The Monument Mythos

Last updated

The Monument Mythos
GenreAnalog horror
Created byAlex Casanas
No. of episodes33
Original release
ReleaseSeptember 26, 2020 (2020-09-26) –
April 30, 2023 (2023-04-30)
Related
The Nixonverse

The Monument Mythos is a YouTube analog horror webseries created by Alex Casanas, set in an alternate history version of the United States. [1] [2] The premises include James Dean serving as President and Martin Luther King Jr. avoiding his assassination. [1] The episodes are in the found footage and mockumentary format and revolve around American national monuments being depicted in relation to unusual incidents, involving fictional conspiracy theory narratives, such as disappearances of immigrants near the Statue of Liberty and a mysterious infection affecting individuals near Mount Rushmore. [1] [3] [4] [5] Lovecraftian motifs are also present. [1] [6] Three seasons were produced, each consisting of 11 episodes. [1] The series ran from August 26, 2020, to April 30, 2023.[ citation needed ] The storyline had been written in its entirety before the series' release, but the author began making changes to it starting with May 2021. [4] The series' production included original music [4] and voice acting. [7] [8]

Contents

A spin-off show titled The Nixonverse is set in the timeline in which Richard Nixon was elected as president instead. It ran from May 14 to August 13, 2022. A compilation film, The Absolute Nixonverse, which added new sections and removed certain sections from the original series, was released on October 1, 2023, on the Dwight Comics YouTube channel.[ citation needed ]

Reception

Nestor Kok of F Newsmagazine described the series in positive terms in 2022, writing: "There is nary an analog horror series, let alone a YouTube web series of any genre, that comes close to matching the scope and ambition of "The Monument Mythos"." [4] According to Joe Hoeffner of Collider in 2023, the series was among the most popular entries into the genre, alongside Local 58 , Gemini Home Entertainment , and The Mandela Catalogue , all of which have "increasingly elaborate backstories and mythologies, usually parceled out one cryptic piece at a time"; however, he singled out The Monument Mythos as being particularly engaging for its narrative puzzles. At the same time, he commented that the approach risks becoming clichéd. [9] Tilly Lawton of Pocket Tactics classified the series as a type of an alternate reality game, albeit one with a "[narrative] that [doesn't] alter regardless of player participation" (using the novel term "unfiction"). [10] According to the author in 2022, a community of followers was gathering in the series' Discord server, where various thematic events were organized. [11]

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References

Works cited

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Heath, David (January 24, 2023). "12 Scariest Analog Horror Series". Game Rant . Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  2. ↑ Wehs, Garet (February 22, 2022). "Analog horror: The bizarre and the unsettling". The Signal (Student newspaper). Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  3. ↑ Saab, Hannah; Cabezas, Nikolas (October 24, 2022). "12 Creepiest Analog Horror Series on YouTube". Collider. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Kok, Nestor (January 21, 2022). "Ghosts in the Machine: The Star-Spangled Monsters of Mister Manticore's "The Monument Mythos"". F Newsmagazine. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  5. ↑ Armstrong, Jenna Claire (March 3, 2022). "What Is Monument Mythos?". DC Tribal Media (Student newspaper). Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  6. ↑ Szczesniak, Alicia (January 13, 2022). "A look into analog horror". The Post (Student newspaper). Ohio University . Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  7. ↑ Galante, Gerardo (April 17, 2022). "¿Qué es el Analog Horror? Descubre el nuevo terror de Internet" [What is analog horror? Discover the new terror of the Internet]. El Generacional (Student newspaper) (in Spanish). Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  8. ↑ Northerner, Kenneth (January 18, 2022). "FSU-based YouTuber ALEXKANSAS creates online content". FSView & Florida Flambeau (Student newspaper). Archived from the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  9. ↑ Hoeffner, Joe (January 14, 2023). "How 'Skinamarink' Uses – and Expands Upon – the Tropes of Analog Horror". Collider. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  10. ↑ Lawton, Tilly (December 30, 2022). "A beginner's guide to the world of ARGs and Unfiction". Pocket Tactics. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  11. ↑ Northerner, Kenneth (February 13, 2022). "Catching up with student YouTuber Alex Casanas". FSView & Florida Flambeau (Student newspaper). Archived from the original on May 17, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
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