Youtube has really come a long way since it was created in 2005. Initially, videos never went longer than 2 minutes and most of the videos were silly little skits or parodies. But here we are, 15 years later, and Youtube has its own version of a streaming service, and it is rare to find videos that go under 10 minutes. I don’t think anyone would have guessed that in 2020, people would be making careers out of posting videos on the internet, but people do. There are countless things to watch and find from gaming videos, family vlogs, and full-blown episodic series that have professional quality. Since it is Spooky Season™, I want to share some channels that have made and continue to make spooky content that I would advise you to not watch at night.
Marble Hornets is a Youtube channel dedicated to one thing alone: Slenderman. It spawned after the mythological persona was introduced to the internet in 2009. The videos on Youtube are uploaded as different entries from one man’s experience with this figure, foregoing the introduction video that consists of B-roll and text vaguely explaining what is going on. From this into, we know that the person uploading the videos is not the one recording them. Instead, they are videos that his friend from college named Alex recorded while he was supposed to be working on his student film for school three years prior to the Youtube creator uploading them to Youtube. Under strange circumstances, Alex quit his project and switched schools without contacting his friends. The Youtube creator claims that he has forgotten about the tapes until now and will use Youtube to upload anything interesting that he may find. After the introduction, we get “entry #1” that is relatively terrifying considering that it is only the first one. Captions explain that there is no audio and then the video begins with someone pointing the camera out the window and recording a Slender-Man type creature standing outside and looking over to the camera quickly (read about Slenderman here).
The best way I can describe The Haunting of Sunshine Girl Network is by saying it is like a Young Adult fantasy novel come to life on the internet. Similar to Marble Hornets, The Haunting of Sunshine Girl follows a girl, Sunshine, as she experiences weird paranormal activity in her home. This series leaves little to be desired in a homestyle ghost hunting documentary. From the beginning, we are introduced to Sunshine, her mother, and their spooky life. The small family has just moved into a new home and Sunshine believes it is haunted (her mother not so much). She begins videotaping bits and pieces of her day and experiences and there are noises, shadows, and many other things that cannot be explained. It is similar to Paranormal Activity but I would argue that it is even scarier, albeit [SPOILER ALERT] nobody dies. There is something unique about this series considering it is not a television show and instead was published on a platform that is primarily everyday people.
Visit the Sunshine channel here
When I first watched these channels, I definitely believed that they were real–though I knew it was probably only wishful thinking. When I researched to try and find more answers, my bubble was burst and I was back in a world void of paranormal escapades. I certainly wish these channels would get more attention from award shows or even just the entertainment industry because these creators were surely ahead of their time. Youtube was a baby when these were posted to the site, arguably paving the way for more and more creepy and well-conceived content to be published nowadays. I encourage every who enjoys horror movies and scary stories to go and watch all the episodes for this Halloween season!