times in hopes of catching

The Operator following him.

His tapes are full of distorted and
corrupted video and audio, a telltale

sign of The Operator's presence.

As Jay keeps uploading tapes
and investigating what happened.

He starts receiving threatening
response videos from a channel called

totheark that's full of super complex
and encrypted spooky messages.

To find out more, Jay meets with
Tim, one of the actors from Marble

Hornets, supposedly for the first time.

He then gets a tip about where
another actor Brian is, and Jay

goes straight there because he is
a dum-dum who questions, nothing.

He goes to the house at night
because dum-dum and it's

super spooky and in disrepair.

Someone is clearly living there,
but it's all sorts of messed up.

Jay hears strange noises and
runs off a few assorted items.

uh, Later totheark, then posts a response
video, revealing that he was in the

house watching Jay the whole time.

And it's really fucking scary.

The next video Jay uploads is
of him, Alex and Tim during

the filming of Marble Hornets.

But most importantly, Jay has
no memory of ever being there.

Jay goes back to Brian's house
because seriously, he's just such a

fucking dum-dum . There he encounters
a masked man named, by the fans,

Masky who tackles Jay to the ground.

Jay wakes up the next morning in
his car on the side of the road

with no memory of how he got there.

Jay posts footage he's taken of himself.

And the security footage reveals
that Masky has been watching him

sleep and that Jay himself has
disappeared for several hours.

Totheark that later reveals that Jay
spent the missing hours getting absolutely

mind fucked by The Operator who is
now stalking Jay, the way he did Alex.

Jay reviews the items he took from
Brian's house and finds most of them

have been tampered with or stolen.

He finds a hidden mess message
in Alex's drawings that

direct ask him to a red tower.

They visited during the
Marble Hornet's filming.

At the tower.

Jay finds a hidden tape.

The tape shows Alex and
cameraman, Seth exploring an

abandoned blood covered building.

After being confronted by The
Operator, Alex leaves Seth behind.

Alex says that all the cast and crew
are gone now, including Jay, Jay.

Goes back to Brian's house.

Cause seriously, what are you doing?

You dum-dum?!

While exploring the house for some reason
the distortion video amplifies and Jay

finds himself warped and losing time
and suddenly finds himself in the ha in

the basement that Seth was abandoned in.

For the first time in one of the entries,
Jay comes face to face with The Operator,

then wakes up back at home, remembering
nothing else and his camera destroyed.

Freaked out by this and more
threatening videos by totheark,

Jay decides he doesn't want answers
anymore and flees his apartment.

At a hotel Jay learns on the news that
someone has burned down his apartment

and Jay stays on the run, moving from
location to location, but just when he is

ready to move away and never think about
this again, he receives one more tape.

The tape shows Alex in the
present day of 2010 alive and

being attacked by The Operator.

Season one ends with Jay
determined to find Alex.

And now we can talk about all the
crazy shit that just went down.

Cause this is terrifying.

Emily: Yes.

Ben: Like what did y'all think?

Cuz we watched literally a hundred
horror movies and none of them

delivered the scares that Marble
Hornets did on a fucking rewatch.

Emily: Well, for me, I think having the
context probably would've been better

because the version that I had which was
all of them strung together had the weird

cryptic, like David Lynch movie kind of
shit that totheark was posting just kind

of intertwined with the everything else.

There was no nothing to like separate.

Ben: Yes.

All the David Lynch shit
is the totheark videos.

Emily: Yeah.

Those were fucking cool, but like, I
couldn't tell if they were supposed

to be part of the tapes that Jay was
finding or if Jay was adding them.

So if for me, it just felt like a mood.

Like I was going straight, like super
cold into this because this is the

facet of the whole Slender Man situation
that I am the least familiar with.

The, video that we watched um, on
YouTube, basically makes one hour and a

half long video out of all of the clips.

Ben: I did think that was easier than
trying to figure out how to directly watch

like eight 70 different YouTube videos
across two channels in the correct order.

Emily: Yeah.

So that was nice to have that
in that order, but I think it's

important to have the context
that this is a totheark response.

Amanda, what did you think?

Amanda: I'm sorry, but I did
not find it scary at all.

And I, kind of knew a little
bit what was going on.

It was still kind of confusing.

Because we're watching it in the context
that we are now and we watch it like in

the middle of the morning, surrounded
by friends in a wide open room and it-.

Ben: um,

Oh, that's not the right context at all.

Amanda: I know exactly.

We didn't have the Twitter effect
or the back and forth between

YouTube channels and stuff.

I feel like we missed out on like a lot
of the context that comes with the media

outside of just what the video footage
is, that adds something to the atmosphere.

So I almost feel like we missed
out on like half of what it was.

Emily: Yeah.

Ben: It really does.

Cuz like, with this, when I first
encountered it, the videos were being

uploaded like in real time, like I started
watching when they were putting, still

putting out new episodes for season one

Amanda: I feel like it's one of
those pieces of media that like can

never be experienced the same way
again, once it has been released

for a sufficient amount of time.

Yeah.

Like it just, that experience just
sort of doesn't exist anymore.

Ben: I will say though, like just
watch on the rewatch, like it was

still just like chills and dread and
tension and legitimate just scream

out loud, scares the way that Normally
this level of immersive horror, I

could only find in a horror video game.

Emily: Yeah.

Ben: This hit levels of horror that
I do not experience in any movie.

It's just so immersive, like watching
any horror movie there's elements

of, Ooh, there's movie pacing.

We're now out of act one.

And now we're into act two of the film.

Like here's our lowest point.

I'm judging it on like cinematography.

I'm aware that there's movie makers
making this , I'm judging the kill.

I'm like, Ooh, that's a
creative, memorable kill.

Like, yeah.

There's just this level of distance.

And I think using very handheld camera
equipment, having it be entirely first

person and these like just caption
boxes and having it all be released on

YouTube creates such a level of immersion
that nothing else can really match.

And I think YouTube was just
kind of the medium that the

found footage genre needed.

Amanda: I feel like the thing about a lot
of like low budget found footage, stuff

like this is that it can either go really
well or really horribly, depending on like

the de like you said, there's an amount
of separation in high budget things.

Yeah.

And I feel like either, like in low budget
things, either that amount of separation

and like, understanding that this is,
, being made by someone, it either gets

way wider or way narrow or just depending
on a few little choices they make.

And I do think they managed
to narrow that separation.

