Elf Blood

I’ve always liked getting a bit of a chill, and I’ve always maintained that the more realistic and the less glossy a production is, the more terrifying it has the potential to become. This is pretty well reflected in my love of the first season of the X-Files, where the lack of special effects and the reliance on CONCEALING the paranormal from the eyes of the viewers is employed over actually showing the full gruesome/scariness of the event.

I stumbled across the wonderful Marble Hornets series as a result of poking around on TVTropes (Yes, I am indeed One Of Us), and having leafed through the Slender Man mythos decided to give it a go.

Holy Crap. I’ve become addicted.

Marble Hornets is filmed entirely using handheld cameras, and is intended to tell the story of a young man, Jay, trying to locate his friend, Alex, who disappeared shortly after abandoning the production of his student film, the eponymous Marble Hornets. The tapes recovered from Alex before his disappearance indicate that his life was being invaded by a mysterious figure, who had been following Alex.

It’s damn good, and highly recommended for anyone who loves to be scared. I know I was: I’ve spent the last week paranoid that I’ll look out the window and The Operator will be standing there. Or that I’ll open the door and Masky will attack the crap out of me.

What makes the series so brilliant is that a great deal is not explained, while just enough is revealed to make it tantalising rather than confusing. Half the fun of watching Marble Hornets is theorising about the motivations behind peoples’ actions, about the nature of the mysterious forces at work, and attempting to decipher the cryptic signs and symbols prevalent throughout.

So for those of ye not faint of heart, go forth, watch, and be mesmerized! I’ve already lost about quarter of a day’s worth of work to the series. I highly recommend you do so too.

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