With the recent news of Paranormal Activity 7 coming our way in (hopefully) 2021, I decided to have myself a little Paranormal Binge-tivity. As I revisited the first six films of the franchise, I fell down the internet rabbit hole researching each film, the actors, casting tapes, and behind-the-scenes featurettes (which are strangely absent from the web). This is where I was swiftly reminded that a seventh chapter in the Paranormal Activity saga already exists. However, it’s not in the form of a feature-length film. Rather, Paramount produced a series of original YouTube videos on a channel belonging to a man by the name of Jacob Degloshi. When added together, the runtime of the 21 videos found on Degloshi’s channel equals out to approximately 22 minutes––providing fans with a pseudo-sequel short film that exists within the official PA canon. One that many people, including myself, tend to forget about.

In April 2012, between the release of the third and fourth PA entries, social media accounts for a man named Jacob Degloshi suddenly appeared on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. As explained in his own bios, Degloshi is a divorced IT Consultant, living with his teenage daughter Sarah. He had recently purchased a new home in Henderson, Nevada (also the setting for PA 4), and regularly shared pictures of himself, his new place, and his food… sounds pretty normal, right? Well, as the fourth film’s October 19, 2012 release date got closer, Degloshi’s typical social media activity turned, er, paranormal. 

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 CONNECTION

Degloshi posted this photo of his daughter, using the caption, “Sarah and one of her friends when they were younger.” That “friend” happens to be Alex (Kathryn Newton), the lead character in PA 4.

Throughout the 21 videos that exist on his YouTube channel, which run anywhere from just under 60 seconds to a few minutes, Degloshi begins documenting the bizarre events occurring within his home, and (in typical Paranormal Activity fashion) he installs security cameras throughout the house. Soon after, he begins to capture footage of his teenage daughter exhibiting strange behavior at night. He also discovers his daughter Sarah unknowingly hoarding a set of old VHS tapes. What tapes exactly? A random collection of childhood videos of Katie and Kristy, and footage of baby Hunter from PA 2 (all of which he also shares on the YouTube channel). Following the discovery, things quickly escalate.

The pet parrot keeps saying the name “Toby” (the name of the PA demon), and Jacob finds scratches and disturbing symbols etched into his daughter’s body. Everything eventually leads to a climactic final live stream on October 30, 2012, where activity across all of Degloshi’s social media channels abruptly stops––marking the end of a bizarre pseudo-spin-off wherein the Degloshi family is never referred to ever again.

So, with no new information learned in regards to the plot of the franchise, what was the point of this online Paranormal Activity saga?

Degloshi posted this photo with the caption, “Sarah carved this into her arm! She needs help and I need advice. Calling another doctor.”

Following the release of Paranormal Activity 3 in 2011, the franchise was arguably at its peak in popularity. Part 3 raked in over $200 million at the box office (the highest gross of any PA film to date), but the marketplace was flooded with a slew of other found-footage imitators, including The Devil Inside, The Last Exorcism, and Grave Encounters. By that point, Paranormal Activity had become so popular that it was even the central parody of 2012’s The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror special. So it was clear that the studio needed to try something unique in order to keep reeling audiences in for more Activity. Enter: Jacob Degloshi. Yep, the Jacob Degloshi tapes were a multimedia marketing ploy to maintain a renewed interest in the now over-saturated found-footage landscape. 

Interestingly enough, Paramount never addressed the Jacob Degloshi tapes directly. But not long after Jacob’s bizarre tapes flooded the internet, many fans and blogs caught the connections, and it became very evident that Degloshi was a product of the Paramount marketing department. I mean, how else could you use PA footage, names, and symbols? And let’s not forget to mention the inclusion of the fourth film’s star. The symbols and hauntings shown in the footage were consistent with Paranormal Activity canon, and it seemed likely that Jacob Degloshi was, in fact, connected to the PA franchise. 

While Paramount never released an official statement claiming ownership over Degloshi’s social media accounts, the business publication Fast Company reported on Paramount’s clever marketing tactic, and the directors of PA 4 have acknowledged the studio’s unique marketing tricks in an interview. 

The VHS tape Degloshi finds in his daughter’s suitcase has a familiar symbol on it.

The Paranormal Activity franchise is no stranger to utilizing unique viral marketing tactics in order to promote its films. When it came time to release the first movie, Paramount relied on word-of-mouth to bring attention to the little independent picture they scooped up from creator Oren Peli. Fans were encouraged to visit a website and “demand” that the film comes to a theater in their area. Nabbing their attention? A brief trailer that showed hardly any footage of the actual movie itself, but instead focused on the terrified reactions of the unsuspecting audience members watching the film. And oh boy, did it work. As word spread across the internet like wildfire, curious horror fans across the nation hit the “demand” button, eventually bringing Paranormal Activity to theaters nationwide in October 2009. From there, box office numbers blew up to a final tally of $193 million worldwide, and I guess you could say the rest is history.

As the first film garnered immediate cult-status, a sequel was rushed into production. For the next few years to follow, Paranormal Activity cemented its status as the reigning horror franchise with yearly entries, releasing Paranormal Activity 2 in 2010, Paranormal Activity 3 in 2011, Paranormal Activity 4 in 2012, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones in 2014, and Paranormal Activity: Ghost Dimension in 2015. 

As of this writing, the Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts for Jacob Degloshi are all still online, so you can explore the content and binge the YouTube videos for yourself––it’s basically like getting a whole other Paranormal Activity mini-movie! 

With the forthcoming Paranormal Activity 7, it will be interesting to see what unique and innovative marketing techniques Paramount pulls out for the franchise reboot.