A few years ago now, I uploaded a massive list of analog media available on YouTube for analog horror creators to study and use as reference material for crafting their own films, series or multi media ARGs etc. Today, I share more. This time, sharing analog media collections uploaded to the Internet Archive.

VHS/vhs tv recordings

The VHS Vault - https://archive.org/details/vhsvault

Ephemeral VHS - https://archive.org/details/ephemeralvhs

Digitized From VHS - https://archive.org/details/digitizedfromvhs

Smoke’s VHS/DVR Collection - https://archive.org/details/smokesvhsdvrcollection

VHS-Taped News;

1970s - https://archive.org/details/vhsnews_1970s

1980s - https://archive.org/details/vhsnews_1980s

1990s - https://archive.org/details/vhsnews_1990s

2000s - https://archive.org/details/vhsnews_2000s

Maritime VHS - https://archive.org/details/maritimevhs

Instructional and Educational VHS Tapes - https://archive.org/details/vhsinstructionals

Commercial From The Vault: VHS Tapes of Commercial Breaks - https://archive.org/details/vhscommercials

Analog Film

Feature Films - https://archive.org/details/feature_films

Home Movies - https://archive.org/details/home_movies

35mm Stock Footage - https://archive.org/details/35mmstockfootage

California Academy of Sciences Films & Videos - https://archive.org/details/calacademyvideo

Filmstrips and Filmstrip Audio - https://archive.org/details/filmstrip_archive

National Film Preservation Foundation - https://archive.org/details/dopetapes

Educational Films - https://archive.org/details/educationalfilms

PeriscopeFilm - https://archive.org/details/PeriscopeFilm

A/V Geeks - https://archive.org/details/avgeeks

(A/V Geeks also has a YouTube channel where some of these films are uploaded which I recommend you check out and subscribe to)

Drive-In movie Ads - https://archive.org/details/DriveInMovieAds

Orgone Archive - https://archive.org/details/orgonearchive

Donated 16mm Films - https://archive.org/details/filmcollection-mr

British Government Public Information Films - https://archive.org/details/british_gov_public_films

Cliffhanger Serials - https://archive.org/details/cliffhangers

Silent Hall of Fame – https://archive.org/details/silenthalloffame

The Georges Melies Collection - https://archive.org/details/georgesmelies

Vinyl Records/78rpm/Phonographs

The Vinyl Archive - https://archive.org/details/vinyl-archive

Lobby Vinyl Records - https://archive.org/details/lobbyvinyl

Phil’s Vinyl Addiction - https://archive.org/details/phils-vinyl-addiction-albums

David Day 78rpm Collection - https://archive.org/details/78rpm_david-day

Shira Berk 78rpm Collection - https://archive.org/details/78rpm_shira-berk

Chris Howard LP Collection - https://archive.org/details/vinyl_chris-howard_records

Daniel McNeil LP Collection - https://archive.org/details/vinyl_daniel-mcneil-records

Historical Christian Recordings - https://archive.org/details/hist-christ

Kevin Toner – My 78s - https://archive.org/details/kevin-toner-collection

Cassette tapes

Unlabelled Cassette Tapes - https://archive.org/details/cassettetaperecordings

Various Cassette Tapes - https://archive.org/details/cassettetapes

Alamogordo Public Library – Oral History Collection - https://archive.org/details/alamogordooralhistory

California Historical Radio Society Radio News - https://archive.org/details/chrs-radio-news

Watkins Audio - https://archive.org/details/watkinsaudio

Pocket Rockers: The Fisher-Price Cassette for kids - https://archive.org/details/pocketrockers

Misc

WWII Archive - https://archive.org/details/wwIIarchive

Laserdisc Archive - https://archive.org/details/laserdiscs

Vintage Cartoons - https://archive.org/details/vintage_cartoons

Russian Animation and Cartoons - https://archive.org/details/russiananimationcartoons

Classic TV Commercials uploaded by Vinnie Rattolle - https://archive.org/details/vinnierattolle

Classic tv;

1940s - https://archive.org/details/classic_tv_1940s

1950s - https://archive.org/details/classic_tv_1950s

1960s - https://archive.org/details/classic_tv_1960s

1970s - https://archive.org/details/classic_tv_1970s

1980s - https://archive.org/details/classic_tv_1980s

Cassette and Tape-Based Software - https://archive.org/details/cassettesoftware

Console Living Room - https://archive.org/details/consolelivingroom

Movie Posters, DVD Covers, VHS Covers - https://archive.org/details/movie-poster-collection

SIGGARAPH (early computer animation showcase) - https://archive.org/details/siggraph

If theres any other collections or specific pieces of media on the archive you think could make for good inspiration/reference, feel free to share!

