Tag: Local 58

The Optica Network

Welcome to this Monday’s Post featuring Gothic Arthouse’s THE OPTICA NETWORK. This Set of Three Videos reminds Me of a Piece We did awhile Back Called LOCAL 58 (which is Located in the Strange and Disturbing Video Section) where a Local TV Station’s Broadcast Signal is Hijacked, and Ominous Messages from a Unknown Malevolent Force start Appearing on Local 58. It also reminds Me of an Upcoming Piece on the Happy Vally Dream Survey which is a Story for Another Day. Each Video has a Description Followed by a Weird Shit in the Video Weird Shit List. Let’s get Started Shall We.

Enjoy.

                   

Video 1: What Do You  See When You Dream?

Description: What You see when You Dream can mean different Things. tell Us, what are You seeing in Your Dreams?

Weird Shit List:

  • The Video Starts like an Old VHS Tape.
  • The First Scene is Someone who is Out of Breath staring out a Second Story Window at Someone standing on the Sidewalk Outside.
  • Logo For (Channel) 91 The Optica Network
  • First Message on Screen: Continued Learning What Do You See when We Close Our Eyes?
  • Announcer “Welcome to Start of Part 9” though there No Previous Videos/
  • Announcer Claims “Your Sleep may be Compromised if Someone Other than Your Optica Agent is Present.”
  • Then Optica issues a list of Red Flags for when You Sleep.
  • Flying= Expierancing Flight in Your Dream may suggest You’re ready to make a Bold Decision.” This is Followed by a Red Screen that Warns “DO NOT make Any Decision before Consulting Your Optica Agent.”

  • Falling = Translates to You losing Control of Your Will, and if You’ve Signed Your Optica Sign Up Form these Dreams Should Not Persist.
  • Being Chased = If Your pursued in Your Dream Report IMMEDIATELY to Your Optica Agent You may Need….(Video scrambles)
  • Drumwort: No Explanation Provided.
  • Being Trapped = If you find Yourself Trapped in Your Dream DO NOT TALK TO YOURSELF! Red Screen Warning “Duplicates are Dangerous and DO NOT APPROACH Under Any Circumstance.
  • A Class of Infants: Screen Scrambles before any sort of Explanation.
  • Ad for Selby’s Lookalike Service/Agency
  • Text on Screen: Dream Reports Remain Vital and there’s a Redacted Phone Number.
  • Screen goes black with Audio of a Patient and what most likely are Research Scientists. Text at bottom of the Screen reads: Confidential Optica Records NOT for Public Domain, and the Term Unexplained Re-Attachment.
  • Blue Screen who Text Reads “There is Nothing to Worry About” directly followed by more Text that Reads “Go To Sleep Immediately”
  • 91 Logo Pops up Again with the Message “He can Only Hurt You if You’re Awake.”

Video 2: How Long Does A Dream Last?

Description: How long does a Dream Last? A lot Longer than You would Imagine apparently.

Weird Shit List:

  • Again Starts like a Old VHS Tape
  • Channel 91 Emergency Tone Test.
  • Tone Test Announcement “If You hear a nUmbered Sequence during the Tone Test Report to Your Local Optica Agent IMMEDIATELY!”
  • Tone Test Countdown Screen.
  • Screen Post Tone Test: If You heard a Numbered Sequence contact Us Immediately and there is a Redacted Phone Number.
  • Ad for Sunday Family Fun Annual Mass Suicide that starts at 1 pm, and remember to Bring Your Own Instrument of Death.
  • Channel 91 Logo with Message: Thank You for Your patience We can now Return You to the Advice Hour.”
  • Advice Hour Tutorial: How To Fall Asleep.
  • VHS Tape appears on Screen and An Announcer says, “If You Haven;t already make sure to Pick Up Understanding Our Dreams the Century before Next Thursday Afternoon and that this is Compulsory Material.

  • Channel 91 Logo with a Garbled Indecipherable Voice Talking followed by a Blue Screen that Reads : Broadcast Compromised Please Hold.
  • Picture of a Phone with the word Sanctuary 5 in the Lower Left Corner.
  • Screen Goes Black with Text Reading: Confidential Optica Records. NOT for Public Domain. Dream Re-Call GQ167.
  • Audio Starts of a Patient recounting His Dream with Hospital/Medical Facility noises in the Background. The Suspected Patient talks about His Kids growing up and How He tried to Keep Them Safe from “Him”.
  • Emergency Broadcast: SLEEP IS VITAL.
  • Grainy Black and White Video of a Man talking about Keeping Himself Awake, When He does wake up He Doesn’t Remember Who He is, That He sees “Him” in the Distance, and Every time I sleep (“He”) gets Closer.