I think they did a good job with that.

Ben: Like I think even with something
like Blair Witch, which is kind of

like the bar for found footage horror,
there's an element of like, oh, well,

You know, how haunted can it really be?

There was a piece on it
in Entertainment Weekly.

I had to drive to a theater
and buy a ticket to go see it.

Like there are reviews for it.

And I feel like Marble Hornets, just
being like, , some unknown random person

with a YouTube channel that anybody could
have, is just uploading zero budget,

like found like camcorder footage.

Like it's almost like if, instead
of being released in theaters with a

big marketing campaign, Blair Witch
project had just VHSs had just shown

up one day in video stores with
a weird cover and zero promotion.

I think there, this might be an element
that is lost, not experiencing it in

real time, but this was like very early
in YouTube being like a big thing.

YouTube was good for more than
just being a gateway funnel

to the alt-right back then.

Emily: Well, it, it, this is it's
really interesting because when Blair

Witch came out, there was not really
a lot of internet going around.

There was not a lot of opportunities to do
a research behind what was going on with

Blair Witch, and they even had like, on
Fox or on like sci-fi channel, they had

that special that kind of talked about,
it was sort of like an Unsolved Mysteries

show that was all staged about the people
that found the footage for Blair Witch.

Like I was yeah.

Senior in high school, I believe,
Um, When I was seeing all that

go down and I was fascinated.

When it came out, I was touring colleges
in the Pacific Northwest which was a

really great place to watch Blair Witch
and get the shit scared out of you.

Ben: That notoriously one of the
spookier parts of our nation.

Shockingly high amount of spooky Eness
goes down in that Pacific Northwest.

Emily: Yeah.

So I watched

Ben: Some real twin peak shit.

It's where The Twin Peaks is.

Emily: I was, well, I wasn't
exactly where The Twin Peaks is.

Which interestingly is also
where the Northern Exposure is.

Ben: Were you where
the Life is Strange is?

Emily: Yes, indeed.

Amanda: Um, The only thing
that we anticipate in the woods

where I live is Bigfoot so.

It's not very scary.

Emily: I connect with Ben on
this moment where it was new

and no one knew shit about it.

And I think that that's a
really important context.

Marble horns came out in 2009.

YouTube had been around for four years.

Ben: Now you just go on YouTube and go
like origin of Slender Man and it tells

about Something Awful and all that.

Emily: Yeah.

Ben: Back in 2010 and 2009, 2010,
it was not super easy to find

out what the exact origin was.

And that was part of the mystique of
Slender Man was that it really just did

seem to be this spontaneously generated
urban myth, like of the internet.

Emily: I don't know if they had quite the
same kind of reputation that they do now.

I've, I've known people that
are still on the Something Awful

forums and It is a mixed bag.

It's, it's definitely not the
wretched hive of scum and villany

that some, some other forums are.

Ben: You can say 4Chan.

Emily: 4Chan, it's not 4Chan or Reddit.

Although some gold nuggets
come out of Reddit, I hear.

I don't go there.

I do not have the gumption
to wander those wilds.

That's for much braver individuals than I.

But if you were a member of Something
Awful, there is like a paywall.

You get a membership and you go in
there, you can, you have all of these

like communities that are very, very
tight knit and very, you know, like they

had the Photoshop Fridays and things
like that for a like really long time.

A lot of content was generated,
but it is an exclusive area.

Right.

What I'm saying here is that it's
this really fascinating artifact

of the evolution of the internet.

And with Blair Witch, because I saw it
an opening day, the one theater in the

entirety of Seattle that had it, it wasn't
until the credits rolled and it said,

this is a work of fiction all characters
are blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

That I had any idea that it was not real.

Ben: Oh, damn.

That's a real experience.

Emily: Yeah.

And so I was still fucking terrified.

Like I was having a panic
attack that whole day.

So I can see how, like, when you're going
through this Marble Hornets thing and just

like glued to your screen, like trying to
decipher pixels and , all the binary shit

that's going by and like all of this weird
cryptic shit, it's fucking fascinating.

Ben: Like, this is the era of the ARG.

And there wasn't like Reddit,
r - sub/r Marble Hornets where

legions of fans were like dissecting
the codes in like 30 minutes.

I think in addition to just stumbling
upon a really unique medium and using it

really well, and in case it wasn't clear.

And , if you didn't like
it, feel free to shit on it.

Shit on me.

That's fine too.

I legitimately think this is a
masterpiece of horror filmmaking.

Like I really do.

And I think it had some really
good influences that it used.

Like it, obviously you have the
Blair Witch is a huge influence.

Emily: Mm-hmm.

Ben: Like clearly.

I think especially with Slender Man and
they really play this up, there is very

much this Lovecraftian, Cthulu-ness
where the, terror doesn't come from,

like, Ooh, there's a monster and they're
gonna bite me and eat me and rip me

apart and do all the violence towards me.

It is this, there is something
so completely unknowable.

And the fear of that level of
unknowable and very much that it's

all this mental, psychological horror.

That the further you investigate, the
more, you know, Nietzsche the abyss stares

back and the very act of trying to uncover
the truth just like drives you insane.

And I think that's a
really compelling horror.

I think the horror of not
violence is really underestimated.

Amanda: Yeah.

Ben: And the.

Emily: Yeah.

Ben: The only example I have is this
video game, Condemned Criminal Origins,

where you play a FBI agent who.

Beats like rabbit
homeless people to death.

It hasn't aged super well.

The plot real fucked up.

Amanda: It's bad.

I mean-

Ben: Real, real fucked up bad.

It's just like a bludgeon, homeless people
to death with heavy object simulator, it's

bad, but it has the scariest moment that
I've ever experienced in a video game.

And it's the shopping mall
level and a mannequin or someone

that'd been pretending to be
a mannequin comes to life.

But instead of attacking me, like I
expected, they just walked the fuck away

and it creeped me so the fuck out that I
turned the game off and never went back.

Amanda: I remember that part.

It was, it's so much scarier than all
the other shit that they could have done.

Like it's so much worse.

And I feel like that people
fall into the prey of letting

that like fear of violence.

Like they put the violence in the ga-
it, it ruins the horror so easily.

And I feel like a lot of
people have done that.

Ben: This movie, I think also really
plays into a fear of like being watched.

Yeah.

Like that's so terrifying.

Like it's not attacking you, it's just
watching you and you can't hide from it.

