Editorials
Horror Education of the Week: ‘Children of the Corn’
“What about Gatlin?”
“Gatlin! There ain’t nothin’ in Gatlin.”
“What do you mean there ain’t nothin’ in Gatlin?”
“Well, folks in Gatlin’s got a religion. They don’t like outsiders…”
Children of the Corn was released in 1984. Based on the short story by Stephen King, the film tells the story of the town of Gatlin, Nebraska. A demonic god, referred to as “He Who Walks Behind the Rows”, has commanded that the children of Gatlin kill their parents and all adults to ensure that the cornfields will prosper.
As the years go by, the children continue to sacrifice those who age into adulthood, and any interlopers that happen to stumble into town.
The film version of Children of the Corn differs vastly from King’s original work. However, the differences aid in giving the plot a deeper meaning in regards to religion:
– A couple, Vicky and Burt, are driving across the country for Burt’s medical internship. This establishes that Burt is more than likely a man of science.
– Burt and Vicky mock a religious preacher on the radio as they try to distract themselves from the endless cornfields around them, setting up their presence as ‘outlanders’ to the aura of the town they are about to reach.
– In the small town of Gatlin, Sarah and her brother Job play a board game in dress up clothes while listening to a record player: All of which is strictly forbidden by their preacher’s right hand man, Malachai.
– While music isn’t necessarily banned in most Christian religions, indulgences in certain pleasures are certainly frowned upon.
– When Vicky and Burt hit a child that has had his throat cut by Malachai, moral issues come into play.
– Vicky simply wants to get to a phone to report what has happened, while Burt is cautious, placing the body in the trunk and taking the young man’s suitcase to find clues as to what has happened.
– When the suitcase is opened, further evidence of Vicky and Burt’s stance on religion is noted.
– A bizarre corn husk cross is found in the child’s belongings to which Burt yells, “Jesus Christ!” Vicky replies, “Not in my book!”
– As they reach Gatlin, the atmosphere is not too far fetched. They’ve been warned that the people of Gatlin are religious and do not take very kindly to strangers.
– Anyone who has been on a road trip through middle America has seen endless fields and knows that when you stop in certain towns, you get weird looks. You are an outlander.
– Preacher Isaac and his lackey, Malachai, are seen in a back and forth preaching session with the children in the cornfields. As they throw out the good word of He Who Walks Behind the Rows, the children respond: “Praise God. Praise the Lord.”
– This mock prayer session, while crude in some ways, is not much different than any religious ceremony.
– The children are warned that outlanders will come to town and they will be non believers.
– Vicky and Burt find that the town is abandoned, yet while it is empty – Burt proclaims, “It’s weird here, but it’s safe.”
– As with most small towns, unless you’ve seen way too many horror movies, their appearance is strange, yet they always seem completely harmless.
– Inside the church, many religious sayings are written on the walls, including: “Ye should worship no other gods besides Him.”
– While this is a form of one of the ten commandments, the twist on it as referring to He Who Walks Behind the Rows is clever.
– This cleverness on part of the children is shown as Burt tries one more time to convince them of their wrong doings.
– “This is what God commands? What kind of god tells his children to kill their parents? Did you hear that before Isaac? I can’t believe you’re this blind. I think you’ve been listening to these holy rollers too long. Any religion without love and compassion is false. It’s a lie.”
– There are countless ways to take Burt’s speech and apply it to what we’ve heard of religions. Many of us are not fully familiar with different ways of worship other than what we’ve heard from mass media.
– After Vicky survives the children’s attempt to crucify her, she and Burt learn that the children’s god is actually quite real, as He Who Walks Behind the Rows reveals himself.
– In the end, religion is ultimately what indeed saves these outlanders.
– Job tells them of the ‘Blue Man’ who came before them. He was crucified by Malachai, however, he had a passage from the bible with him:
“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
– This passage from the Book of Revelations leads Burt and Vicky to their salvation: They burn the cornfields and escape Gatlin.
Side Note: My first encounter with Children of the Corn was actually in 1985 while watching You Can’t Do That On Television. The show always started with the ‘regularly scheduled program’ – which was always a corny parody of something original – having to be replaced.
Somehow this idea freaked me out before ever even seeing the movie.
I first heard about The Mandela Catalogue through a couple of nephews who were obsessed with the ARG’s sinister mythology. It was only after watching Wendigoon’s in-depth analysis of the series that I realized just how deep this rabbit hole goes.
In fact, I’d already been exposed to the nightmarish visuals of Alex Kister’s YouTube creation for years at that point without even realizing that it was the origin of several viral “cursed images” and spooky memes that had leaked into the wider internet – with this viral element actually being a part of the Catalogue’s overarching narrative.
Flash-forward to 2026 and the unprecedented success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms has led to Hollywood betting on horrific internet properties with existing fanbases, which means that Kister’s unique hybrid of both religious and analog horror is finally headed to the big screen with a script written by Kister himself alongside Tyler Clifton.
