Mandela Catalogue and the Fear of the Unknown

       

    In the previous blog, we have discussed the genre of analog horror. In this one, we will be exploring one of the most successful analog horror series in recent years titled Mandela Catalogue. It is an analog horror YouTube series that is created and uploaded to a channel named Alex Kister. The story is set in an alternate version of the United States where strange events occur across the town of Mandela County. We are soon introduced to creatures named “Alternates,” which are described as shapeshifting entities capable of mimicking human beings. They also possess the power to expose human beings to ‘undesirable’ information, which causes anyone who hears it to end their own lives. The story is delivered through a series of emergency broadcasts, found footage, CCTV footage, and audio recordings in a scattered manner, prompting the audience to piece together the narrative themselves. 

    Mandela Catalogue managed to captivate the audience by exploiting the uncanny and aerie feeling evoked by the old visuals reminiscent of public service announcements and outdated VHS recording. The series often uses the distortion and artifacting of VHS recording aesthetics to obscure the image of an Alternate, enhancing the horror element of the story. The Alternates are portrayed as a manipulative creature, who will go through lengths to torture a human being before stealing the human’s likeness for themselves. The fact that the ‘mimic’ of a human constructed by the alternate is not perfect causes discomfort to the audience. For example, in a scene there would be a picture of a normal human, and an Alternate recreation of the same human next to it, you can tell that the Alternate recreation’s eyes seem to be spread apart further, or the jaws are just a tad bit too long for a normal human. By evoking childhood memories of unsettling educational videos and PSAs, Mandela Catalogue uses nostalgia as a medium to evoke primal fear, bridging the familiar and the unknown.

    Another appeal of the Mandela Catalogue is the complex narrative of the series which invites the viewer to investigate and discuss the story with others. The fascinating setting of Mandela County is explored in fragments through the videos on Alex Kister’s YouTube channel. With that, the series is taking advantage of the internet culture and the love for mysteries and puzzles. The open-ended nature of each video upload allows the community to have different interpretations of the story, as well as creating many theorists who cheer when a new discovery is made, or their previous theory has been proven by a new content. This allows the audience to participate in constructing the story, which in turn creates a strong layer of immersion. This immersion will then enhance the horror experience, playing with the audience’s connection to the characters of the story. The fact that Mandela Catalogue is not simply a passive horror experience is deeply engaging for many people, which is proven by its tremendous success in YouTube, gathering millions of views from the world wide web.