Like anytime.

God, there's the video where Alex wakes
up and he is like filming all around the

windows, checking every outside every
window, making sure he is not there.

And then like, not even noticing it, but
just like whipping the camera around.

And The Operator's just like there
inside his kitchen, like already there.

And he doesn't even see that it's there.

Emily: Yeah.

Amanda: The- there's also that, that
psychological aspect of slowly not

being able to trust your own perception.

Emily: Yeah.

Ben: Yeah.

Amanda: Like when they start losing
parts of their memory and that like not

being able to trust your own perception
of reality is like even freakier.

Ben: So it actually reminded me.

We just recently covered um, Perfect Blue
where the main character is so thoroughly

gaslit and destabilized that she only
trusts what's written down in a fake

diary website written by her stalker.

Jay is so mentally destabilized so you
can only trust what's on these tapes.

Well, at the same time, it's clear
you can't fucking trust these tapes.

The use of video and audio
distortion is so great.

Like The Operator doesn't even need to
up here just a little video, crackling

is enough to just completely set you
on edge that he's just there watching.

Emily: I was not as
convinced by the, effects.

Like I wasn't as convinced
by of the, the tape effects

Ben: well, I thought it was a very good
way of showing that this being is so

unknowable and just so deeply wrong
that like, it is a reality warper.

Given that all we have is video.

If video is reality, it's very effective
of just showing like reality cannot

properly exist around The Operator.

Emily: Yeah, no, I, I, I agree that it's
a cool, like, it's a really cool narrative

tool to build tension and things like
that, and to sort of, alter perception

and really get that sense of dread.

And also the, the
surrealism of the situation.

The problem that I have
because I was such an AV nerd.

Like I can point and say
like, oh, that's that effect.

That's that effect.

That's that effect.

So it's harder for me to separate
myself from that process.

Ben: But no, that's very real though.

Like, yeah.

As I've said so much of what I
love about this is for me how

unbreakable the illusion was.

So if you're routinely seeing
things that break that illusion that

lessen the immersiveness, no, that's
absolutely gonna have a big impact.

Cuz I think that series, the
series may live or die on achieving

that level of immersiveness.

Emily: I mean, for something that is
this early and also like I think that

the timing is really important because
, not everybody had iMovie in 2007, you

know, like the cameras that they were
using there's a genuineness to it.

You can't make it too fancy, you know?

Ben: Yeah.

We were talking about this.

Um, Earlier, before we started recording.

There have been a few Slender Man movies.

Yeah.

And boy is that immersion totally broken
when you're acting like it's found

footage with handheld cameras and iPhones,
and yet it's HD seven, you know, like

1080P like super crisp HD film footage.

Emily: Yeah.

And unlike our current analog horror
trend, which, bless every analog horror

creator out there- A little bit like
this, we've got a new generation of people

who did not grow up with videotapes.

And so they're using all of these effects,
like all these cool iMovie effect or,

well, whatever it is that the kids
use these days, my skin's falling off.

I'm old, but,

Ben: um, Yeah, that's not a
thing that happens when you get

old that I think that's leprosy.

Emily: I mean.

Ben: You should, you should get that.

Look, you should get the whole
skin falling off thing looked at.

Emily: I mean, it's.

Ben: That's a horror movie right there.

I think the body horror.

Emily: I was trying to say,
I was turning into dust.

Ben: I'm like skin stay on.

Emily: Sorry.

I-.

Ben: That's terrifying.

Emily: I'm getting-.

I, I get callouses.

Anyway.

Yeah, it's important that these
are really basic videotape effects.

Some of the things that they have
on the tapes were effects that

were available on the camera.

So yeah, you could say that
there's something going on.

Like the camera's functioning
is uh, being a, fucked with

or whatever by The Operator.

But the new analog horror trend has a
lot of quote unquote videotape footage,

which is just digital footage with
eight millimeter artifacts on it.

And they're like, oh, it's a tape.

It was on public access TV.

And I'm like, no, listen.

Ben: Yeah.

Like they actually filmed this with
a handheld like camcorder camera.

Yes.

Apparently one camera that survived the
like all five years, it took to film

the whole series, which is amazing.

It leads to a more immersive feel
that this is just random people,

not like an intentional film set,
like film crew, creating a series.

It helps that they actually had no
budget and that's what they could afford.

But also I think in this case
that camera quality really helps.

Like A, it helps like The Operator
effect look in any way, immersive and

real and not whatever, super, super
mundane way they actually made it.

Like, I don't know, like a
volleyball on a stick in a, in

an oversized Brooks brothers
suit or whatever the hell it was.

That was, but for what it is,
especially early on when you don't

know what The Operator is or like
where it is or what's going on you're

just pausing being like, oh shit.

A white smudge in part
of the window frame.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuck.

Emily: Amanda.

You were gonna say-

Amanda: I'm pretty sure.

They said something about like people were
asking them how they like dressed someone

up as The Operator somewhat recently.

And they're like, oh, if we
tell you it's gonna ruin it.

And I think it turns out it was just like
someone like standing on like really like

high shoes with like extra heel added.

Oh course.

And then like they had like white nylon
over their head and like, that was it.

Ben: They do it from a distance
with a bad camera moving quickly.

Like when they're having the scene
in the car and Alex is filming Brian,

and then Brian just leans back and
The Operator's just there, yeah,

peeking out in the brick building.

Like, I lost it.

Like I jumped outta my chair like.

It was a master at getting the biggest
reaction out of the minimalist of things.

Yeah.

Like again, It's still one of the most
chill, inducing things I've ever seen.

Amanda: I, I wished I could get back into
like that head space of like, when I was a

young teen and everything would scare the
pants off of me and I hadn't seen like 30

Netflix horror movies over and over again,
cause I feel like I've been like severely

desensitized to these kind of scares.

Monsters: We've lost 58
doors this week, sir.

Oh, kids these days, they
just don't get scared.

Like they used to what

Emily: talk about Slender Man real quick,
because like I mean, I, I was adjacent

to it, but I Slender Man was initially,
just kind of some sort of sexy man thing

that was explained to me by my students.

Ben: Was that how you were initially
introduced to Slender Man being like, yes.

Do you like monster fucking,
ah, then boy, do we got um,

like the businessman for you?

Emily: Yeah, that was, we didn't use
that nomenclature cuz I was a teacher

in a class of young people, but there
was a lot of, I remember one of my-.

