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Marble Hornets
YouTube web series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Marble Hornets is an alternate reality found footage YouTube web series based on the Slender Man online mythos.[1] The first video was posted on YouTube on June 20, 2009, following a post that its creator, Troy Wagner, created on the Something Awful forum the previous day. It was the first web series to be created around the character, with the series being just 10 days after the appearance of the original images of Slender Man on the Something Awful forums.[2]
To date, there are 97 episodes on the main channel.[2] with series also having accompanying videos from a side-channel, totheark.[3] These videos, as well as the eponymous totheark, have been featured multiple times throughout the story.[4][5] As of 2013, the show had over 250,000 subscribers and had received 55 million views.[6] the series also established the Slenderman symbol, which has since turned up in many other stories featuring the character.[7] The reception of the web series was mostly positive. From critics, like Roger Ebert, and fans.
In 2015, a film adaptations entitled Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story was released. Critical reception was overwhelmingly negative.
The series also spawned three sequel series titled Clear Lakes 44, ECKVA, and Marble Hornets: Rosswood. The show would also inspire multiple web series in the style of Marble Hornets, like EverymanHYBRID and TribeTwelve. In 2012, Blue Isle Studios announced its partnership with the Marble Hornets team for the video game Slender: The Arrival to helped write the script for the game. Six graphic novels based on Marble Hornets mythos were published from 2019 to 2023.
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Plot
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Season 1 (2009–10)
The series follows Jay Merrick (Troy Wagner), a young man who attempts to find out what happened during the filming of "Marble Hornets", an unfinished student film helmed by Jay's friend, Alex Kralie (Joseph DeLage). Three years before, Alex abruptly ended the project after only two months of production. Before cutting contact with Jay, Alex gave him the tapes containing raw footage from the film and told Jay to "Burn them." and to never talk about it with him again.
By watching the tapes, Jay discovers that the filming seemed to be hampered by a entity known as "the Operator". The Operator soon begins invading Jay's personal life, inducing him to set up cameras in his apartment. Posting the tapes to YouTube as "Entries" also nets Jay cryptic and threatening responses from a user known as "totheark". Jay's investigation leads him to meet with one of the film's cast members, Tim Wright (Tim Sutton), and sends him to the abandoned house of another cast member, Brian Thomas (Brian Haight), where he has his first encounter with a masked figure.
Jay visits a red tower to find a tape that shows Alex leaving his cameraman Seth Wilson (Seth McCay) in an abandoned building when confronted with the Operator and deeming all of the cast and crew of Marble Hornets "gone". Eventually, threats of stalking from totheark causes Jay to flee his apartment, which is subsequently burned down. Jay receives video in the mail of Alex and his girlfriend, Amy Walters (Bethann Williams and Mai Yamane), being attacked by the Operator. As a result, Jay sets out to find Alex.
Season 2 (2010–11)
Seven months after 'Entry #26' is posted to YouTube, an amnesiac Jay wakes up in a hotel room in an unknown location, with a chest-mounted camera. He learns that he was initially only booked for one night in the hotel, but decides to stay longer to get his bearings and gain information about the hotel and its surrounding area. Jay meets with a similarly amnesiac young woman, Jessica Locke (Jessica May), who subsequently disappears. He unlocks a safe containing videos and a hard drive revealing the events that transpired during the previous seven months.
The footage shows that, during the missing seven months, Jay had a run-in with Alex, which saw them forming an alliance to find Amy. Jay also learned that the masked figure was Tim, who cooperated with a mysterious hooded figure to attempt to kill Alex. Having been driven insane by the terror of the Operator and suspicious of Jay spying on him, Alex killed a stranger whose body was then taken by the Operator. The videos also reveal that Jessica was Amy's friend and roommate, who, when contacted by Jay in his investigation, was unintentionally dragged into the case
The last tape shows Alex luring Jay and Jessica into the woods at the park under the guise of showing them something related to Amy's disappearance. After leading them onto the upper floor of an abandoned structure, Alex holds the two at gunpoint. Before he shoots them, he is attacked and subdued by Tim in his masked disguise. Jay and Jessica escape and book rooms at a hotel, where they suffer an attack by The Operator and sustain memory loss as a result. Jay concludes after seeing all of this footage that he shouldn't trust Alex, but he still wants to find him. While downtown, Jay sees Tim outside of an antique shop. Jay tells the viewers he will keep them updated, and that he has a plan.
