Web Video / Analog Archives

Lost media recovered by the Archivist.

Tape 000
Type: Found Footage
Recovered: July 20XX
Location: Unknown
Notes: Despite the age of the tape, the contents seem to show instances of modern technology.

Analog Archives was a Web Video Analog Horror anthology series created by Aidan Chick (the creator behind Eventide Media Center). The videos were presented as videotapes recovered from several different East Coast cities. Though there is no through single narrative between all the tapes, tapes which come from the same place will connect with each other. Each one depicted something strange and unnerving happening in each city.

The videos are:

• "Safety & Information," an instructional tape which teaches the viewer how to "properly enjoy" their new television.
• "Amber Alert," a recording of a news broadcast which was interrupted by a child abduction alert.
• "Mall of the Future," an advertisement for a local mall.
• "Physics," a tape which showcases the experiments of a group of university students.
• "Prayer Service," another broadcast, this time of a local church service.
• "Nature Show," yet another broadcast showing a local nature program.
• "Home Surveillance," a tape of recovered home security footage.
• "Travel Guide," another informational video which acts as a travel guide for a local forest.
• "Summer 64," a recording of a playthrough of a seemingly cancelled Nintendo 64 game from 1996 (not to be confused with this homebrew N64 demo of the same name from 1998).

Following a Twitter argument with someone who was upset by his latest episode of EMC, the entire series was removed from YouTube, although fan reuploads can be found here.

The supplementary Twitter account can be found here, though for how much longer is unknown.

---

This series contains examples of:

