Editorials
Wendigos and Sibling Rifts in ‘Devil in the Dark’ [Horrors Elsewhere]
Horrors Elsewhere is a recurring column that spotlights a variety of movies from all around the globe, particularly those not from the United States. Fears may not be universal, but one thing is for sure — a scream is understood, always and everywhere.
Returning to his hometown was not an easy decision for Adam. He has managed to stay away for fifteen years. However, he now finds himself back in his parents’ old and untouched house. The reason for Adam’s sudden return ultimately leads him and his older brother Clint deep into the mountain forest. What might have been a heartfelt reunion between estranged siblings quickly shifts into something unprecedented. Something unnatural.
In Devil in the Dark (also known as The Plateau), Clint (Dan Payne) has not seen his younger brother Adam (Robin Dunne) since their father died. Having him back is a surprise all on its own, but what is even stranger is Adam’s desire to go camping during his time home. Before the brothers venture off into the remote British Columbia forest, they quickly fall into their old patterns. Adam has no concern for others’ time and Clint always assumes the worst of Adam. These next six days will not be easy, the brothers soon realize.
The trip starts off on the wrong foot. Adam is not only hungover from a late night of drinking with old pals, Clint has resumed his fault-finding ways. He goes as far as to give Adam the bag of supplies he packed earlier all because he “had a hunch” he would not come prepared. And rather than take an ATV up to the destined plateau, Clint wants them to do things “old school.” The long hike gives the brothers plenty of time to get reacquainted after doing their best to avoid each other for so long.
Now, the poster — a young Adam in the foreground and a shadowy, antlered figure in the foggy background — promises a creature feature. Does that art mislead? No, not quite. Devil in the Dark more or less delivers what it pitches but with some caveats to consider. That foreboding, unearthly monster definitely appears in the movie toward the end. Bearing that in mind, the creature is hardly visible to the naked eye. There are the abstract parts of it here and there, but on the whole, the antagonist is a sight unseen or wholly shrouded in darkness. A good rule of thumb when making monster movies is less is more; showing too much will only strip them of their power in the long run. What little there is of the monster on screen forces the audience to use their imagination. Be that as it may, Devil would have benefitted from at least one substantial shot.
What exactly is the monster of Devil in the Dark? The antlers are a big clue. Ever since Larry Fessenden manifested his fascination with them, the Wendigo has incidentally become more at home in pop culture. Before then they were mainly the stuff of vintage pulp and comics. The mythological basis hails from First Nations folklore and is typically a wintry spirit born out of greed or other human weaknesses. Fessenden’s interpretation is credited for the signature yet fairly new elk-like traits, but Matt Fox illustrated a similar depiction in a 1944 issue of Famous Fantastic Mysteries. Meanwhile, the ashen namesake of Devil in the Dark takes after the modern Wendigo while also looking very human.
Oh too often Bigfoot and the Wendigo are conflated in spite of their disparate origins and activities. Movies involving the former tend to be straightforward and reactionary. Whereas Wendigo stories almost always dive deeper into the psyche and pluck out anything that could entice one of these fearsome abominations. For instance, Adam’s resentment toward Clint is transparent. He outright blames his older brother for his bad relationship with his father Glen (Daniel Cudmore), who had very little in common with his youngest. For this reason Adam was unconsciously excluded from father-son activities like hunting and other traditionally masculine pastimes.
Adam’s lifelong burden draws him to the Wendigo legend, which is a cautionary tale to begin with. Those on the outside of their communities are said to be more susceptible to the Wendigo’s influence. Hence why the monster targets Adam; he sees himself as an outcast in his own family. A large part of that separation is voluntary later in life — Adam moved away and left Clint to take care of their father — but there is no denying Glen worsened matters between his sons by favoring Clint. Adam’s bitterness finally gives the Wendigo access to his heart and something new to feed on.
Seasoned horror audiences may struggle to find openly frightening material here. Yet possibly more alarming than a killer Wendigo is the lengths the story will go to deny the characters any closure. Rather than apologizing and moving on from their internalized heartaches, Adam and Clint act stubbornly. They are harshly punished as a result. That continuous sting of regret on both sides goes beyond the abrupt ending.
This is a tense family drama first and a horror movie second. At the risk of turning potential new viewers away, it is only fair to point out how elusive the horror elements are here. What little there is is intentionally delayed in an effort to better expound the complicated relationship between the two brothers. The leads’ convincing chemistry and performances along with a coachload of atmosphere all make for a better creature feature. Tim Brown and Carey Dickson approach the concept differently than most, and the success of Devil in the Dark does not lie in its macabre parts.
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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