Horror has become an over-saturated genre. In a post-internet world, it’s been much easier for people to create content. With social media particularly, it’s been incredibly simple for people to make and post their own works without needing a bunch of money or a whole studio behind it.
The most popular platform is YouTube, as it allows creators to upload long videos with minimal restrictions and can provide an income through the YouTube Partner Program. With such popularity, it’s no surprise that there is a plethora of horror content on YouTube, with more being added each day. Some are… un-creative, to say the least, and overused, like “DON’T CALL (insert name) AT 3 AM!!!”, for example. Others, however, are genuinely bone-chilling and skin-crawling.
1. Vita Carnis
“Vita Carnis” was made by digital body horror artist Darian Quilloy in 2022. Latin for “living meat,” the “Vita Carnis” series is about a world where different fleshy monsters and killer plants have infested the Earth.
Some creatures, like Ignavus Carnis (Latin for “cowardly flesh”), are completely harmless, even friendly. Others, such as the Harvester, are extremely deadly and kill anyone who steps too close.
What makes this horror series so horrifying is the deadliness of certain creatures, and that society has come to adjust to the existence of these monsters instead of fighting back. The people in this universe live with the constant fear of encountering one of these monsters and dying, with little to nothing they can do about it, yet they live their lives as normally as you or me. While compliance has been explored through other forms of media, this series handles it in a far more creative way, making it far more devastating.
2. Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared
Another popular—though older—series is “Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared”. Created by Becky Sloan, and Joe Pelling, the first episode uploaded to YouTube back in 2011. Despite being over a decade old, it’s still popular, and even being picked up by Channel 4 in 2020.
The original YouTube series featured three main characters: Red Guy, who is quite literally a man in a plain red suit with what looks like a red mop acting as the head, Duck, which is… well, a green duck puppet wearing a suit, and Yellow Guy, another puppet with blue overalls, hair, and yellow skin.
In each of the six original episodes on the YouTube channel, a new horror is thrust onto them when they’re trying to live their life. Oftentimes, an inanimate object will come to life to teach them a lesson or idea such as time or creativity, but with a horrifying twist that often ends with at least one of the characters being traumatized or even severely hurt.
The reason this series is so horrifying is because such simple and innocent concepts are twisted with little to no warning. The idea of these concepts being taught through violence and surreal misinformation (“plain white sauce makes your teeth go grey”) instead of with patience and sense puts a terrifying subversion on said concepts, and also makes for some pretty funny lines.
3. Salad Fingers
“Salad Fingers” is an animated YouTube series that’s also incredibly old (over two decades), but popular and still ongoing. The series has become a staple of horror on YouTube due to its creepy sound effects and the main character, Salad Fingers.
He is a bald man with dark green skin, red eyes, a malnourished body, and an odd obsession with rusty objects, particularly spoons. It’s debatable what exactly he is and if he’s really a man or a monster, but most people in the fandom theorize he’s a man who had something happen to him to cause his sickly appearance.
Every episode, similar to “Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared,” is like a fever dream. It jumps from one creepy and unsettling thing to the next, and it never fails to leave viewers on edge with its uncomfortable sound effects and disturbing imagery.
If you look past the crude animation, you’ll see that a lot of the episodes deal with deeper subjects such as abandonment (as seen in “Cages,” when Salad Fingers continuously tries to escape a character that looks like an embryo). This makes for a great series for those who enjoy analyzing media that deal with such topics, and also for those who are all about crazy stories and disquieting scenes.
4. THE SILENCER
A lesser-known and newer series called “THE SILENCER,” uploaded by, well, THE SILENCER on YouTube in August of this year, is a great example of horror on modern YouTube.
The series centers around different characters dealing with the same monster, a black figure with horns sticking out the sides of its head and a pale yellow face. Tall and lanky, it lurks in the shadows, and only the victims can see it. It prevents the victims from saying or doing anything to call for help, changing what they say and do. The videos don’t use any dialog, only sound effects and text, adding to the tense atmosphere it builds.
Despite there only being three videos so far, it’s pretty clear what it’s about: depression and grief. Grief and mental illnesses like depression have often been used in horror, like “Smile”. This gives a deeper, almost dreadful feeling that can come with grief and depression that I don’t think “Smile” quite captures.
Depression and grief push people to do horrible things to cope or escape, like using drugs or even commiting suicide, and “THE SILENCER” doesn’t shy away from that uglier side that a lot of people don’t include or gloss over when creating characters or stories. It makes you sit with it, digest it, and if you can handle dark themes such as this, this is a great developing series to follow.
5. Life of Luxury
Taking it away from animation and moving to live action, “Life of Luxury” is another classic example of a horror YouTube channel, featuring Parker Hajiaskari and Chester Beckington.
The episodes usually start with Parker explaining that they got an email or message from someone who has a loved one, saying that odd things are, or have happened to them, and asks for their help. At the end of each episode, it ends with them running away, realizing they were in way over their heads.
Throughout the videos, Chester tries to convince Parker to leave and not continue, while Parker is oblivious to the potential danger and insists they stay to help, which often creates a somewhat humorous aspect to the videos.
The videos are rather formulaic and don’t stray far from their blueprint, but the humorous undercurrents draw out a little chuckle, and the unsettling sounds and great practical effects make for a good scare each time. Such effects aren’t something you often find on YouTube, which makes this channel very special.
At the end of the day, no matter what kind of horror you like, whether it be analog, body horror, or something entirely different, you’re guaranteed to find something for you on YouTube that you just can’t find anywhere else.