While this news shouldn’t be too surprising if you’ve been keeping up with the ongoing success of The Mandela Catalogue (both myself and Wendigoon having previously predicted that the series would inevitably make the jump to theaters one day), plenty of horror fans are likely confused as to why so many folks are excited for what appears to be a Hollywood adaptation of a series of creepy .jpeg images under a VHS filter.
With that in mind, today I’d like to invite fellow readers to accompany me as I explore the origins of Alex Kister’s viral hit and attempt to explain exactly why we should all be excited about the Mandela Catalogue adaptation!
From High School Writing Project to Internet Horror Phenomenon
The first seeds of The Mandela Catalogue were sown when Kister was still in high school and developed a writing project subverting religious tropes in a world where biblical history had been altered by demonic forces. A little while later, Kister came across an analog horror contest on Reddit and decided to adapt his ideas into a standalone video where he would edit a religious kids’ cartoon –The Beginner’s Bible: The Nativity, to be specific- into something far creepier. This is how the iconic Overthrone video was born, with this viral short film taking on a life of its own as fans demanded more eerie content from Kister.
Though the video was originally meant to be a one-and-done sort of affair, with Kister actually regretting some of its primitive visuals and considering the editing amateurish and “YouTube-Poop-like” when compared to his current standards, fan reaction and free time during the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged the (then) seventeen-year-old filmmaker to continue producing content set in this same world. The Mandela Catalogue name was inspired by the Mandela Effect conspiracy theory, as the series would slowly begin to explore the subtle horror of alternate histories.
Inspired by existential dread brought on by extended periods of quarantine as well as a personal crisis of faith, Kister continued to expand his alternate timeline where the rise of Christianity had been prevented by what was presumably the Devil disguised as the Archangel Gabriel. This alternate course of fictional events led to the existence of certain paranormal anomalies that had come to be accepted as “normal” by the 1990s, which is why most of the series’ supernatural horror is presented in such a matter-of-fact manner.
Most of this background information and religious lore is delivered by increasingly cryptic broadcasts and in-universe PSAs, as well as the occasional found footage video, that often have to be decoded by clever viewers. Of course, it’s the consistently disturbing imagery that made the series so popular – much of which was originally created by Kister on a smartphone!
The Alternates: Horror’s Most Unsettling Modern Monsters
The show’s early episodes mostly take place within the fictional Mandela County in Wisconsin and depict life in a world where demonic entities are capable of using media to enter our reality. This process usually involves scaring victims into killing themselves and then repurposing their bodies as horrific doppelgangers referred to as “Alternates”. This terrifying phenomenon has become so common that local police already have specialized procedures in place to deal with the issue, though this usually consists of simply ignoring calls for help so as to avoid spreading so-called “Metaphysical Awareness Disorder” any further.
Over time, Kister would expand this mythology and incorporate different kinds of Alternates into the mix, though the story never stopped deconstructing religious concepts. The series’ second volume exponentially increased both video quality and the overall narrative scope as we began to follow the lives of characters who had already grown up in this dystopian hellscape where the government is forced to prohibit religion, television, and even mirrors in the hopes of mitigating the damage done by the ongoing invasion of otherworldly entities.
The really interesting part comes into play when you realize exactly how the Alternates make use of scary media in order to spread their demonic influence, with the analog horror of it all being a diegetic part of the story and something of a memetic trap orchestrated by the false Gabriel.
I particularly appreciate how some characters begin to suspect that there’s something wrong with their version of reality and that things weren’t meant to play out this way, especially when Mark utters the haunting line “who have I been praying to all this time?” That’s why I think The Mandela Catalogue is an effective piece of religious horror even if you don’t subscribe to the Christian worldview, as the mere idea of a world where evil has already won is a universally terrifying concept in and of itself. Not only that, but the series’ uncanny analog imagery alone is already worth the price of admission, as you’ve likely already noticed by looking at the pictures accompanying this article.
Why The Feature Adaptation Could Be Horror’s Next Big Success
It’s actually been a whole year since Kister first announced that he had been working on a feature-length screenplay for a Mandela Catalogue movie since 2022, with his proposed story following an ensemble of high-school graduates who uncover a supernatural conspiracy after the mysterious disappearance of a fellow student. This premise sounds similar to narrative elements present in the series’ second volume, but I’m pretty sure that Kister is going to go the Kane Parsons route and make the movie more of a spin-off than a re-imagining of its source material.
While notable Hollywood producers like Aaron B. Koontz, Scott Stuber, and Steven Spielberg himself are backing the upcoming project, I feel like there’s no one better to adapt this deeply personal exploration of faith and the dark side of communication than the person who first came up with it. That’s why I can’t wait to see Kister’s work on the big screen, as I have a feeling that this young filmmaker is the next one on the list about to make cinematic history – especially since this is clearly a passion project that has been in the works for years at this point!
That being said, there’s always a chance that the film could end up unleashing a fresh wave of Alternate incursions, but I guess that’s just a risk we’ll have to take.
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