The Mandela Catalogue

The Mandela Catalogue is an analog horror web series created by American YouTuber Alex Kister in 2021. It is set in the fictional Mandela County, Wisconsin, which is terrorized by "alternates", doppelgängers who coerce their victims to kill themselves before assuming their identity. The series became popular online through analysis and reaction videos from internet users.

The Mandela Catalogue
Genre
Created byAlex Kister
Directed byAlex Kister
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes12
Production
AnimatorAlex Kister
Release
Original networkYouTube
Original releaseJune 9, 2021 (2021-06-09) –
present (present)

Setting and genre

The Mandela Catalogue is set in the fictional Mandela County, Wisconsin, which is threatened by the presence of "alternates", doppelgängers who coerce their victims to kill themselves and can manipulate audiovisual media.[1][2] Other plot aspects include Lucifer, who has disguised himself as Gabriel, the archangel who announced Jesus' birth. The series contains many biblical allusions, including Noah's Ark, Adam and Eve along with settings surrounding American churches. The Mandela Catalogue is set during the 1990s and 2000s.[2][3][4]

The Mandela Catalogue is composed of twelve shorts across two "Acts", the first of which was released on June 9, 2021.[5][6] It is part of a subgenre of found footage called analog horror.[3] Its installments are often presented as instructional videos from the fictional Department of Temporal Phenomena or corrupted versions of the cartoon Beginner's Bible, and are rendered in a VHS aesthetic.[1][2]

Development and production

The Mandela Catalogue was created by eighteen-year-old student Alex Kister from Hubertus, Wisconsin as a series of short videos he began in 2021, while in summer college. It was Kister's first filmmaking project.[1][7] Kister originally created overthrone as a one-off video based on a high school writing project, and planned to make a series where he edited children's cartoons to be creepy.[7][8][9] However, due to the popularity of the video, Kister decided to continue making videos following the universe of overthrone in the modern day.[7][8][9] The series' name came from the Mandela Effect.[10]

Kister had little to no budget and used basic editing: scenes are shot in his home and characters are portrayed by his friends through still images and voiceover. Kister's mother once played an alternate. In an interview with GQ, Kister said he wanted to develop his horror from "jump-scares that [...] cause a physiological reaction rather than a psychological reaction."[1]

Kister has said the series originally began as a creative outlet for the existential crisis he was dealing with, especially when it came to the subject of religion and Christianity.[7][9][11] The series was also inspired by the isolation and loss of security Kister experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] Kister has cited analog horror series The Walten Files, Gemini Home Entertainment, Local58, Surreal Broadcast, The Minerva Alliance, and Marble Hornets, and horror films such as The Shining and The Exorcist, as major influences on his work.[7][12]

In October 2022, Kister worked with Makeship to release merchandise for the series.[13]