Ben: You wanna fuck a monster, but
also have someone who seems like they

could financially provide for you?

Emily: Slender Man.

Ben: He's dressed for business.

Emily: Amanda, where were you when
you first experienced Slender Man?

Amanda: I hate to admit it, but I
believe it was, I believe Pewdiepie

was playing Slender: The Eight Pages.

Emily: Okay.

Amanda: And that was literally, and
then all of my friends started playing

it and my friends had tried to get
me to play it, but I have a very

exaggerated, like reaction to jump scares.

And I have an exaggerated
startle response.

I have been scared by automated checkouts.

Like, I, I wasn't about to do that.

So-.

Ben: And this series has
some real jump scares.

Amanda: I can watch movie jump scares.

I feel now, but like I video
games hit a little different.

Ben: Oh, video games.

I mean, you talk about
immersiveness in horror.

Video games are unmatched.

Emily: Yeah.

I mean, there's something about
being right there and then being

able to turn around that, that
sense of interactivity, where that

thing is literally right behind you.

Amanda: I just, Slender Man is a bit of a
meme to me because yeah, after the video

game came out, I was on deviant art a lot.

And I started seeing people, you
know, like eventually people were

like shipping Slender Man with
Jeff, the killer, and they were

like, Mmm, it's my yummy yaoi boys.

And like, I just can't unsee that.

And whenever I see Slender Man, I think
of all the, all the horny fan art, I.

Yeah.

And like, girls making their like
sparkle wolves and being like

she lives in the Slender Mansion.

Emily: Yeah.

I see the I think the first
Slender Man media I saw was fan

art that a student of mine did.

That was like a Slender Man.

And he was like in the woods
or whatever, and being wobbly.

And he had like a little heart
coming off, one of his nub hands,

like he was offering it to you.

And I'm like, well, that
seems kind of sweet.

And then some people sent me links and.

Yeah.

Sort of like, here you go.

Ben: It is interesting, like the meteoric
rise and meme-ability of Slender Man,

and then it's kind of weird how the
history of Slender Man has a little bit

followed the plot of the movie Candyman.

Yeah.

Where it became so big and prevalent
and powerful in people's mind that it

started inspiring real world violence,
which then kind of made society pull

back on slender, man, to try to like
kill the story, which is also kind of

how it is the Marble Hornets, where
just knowing it and like the story yeah.

Fucks you up and like there's something
very, and again, it was very horrific

what happened and thank God, no one
actually was killed, but- it's very

interesting that something that again,
started with a photoshopped image and a

forum post when, like, like Candyman full
urban legend and then to the point where

it's in a way manifesting in real life.

And that was also kind of part of Marble
Hornets, there was that element of

interactivity and quasi realness that made
you go like, oh, by watching this video

by investigating this thing that anyone
who investigates goes insane, am I opening

myself up to be Slender Man's next victim?

Emily: Go ahead.

Ben: The way that fiction and
reality blurred with Slender

Man is very interesting, but
also very, very disturbing.

Amanda: Unfortunately for Slender
Man the thing that I was comparing

him to while watching Marble Hornets
was The Bye Bye Man, which probably

also wasn't doing him any favors.

Emily: What was the Bye Bye Man?

Ben: No, I'm just assuming that's
just an incredible a person who's

just very happy about being bisexual.

Amanda: No.

The Bye Bye Man is a
very bad horror movie.

And the, the crux of the whole thing
is that if you read the words, Bye

Bye Man, or say it he'll like appear
and like he'll spread the knowledge

of his name to another person.

And then like, he'll appear for
them because like, they're not

supposed to think of the name.

They're not supposed to say
the name or he will appear.

And, but it's just kind of goofy.

Emily: Yeah.

Amanda: They make it really goofy.

Ben: I think one thing that
Compelling that Slender Man.

I love that we get so little answers.

Like we don't know what Slender
Man is, how why, like it's

just there and so unknowable.

Like one of the big mysteries to me that
I have even after the series is over, is

what happened to Jay during the filming.

Like we know he was part of it.

And then Alex says J like when
he mentions people that are

gone, he says like, Jay's gone.

And then Jay just had these tapes for
three years and only three years later.

Is he like, oh yeah, those tapes,
like I found him, I should watch him.

I forgot.

I even had 'em.

Like Alex tries his runs away and
then just like a camera turning on

and him seeing a camera is all it
takes for The Operator to come back

into his life and just be there.

Like totheark has one very creepy
video, which is like found you forever.

Yes.

It's.

I remember seeing that one.

And that's just so terrifying that, that
incapability, that once The Operator

has found you, it is found you forever.

Emily: You know, you have these
ideas of memes like cyber

punk, snow crash kind of thing.

You know, downloading information
in your brain could be a virus.

Right.

And it really makes you
think about the ideas.

And I think it was either, even-.

Ben: That feels like we already have
that without needing cyber brains or

just, well, Infor, we, I feel like we
already have information viruses that

people are downloading into their brains,
just with social media and Fox news.

Amanda: They're called memes.

Emily: Yeah.

Amanda: They're called,
that's called memes.

That's what?

Hideo Kojima tried to warn us about
it when we had to fight the president.

It went a samurai duel.

Yeah.

It was all in Metal Gear Solid 2.

Wasn't that Revengeance?

Emily: Was it?

Ben: Oh no.

He fights the former president
in Metal Gear Solid 2.

He fights a sitting
senator in Revengeance.

Emily: Oh, okay.

Well I was gonna get to that element too.

We're gonna talk a little bit
about progressive politics.

There's not a lot in Slender Man.

Ben: Is there anything gay
in the, in Marble Hornets?

Like we talked about, there's
a lot of gay Slender Man fan

art, so I guess that counts.

Emily: Well, Slender
Man, despite monster-.

Ben: Being gay, how do you
kiss a being with no mouth?

You find a way.

Emily: Yeah.

Yeah.

I think, some, something about the
monster fucking situation is you know,

opens up new doors and possibilities of
like how you can interact with things.

I don't know.

I'm getting very out there
right now, but the comparison-.

Ben: Well, when, when Slender Man
watches you sleep, it's horror when

Edward Cullen does it, it's a romance.

I'm just seeing some double
standards here, true ice

ship, Bella and Slender Man.

Emily: Bella would've been done
much better by Slender Man.

Slender Man wouldn't
demand marriage either.