Video Number 3: Can Your Dream Predict The Future?

Description: Can Your Dream predict the Future? Process. Integrate. Understand. The Sleeping Brain works on Multiple Levels.

Weird Shit List: 

  • Once again starts like an Old VHS Tape.
  • Interior Shot of a House and its Front Door.  Someone Outside is asking the Resident Personal Information Questions like “Are You Capable of Recognizing Yourself in the Mirror?”, and the Residents Answers sound like Static like Noises with Translation in Subtitle Form.
  • Channel 91 Logo with Text: Continued Learning How to Describe a Dream.
  • Blue Screen: Understanding Dream Behavior Tutorial that References the First Video (Ironically titled Part 9)and State Dreams can be Prophetic.
  • Picture of the Sanctuary 5 Phone playing a Automated Recording of a Woman Saying, “You have reached the Optica Network Thank You for Calling, Unfortunately We are Unable to take Your call right now. In order to Report Your Dream Please leave Your Message After the Tone.”
  • A Man Leaves a Message apparently He is a Delivery Guy looking for a Mr. Brandrift to confirm the order for 4 grams of Gingerbread, and wonders if this is in fact a mistake. He then says there is time to make Alterations to the Order before it is Delivered.

  • Next Message is an Old Sounding Man that States “You have to Bring Me Back There’s been a Mistake I can’t Sleep Anymore.”
  • Third Message is Man Reporting His Dream where a mysterious Rope depends from the Sky. There Scientists there and one Grabs it and is Sucked Up into the Air and Out of Sight. The Last thing the Unfortunate Scientist is heard Saying is Drumwort Over and Over Again.
  • Hospital Security Camera Footage of a Hallway While a Man on the PA System Stating a Patient needs Assistance.
  • Yet another Voice Mail Message of a Man calling from the International Space Station. He/They are calling to wish “You” a Happy Birthday as is Tradition.
  • A Sleep is Vital Advertisment.
  • Black Screen with Text: Confidential Optica Records Not for Public Domain Patient 425 Re-Submerged. The Audio is of a Hysterical Crying Man pleading HE can’t Sleep Anymore. A Optica Representative Tells the Distraught Man ” You’re going to be Spending a Little more Time with Him for Us.”

  • Another Sanctuary  Phone Message from the Delivery Guy Again. He says the Order has be Altered and now it’s Just Herbs. Again He wonders if this is a Mistake, and advises there is Still Time to Fix it if it is indeed a Mistake.
  • Additional Voice Message from a Man Reporting His Dream that mimicked His Daily Routine Specifically His Bus Ride to Work every Morning. The Man says He’s calling because He Found Optica’s Phone Number on a Flier.
  • Channel 91 Logo with Text that Reads You are Watching the Obituary Hour.
  • Optica Logo Appears and Announcer Says “It is with a Heavy Heart We must announce the Death of Patient 068 Lorraine Nelson as She enters Eternal Sleep. May She be Remembered for the Great Sacrifice….Screen Scrambles.
  • Advertisement for Optica Juniors or Optica for Kids.
  • Sleep is Vital Message on Screen along with Optica Logo.
  • Channel 91 Logo with Text that Reads: Join Us Next Time for Inside Optica Network. Have a Question for one of Our Participants? Make Sure yOu Send them to the Following Address…Screen Cuts Out.

Thank You For Reading/Watching,

   Presented By Les Sober  

What’s On Channel Local 58?!

We heard about Local 58 from a Friend Many Months ago and Just Recently Got around to Checking it Out. It Blew Our fucking Minds and We fell in Love Instantly.

Local 58 is a Fictional Television Station created for a Psychological Horror Anthology Web Series Created by Webcartoonist and Author Kris Straub. The Series is about a Fictional Public Access Television Station named Local 58 WCLV-TV, which is Constantly Hijacked with Ominous Broadcasts and Surreal Videos. The Fictional TV Station also Appears to be Named in the Fashion of PBS Member Stations, therefore indicating that it might have been an Unidentified PBS Member Station or Simply a Decoy/Clone.

We Decided to Post the Entire 8 Video Series below since the Series as a whole has a Total Running Time of 22 Minutes and 42 Seconds. In Addition Each Video has a Description Posted Above it that pertains to said Post.

From what We can Deduce the Series Chronicles TV Transmissions (Over a 40 Year Period) of Humanity’s Struggle Against an Aggressive and Hostile Alien Race. The Alien Invasion just so Happens to be Playing Out on Local 58 as Aliens, and an Unknown Third Party (perhaps a Scientist), Fight for Control of Local 58’s Airwaves and Ultimately the Fate of Humanity Itself.

Enjoy.