Season 3 (2012–14)
With no leads in finding either Alex or Jessica, Jay tries to track down Tim. Once Jay finds Tim, he seemingly remembers nothing of the last two seasons. Jay then tells Tim that he wants to work with him to finish Marble Hornets. Tim tells Jay that he shot some behind the scenes footage during the production, and gives him the tapes after finding them. While Tim is initially furious upon learning about Jay's true motives, he decides to continue assisting him. It is revealed that Tim does not remember anything he has done while in his "masked" state, that he was formerly committed to a mental hospital due to hallucinations that he fears were caused by the Operator, and that his new medication is able to block him from switching to his "masked" state. Tim and Jay's investigate leads them to repeatedly encounter the Operator. Jay begins to experience hallucinations. The hooded figure steals Tim's medication.
Tim is revealed to have hidden footage showing that he and the hooded figure are the ones responsible for Jessica's disappearance. This revelation leads Jay to shows up at Tim's house with a knife and zip-ties, but he is overpowered, tied up, and later freed by the hooded figure. Tim and Jay set off to find Alex separately. they go looking for him at an abandoned college campus. Jays finds Alex there before he shoots Jay, his body is taken by the Operator, Tim carries on by himself. Tim eventually learns that the hooded figure is Brian, shortly after Tim sees Brian fall to his death. Tim waits for Alex to come to him, before Alex comes to house and tries to burn it down. Then, Tim as his final confrontation with Alex, Alex reveals that he wants to kill anyone whom encountered the Operator; he claims that, in addition to Jay, he has already killed Amy, Seth, and Sarah, and he plans to then kill Tim and then himself. In Tim's struggle, Tim finally manages to kill Alex by stabbing him in the throat. his body is also taken by the Operator.
A few days later, Tim reunites with Jessica, who survived the Operator attack, the location Tim has kept hidden before this point. Tim disposes of his mask who survived the Operator attack, unbeknownst to Alex. Tim had kept her hidden to protect her from any further danger. Jessica asks about Jay and Tim tells her that Jay has moved away, and that he will also be moving away from the area. Tim lapses into a coughing fit as the camera distorts and then cuts to black. When the footage resumes, Tim is alone, driving away. He stops at an intersection, able to turn either left or right, while sirens can be heard in the distance. The footage cuts to a text card that simply states: "Everything is fine".
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Cast and characters
Main
- Troy Wagner as Jay Merrick: The man behind the "Marble Hornets" channel and the primary protagonist of the series. After rediscovering tapes given to him by former friend Alex Kralie, Jay begins uploading entries in an attempt to discover exactly what happened during the filming of Alex's student film Marble Hornets.[8] He is shot and killed by Alex in Entry #80. His body is used to taunt Tim by The Operator before finally having his body removed from this dimension.
- Tim Sutton as Timothy Wright: A former actor from the Marble Hornets student film, he is the primary protagonist of season 3 and is one of the members of Totheark (up until season 3). He collaborates with Jay starting in Entry #59 and then becomes leader of the "Marble Hornets" channel following Jay's death in Entry #80. He makes several appearances in the Entries and on the Totheark channel wearing a mask and he is unveiled as the masked man in Entry #35. Tim is one of the two remaining alive characters, other than Jessica based on Entry #87, the last entry uploaded.
- Joseph DeLage as Alex Kralie: The director of the original Marble Hornets student film project and one of the series' primary antagonists. Alex used to attend the same school as Jay, but transferred to a different one following the wrap on filming of Marble Hornets.[6] A large portion of Season 1 consists of tapes he filmed for personal use and for his uncompleted student film Marble Hornets. In a monologue in Entry 86 he reveals that he killed Sarah Reid, Seth Wilson and Amy Walters. He is stabbed and killed by Tim in Entry #86.
- Brian Haight as Brian Thomas: Brian was the lead actor in Alex Kralie's project and a member of Totheark. As the Hooded Man, he appears in many of the Entries and edits several of the Totheark channel videos. Although initially presented as an antagonist – due, in part, to his somewhat acrimonious relationship with Tim – the Hooded Man is committed to Totheark's goal of facilitating Alex's death. As such, he assists Jay and Tim in their fight against Alex throughout the series. Brian falls to his death during a confrontation with Tim in Entry #83.
- Jessica May as Jessica Locke: A woman who Jay meets in the second season of the series. She is somehow connected to Jay as she has an adjoining room with him in the hotel, and consequently is somehow connected to Alex and The Operator. Alex believes her to be dead prior to his own death in Entry #86, but she is revealed to still be alive in Entry #87. She is one of only two characters (the other being Tim) that are confirmed to have survived the events of the series.