Ben: How great would that be?

Just replaced like Edward with Slender
Man and Twilight, just like still

have like all the scenes where he
is in high school, but now he just

has no face and a business suit, but
he's just still in science class.

Emily: Yeah.

Let's get some deep fakers on that.

Okay.

No need to credit us.

I know this is a really good
idea, but , just put it out there.

That'll be our new Marble Hornet.

Ben: Oh, can I get, we need to find
a DC Editor and pitch black label

book question verse slender, man.

No face verse, no face.

Emily: Who, how do you tell them apart?

Ben: Exactly.

Whose face is the whose face
is the not face of the not?

How can you tell which
no face is your not face.

Emily: It's gonna be some
cool art in this book.

I think between three
of us, we could do it.

Ben: I mean again, just like that.

It's just humanoid, but
the limbs are just wrong.

That there's no face, like it's a
little uncanny valley, like creepiness.

Like I really feel like just the
character and the meme of Slender Man,

once you get to the core of it beyond
the memes and all the jokes that it

kind of became it's it just feels
like a really powerful confluence of

a lot of different horror influences.

Emily: Oh yeah.

I, I love how, like the, just
the name alone evokes the

fear of tall, skinny people.

Ben: That's why you don't let
Larry Bird around your kids.

Emily: Tall, skinny, white people.

That's very important.

Ben: That's why I had to go
with Larry Bird for that joke.

Yeah.

Amanda: Can I quickly mention my
favorite part in the whole first season?

Every time we see that doll on the stairs.

because I just imagine the
people making Marble Hornet.

And I imagine them painstakingly
stitching together this little Slender

Man doll and putting him on all
the top of the stairs to scare us.

And it is genuinely creepy well, as they
like, but it just shows so much heart.

That is a hands that is a hand
stitched, little Slender Man doll,

like sitting on those stairs.

Ben: Did Slender Man make one
of its like servants do that?

Like did Masky sew that?

Did Slender Man sew that
with the weird hands?

Like who made that doll?

Amanda: Who made that goddamn doll?

I wanted to know so bad.

Emily: Did it come off of Slender Man
like, Rei comes off Lilith spoilers,

like you just pull it off of Slender
Man and there's like a little doll

of Slender Man and then it grows into
a big Slender Man when you water it.

Ben: I wish that it was one of those
dolls where like you pull a string

and then like, it says something.

You just pull it, it, I was
like, I have no face or so.

Yeah.

Or like it goes, wow.

In, in that voice, did you, that's
the real cannon Slender Man voice.

It talks like this.

Amanda: It's like one of those little,
little pills that you put in water and

they turn into like a dinosaur sponge.

Emily: Yeah.

Ben: Normally my favorite thing is
to be like, Hey filmmakers, why the

fuck did you make this decision?

And I don't have a lot of that.

Especially this being like a very
original, innovative web series.

I just have some like moments
I wanna highlight um, as

just moments I really liked.

The end of season one, when we see
that tape of Alex and his girlfriend

is like with the camera and she's
just so CA after so much filming

where you can tell the person
holding the camera is tense as fuck.

The little bit of just relaxing
and just like the way the camera's

held of her, just messing around.

And then it's just like hands back.

And The Operator's just
there in the house.

Like that was all it
took to bring him back.

And you just see him full on like it every
time, like I knew it was coming and it

still just made me like scream out loud.

Amanda: I'm sorry.

This maybe spoilers for future seasons.

I don't know.

Do we know why Alex didn't just like
smash that camera into a million pieces?

Ben: I mean, honestly, They don't
explicitly say it, but I would take

him as word that like, he forgot it was
even there because fucking, oh, I just-.

Amanda: That's fair.

Ben: Memories are.

Amanda: That's fair.

Ben: Like, how there's a sense
of like The Operator wouldn't

let him completely go away.

Like just gave him a reprieve and
then just like little bit of me,

just a little bit of memory was
all it took and then just bam.

Amanda: Well, I almost wonder if like,
it's sort of one of those things, like

I'm gonna distance myself from you,
so you forget about me, but then when

you loosen up and start getting close
to other people that I can potentially

also hurt now that like you're giving
me access to more victims sort of thing.

The Office: It's not a pyramid scheme.

Amanda: And like, Alex wouldn't have
done that if he's like isolated himself.

Ben: So one of my favorite elements
of this show, and again, like,

it's a more humorous thing that it
doesn't show up in this season, but

it shows up in other seasons is.

Because of the immersion, the YouTube
series Marble Hornets also exists

within the worlds of Marble Hornets.

So routinely what happens is characters
have information they shouldn't, and

Jay will be like, how do you know that?

And they'll be like, I watched the
fucking YouTube videos ya dum-dum.

Emily: Interesting.

Ben: Ya uploaded it to YouTube.

Like at one point.

Yeah.

Like spoilers for later
seasons, Alex comes in is like

I told you to burn the tapes.

So you upload them to YouTube.

Are you fucking with me?

Emily: That sounds rad.

Okay.

Amanda: I'm so glad they
actually acknowledged that.

Emily: Yeah.

Ben: But yeah.

Is there anything queer
in this Marble Hornets?

Only the fan art?

Is there anything but white people?

No, including slender man.

Who's the whitest.

Are there women in Marble Hornets?

For a little bit!

Emily: Kinda.

Sort of.

Kinda.

Amanda: They're technically, but if you
have to say technically that's a bad sign.

Emily: Yeah.

I don't know.

Ben: Okay.

At least in this season uh, in
later seasons, we get a pretty

much just a straight up damsel
distress uh, that doesn't help.

Right.

But yeah, no, this there's
really not a big societal theme.

It's really the execution and the medium.

Emily: Yeah.

I was gonna say if if there are women who
are talking about only Slender Man, does

that count as failing the Bechdel test?

Ben: I'm not sure because I'm thinking
of the women in, and I don't think

either of them like talk about Slender
Man in season one, but they are named,

they are named, at least one of them
just gets to talk about like, I hate

this terrible student film I'm in.

Emily: I mean, this that's one of the
most genuine things about this film

is that the student film that they're
making, which is Marble Hornets, I don't

know why it's called Marble Hornets.

Marble Hornets sounds really cool....

Ben: The origin of that is Troy Wagner.

Couldn't come up with a title.

So he decided to just be inspired
by the next two things he saw.

So then he passed a billboard for a
stone for Mason restore, promoting

granite, and then an exterminator truck
that bragged it could kill Hornets.