  1. You Are On The Fastest Available Route

A Found Footage-Style Dashcam Video Dated from 2014 involving a Driver following a GPS. The GPS begins to Direct the Driver off the Main Road and into a Forrest. As the Directions grow more Ominous, and Instruct the Driver to Park the Car and Turn off the Headlights, a Massive Roar can be Heard as the Feed Cuts to a Driver Fleeing from an Unidentified Bipedal Creature that begins to give Chase. The Driver Flees to Their Car which They end Up Wrecking, and as The Creature approaches the Wrecked Car the GPS keeps spitting out Directs until it Finally says “You Have Arrived.”

2. Contingency

Contingency shows Local 58 Ending Their Broadcast Day, and SMPTE Bars are Aired. Suddenly, the Broadcast is Interrupted with a Prerecorded Emergency Alert from the Department for the Preservation of American Dignity (DPAD) and a written Message from President Lyndon B. Johnson claiming the American Military has beed Defeated by a Foreign Enemy. The Message states that Viewers must Commit Suicide to Prevent the Enemy Force from Capturing Them, and a Reminder to “Take Care” of Any Children or Pets before Yourself. The Message also states at the End that it “Will Repeat Until there are None to Read it”.

The Hijacking Stops, and Local 58 Airs a Retraction Claiming that the Message was a Hoax. However, it is possible to see a “Hoax Apology Card” behind the Message, suggesting the Previous Message was the Result of “Accidental Public Broadcast during off-air Remote Operation Relay Test.”

3. Weather Service

The Video starts with a Programming Schedule Broadcast at Midnight, which is Interrupted by an EAS Message Warning Viewers of a Meteorological Even taking place, and Advises Viewers Not to Look at the Event with the Naked Eye. Normal Programming Resumes, but then is Interrupted once again by a More Urgent EAS Bulletin Warning Viewers Not to go Outside or Look at the Sky, only for a Message to be Interrupted by a Second Alert Stating its Safe for all to view and the Warning has Been Lifted, and instructs the Viewers to “GO OUTSIDE NOW”.

A Fight appears to break out between the First Party, Who issued the Initial EAS Alert, and the Second, Attempting to Hijack the Station’s Airwaves. The First Party issues a Message Warning Viewers Not to Look at the Moon and to Avoid all Windows and Mirrors, which the Second pArty Alters encouraging the Viewer to look at the Moon, and then the Message Cuts Out Abruptly. Local 58 briefly returns to its Normal Programming before a Final EAS Message Airs in which the First Party appears to have been Exposed to the Moonlight after being Overpowered by the Second Party, and is now seemingly Possessed. Then the Delirious First Party slowly Types “IF YOU ARE AFRAID WE WILL LOOK TOGETHER”, the Feed Cuts to a Live View of the Moon while the Sound of People Screaming can be Heard, until the Fed Cuts Out Again.

4. STATION ID

Station Id is a Video that Displays the Following Messages while Surreal Music Plays:

  • ANALOG HORROR AT 476MHz
  • WE BEGIN OUR BROADCAST DAY
  • LOOK AWAY
  • IT DOES NOT MATTER
  • THERE ARE OTHER RECIEVERS
  • SAFETY IN NUMBER

The Video serves as the Channel’s Trailer.

5. Show For Children

The Broadcast Opens with a Programming Schedule with a 1980’s Visual Style. The First Program on the Schedule is “Show For Children” at 4:15am, which is Rather Odd Time for a Kids’ Show to Air. It then Transitions into an Old 1929-Style Black and White Cartoon called “A Grave Mistake”, Featuring a Anthropomorphic Skeleton named Cadavre, which literally the French word for Corpse. It follows Cadavre stumbling through a Graveyard at Night under the Watch of a Smiling Moon. He comes across an Open Grave and wonders if His Lover may be Inside, and Decides to take a Peek. He is Frightened by a Skeleton and Runs Away. He finds Another Grave, Only to be Frightened by a Creature Resembling a Rotting Bird and runs away again.

The Moon now Stares at Cadavre intently. He looks in another Grave, and depends into it, entering a Long and Dark Cave. After wandering through the Cave for some Time, He reaches another Open Grave, but cannot Escape; Instead, He lies Face Up on the Ground under the Light of the Now Realistic Looking Moon. As The Moon Passes over the Open Grave Cadavre apparently Dies, turning into a Lifeless Skeleton.

6. A Look Back

A Look Back is a Compilation of the History of Local 58 as it Shuffles through Different Logos. It is then Hijacked with Messages that Read:

  • WE SEND SIGNALS TO OURSELVES
  • THRU THEIR DOMAIN
  • DID WE REALLY BELIEVE
  • THEY WOULDN’T ADD THEIR OWN

It then Shows Clips of all The Hijackings, Afterward, Messages Appear Saying “DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL”, “MORE TO COME” and then “WE BEGIN OUR BROADCAST DAY” before the Hijacking Concludes and Local 58 Broadcasting returns back to Normal.