Episodes

Act One (2021-2022)
No.TitleDirected byWritten bylengthOriginal release date
1"Overthrone"Alex KisterAlex Kister4:01June 9, 2021 (2021-06-09)
A corrupted tape recording of The Beginner's Bible. It depicts an alternate version of the Nativity of Jesus wherein Gabriel deceives man into believing that he is their "true savior".
2"Mandela Catalogue Vol.1"Alex KisterAlex Kister15:09August 9, 2021 (2021-08-09)
A public service announcement broadcast by the fictional U.S. Department of Temporal Phenomena warns the public about "alternates", hostile creatures which can take on others' appearance (although sometimes with deformed features) and attack citizens with "psychological warfare". In 1992, Mark Heathcliff is lured by an alternate imitating his friend, who traps him in his room for two days and drives him to suicide. Emergency dispatchers in Mandela County are instructed to not provide help to callers reporting alternate encounters because "nothing is worth the risk". A story written by a four-year-old Heathcliff claims that he glimpsed an intruder in the house before falling asleep.
2"The Mandela Catalogue Vol. 1 [RESTORED EDITION]"Alex KisterAlex Kister17:30April 4, 2023 (2023-04-04)
A public service announcement broadcast by the fictional U.S. Department of Temporal Phenomena warns the public about "alternates", hostile creatures which can take on others' appearance (although sometimes with deformed features) and attack citizens with "psychological warfare". In 1992, Mark Heathcliff is lured by an alternate imitating his friend, who traps him in his room for two days. Emergency dispatchers in Mandela County are instructed to not provide help to callers reporting alternate encounters. A public service announcement warns the public about Metaphysical Awareness Disorder. A story written by a four-year-old Heathcliff claims that he glimpsed an intruder in the house before falling asleep.
3"Intruder Alert"Alex KisterAlex Kister5:48August 18, 2021 (2021-08-18)
A mother hears her infant crying and enters his room to find him missing and a man's face on the television. Distraught, she hangs herself. Lt. Thatcher Davis and the Mandela County Police Department set up cameras to investigate; the photos depict the man and the corpse being tampered with by an invisible force. Davis rules out this case being caused by an alternate. A Emergency Alert Broadcast warns viewers in four counties, including Mandela, where 3,426 children have gone missing, to keep vulnerable children away from audiovisual media.
4"Metaphysical Awareness Disorder (MAD)"Alex KisterAlex Kister1:52September 30, 2021 (2021-09-30)
The tape contains an informational video describing the titular mental disorder spreading rapidly throughout the population as of 1982. MAD is a verbal illness brought about by alternates when they tell people information they don't desire to know. This information causes people to go insane, with 97% of people committing suicide as a result. Since the remaining 3% are able to "reverse the delusion", the tape instructs viewers to avoid religious practices and philosophical concepts to protect themselves. However, when the audio instructs viewers to stay with loved ones to improve their mental stability, the text changes to instruct the viewer to ignore the man watching them from the corner in their room.
5"Exhibition"Alex KisterAlex Kister8:33October 30, 2021 (2021-10-30)
An evidence reel from the Heathcliff case reveals that Heathcliff had been stalked by alternates weeks before his death, leading Davis to conclude that he had been in a prolonged "paranoid" state. Another Beginner's Bible tape depicts an alternate version of the Genesis flood narrative in which Gabriel punishes Noah for "resisting [his] message" and tells him that he will bring another creature onto the Ark, which will bear his "last message".
6"Mandela Catalogue Vol. 2"Alex KisterAlex Kister20:35January 18, 2022 (2022-01-18)
This volume takes place in January 2009, during "Winter Break", and follows Adam Murray and Jonah Marshall, paranormal investigators in the "Bythorne Paranormal Society" (BPS) that are wanted by the FBI. They are called by a woman who pays them to stay at her house for three nights to supposedly help the spirit of her deceased cat move on. They investigate for a day to no avail. Adam wakes up to a voice at night, ridiculing him, and warning him to not wake "the others". An alternate appears before Adam, but he seems to be unaffected. Adam goes to sleep and wakes up to find "NOTHING IS WORTH THE RISK" written on the walls, and hears meowing coming from the basement. Adam gets into an argument with Jonah over their radios; He implores Adam not to go into the basement. Adam refuses, telling Jonah to leave. Jonah drives away and Adam goes into the basement, where he finds that an analog television was making the cat noises. The "intruder" appears on the screen and begins to interact with Adam. When Adam asks, "what are you?", the face says, "don't you remember me" while images from the previous episodes flash across the screen. The video cuts to Jonah driving along the highway, while a voice on the radio guilts him for leaving Adam behind. He pulls over and gets out of the car, and a noise of pain or surprise is heard.
7"Mandela Catalogue Vol. 333"Alex KisterAlex Kister26:41June 4, 2022 (2022-06-04)
The volume starts with a call between a divorced couple, Lynn and Jude Murray, about their baby, who has been constantly crying for unknown reasons. The tape cuts to newly promoted Lieutenant Thatcher Davis and his partner, Sergeant Ruth Weaver, who are investigating Mark Heathcliff's death in September 1992. An evidence reel, identifying Cesar as the culprit, analyzes Mark's camcorder and cassette player, which shows Cesar's alternate verbally tormenting Mark outside his door. The insides of Mark's personal notebook is shown, depicting his descent into madness as he loses his faith and asks "who have I been praying to all this time?" over and over again until it says "my eyes are wide open". The video then cuts to a tape that Dave Lee, a representative for local business MandelaTECH, recovered for Thatcher. The recovered tape is for a show called "Might of the Subconscious", and depicts a puppet (similar in appearance to Jim Henson's Limbo) named Stanley talking to a child through their TV. Stanley asks the child to think of "what makes up a good friend", and then tells them that "your new friend is somewhere in your home." The video cuts to body cam footage from Thatcher and Weaver, as they are called by Jude Murray about an intruder in his home. Thatcher and Weaver find Lynn's body (as seen in "Intruder Alert") before Weaver is presumably killed by the alternate and Thatcher escapes to the police station. The video cuts to cameras showing the alternate getting closer to the station, singing Amazing Grace.The alternate catches up to Thatcher and attacks him. Text reading, "THERE'S NOT ENOUGH ROOM FOR THE TWO OF US, LIEUTENANT", appears on the screen as the alternate moves erratically in front of the camera.
8"every day gets brighter"Alex KisterThorne Baker2:27June 6, 2022 (2022-06-06)
In a tape recording addressed to Weaver, Davis expresses his hidden fear and swears that he will kill the alternate.

