Editorials
“Game of Thrones” Just Turned Its Longest Episode into a Full-Blown Horror Movie
If you haven’t caught up with the latest episode of Game of Thrones, “The Long Night”, don’t worry; no major overarching plot points or character fates will be spoiled here.
From the opening scene of HBO’s mega popular Game of Thrones’ pilot episode, which saw a trio of rangers discovering mutilated corpses right before being attacked by undead creatures, horror has been a major element of the fantasy drama series. As the political maneuvering and battling for the Iron Throne in Westeros was only just beginning, so too was the war being waged on the living by the icy Night King; the humans just didn’t know it yet.
For seasons, we watched as the Night King and his White Walker generals slowly made their way across the land North of the icy wall that separates the wild from the rest of civilized Westeros, slaughtering unsuspecting native people and turning their corpses into reanimated soldiers for his campaign to snuff out humanity. With all of the final story pieces clicking into place in the series’ final episodes, the culmination of that silent, deadly war delivered the shows’ longest episode to date…. and it was an intense, feature length horror movie.
The first ten minutes of “The Long Night” created unbearable tension; it was mostly devoid of dialogue as it focused on ambient sound instead while we watched the characters we’ve grown to love (or hate) steel themselves for the battle ahead; the massive army of undead was about to arrive at their doorstep. The tension already coiled so tightly, and the fighting hadn’t even begun.
With the enemy still unseen, off in the distance well hidden by the pitch-black night, the fiercest Dothraki warriors charged toward them on horses with their fire-burning swords as the first wave of attack. The rest of the troops looked on in horror as they watched those far off flames get snuffed out in the dark, one by one; only a few made it back by fleeing in abject terror. If it hadn’t hit home just how horrific this undead army was, the characters grasped it now.
“We’re fighting death! We can’t beat death.”
Once the undead finally arrive at the gates of Winterfell, it becomes a harrowing fight to survive. The plan, of course, was to end humanity’s biggest threat once and for all, but that devolved quickly into simply trying to make it out alive. This undead army feels no pain and doesn’t need to stop for any reason. They don’t tire like humans, and their numbers are endless. This was the relentless zombie horde attack that World War Z should have been.
For much of the episode’s run time, it’s watching our characters getting pummeled by an unyielding undead army- all in various stages of decay. The battle is unnerving in itself as we see some of our favorites cry out in agony and exhaustion, while others weep and cower in fear, all the while so much blood is being spilled across the snow. And because all nonstop action films need moments that allow the audience to catch their breath, well, “The Long Night” decided to use those quiet moments to ramp up the fear instead.
Just about every major zombie film or show has a sequence that sees its protagonist(s) being forced to tiptoe around an enclosed space occupied by the undead so they can make it out without attracting unwanted attention. “The Long Night” gave us that sequence in the Winterfell library, late in the episode. With the humans’ only safe haven now inundated with the undead, young Arya finds herself alone and surrounded. She hides behind the bookshelves, sneaking around the shuffling zombies and trying to avoid catching their notice. It results in a taut, suspense-filled hide and seek game between Arya and one particularly eerie wight.
Another major standout scene in this horror-filled episode took place in the crypt. For the humans unable to participate in the battle- the children, women, elderly, etc. – they took refuge beneath the castle. Which happens to be the family crypt. It’s a tactical move that seems tenuous at best, especially from a horror fan’s perspective, considering there’s only one way in or out. That hints at a bloodbath waiting to happen. And it does. But the invading undead don’t come from above, but within. The long-buried dead ancestors are awakened, skeletons and all, to attack the most vulnerable. The reanimating corpses digging their way out of their dirt-filled tombs provided some of the best horror imagery of the episode.
All 82 minutes were stuffed to the brim with unmitigated dread, unrelenting terror, and suspense-driven action.
From quiet intensity to boisterous, pulse-pounding fights for survival, “The Long Night” made for what was essentially a satisfying feature length horror movie. Because the episode is action and horror-centric, you could tune in solely for this episode and not have to worry about the usually complicated plot. If you’re not watching, you’re missing out on a great show with enough genre elements to appease horror fans like ourselves.
There have been epic battles before in Game of Thrones, but never has the enemy been as scary as it was last night. If you see just one episode, make it this one.
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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