• 555: The emergency announcement in "Travel Guide" mentions that further information can be attained by dialing these three numbers.
• Ambiguously Human: The antagonist of "Amber Alert" as well as the one in "Travel Guide". They seem to be the same individual, though.
• Arc Symbol: Eyes are seen many times in nearly every video.
• Ax-Crazy:
  • The killer in "Amber Alert", assuming he's even human.
• Bilingual Bonus: The artist behind the album "Waking Vision," according to this Twitter post, is listed as "DEPT不測の事態", which translates as "Unforeseen Circumstances".
• Body Horror: Suffice to say, the effects of "spectral frequencies" aren't pretty.
• Brown Note: The "spectral frequencies", which cause both physical and psychological damage to those exposed.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: What the FSCC subject their unfortunate test subject to.
• Cosmic Horror Story: Implied. The entire series is centered on something alien and profoundly evil. One thing is for certain, red light is involved in plenty of the events.
• Deliberate VHS Quality: Being an Analog Horror series, as well as a series that is literally about a series of VHS tapes, this is arguably justified.
• Eldritch Location: Hollow Lake, which becomes a lake of blood that gives birth to monsters during the night of July 12.
• Every Episode Ending: Each episode ends with the logo (seen above), displayed in a color/over a background relating to the episode.
• Emergency Broadcast: The subject of both "Amber Alert" and "Nature Show."
• Eye Scream: Bleeding eyes show up quite often as a symbol in certain videos. In "Home Surveillance," this is inverted, where all that remains of the man watching is his eye.
• Facial Horror: The test subject at the end of "Physics."
• Featureless Protagonist: The face of the player character in Summer 64 is either obscured by a mask, or unfinished. Either way, only their eyes are seen.
• For Science!: Presumably the logic behind the experiment in "Physics."
• Found Footage Films:
  • In "Travel Guide." More precisely, dashcam/handheld footage. The description also notes that the tape was discovered 30 miles deep into the nearby forest.
  • Every video is noted as having been a recovered VHS tape, meaning they are quite literally "found" footage.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: As with plenty of other entries in the Analog Horror series.
  • The examples of signal intrusions in "Safety & Information" include the phrases "I CAN SEE", "STARE", and "MEDIA".
  • The TV in "Mall of the Future" shows what seems to be the start of "Nature Show", before briefly displaying the message "DON'T LOOK INTO THEIR EYES".
  • At the end of "Prayer Service", a brief image of an upside-down cross appears with the message "THERE IS NO GOD".
  • Several times throughout "Nature Show":
    • After being prompted to "look closer" by the program, the viewer can briefly see a giant, mutated dragonfly attached to a tree by some giant veins.
    • After this, a picture of Hallow Lake (blood red, with a shambling figure standing in it) is shown, with the message "At the threshold of Twilight, Hallow Lake becomes a bath of blood."
    • The Emergency Broadcast later on is briefly interrupted by a shot of a skeleton, mouth open in a silent scream.
  • At the very end of "Travel Guide," an image of a deer flashes on screen for less than a second. Various other nature-related things, such as leaves and trees, can be seen at several other points throughout the episode, but this is the one that is easiest to make out.
  • After the player dies in Summer 64, the loading screen briefly appears. The flowers in the background have been replaced with eyeballs.
• I'm a Humanitarian: In "Prayer Service," the Seventh Commandment of Lunology is "Eat thy neighbor in absolute faith in thy LORD." Accompanied by what sounds like someone crunching into something.
• I'm Melting!: The eventual fate of the protagonist in "Summer 64".
• Karma Houdini Warranty: The kidnapper in "Amber Alert" is eventually noted as having been shot and killed. However, whether or not the TV can even be trusted at this point is up to interpretation.
• Mad Doctor: The "students" in "Physics".
• One-Word Title: "Physics".
• Religious Horror: "Prayer Service," where the Jackson Community Church shows itself as a cannibalistic cult that promotes human sacrifice.
• Shout-Out: To several other creations by Tempest Universe/Aidan Chick.
  • The strange parka-wearing figure seen briefly in "Amber Alert" is from an old short film created by Aidan, called Lockwood Hills. This location is also mentioned in both this short and in "Travel Guide."
  • The man in "Home Surveillance" can be seen watching "Channel 7", another work of Aidan's.
• Significant Monogram: The name of the town televising religious scripture is "Jackson Crossing," which would be abbreviated as "JC."
• Splash of Color: The footage in "Home Surveillance" is entirely in black and white, save for when the "spectral frequencies" appear on the TV.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Crossing over with Blatant Lies, the repeated claims that "nothing happens on the night of July 12." Uh-huh, yeah sure.
• Synthetic Voice Actor: The emergency announcer in "Travel Guide," which only serves to make the whole thing more unsettling.
• Tears of Blood: Several times throughout the series.
  • As shown in "Safety & Information," exposure to "unauthorized content" can cause bleeding out of both your eyes and your brain.
  • Happens to the "Neighborhood Watch" eye in "Amber Alert."
  • The mannequin heads in "Mall of the Future" have them.
  • When the player character encounters the third type of specimen in Summer 64 this happens to them.
• The X of Y: "Mall of the Future."
• Timed Mission: The main objective of the eponymous Summer 64. The player has three in-game hours (3:00 PM-6:00 PM) to collect 42 pills. They fail.
• Town with a Dark Secret: Jackson Crossing certainly qualifies as one. The inhabitants seem to be satanists/cultists who are perfectly fine with child sacrifice and eating people.
• Unreadably Fast Text: The final section of "Prayer Service" contains a prayer played at twice the speed.
• Wham Line:
  • In "Safety & Information," the process for dealing with signal intrusions contains this line:
    If your television displays flashing colors or otherwise abnormal imagery, shut it off immediately. Your television will turn itself back on when the interruption is over.
  • In "Amber Alert," the final line in the official "Community Alert" is quite chilling.
    Do not trust any law enforcement at this time.
  • The various Unreadable Disclaimers at the bottom of the screen during "Mall of The Future" show increasingly stranger messages regarding July 12th. Then, towards the end, it says:
    Discussion of any event occurring on July 12 is strictly prohibited. This law is enforced by the county police department.
  • The student lab report in "Physics" is dated May 17, 1999. However, upon reading the description, the identity of the "students" is called into question.
    Fort Silver Community College closed in 1998.
  • The note in the description of "Prayer Service becomes one, upon watching the video.
    The population of Jackson Crossing has decreased by half in the past decade.
  • The radio warning towards the end of "Travel Guide," before it gets cut off.
    At 4:35 PM, Doppler Radar indicated severe thunderstorm capable of raining blo-
• Wham Shot:
  • The final shot of "Prayer Service" already has a threatening message, urging the viewer to live a holy life or otherwise face "eternal damnation." Then two massive tentacles rise up from offscreen.
  • "Home Surveillance" starts out as seemingly normal security camera footage of someone's house on a rainy night. At one point, however, it cuts back to the kitchen, where blood can be seen leaking from the ceiling.
• Would Hurt a Child:
  • The serial killer in "Amber Alert" is noted as having killed six children.
  • The Lunologists in "Prayer Service" also believe in child sacrifice.
  • It's also strongly implied that the baby shown in "Home Surveillance" did not survive either.

---

This has been your introduction to the world of broadcasting. We hope you enjoy your new television set! More programs to come.