See, you're just like, yep.

First two things.

I saw Marble Hornets.

But I do like that.

I do like that.

It's the title of the student film
and not like the Slender Man tapes.

Yeah.

Cause it's like, well, how the
fuck would, you know, Slender

Man, person making the tapes?

Yeah.

But it, it adds to the immersion.

That's like, how could I
name it after the monster?

I don't know what the fuck the monster is.

Amanda: Sometimes the immersion
got so deep that I got UN immersed

because like the very confident,
like just fresh into college, energy

of a white boy in film school is
like point poignant in this film.

And I, I have met these people.

Their hats were, just...

Mm.

Emily: You've met them and their hats.

Ben: I met.

Oh God jazz.

Yeah.

Oh yeah.

That's a film school.

I had first

Amanda: I've heard, heard I've
read their scripts and it was

all, it was all very real.

I mean, I feel like I was lost
in the past while watching this.

Ben: Like what humor there is to be had
in this, I think from just how tongue in

cheek they are and just Marble Hornets,
the student film, being the worst, most

vapid, pretentious student film, you
could have, like that sort of like a

college film student returns to their
hometown and talks with old acquaintances

and their old love interest and has
feeling and has white boy feelings.

Emily: God.

Ben: That's why Slender Man attacked
him, cuz he is like, oh fuck this film.

Nope, Nope.

Can't let this abomination
of a student film happen.

We doing some haunting.

Amanda: Well, I was wondering for a
while, if operator sickness, just one

of the symptoms was making you bad at
cinematography because most of the

time, the camera's pointed at the ground.

And I brought this up with Emily that
whenever he's investigating something and

he's like, I need to document this, this
is so important, the camera's pointed

at the ground and it drove me insane.

And I told Emily, this feels like
I'm watching my parents play FPS game

and they won't aim the camera up.

Ben: The only downside that season one
versus other seasons is that there's not

very much of Tim, a character who the
fan base with later dub thick and sassy.

Emily: I just saw him as like
the guy with the Sideburns.

Ben: Tim becomes a much more important
character in the subsequent seasons.

Yeah.

Emily: I mean, I understand the
importance of making it genuine.

Like, you have a camera, but like, if
they're supposed to be film students,

I feel like they should at least
keep the camera above their feet.

But you know, , it is also like, yeah,
it's, it is a little bit disorienting.

It was a little bit, much
a couple times, but-.

Amanda: I feel like they were
leaning a little bit too into not

knowing how to use a camera at times.

Ben: that's the thing though.

I'm like, are they leaning into not
knowing how to use a camera or do

they not know how to use a camera?

Amanda: You can't tell.

Yeah.

It's just so immersive,
such perfect immersion.

Ben: Like this is like when I was in the,
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Podcast

and they talk about like the first few
episodes they made and people are like,

so why do you make that lighting decision?

And their response was lighting?!

Emily: Yeah.

So this brings me back to the thing
that I was starting to say, and

then got sidetracked because that
is something that so rarely happens.

The idea, the memetic quality of
Slender Man, the completely made up

thing, not like an ancient tradition or
something like that has, the historical

gravitas, but something that some
guy made in a, in a, Something Awful

forum became real enough that people
were stabbing each other over it.

And something about that, I don't
know the metaness I don't know,

like there's a lot to that that
I think is really interesting.

And the way that in Marble
Hornets , The Operator, is an idea.

You don't know exactly what it is
or what it does, but you know, it is

full of menace and it completely, it
doesn't like necessarily kill you,

but it completely disorients you.

Ben: One of the biggest scares is
the videos where Jay like walks

out of his bedroom door, and
he is missing for two hours.

And then you find out later from
a totheark response that he has

just been sitting on the ground,
staring, being completely, just

freaked out by like The Operator, just
standing above him the whole time.

Like it's so like Oh, you don't,
you're not hiding from the monster.

The monster is there.

It's watching you.

It can have you at any time
and there's nothing you can do.

Yeah.

Emily: And there's something
really poignant about that because,

he evokes The Men In Black.

He evokes aliens, you know, there's
this sort of evil government, a shady

government agency aspect to him.

He's a, like a man shaped long
mayonnaise, creature in a suit.

And if that doesn't describe a
lot of the real life sources of

existential horror that we have today,

right.

And it, this is getting very much,
you know, like I swear I haven't

had any edibles but I feel like
it's, it's very poignant that way.

Ben: ...promise

I mean, no, it's, you're totally right.

Like there's.

Very much, this fear of not having
control that at any point, your body

can just be taken without your consent,
that your mind can be broken, that

your memories can just be erased.

Yeah.

Like-.

Emily: And your, your
identity is taken from you.

Ben: There's all the coughing and stuff
and that's a big physical manifestation,

but that almost seems like an afterthought
to just all the other ways that just

being in The Operators sights or
whatever the fuck passes for is no eyes.

God there's, ah it just so disturbing.

Like I just, I think Slender
Man really is just so compelling

and creepy and disturbing.

And I think that's just part of
the meme ability is that it's

a great fucking horror monster.

Emily: Now I have heard,
I have seen memes.

Speaking of memes, I've seen memes
that include Slender Man in like the

I've became queer through video games
or something like joke chart, right?

Where like, the queer video gamer
starter pack and Slender Man is in.

Ben: How?

How?

Emily: Why?

Amanda: I think I can see, I
might be wrong, but speaking from

my, my weird envy experience..

Emily: Yes.

Amanda: Oftentimes you'll just
see a, a weird faceless tentacle

monster and be like, oh my God,
I have so much gender envy.

Now I wanna be that thing.

Ben: Like, it's the,
it's the wanna be void.

Amanda: I want to be the void.

I don't wanna be perceived.

I want to be unknowable.

I want my gender to be
unknowable and Slender Man.

Like, he's definitely gendered,
but I can feel him maybe.

Ben: So there's envy for people
not being able to perceive

Slender Man, without going insane.

Maybe.

And you would also like that power.

Amanda: Maybe.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's that's big gender to me.

Ben: Yeah.

The queer desire to be
unperceivable by reality.

Amanda: Oh, yeah, for sure.

I don't know.

Maybe he also inspired some
transmascs to try suits.

I don't know.

Ben: Yeah.

Well, sometimes we just got that
trans urge to break the minds

of some shitty film students.

Emily: Yeah.