- Totheark: An anonymous group who makes cryptic video responses to the Entries throughout the series. While seemingly antagonistic, their goal is to take revenge on Alex, as they believe him to be the source of The Operator, and use Jay, and later Tim, to get closer to finding Alex. Their identities are never revealed throughout the series and it is heavily suggested that the channel is owned by a group of people (particularly in season 3), as opposed to an individual. It is confirmed that Brian is a member of the group, along with Tim (up until season 3).
- The Operator: An entity of unknown origin who begins appearing to Alex during the shooting of Marble Hornets and the secondary antagonist.[6] It is later revealed that Tim was the first person associated with Marble Hornets to have come into contact with The Operator. The Operator displays the ability to teleport or otherwise move in a logically inconsistent manner. While the Operator rarely physically threatens, its presence is shown to have a harmful effect on the human body and psyche, causing the various hallucinations and fugue states of the characters. Repeated exposure to the Operator is associated with a hard, painful coughing sickness. There is no indication as to the intent or goals of the Operator.
Secondary
- Seth McCay as Seth Wilson: The cameraman for Alex's film, Marble Hornets. He makes sporadic appearances throughout the series and is hinted to be the founder of Totheark, the organization committed to facilitating Alex's death. Alex leads him to The Operator at the abandoned building in Entry #22 and states in Entry #86 that he killed him.
- Mary Kathleen Bishop as Sarah Reid: An actress from Marble Hornets. She appears in front of the camera only once in Entry #9. Alex confirms that he has killed her in Entry #86.
- Bethann Williams as Amy Walters: Alex's girlfriend. She appears in front of the camera only once in Entry #26, after Jay receives a package with a video tape of her and Alex being attacked by The Operator. In season 2, Alex lies to Jay that his motivation is to find out what happened to Amy so Jay will continue collaborating with him. Alex confirms that he has killed her in Entry #86.
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Production
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Wagner and DeLage began working on the webseries after reading about the Slender Man mythos by Eric Knudsen (also known as "Victor Surge") they both liked the ease of creating a YouTube series.[9][10] The initial budget for the series was about $500. They wrote on 26 flashcards which the two used to create the first 26 episodes.[9] When coming up with the name Wagner said "I told myself that the next thing I noticed [on the road] I would use as the title," then saw a truck carrying slabs of marble, and exterminator van with "hornets" written on the side.[11] Wagner and DeLage said that the inspiration were Twin Peaks, Eraserhead and Six Men Getting Sick.[‡ 1] The show was filmed in Alabama.[3]
They decided against making a set time for each entry, as they both determined that the characters filming the entries would not consider the length of the episode and that the random entry times would help add to the realism. They didn't have many people to help with the project, in the DVD commentary they said the only people who could help were "the people who were doing the least," explaining the limited cast of Troy Wagner, Tim Sutton, Joseph DeLage and Brian Haight.[12]
For season 2, the seven-month break in between seasons was done due to the project being bigger than they expected.[13] When they came back, they got more experimental with the series. They got a different camera for the hotel scenes, the GoPro HD HERO 2. And got a professional actress for the series, Jessica May. In the DVD commentary they said that she was so professional, that they where shocked when she gave head shots for her audition.[13] In the scene where Alex kills a stranger in the tunnel, the stranger known as "beardy" is one of Joseph's personal friends, Chris Dominey, he explained that if he needed someone to die for his webshow, he could do it. When Joseph remembered the offer, he asked him, "Hey, do you want to die?".[13]
For season 3, for Entry #72, they only had one day to shoot it, since the house belonged to Tim's extended family. The house was on the market for months, until they were alerted that the house had just been sold.[14] The abandoned college seen in this season was the only place that they had permission to film in.[14] For Entry #85, it's confirmed in the DVD commentary that they poured actual gasoline and water on the front porch for the fireball effect. They had a fire extinguisher off-screen and did it in one take.[14]
The now-defunct THAC (Troy Has a Camera, the company who own Marble Hornets)[8] has commented about the practical effects for the Operator and that they won't disclosed how they did it to keep the "fear of the unknown" in the character.[‡ 1] However, in a 2019 livestream, DeLage said in the first entry, The Operator was played by him, and by duct taping a bunch of flip-flops for height and pantyhose to mask his face as the Operator.[‡ 2] The entire series was edited with the software Sony Vegas Pro and Adobe Premiere.[15] They also shot on the same Sony Handycam for the whole series.[‡ 1] In terms of sound production, Tim Sutton used an amateur homemade synth that he'd experiment with the mechanics, bending the circuits, to create the sound distortion throughout the series.[14]
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Episode overview
Reception
