Local 58

Local 58 is a YouTube horror anthology web series created by web cartoonist and author Kris Straub, who is also known for creating the creepypasta Candle Cove.

Currently hosted on the YouTube channel LOCAL58TV, each video in the series is presented as footage of a fictional public access television channel in Mason County, West Virginia named Local 58 (or WCLV-TV), created in the late 1930s, which is continuously hijacked over a period of decades with a series of broadcasts of ominous and surreal videos. While the series does not appear to have a continuous plot, nearly every episode seems to include cryptic references related to looking at the Moon or at the night sky, as well as references to the in-universe organization known as the Thought Research Initiative (TRI).

The series makes use of video and audio degradation to both make each video more realistic and add to the unsettling nature of each video. The series describes itself as "analog horror", a term that has since been used as a name for a niche subgenre of similar VHS-themed found footage web series that were either inspired by Local 58 or use a similar style and techniques to the series. The series was initially hosted on the now-defunct web domain local58.info in 2015 and was later uploaded onto YouTube in 2017 and 2018. The series has since gained a cult following.

Episodes

Weather Service

• Released on October 26, 2015

The video starts with a programming schedule broadcast at midnight, which is interrupted by an EAS message from the County Weather Service warning viewers of a meteorological event taking place, and advising viewers not to look at the event until the alert expires. Normal programming resumes, but is then interrupted again by a more urgent EAS bulletin. The station is then hijacked by an attacker, who then starts altering the EAS messages, claiming that the meteorological event is safe and that the warning has been lifted. They then directly urge viewers to go outside. A struggle to gain control over the station then appears to take place between the initial broadcasters and the hijacker. While being almost completely obscured, the first party frantically attempts to issue warnings to the viewers while the second attempts to cut off these messages. Local 58 briefly returns to normal programming for a few seconds before a final sequence of EAS messages air, in which it appears that the second party has been successful in gaining control of the station and posts a sequence of delirious, cryptic messages, detailing how they were brainwashed by what appears to be the Moon itself. After a final message stating that 'IF YOU ARE AFRAID, WE WILL LOOK TOGETHER', The feed cuts to a live view of the Moon while distant sounds of people screaming are heard, before cutting to black.

Contingency

• Released on January 16, 2016

The video begins with the station signing-off for the day, followed by SMPTE bars. The broadcast is then suddenly interrupted with an emergency alert, recorded on November 13, 1970, from the fictional "Department for the Preservation of American Dignity" and a written message from President Lyndon B. Johnson (though in reality he had been succeeded by Nixon at the time) set to "The Star-Spangled Banner", claiming that the military of the United States has been defeated by that of a foreign nation. The message, printed on a telop slide states that all Americans are ‘called upon to ACT’ to ‘preserve the memory of the United States clear and bright… untarnished and uncompromised.’

After the message concludes, a heavily distorted rendition of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" plays and the broadcast continues, stating that viewers must commit suicide to prevent the enemy force from capturing them. After informing viewers that local law enforcement are to 'ensure your compliance', and that it is 'against the law to delay', the broadcast then states that it 'will repeat until there are none to read it, and recommends suicide by gunshot. The broadcast then concludes after instructing viewers to euthanize their children and pets. The final message, which flashes on the screen for a fraction of a second, is "THE 51ST STATE IS NOT A PLACE." The hijacking stops, and Local 58 airs a retraction claiming that the message was a hoax, and apologizes for the error. However, an additional telop slide can be seen behind the retraction that reveals that the first was to be issued in the event the footage was accidentally broadcast, revealing that everything prior to the retraction was a real contingency plan for if such an event were to come to pass.

You Are On The Fastest Available Route

• Released on June 19, 2016

The video opens with a programming schedule for the channel, before abruptly cutting to static and being replaced by a found footage-style dashcam video, involving a driver following a GPS satnav. After a few directions, the GPS informs the driver that they are "on the fastest available route" before the video cuts forward.

The driver turns onto a highway ramp and the video cuts forward again. While on the highway, the GPS tells the driver that there is traffic ahead and reroutes to an exit onto a utility road. The driver follows the new route, and the GPS informs the driver that they're on the fastest route. The video then cuts ahead again. The driver is now on an isolated road. The GPS can be heard telling the driver to continue on a service causeway, and that they will arrive at their destination in 14 minutes. The video cuts forward once more. After a brief silence, the GPS suddenly reroutes and tells the driver to make a U-turn.

The video then cuts to the driver navigating the vehicle though the middle of a forest on an unpaved road. The GPS's directions become increasingly suspicious, instructing the driver to follow the no entry signs, to continue on an unnamed road and to park the car and turn off the headlights. The driver complies. After a few seconds, a loud roar can be heard. The driver quickly turns the headlights back on to reveal a creature in the road. The feed suddenly cuts to the driver driving away from the creature as the GPS repeatedly tells the driver to turn around. The GPS rapidly counts down the distance in feet as the roars become louder, until the feed freezes. The feed then cuts forward to the car now lying sideways with the windshield cracked. The creature then closes in on the driver as the feed glitches out, the GPS finally announcing in a slow, malfunctioning tone that the driver has arrived at their destination.

Station ID

• Released on November 2, 2017

Station ID serves as the channel's trailer. The video consists of a series of cryptic messages, which read the following:

ANALOG HORROR AT 476 MHz

WE BEGIN OUR BROADCAST DAY

LOOK AWAY

IT DOES NOT MATTER

THERE ARE OTHER RECEIVERS

SAFETY IN NUMBERS

The video then abruptly cuts to black.