So because I was bord and also fascinated by the subject, I decided to compile a list of videos in a catagory I like to call Proto-analog horror. I.e. any online horror video or horror web series that utilises analog mediums or a retro analog style to frame its narrative similar to analog horror, but predate what many in the analog horror community consider the first proper Analog Horror series; Local 58. If there are any other examples of this kind of video/web series, feel free to share in the comments.

Agamemnon Counterpart: https://youtu.be/ZqzESY7SIqU

The Wyoming Incident: https://youtu.be/IBHkW0aKHRc

Marble Hornets: https://youtube.com/user/MarbleHornets

Ben Drowned: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpfTv86YElNgM4XWZ83zAhlsVKIYaWTFF

KrainagrzybowTV: https://youtube.com/c/krainagrzybowtv

CL44: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXT4TLo5q2QwZwxLYlYh6hZlO6jwX14aZ

CH/SS: https://youtube.com/c/CHSSGOV

This House Has People In It: https://youtu.be/x-pj8OtyO2I

ECKVA: https://youtube.com/c/eckvanet

On May 1st I released my stop motion animated final year university short film Fernway into Newgrounds. I thought I’d share a link here.

Synopsis: When their forest home is burnt down to make way for a palm oil plantation, Scor, a walking tree, must go on a long journey to find a new home

So, I've been seeing a few posts one here recently asking for advice on creating analog horror or what can be done to improve on works in the genre and stuff. And it feels like a good portion of the comment replies on these posts are from users who've watched a ton of analog horror, but have not created themselves and are simply fans.

As someone who also falls into the fan category, I would be curious to hear answers on certain questions like these coming from the perspective of creators who actually have some firsthand experience working on and producing an analog horror series or short film.

Specifically, as the title suggests; what advice would you, a somewhat more experienced creator, give to someone who wants to create their own analog horror content?

Ok, so I originally wrote this in my notes app as a comment on a post about what people would want to see implemented into Analog horror, but it got so long and detailed I decided to just turn it into a full post. To be honest It’s a subject I’ve always wanted to bring up or write about but never got the chance, had the energy or was just too afraid of it getting buried under other comments or posts.

personally, I feel like an overarching problem throughout most of the more mediocre or bad analog horror series/short films I’ve seen is that they tend to be too stylistically similar to one of or more of the big popular series. For me anyway, a good portion of the analog horror films and series I checked out just end up feeling like the diet versions of Gemini Home Entertainment, Walton Files, Kane Pixel’s Backrooms Found Footage and/or The Mandela Catalogue etc. Don’t get me wrong! I’m not at all saying taking inspiration from a popular series is a bad thing! It can be helpful for some creators to analyze these series and ask why they resonated with and scared people, and how they could apply the techniques these series utilize for their own work. The problem comes when certain creators just take the most shallow, superficial elements of these series like the imagery, style, surface level themes or structural formula etc, and just copy paste it into a video or two without adding anything new or actually putting critical thought into how and why these tropes worked in the story they took inspiration from.

Obviously, I don't claim to have all the answers, but as a fan of Analog horror and an aspiring filmmaker myself, my advice would be this;

If you’re going to create a film or series in such an over-saturated genre as Analog horror, making a near carbon copy of a better and more popular series will only get you so far. Developing a unique tonal, narrative, thematic and/or stylistic identity is crucial if you want your video or series to succeed and/or be creatively fulfilling in the long run.

I think one way you, as creator, can remedy this problem of falling into tired cliches or accidentally creating another Gemini or Mandela Catalogue clone is to search for inspiration outside of analog horror itself. Go back to and research the other media that initially inspired analog horror. Go check out early Found Footage horror films like the Blair Witch Project, Ghostwatch, Creep etc. Watch a few of the other bad ones too just to compare what types of scares worked and which didn’t, and why. Look at archived analog film like, vhs tapes, vhs tv recordings, vintage film reels etc. examine the artefacts, distortions and overall style of how they are filmed/editied. Check out old gameplay footage of old-schoool arcade or cartridge games or listen to archived audio cassettes and radio broadcasts. Look at Avant Garde film like the work of Cecelia Condit, Chris Marker, Luis Buñuel and others.

Outside of these, just go check out a lot of different stuff in general. Read novels, science articles, history books, listen to different types of music and podcasts, watch some documentaries etc. Revisit subjects that interested you in the past. Explore different subjects, genres, mediums and disciplines outside of your regular comfort zone. By exposing yourself to all kinds of different things in this way, you expand your pool of knowledge to pull from when creating original works. You do yourself a disservice when limiting your library of reference to exclusively one field (I.e. popular analog horror). You never know when, say, an article about the life cycle of fern plants, a documentary about fashion doll design and manufacturing, a story from a book on obscure folktales or something like that could come in handy and help you solve a storytelling/creative problem in your film or series.