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 Forum index » Chaotic Fiction » Marble Hornets
[OOG] Is Marble Hornets scary anymore?
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SaferSaturnX
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Joined: 01 Oct 2011
Posts: 46

[OOG] Is Marble Hornets scary anymore?

I know some people have been dissatisfied with some of the more recent entries. Personally, I've enjoyed them. Yes, the plot may have gotten a little slower, but that means they can get more in depth. And yes, updates are slow as heck, but I also understand that Trosephim have lives outside of Marble Hornets that can keep them busy. But there's been one big change since Season 1 that has been keeping me more and more detached from the series:

It's not that scary anymore.

Almost every time another entry is released and my wife and I lurk the forums trying to glean some additional clues, there's always someone who points out that the new entry is "So scary", or "I'm gonna have nightmares". I just don't see it anymore. I haven't really been scared like I was in Entry #1 (when Slendy turns his head I still get shivers), Entry#6 (for similar reasons), Entry #18 (the first look at Masky was one of the scariest moments in the series), etc.

TL;DR: Marble Hornets feels less scary than it used to be. Agree or disagree?

PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 6:31 am
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Amethyst.64
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Joined: 27 Aug 2013
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While I agree with the idea in principle, I think this is just more due to over exposure.

When I first discovered MH I was terrified even in broad daylight but over time the effect has become lessened.

Basically, I don't think the content is less scary, I just think we're getting used to it. Comments saying 'so scary' etc I'm guessing are new people to the series.

This may be completely wrong, I know I don't speak for everyone.

PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 7:37 am
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Ristar
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Joined: 22 Feb 2013
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I've never been THAT afraid of the entries as most people are, but TTA's videos allways scared the shit out of me, i don't know what it is about them that i'm so afraid to watch

PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 7:40 am
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Sha Noran
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Joined: 29 Apr 2013
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Agreed it feels that way, but as has been said, I think we're just used to it. I know that anytime I'm watching a tense scene, I'm bracing for something to happen, so if it does, its less scary. 82 though, I jumped the first time TO showed, mostly because I wasn't expecting it at all.

Also INB4 Locky! or merge Wink

PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 8:27 am
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Wondertje
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Joined: 08 Feb 2014
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I'm one of those people that quite recently has found MH and pretty much binged all of it. And I think I'm quite the opposite from what you experienced.

The beginning/first few episodes aren't really that scary. Sure, they're creepy as hell and they set the mood well - but it wasn't anything that kept me up at night. When I got to Entry #23 I got so scared I literally had to take a few weeks off from the series because I just couldn't handle it, I was scared of my own shadow afterwards, lol. After a few weeks of break, I continued and was more on the edge than before but I found it to become increasingly creepy after that.

In total I watched #1-#23 in about 4-5 days (a few episodes each night), and after that I watched #24 - #82 in about a two weeks - was on a total binge there at the end. Pulling all nighters to catch up with the series and because I found it more and more intriguing.

Not sure why I think the recent episodes are the most scary though, I think it might be because I'm at the top of my exposure limit and it'll start getting less scary from now on. Might also be because I feel like the series is developing in a really frightening way. The more I look, the more it feels to me like the story might actually be true and that there maybe is an Operator out there doing creepy things (I think I'm being affected by Jay's paranoia, really). But at the same time, I've always been the kind of person to watch horror series until I can't sleep properly, take a break for a week or two, and then go back watching when my heart rate has gone back to normal - rinse and repeat Razz

But at the same time, this is what I love about horror - so it's perfect for me! Very Happy

tl;dr - I binged it in the past month and a half and I still find it scary as f*uck, possibly due to the fact that the plot and the characters are developing in a really creepy way.

PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 9:29 am
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ACID_pixel
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For me I was never scared by the entries because I watch them at 11:20 at night with all the lights out. But TTA gave me nightmares (mainly Indicator) when I first started watching the series. But I don't think anything, TTA or MH, has scared me since. But when they want to be they can be tense in a scary type of way. #82 for example I was worried for Jay while he was talking to Tim on the phone while TO was zipping around everywhere waiting to strike. If I had to say an entry scared me, Entry #18 was the only one that made me scream a little. Oh and when I used to watch the series with my sister, she got all the way to Entry #19 and when Masky made the camera distort and the audio she flipped out and vowed to never watch it again, we were wearing headphone. I still show her some of the cool moments in Entry's like #80 and #82

PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 10:25 am
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JAL13
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Joined: 10 Jun 2013
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Sha Noran wrote:
Agreed it feels that way, but as has been said, I think we're just used to it. I know that anytime I'm watching a tense scene, I'm bracing for something to happen, so if it does, its less scary. 82 though, I jumped the first time TO showed, mostly because I wasn't expecting it at all.


It was scary for entries #1-69, but also fading through the mid to late 60's. 72 was my favorite, and it was the last entry I remember truly scaring me and fearing for the characters livelihood.

Its like zombies. They were scary before The Walking Dead show hit season 2. Now everyone is desensitized to zombies, and they're more of a joke than they were before.

….. Although, going into the woods still gets to me a little bit.

PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 10:43 am
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MDHDZN
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Joined: 25 May 2013
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INB4 Locky!

PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 10:48 am
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gennerx
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The short answer is no.
The long answer is nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 10:54 am
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ledzepfilm
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Joined: 18 Nov 2012
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I think MH isn't scary because we're so used to it. It has a great thriller effect to it. I don't watch the series to get scared. I watch it because of the acting, suspense, storyline, and the wonderful "HOLY SHIT" moments that keep coming.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 11:46 am
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TheOperator
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Most of the entries have build-up that just leads to something cool or exciting, rather than scary, or build-up that leads to a great big disappointment. TTA is consistently very creepy all throughout.

