History ARG / TheWyomingIncident

''The Wyoming Incident'' is an internet horror [[AlternateRealityGame ARG]] and {{creepypasta}} that began in 2006. Considered the first horror-based internet ARG as well as possibly the first creepypasta, ''The Wyoming Incident'' originated as a tale about a video that purportedly drives viewers to madness. This video is the recording of a supposed signal broadcast interruption of a UsefulNotes/{{Wyoming}} news station that resulted in mass confusion and terror brought upon by the infrasonic frequencies contained within the hijacking.

* KudzuPlot: The story is a long-running ARG that started out simple enough- with a creepy broadcast hijacking by some unknown group and a forum, the Happy Cube, with people engaged in and discussing the practice of [[DeadlyEuphemism "cubing"]]. But as the forum grew, it introduced more and more threads like a malicious god that was responsible for the hijacking, black-eyed children stalking anyone who participated in a mysterious ritual in the forum, a power struggle among rotating moderators resulting in a forum CivilWar at one point, and the Wyoming Incident itself becoming an in-universe ARG with its creators becoming major characters. Combine this with the thousands of threads on the forum, and it became more trouble to follow than its worth. WebVideo/NightMind attempted to explain it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UghBGvPepSQ here]] but eventually gave up after finding the whole thing too hard to follow.

''The Wyoming Incident'' is an internet horror [[AlternateRealityGame ARG]] and {{creepypasta}} that began in 2006. Considered the first horror-based internet ARG as well as possibly the first creepypasta, ''The Wyoming Incident'' originated as a tale about a video that purportedly drives viewers to madness. This video is the recording of a supposed signal broadcast interruption of a Wyoming news station that resulted in mass confusion and terror brought upon by the infrasonic frequencies contained within the hijacking.

''The Wyoming Incident'' is an internet horror ARG and creepypasta that began in 2006. Considered the first horror-based internet ARG as well as possibly the first creepypasta, ''The Wyoming Incident'' originated as a tale about a video that purportedly drives viewers to madness. This video is the recording of a supposed signal broadcast interruption of a Wyoming news station that resulted in mass confusion and terror brought upon by the infrasonic frequencies contained within the hijacking.

!! Tropes:

! Tropes

* KudzuPlot: So much so that no one can really say for certain what ''The Wyoming Incident'' is about at its core.

* CallingCard: At one point, the Temple of Paranoia is invaded by the Black-Eyed Children, and ilovetofix's replacement discovers that all of the temple's priests have vanished. In one of the rooms, they find the word "SHADOW" etched into one of the walls.

* ZorroMark: At one point, the Temple of Paranoia is invaded by the Black-Eyed Children, and ilovetofix's replacement discovers that all of the temple's priests have vanished. In one of the rooms, they find the word "SHADOW" etched into one of the walls.

* NightmareFuel:
** The videos. They all contain close-up shots of bizarre, mannequin-like faces with distorted music that plays in reverse, and ominous, threatening messages that flash on the screen intermittingly.
** The reveal that the Happy Cube is a forum for serial killers who gather in pre-planned destinations to hunt their victims. Their matter-of-fact conversations about preferred "tools of choice" only make this revelation all the more chilling.
** The mass rituals that took place on the Happy Cube deliberately utilized this in order to summon an "aspect" of a god that thrived on fear. The potentially dangerous parameters that these rituals maintained just scream, "nope" and even drove participants to quit out of concern for their own mental health.

* CosmicHorrorStory: For a while, the ARG became a blog for a supernatural god who was apparently responsible for the original hijacking and its video, seeking to feast on the negative emotions that they both inspired in humans who viewed it. The exact nature of this being was never truly unveiled but it was certainly powerful enough to become a parasite on human cognition.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: A frustrating example. The timeline of ''The Wyoming Incident'' has so many [[GenreShift swerves in tone and presentation]] that it is hard to tell just what is the root cause for all of the insanity that happens, especially once the Happy Cube becomes the hub for the ARG's activity.