This video has been confirmed to be non-canon in the series.Vorlage:Citation needed

Show For Children

• Released on July 30, 2018

The broadcast opens with a programming schedule and then transitions to a cartoon titled "A Grave Mistake", featuring a fictional anthropomorphic skeleton named Cadavre. The cartoon opens with Cadavre walking through a graveyard at night. He comes across an open grave, wonders if his lover may be inside, and decides to peek. Inside the grave is a realistic skeleton, which frightens Cadavre and causes him to run away. He finds another grave and decides to check inside again, only to be frightened by a second creature.

As the soundtrack completely cuts out, Cadavre, now visibly tense, continues through the graveyard while the Moon stares down at him. He looks into another grave and descends into it, entering a cave. After wandering through the cave for some time, he reaches another open grave. Exhausted, Cadavre lies face up on the ground. From his perspective, a giant, realistic rendering of the Moon can be seen moving over the hole of the grave. The view cuts back to Cadavre, who has seemingly died and turned into a lifeless, realistic skeleton.

A Look Back

• Released on August 27, 2018

The video opens with a compilation of the history of Local 58, shuffling through the fictional channel's various past logos in chronological order. The broadcast is then hijacked, and messages begin to flash on the screen similar to those shown in Station ID.

The video then becomes a montage of short clips of some of the previous episodes of the series, intercut with glitched footage of normal television broadcasts. After a few more messages are shown, the station's broadcasting returns to normal.

Real Sleep

• Released on December 19, 2018

The video begins with a personalized VHS recording, recorded by the fictional "Thought Research Initiative" for a man named Philip Gerhardt. It starts with a simple "myth or fact" game about sleeping, claiming that dreaming is not essential to mental health. It then displays a visual of monitored brainwaves called the "Kleitman Map," implying that the video was personally designed to prevent dreams by applying an inverse of the map. The video then cuts to a segment where four sequences are introduced in a manner similar to the flashed face distortion effect. Sequence one tells the viewer to look directly at the center of the screen as faces flash at the viewer. Sequence two has two faces slowly merge until the face fades away. Then, sequence three instructs the viewer to repeat the phrase "there are no faces" as heavily distorted faces flash on the screen. Sequence four then begins to flash a number of ominous subliminal messages. The video concludes with the viewer being told that they have now completed the real sleep program, and to avoid seeing a doctor.

Skywatching

• Released on November 1, 2019

The video begins with an airing of a show that is suddenly hijacked by a camera feed from a cameraman, showing footage of the night sky. The camera displays different asterisms, and then turns to the Moon, referred to by on-screen text as ‘HIS THRONE’. The cameraman begins to switch lenses and then shows close ups of the Moon's surface with moving clouds, seemingly organic formations, and strange artificial constructions. The Moon then fades away. As the cameraman begins to switch lenses, a loud noise can be heard as the Moon reappears, now far larger in size and with a gigantic creature visible inside. An air raid siren then plays, and the video ends with the cameraman setting down his camera to point at the moon, then walking towards the Moon with his hands raised as the siren abruptly cuts out.

Digital Transition

• Released on October 31, 2021

On July 13, 2021, Local 58 is preparing to undergo a digital switchover at midnight. Following the conclusion of a normal airing of an episode, the channel airs a tribute bumper depicting numerous eras of the station’s 82 year history (1939-present) and its broadcasts. The switchover takes place, but as the clock passes midnight, the broadcast becomes increasingly corrupted, and the analog signal persists, visible behind that of the digital signal’s output, insisting that the digital switchover has been postponed. The entity controlling the analog signal then begins broadcasting a sequence of cryptic messages themed around betrayal alongside footage from Weather Service. Having gained full control over the station’s digital signal, the entity issues another sequence of messages alluding to its connection with the Moon. A distorted face appears on screen before the broadcast cuts out entirely, hastily replaced with a legal warning from the FGC - an in-universe agency based on the real world FCC - about ‘unauthorised analog reception’.

Development

Kris Straub's Scrapped "Moon" Drawing

Concept art from Skywatching by Kris Straub, showing an early version of the episode’s depiction of the Moon.

Straub used iMovie to create the first two episodes of Local 58 and Final Cut Pro X for the other episodes. All of the assets used in the series either come from public domain stock media (for example, the "2000's" Local 58 music, a stock track called "Entering Graciously") or created by Straub himself using Clip Studio, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Flash.

Popularity

Since its initial debut, Local 58 has inspired the creation of other series with similar themes.

As of November 8, 2021, Local 58 has over 456,000 subscribers and more than 16,155,559 views with just nine videos.

A subreddit dedicated to the series was created on August 8, 2016, and currently has 17,740 followers as of November 1, 2021. Many fans of the series have created theories as to the possible meanings or overarching narrative of the videos, both on the subreddit and on YouTube. Straub himself has answered some questions about the series on the subreddit.

The emergency alert shown in Contingency has been compared to the 2018 Hawaii false missile alert.

See also

• Kris Straub
• Candle Cove
• Found footage (film technique)
• The Blair Witch Project
• Marble Hornets
• Alternate reality game
• Alan Resnick
• Wham City

External links

• Official Local 58 YouTube channel
• Kris Straub's Twitter account
• Official Local 58 Twitter account
• Entering Graciously, the song that is used in most of the Local 58 videos