Season 1 had some of the few creepy-all-the-way-through entries, although it also had a lot of entries that were clearly rushed out without prior planning and just had anything "cool" thrown in there like the abrupt blood on Alex's face or the way too loud distortion. It's a shame since S1 really benefited from some of its Operator appearances. #7, #11 and #17 are what I feel Slenderman's creepiness should be all about. You might not even notice him the first time, everything's normal, although it feels kind of off... and then you realise.

Although S2 and S3 are a lot more professional, they have unfortunately shifted to just trying to shock us by placing The Operator right in front of the characters over and over again. It's cool and exciting but it's hardly scary. The build-up's still there and the pay-off, when it happens, isn't disappointing exactly... it's just not really scary. They should focus more often on not really having a pay-off as such, just try to put in more scenarios where we genuinely can feel satisfied with the off-putting atmosphere that The Operator could be anywhere (or he is) or when there is a pay-off it should be, ironically, less in-your-face. It's a delicate balance of course, since if the pay-off's too low-key it will just feel like it fizzled out.

To end on a good note, here are the entries post-S1 that I think are genuinely scary:

Entry #29 - The Operator didn't teleport right into the cameraman's face. He was there but he was a distance away, ominous, watching, we can fear for what he intended to do... and it left us with a very great shot and a pretty haunting cry of distortion. The fact that this is an entry that will probably remain as one that isn't outright explained probably helps matters.

enttry #37 - Creepy distorted music that sounds like it should be happy always gets me. This entry also involves kids, which the Slenderman was originally known for going after, which makes it creepier as well. The fact that this entry implies a deeper connection between TO and Alex but barely touches on it makes it a creepy little thing to keep in mind.

Entry #46 - Okay so this is a OMG HE'S RIGHT IN YOUR FACE entry but this was before they exploited the hell out of that trick. If they had kept appearances like that to only a handful of times in the series, instead of basically every time TO appears, it would have remained effective. But this first time, it really is unexpected that he'd just suddenly be in the house like that. And the fact that Alex just doesn't run makes it have a creepy side too.

Entry #57 - What was probably most scary about this entry to me was that I had no idea where Tim could go in order to be safe. Then he tries to hide out in that hospital of all places. Alex at this point had also been outright confirmed to be trying to hurt him, so I was scared of both him and The Operator. Ultimately we're left with the implication that this entry led to Entry #51. Since we don't really get it spelled out for us what happened immediately after the entry, it retains some creepiness.

Entry #60 - Now this is the one time they try to find a way to keep the "HE'S RIGHT THERE" trick fresh, as far as I know. The one time it worked, anyway. It was pretty genius honestly, picking the one location one might write off as impossible for The Operator to appear in, then he appears anyway. It was a good way of pointing out how nowhere is safe if he's after you and the idea of this creature that poses as a man in a business suit contorting his body to get through that tunnel... something very creepy about that.

Entry #65 - Rather than focusing on creepiness or jumpscares, this entry relied on emotional horror. We see how much of a ruthless monster The Operator is and what it does to victims. It raises all sorts of unfortunate implications about what might have happened to other victims and adds some significance to TTA's obsession with water. When the screen goes black, distorts and then it cuts to Tim being dumped into the water, it somehow feels like a big moment of clarity, as well as one of horror.

But unfortunately, that's it for entries I found honestly scary. There were great ones but the "scares" were always just something cool happening, not scary.

I will also admit the wait times probably don't help. I'd like to argue I'd probably still not be scared by recent ones, since barely anything apart from TO or someone SUDDENLY BEING THERE seems to be the scare these days but still, it probably would be easier to be immersed properly in a horror series if we didn't get a small snippet every month. Probably too late to rectify that but I guess it teaches somewhat of a lesson - if you're going to release piece by piece, especially for something with this kind of atmosphere, PRE-RECORD.

PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 1:38 pm
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MC_Loki
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Joined: 26 Oct 2012
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I only started watching the series about a year ago. The first week, I was absolutely terrified about pretty much everything: walking around blind corners, the dark, silence at night.

30 friggin' years old, and I was scared out of my wits.

If I go on a binge and just watch TTA videos in a playlist late at night, that can still elicit a little bit of the old terror, but it quickly goes away.

Series isn't scary any more, but that's because I'm desensitized.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 1:44 pm
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gennerx
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Desensitization is only part of it. The series has shifted from scaring people to providing plot and answers. Which it should seeing as the series is ending.

PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 2:05 pm
Last edited by gennerx on Fri Feb 14, 2014 2:23 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Marble Hornets
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Joined: 29 Apr 2013
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The scary factor was knowing nothing about the operator's motives, and enjoying that.

However, knowing we will probably never get that answer, any hype fed into it has died down. I can't say I've been "scared" of the series since entry 51

Seeing the operator "take" someone isn't scary anymore because we've seen it happen plenty of times. Same with p much any other symptom he can cause.

PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 2:11 pm
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ACID_pixel
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MC_Loki wrote:
I only started watching the series about a year ago. The first week, I was absolutely terrified about pretty much everything: walking around blind corners, the dark, silence at night.

30 friggin' years old, and I was scared out of my wits.

If I go on a binge and just watch TTA videos in a playlist late at night, that can still elicit a little bit of the old terror, but it quickly goes away.

Series isn't scary any more, but that's because I'm desensitized.


Same here

PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 2:50 pm
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