I’ve been watching UrbanSpook’s analog horror series and it’s inspired me to come up with an analog horror series of my own. However, this one would have a weight gain theme to it. There’s many different directions I could take this, but I am unsure which one to settle on. The ideas I’ve come up with are as follows:
- A series of tapes documenting the crimes of an elusive criminal known as “The Stuffer” or “The Feeder.” A methodical and sadistic individual who abducts young women throughout the US and does various things to them that result in weight gain. The criminal takes before and after photos of the victims and sends them to the victims’ friends, families, and even the police as a way of taunting them. Some of the victims are found and rescued by police in areas such as abandoned warehouses, storage units, and storage containers in remote locations. Each episode/tape would show an escalation in the scope of the stuffer’s activities.
-a weight gain virus hits a small town in the US. The tapes/episodes will each be named after days (day 1, day 2, day 3, etc.) and show a progression in how the virus affects the unsuspecting inhabitants of the town. Things eventually devolve into an apocalyptic type scenario
-an anthology series that tackles a new WG-themed horror subject each tape/episode.
No matter which one I go with, I may need help writing out the series, so any help or advice would be appreciated.
5 Likes
elusive criminal known as “The Stuffer” or “The Feeder.”
The criminal takes before and after photos of the victims and sends them to the victims’ friends, families, and even the police
Truly horrific! It’s sort of a mild blend of Feed (2005) and the Poughkeepsie Tapes or something, but just enough to make your skin crawl. Blurred because it’s a tangent and unpleasant: an idea like this bears a lot of responsibility both as a writer and a member of our niche community. Not all horror fans will understand when you blur the lines between kink and horror; in all possible ways, I would recommend making that abundantly clear when tackling that subject matter. Given that you mention this is “analog horror,” I imagine this leaves any triggering question unexplored, so this may be an irrelevant concern. I trust your writing and, having seen your content, trust you’ve thoroughly thought of this already!
I would imagine this focuses on the police investigation and evidence. Analog horror is an interesting way to deliver on that kind of concept. It would just be an interesting story in general.
a weight gain virus hits a small town in the US
-
Search up “infectobesity” for real research in this area. I don’t know how the theory holds up to scrutiny, but there is real data on this. Gut flora, hormonal imbalances, changes in insulin production, neurotransmitters that govern reward, etc. can all be a part of the equation.
-
In more fantastical examples, the virus might cause fat cells to multiply, somehow cause all calories ingested to be stored as fat, etc. A whole world of just one of these ideas could investigate such interesting psychologies, such as woefully eating due to - you know - needing to, knowing full well what it will do to their bodies. Or not having enough money to afford the cure. Societal dynamics and despair over uncontrollable forces could be key notes to touch on. All makes a fun horror piece, especially if the stories all connect and have a major theme of anti-capitalism or anti-war (maybe the virus is engineered?).
-
Being quarantined during a weight gain virus and gaining weight due to being caged up all the time would be a pretty funny, ironic twist if it were made one of the episodes. Gaining weight while trying to avoid the weight gain virus could also add to the psychological thrill. Questions like “Could I be infected?” and such would be interesting story beats, perhaps told through blogs/vlogs.
Have you seen Mad Max? There is a bunch of large women milked to sustain the post-apocalyptic society. That would be totally sci-fi post-apocalyptic fantasy, but maybe there’s potential there for horror? Or at least a new setting.
3 Likes
If you’re going primarily text-based, I like the anthology the most because:
–It can contain the other two
–it can mean shorter chapters and potentially easier development per installment
–It’s flexible for bringing writers in and out of the project
If it’s going to be more visual/action-driven:
–The serial stuffer idea could potentially borrow mechanics from the Frogware Sherlock Holmes games, gathering clues across crime scenes and having thought clouds to put clues together. The movie Se7en feels like a good structural touchpoint as well
–For the virus idea, I would look to Pathologic, another game about a town with a plague that does a great job building paranoia and mistrust
Other ideas:
Tape trading culture used to be a thing in the 80s-90s, where people would send each other copies of heavy metal demos and concert bootlegs and extreme horror movies and porn. You could have one story, or the frame story, be about a tape trader getting more than they bargained for on one of their tapes
Diet culture/heroin chic + horror is a well-worn trope, but given how prominent is was in the time period of analog horror, I feel like I gotta mention it.
Something involving 90s internet, like chatrooms, chain emails, forums, etc could be fun, especially mixed with the stranger danger some people had about talking to randos online
4 Likes
you could try an inverse cue of stephen kings book ‘Thinner’
another approach is a spirit or demon thats trying to make their host a vessel or gateway of sorts
last one is taking a cue from goosebumps with the camera, the camera will show an image… and the subject slowly changes to match themselves in the image
2 Likes