Act Two (2022–present)
No.TitleDirected byWritten bylengthOriginal release date
9"Interlude"Alex KisterAlex Kister3:22September 5, 2022 (2022-09-05)

The video begins with a population report for Mandela County, which shows the county population dropping from 15,000 in 1992 to barely 1,000 in 2009. The tape cuts to a video from "BPS Productions 2007", sent by Sarah Heathcliff, Mark's younger sister, to Adam. The video contains a propaganda tape from the USDTP recovered from the MCPD, congratulating the public and law enforcement for helping eliminate "an unforeseen threat" (referring to the face from "Intruder Alert" and the banning of televisions). The tape then cuts to a guide on the three types of alternate assimilations:

Flawed Assimilation: The alternate has taken on an appearance similar to its victim, but was unable to complete the transformation, resulting in a distorted appearance (missing facial features, long limbs, etc.);

Complete Assimilation: The alternate has fully taken on the appearance of its victim and is indistinguishable from the other;

Overdriven Assimilation: The alternate has taken on too many of the victims features and takes on an inhuman form as a result.

The photos used to depict Overdriven Assimilation reveal that the alternate from Vol. 2 (dubbed "The Preacher" by Alex Kister) is an alternate of a nun. We then cut to an image of Mark's house and the church from Exhibition with screaming being heard.
10"Mandela Catalogue Vol. 4"Alex KisterAlex Kister40:54November 25, 2022 (2022-11-25)
The tape starts with the retelling of how God created all things in the Book of Genesis. The retelling differs when Gabriel (confirmed to be the Anti-Christ by Alex Kister) gives Adam and Eve an apple from the Tree of Knowledge, who then goes to confront a frightened Adam and Eve. In 2009, Adam's ex-girlfriend, Evelin Miller, is working for Dave Lee at MandelaTECH. She finds a tape (the "Child Stress Assessment" video from Vol. 1) intended for Thatcher Davis and watches it on Dave's hidden CRT TV. Following this, the video cuts to Sarah Heathcliff meeting Adam after she founds the BPS at her high school. In July 2007, Adam traumatizes Sarah when he takes her to a crime scene and lures out several alternates on camera, leading Adam to seek someone else to accompany him on investigations (who turns out to be Jonah). Two years later, immediately following vol. 2, Adam makes it back to his home and gets into an argument with Sarah about his apathetic response to Jonah's death. Thatcher Davis, who's been in hiding since the events of Vol. 333, is shown mourning the death of Ruth Weaver, only to see an alternate resembling her watching him in his home. Adam makes a memorial video for Jonah, but the video glitches to show Evelin discussing Adam's concerning behavior and dashcam footage from the end of Vol. 2. The video cuts to a promotional video from MandelaTECH showing off a piece of software called "Face Studio 2", which allows users to make a 3D head based on photos of their own face. The video glitches to show Lynn Murray's hanging corpse. Dave waits outside the local cathedral for his friend O'Brien, who offered him a job at the church he works at. The sky darkens and Gabriel appears before Dave, saying that he's a fool for "following the shepherd". Dave, believing Gabriel not to be real, rebukes him, but Gabriel reveals that Dave "has already done all of his bidding" before killing him. Evelin, fired by Dave for finding his TV, goes to the empty MCPD station to get a job there. Instead, she finds files for the Murrays about how their baby (confirmed to be Adam) failed to respond to the stimuli in the Stress Assessment. After finding this, the power in the station cuts. Alarms go off and a pair of hands appear above Evelin. The video cuts back to Adam, who is being contacted by an unknown user on his messaging app. The user exposes himself as the Intruder, who reveals himself to also be Stanley and the face on the TV. The Intruder addresses Adam as "Murray", and tells him that "your skin is not your own" and "you aren't the real you". The video ends with text proclaiming the deception of "the Mandela prophet" and that "it begins today" as pictures of Adam's face (in the format of Face Studio 2) appear on the screen.