And, you know, I think that
that's also as I say a mood.

So do we have anything else that we want
to discuss about these Marble Hornets?

And the associated Slender Man?

Ben: We discussed, like, there's not
really much in the way of politics and

I'm not sure what the themes are, but I do
think it's a very well executed terrifying

confluence of horror influences.

That's exceptionally well made.

But I think its most interesting facet
is just this incredible unique period

of time it came out in and the way it
utilized a format in a way that really

hadn't been done before, or hadn't
been done to that quality or success.

Amanda: I think that it was really
interesting to watch something

that was so integral and like the
culmination of a new mythological

creature coming into existence.

Emily: For real.

Amanda: Because like, we always
think of like, , vampires and zombies

and like wears and shit, but that,
that all had to start somewhere.

And it's, really interesting to
see like a new horror creature be

born in like the public mindscape.

Emily: Yeah.

Ben: Like the first monster born of
the internet, aside from, you know,

the people who use the internet.

But yeah, no, you're totally right.

Like, there was this very much,
this thrill of like, we are

creating something new and like
we're at the ground floor of myth.

Like this is a world that's supposed
to not have magic and yet it feels

like we've just created magic.

Like we are spinning a new urban myth
and in a Neil Gaimen-y way, there

was that sense of like, oh, is our
belief in this thing we've created

from nothing going to make it real.

And then it kind of did.

And then we're like, Ooh, again, pull
it back, pull it back, pull it back.

Emily: Yeah.

Well I think that that's one of the most
incredible things about Slender Man.

The story, the creature
is such a blank slate.

It is just accessible enough for
people that they can interact with it.

Just like with seeing UFOs or stories
about werewolves or whatever, like

anything that you can't really explain
Slender Man fits in there really easily.

And then with stuff like these
analog horror, alternate reality

games, there's a level of interactive
quality to it that is so much more

pronounced than anything before it.

Amanda: With this thing
specifically, because it sort of

Slender belonged to the public.

Emily: Mm-hmm.

Amanda: So anyone can make anything
out of him and he doesn't have that

barrier to entry that copyright
creates with like larger creations.

So it is sort of like, like
a group creation of like all,

everyone on the internet.

Which, I mean, does tend to
evolve characters and writing

like way faster than keeping them
under lock and key over time.

Yeah.

Like he wasn't, he wasn't locked away by
copyright law, which I feel just is what

part of what made him myth so quickly.

Ben: Yeah, anyone can do their own
slender man story if they want.

And I've definitely wanted to in some
comic series but didn't get the chance.

But I think , just the newness was
so exciting that like, oh, this isn't

another vampire show that's exploring
or twisting the rules of vampires,

but we know what the rules are.

There's preconceived rules of vampires.

Like we were watching rules be created.

Like we were watching a truly
new original mythology, just

be born in front of our eyes.

And it was just, it was a really ex it
was really exciting, like to see Slender

Man develop out of like nothing and then
just be everywhere within a few years.

Emily: Well, I wanna get into
our recommendations here.

And usually we, we do one
recommendation, but since I'm here,

I'm gonna say you can do at least two.

We'll make it two.

Ben: Yes!

Emily: Ben, you recommended...?

Ben: True Detective.

True Detective season one very
specifically season one of True Detective.

Emily: Excellent.

Ben: Do not watch season two
with Vince, sometimes your worst

self is your best self Vaughn?

Emily: Oh, Jesus Christ.

Ben: Cannot overemphasize this enough.

True Detective season one.

It is another detective mystery, but
it is very Lovecraftian inspired and

just like really takes you down that
paranoia, horror, mind-fuck rabbit hole.

Love season one, True Detective.

That's my recommendation.

Emily: I have been interested
in it, but then I keep hearing

all these mixed reviews of it.

And I think it's because of
the, all the different seasons.

Like some of them are just really shitty.

Ben: Season.

All the seasons are essentially different
shows, so just watch season one.

Emily: Have you seen have
either of you seen the, Always

Watching: a Marble Hornet's Story?

Ben: No, but I watched the
trailer and I'm like, nope.

Emily: Okay.

Well.

Ben: Too HD.

Emily: Yeah, I haven't seen it, but I, all
I know about it is that Doug Jones plays

Slender Man and that's, that's a match
made in heaven as far as I'm concerned.

Ben: That makes a lot of sense.

Amanda: Now, this is somewhat relevant to
you Emily, like your expertise cuz Marble

Hornets, doesn't it have a comic series?

I believe it has a graphic novel series.

Emily: Does it?

Ben: I do believe a comic
series was announced.

Amanda: I think there's something
there but I, I didn't really look into

it, but I, I think that's a comic.

Ben: Can you imagine like a Ben
Templesmith Slender Man comic?

That'd be dope.

Emily: Uh, Marble Hornet comic
book written by Troy Wagner and

illustrated by Jackie Reynolds.

Ooh.

So check that out.

That looks cool.

Ben: Now.

My question for the panel about
Slender Man is if you did get close

enough to him, do you think you
could put things on his face like Mr.

Potato head?

Amanda: I think that, I
don't know if he's pliable.

Emily: I mean, you could probably draw
on him, but I think that Slender Man

has some sort of alternate, like some
reality wapring shit where you- as you

get- like a psionic you know, THAC0.

I don't know.

I'm just saying D and D words.

But-.

Amanda: Well, actually Emily, THAC0
would refer to his ability to hit you.

You're thinking of is armor class.

Emily: Yeah.

Well, I thought that was part of
your armor class to hit armor class.

Amanda: No THAC0 means
to hit armor class zero.

Emily: That's what I thought.

That's what I said.

Anyway.

Amanda: It's your ability
to hit the armor class?

I'm sorry.

I'm not gonna explain THAC0.

Emily: Okay.

Sounds good.

Play Dungeons and Dragons, 2nd Edition
if you wanna know more about THAC0.

I don't recommend it.

Amanda: Do not play second edition.

Emily: In terms of recommendations
though, Amanda, do you have

uh, other than the comic book.

Do you have any recommendations if
someone enjoys this kind of stuff?

Amanda: In terms of like, you
know, YouTube sort of analog style

horror uh, Local 58's pretty good.

Emily: Hell yeah.

Amanda: If you wanna check that out.

That's a pretty good one uh, in
terms of fricking goofy horror,

but I'm just personally, I just
personally enjoyed watching.

