Artistic significance: There are original horror stories from digital creators

With the last few ticks of the clock Wednesday night, the time finally came; it’s spooky season.
I spent the last few minutes of September desperately looking for something horror to watch.
To put it simply, the film industry isn’t doing well this year, and the selection of new horror movies to watch is disappointing.
I’m picky about horror to begin with because I don’t like violence or gore for the sake of it. I want a point beyond “it’s entertaining.”
If it feels like horror for horror’s sake, I remember the situation I watched it in more than I do the movie.
But, we’re trying to stay positive right now. There has to be something new out there in the world of horror that has a message.
I think I found it.
Some of the best horror over recent years isn’t made by Hollywood; it’s made by online content creators.
Enter the YouTube channel CryptTV, which makes 30-minute horror films.
I discovered them about a year ago when a content creator that I watch regularly did a video analyzing the meaning behind one of their series: The Look-See.
I watched it, and it was good, but I didn’t keep going in the rest of the universe.
The Look-See is about a paranormal being who seeks to help people let go of regrets they have in life, such as a relationship that didn’t work out.
He prompts them several times with “if you yourself cannot release, then it will come to take a piece.”
If the person can’t release, then the being comes to release them from their life. I guess that’s a nice way of saying it.
CryptTV is a lot more than that, but every “monster” I’ve seen from them is unique and not something you’d see in a big film because they’re thought provoking and prompt you to ask questions about humanity.
Obviously, their actions aren’t justified, but in the world of horror, it’s fun.
In re-discovering CryptTV, I watched a new series of theirs that just concluded: Fight Night.
It follows two young adults who work for an underground fight ring as “collectors.”
The woman, who runs it, sends them out to “collect” people, who have reportedly done horrible acts, such as child molestation.
Those people are then put into the ring with one of the monsters that seem to be from other CryptTV stories that I haven’t seen, but it doesn’t matter that I don’t know them because they’re filling a monster role.
Over the course of 30 minutes, these collectors have to grapple with what defines a monster; what if these people they’re sending out to collect didn’t do the horrible things they’re accused of; and is it OK to hurt a being, whether monster or human, just because they hurt somebody else.
Overall, there’s a lot of messaging and thoughts to be had about the CryptTV universe; a lot more than I know what to do with.
But, I think, these two examples show that there is messaging in everything they do — mixed in with the blood and guts, running from monsters and jumpscares.
It’s refreshing to see original things in the world of horror, and it being well done with genuinely impressive make-up, acting and world building.
I haven’t really seen anything that I can compare it to, and I’m looking forward to further exploring this universe they’ve made.
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This is a new column to highlight arts and entertainment, including local artists, authors and craftspeople. To include someone on our list, send in suggestions to Michael Shine at mshine.dar@gmail.com with their name, where they’re from the kind of art they do and contact information.