Reception

Audience

The Mandela Catalogue grew popular through reaction videos and analysis on YouTube and quickly gained a strong following. Some users criticized the overreliance of analog horror tropes.[1] Vol. 4 received particular criticism for its use of live action segments filmed with green screens. Some viewers disliked the scenes' lack of realism, while Kister said the lack of realism was purposeful and an attempt to give the segments an uncanny valley quality.[9]

As of March 2023, Kister's YouTube channel had over thirty million views.[5]

Critical reception

Dread Central praised The Mandela Catalogue as "the supreme [example] of what analog horror looks and sounds like", adding that "the sense of insecurity that comes from knowing you’ll be frightened is constantly visually manipulated."[3] Student newspaper The Post favorably compared its use of the uncanny valley as a horror technique to The Walten Files.[14] It was also praised by GQ.[1] While TLK Magazine praised the series' worldbuilding, it criticized its "monotone" voice acting as detracting from The Mandela Catalogue's tone.[2]

Adaptations

Indie games Maple County (2021) and Assessment Examination are based on the series.[15] Maple County was developed by one of the series' voice actors, Thorne Baker, in 2021, prior to his collaboration with the series.[7][15][16] The game is framed as an interactive training tape from the Maple County Police Department, in which players must determine which photos portray alternates and which portray actual people.[17] Mandela Invasion, created by Broken Arrow Games, uses the premise that alternates are attempting to break into the player's house.[15][18]

References
  1. Levesque, Eamon (October 29, 2021). "This Halloween's Scariest Horror Movie Is a YouTube Series By a Wisconsin 18 Year Old". GQ. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  2. Dyer, Alex (March 30, 2022). "Manufactured Fear/Organic Dread: Mandela Catalogue and the Allure of Analog Horror". TLK Magazine. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  3. Pfister, Elizabeth (October 3, 2022). "Analog Horror and Its Blueprints for Horror's Future". Dread Central. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  4. Szczesniak, Alicia (January 13, 2022). "A look into analog horror". The Post. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  5. "Alex Kister". YouTube. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  6. Kister, Alex (June 9, 2021). overthrone (Short film). YouTube. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  7. SHOW BOYS. "Ep. 74 - What's The Mandela Catalogue?". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
  8. Q&A #2 - Alex Kister, retrieved 2022-12-13
  9. Wendigang (17 January 2023). "An Interview with the Creator of the Mandela Catalogue - Alex Kister". YouTube. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  10. Kister, Alex (22 October 2021). "fun fact: the original name for mandela catalogue was timeshift archives". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  11. Kok, Nestor (2022-01-16). "Ghosts in the Machine: The Fearful Symmetry of Alex Kister's "The Mandela Catalogue"". F Newsmagazine. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  12. Alex Kister 2 (3 Nov 2021). "Q&A #1 - Alex Kister". YouTube. Retrieved 22 Dec 2022.
  13. "Makeship Launches Vinyl Figures, Offering Content Creators a New Way to Express Themselves and Connect With Fans". nz.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  14. Szczesniak, Alicia (January 13, 2022). "A look into analog horror". The Post. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  15. Wilds, Anastasia (July 15, 2022). "10 Best Found Footage Horror Games". Screen Rant. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  16. Seidlinger, Michael J (2022-01-17). "The Eerie World of Analog Horror". The Lineup. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  17. Green, Meriel Kate Sedgwick (2022-09-30). "10 Best Analog Horror Games". TheGamer. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  18. "Mandela Invasion by Broken Arrow Games". itch.io. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.