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The reception for the web series was mostly positive, from critics, journalist, and fans. After its release the series' popularity grew,[16] drawing comparisons to Lonelygirl15 and iChannel.[17] In 2011, Crushable said "but Marble Hornets is by far the best of the bunch, largely because it’s so well constructed. Some entries may only be 30 seconds long; others may be 8 minutes long. The thing it gets so right is never giving you anything more than what you absolutely need at any given point, laying out the story with remarkable precision."[18] In 2013, Dread Central named Marble Hornets one of their "Top 10 Horror Fan Films", noting that while it "isn’t technically a film" it still contained an "interwoven examination of the mythical Slender Man" and that they felt it was "what quality fanfare and found footage is really all about."[19]
In November 2014, the series was tweeted out by Roger Ebert.[20][21] In 2018, Bloody Disgusting made a editorial article about Marble Hornets, in which they said "We may yet see a new found-footage influenced phenomenon that takes the internet by storm[...] but Marble Hornets will forever be remembered as a landmark in online entertainment, and proof that great ideas can often overcome a lack of budget or even experience."[8] Also in 2018, a writer for The New York Times said "The simplicity of the character was perfect for low-budget, homemade interpretations.[...] Marble Hornets was a cult hit, gaining fans far beyond internet forums."[21]
In 2019, a writer for The Verge stated that "It was the mystery and ambiguity of Marble Hornets that drew me in at a time when the internet and YouTube weren’t overrun by brands and 4K, forty-minute vlogs.[...] The space felt personal, and algorithms had yet to determine all of the content I consumed. Marble Hornets traveled to me, and likely many others, by word of mouth and niche online communities where people would discuss the series like they were investigating it alongside Jay."[22] In 2023 MovieWeb named Marble Hornets one of their "10 Best The Blair Witch Project Rip-offs" also saying "While one can easily find the entire "8-hour movie" on YouTube that slices together all the segments, a few cuts exist that form a more cohesive cinematic narrative. Essentially, to make this a movie, you must do a bit of digging and exploration, but it is certainly worth the time."[23]
In May 2014, the developers launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the DVD release of the third season.[15] With the hopes of raising $8,000. By the time the Kickstarter was finished, they had raised $72,000.[3] These funds went towards further projects, including a box set and new supplementary material in the form of scenes from Alex Kralie's Marble Hornets, complete with a trailer for the fake movie.[24]
In the years since, multiple web series inspired by Marble Hornets were created, like EverymanHYBRID and TribeTwelve.[21][25][26] These types of web series were given the nickname "The Slenderverse".[27][28][29]
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In other media
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Web shows
On August 3, 2015, a follow-up series titled Clear Lakes 44 was uploaded onto the Marble Hornets channel.[3] In April 2016, Clear Lakes 44 was cancelled after the members of the creative team went their separate ways, as confirmed by Wagner.[30] On October 16, 2016, a successor to Clear Lakes 44, titled ECKVA, was launched.[8]
On June 20, 2024, Troy Wagner announced a book about the behind the scenes of Marble Hornets titled Marble Hornets: No More Tapes, written by Tony Vacation. Wagner then launched a Kickstarter campaign, to which many fans and supporters donated money to make the book a reality that raised $108,825.[‡ 3] A new miniseries set in the Marble Hornets universe called Marble Hornets: Rosswood has just been announced and will release on August 27th, 2025.[‡ 4]
Film adaptation
In February 2013, Variety announced that plans were underway to produce a film adaptation of Marble Hornets.[6] They also announced that the script would be written by Ian Shorr, that James Moran would direct, and that Doug Jones would be portraying the Operator in the film.[31][32] In October of the same year, Wagner announced on his blog that the movie had finished filming and it would not be a continuation of the YouTube series but would be set within the same universe.[33]
The film, titled Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story, was released on video on demand on April 7, 2015, starring Chris Marquette, Doug Jones, Alexandra Breckenridge, and Alexandra Holden. The film opened in select theaters on May 15, 2015.[34] Critical reception for Always Watching was predominantly negative.[35]
Video game
On December 1, 2012, Blue Isle Studios announced its partnership with the Marble Hornets team for the video game Slender: The Arrival and helped to shape the modern version of the character. Joseph DeLage, Tim Sutton, and Troy Wagner helped write the script for the initial release of the game.[36] Slender: The Arrival received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics.[37]
Graphic novels
On December 27, 2017, Wagner announced on Facebook, teasing a comic series related to Marble Hornets slated for a 2018 release.[38] In February 2019, Troy Wagner began releasing a series of Marble Hornets graphic novels.[8] with a total of six being slated for the series, with five main story comics, and a special "ToTheArk" mini-comic. As of 2023, five have been released with the latest being Issue 4: Can You See Me. The series is written by Wagner, and illustrated by Canadian artist Jackie Reynolds.[‡ 5]
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References
External links
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