There's a movie you can watch a Netflix
called The Babysitter uh, that I found

very funny, but it has very mixed
views, but I found it very funny.

So.

Emily: All right.

Ben, do you have any more sweet recs?

Ben: Yeah, I do.

And by that, I mean,
stalling for more time.

I don't.

Emily: Okay.

Amanda: See.

I thought you were just gonna recommend
that everyone watched the entire, like

the rest of the Marble Hornet series.

Ben: I mean, I do think it's worth
continuing if you like season one, I

definitely think it's worth continuing on.

There's plenty more scares answers,
twists, and , lots of scares.

But I do think there's something to
be said for this show being at its

best when it's most mysterious and you
know, the least about what's going on

and you're just going on that, those
first steps of like, what the fuck.

Emily: I think it's really cool to, I
mean, I would recommend Marble Hornets.

I would recommend it with the
context certainly, but I would

also recommend it to sort of see
the progression of analog horror.

Cause my recommendation.

As I think we've, we've decided to re that
we recommend this movie for the most part.

Amanda, would you recommend
somebody watch this?

Amanda: Would I recommend someone watch.

It really, it depends.

There are some parts where like the
audio effects can get a little grading

if you're bothered by that sort of thing.

Yeah.

Like usually I'm bothered by
audio effects, but like they

used ones that weren't too bad.

It's, there's some stuff that
could give you a little eye strain.

Like it, it depends.

Emily: Yeah.

Amanda: I think like if you've watched,
if you're aware of analog core and you're

interested in it, I say, just go for it.

Like the first season isn't terribly long.

Emily: Yeah.

And it really seems to have
inspired stuff like The Back Rooms.

And The Back Rooms, I think is
one of my favorite analog horror

that's going on right now.

And it's a series on, on uh, YouTube.

And it starts out with people filming a
movie, but just suddenly the cameraman is

whisked into some parallel dimension where
it's basically being lost in a convention

center, but 10 times more surreal.

Which if you've ever been
lost in a convention center,

it's terrifyingly surreal.

And especially when you're in a
convention center that is so big that

like your convention that you're there
for is like, only a small part of it.

It's really well done, especially
considering that it is all done in

like After Effects or something.

Like it's all, 3d rendered, but they
actually use those like analog special

effects to make it really convincing.

And yeah, can't recommend that enough.

Yeah.

So I think that does it for us today.

Amanda, where can people find you online?

Amanda: Oh um, on most social
media platforms you can find

me @robofeather, R O B O F E A
T H E R , like a robotic feather.

I make art I do illustrations.

I occasionally will put out a short
little comic things like that.

Emily: Yeah.

And the Dames 'Zine- there was
a new addition of that, but the

preorders aren't available anymore,
they gonna be doing more stuff?

Amanda: Yeah.

We have closed pre-orders for Horns,
but there should be some, there

could be some extra copies for sale
later if you keep your eye open.

Emily: Will those be available on like at
convention floor stuff or participating

artists or is it just all along online?

Amanda: Yes.

Yeah.

Emily: Rad.

So check that out.

So it's Horns.

Amanda: Yeah, Horns was
our, our latest book.

It was a, it was a smaller book.

It's about, , warriors with horns.

the through theme throughout
all of the books is like women

warriors or our smaller books are
about other kinds of warriors.

We did dog warriors, which was Bushidoge.

Emily: Oh, that's good.

Amanda: So that was, that was really fun.

I got to draw like the cutest
little interior pattern for that.

Emily: Awesome.

So check that out.

Just look up Dames 'Zine,
and you should find it.

Ben is on Twitter at BentheKahn and
their website, Benkahncomics.com

where you can pick up.

All of their books,
including the brand new.

Is this still brand new
Immortal Fenyx right now?

Ben: It's not.

uh, but uh, by now Heavenly Blues has been
re-released in bookstores of a brand new

cover by uh, series artist, Bruno Hidalgo.

So if you wanna check out this uh,
heist of the afterlife, then check

out Heavenly Blues, now in bookstores.

Emily: Awesome.

Yes.

So Heavenly Blues and of course the
GLAAD award nominated Renegade Rule

that is that graphic novel is also out
in bookstores, comics, comic stores

and wherever fine books are sold.

And I'm on the internet.

I'm Emily also known as mega moth on
Twitter, Tumblr, Patreon, Instagram,

mega underscore moth and Megamoth.net.

Jeremy's out there too.

If you wanna find out where Jeremy
is right now, you could probably go

to his Twitter at J room five eight.

And of course you can visit us at
the ProgHorrorPod Twitter, which

is, as I said @ProgHorrorPod and
check us out on transistor.fm at

Progressively Horrified.transistor.fm
to check out our tweets, our shows.

Come say hi.

Come talk to us.

We have a Patreon, join that.

And uh, please rate and review
uh, where you find us online.

Give us them stars.

We will give you love, respect, gratitude,
and um, help us uh, keep the lights on.

Let people know where we are,
who we are and how rad we are

because we think you're rad.

Thank you for listening and
thank you, Ben and Amanda, thank

you, especially for joining us.

Today.

Amanda: Yeah.

Thanks for having me.

Emily: Of course.

Ben: This was super fun.

Thank you so much for coming on.

Emily: This was awesome.

So watch out for that Slender Man.

And the TrenderMan and
maybe even the Tender Man.

Ben: Hey, pronouncing it Slender
Man, just like just makes it

sound like he's an accountant.

I mean, I gotta, I gotta get my
taxes done from uh, yeah, no Norm.

Norm Slenderman.

Amanda: Mr.

Slender Man down at accounting.

Emily: This is my CPA Jerry Slenderman.

He's always watching my stubs.

All right, well, thank you again for
listening and check us out next week.

We'll be talking about
something even more spooky.

Have a great night.

Goodbye.

Alicia: Progressively Horrified
is created by Jeremy Whitley

and produced by Alicia Whitley.

This episode featured Ben and
Emily and special guest, Amanda.

All opinions expressed by the
commentators are solely their own

and do not represent the intent or
opinion of the filmmakers nor do they

represent the employers, institutions,
or publishers of the commentators.

Our theme music is epic darkness
by Mario Kohl 06 and was provided

royalty free from pixabay.

If you like this episode you can support
us on patreon you can also get in touch

with us on twitter @proghorrorpod or by
email at progressivelyhorrified@gmail.com.

Thanks for listening.

Bye.