7. Real Sleep

The Broadcast appears to be Based on a Personalized VHS recorded by the Thought Research Initiative in 1983 for a Man named Philip Gerhardt. It Starts with a simple Myth or Fact Game about Sleep, which Claims 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.The Exercise appears to be designed in an Attempt to Erase the Concept of Facial Recognition from the Viewer. The Viewer is then Bombarded by Subliminal Messages that Flash in Rapid Succession on the Screen Saying things like:

  • THIS IS YOUR TIME
  • THERE IS WORK TO BE DONE
  • WE ARE OUR OWN GODS
  • YOU OWE THE MESSENGER

The Video Ends with the Viewer being told that They have Now Completed the Real Sleep Program, and to Avoid seeing a Doctor as the Screen Fizzles Out.

8. Skywatching

The Video begins a san Educational Program similar to Cosmos and Star Gazers Broadcast in the 1990’s. After the Introduction the Show is Hijacked by a Feed Displaying Home Video Footage of the Night Sky with the Same Title as Before the Hijacking. The Camera Displays different Asterisms, and then turns to the Moon. The Words “HIS THRONE” are Displayed on the Screen as the Cameraman begins to Switch Lenses. The Camera then Displays Close Ups of the Moon’s Surface with Strange Constructions and seemingly Organic Formations. The Moon then Slowly Fades Away as the Camera Zooms. As the Camerman begins to Switch Lenses , the Moon Reappears, Now Far Larger in Size and with a Creature Visible Inside.

An Air Raid Siren is then Heard Going off, and the Video Ends with the Cameraman walking in front of the Camera towards the Moon with His Hands Raises, while the word “REJOICE” Appear on the Screen, just before the Siren Abruptly Cuts out and the Hijacking concludes. After the Credits, the Video Concludes with one Last Message “Keep Looking Up”

We Hope You Enjoyed this Sinister Tale of a Subversive Alien Invasion as Much as We Did.

Thanks For Reading/Watching,

Presented By Les Sober   (Pt1238am)

Be Sure To Tune Into Local 58 WCLV-TV Community Television

Local 58 is an INSANELY Creative Horror Web Series By Kris Straub and Presented in a “Found Footage” Style of Story Telling. The Series Appears to Span Several Decades from the Late 1960’s (possible Early 70’s) all the Way Up To 2019 so Far.

At the Start of the Series there were Only 4 Videos Online those being “Contingency”, “Station ID”, “Weather Service”, and one Titled “You Are On The Fastest Route”. Later on Down the Road a Fifth Video called “Show For Children” was Added to the Lineup. Subsequently Three Additional Local 58 Videos have been Posted since the Original Five if You will. Those Videos are “A Look Back” (Posted August 27, 2018), “Real Sleep” (December 19, 2018), and “Sky Watching” in November 2019.

The Video “Contingency” appears as if it was Shot in a Film Format while the Video “Show For Children” seems to be presented in a VCR Format. This Indicates the Series has Progressed from the 1960’s to the 1980’s. The Series Jumps ahead in Time After “Show For Children” to a 2014 . Thusly the Videos can be Rearranged into Chronological Order According to Their particular Time Frame as Opposed to Their Actual Posting Date(s).

The Plot Unfolds Predominately through a Series of Public Service Announcement, Public Warnings, and Emergency Broadcast’s being Transmitted On Local 58 WCLV-TV (there is Some on Screen Text as Well that Also has a Key Role). The Premise is there has been an Unknown World Wide Event Occurring while Local 58 WCLV-TV is Providing Public with Vital Information. Why is The World being Plunged into a Wide Spread Mass Panic? Could it be Nuclear War, a Government Conspiracy, Alien Invasion, Natural Disaster of Epic Proportions, Deadly epidemic, a Meteor Speeding toward Earth, or is Humanity facing the Actual Apocalypse? Who or What is behind it this Hysteria Exactly, and Who may be Involved?!

          

That’s what makes such a Creative Endeavor as Local 58 so Fascinatingly Mesmerizing is You have to Decipher the Series for Yourself. You have to Think for Yourself and Draw Your own Conclusions in the End. It’s a Series You can Watch Over and Over Looking for (and Finding) Subtle Details, Secret or Unseen Clues, Hidden Hints, and Underlying Nuances. All in All the Local 58 WCLV-TV  Web Series is an Unnervingly Masterminded Multidimensional, and Multilayered Master Piece. Enjoy.

Thanks for Watching,

  Brought To You By Les Sober