Editorials
Dear “Hannibal”, I Still Miss You
On April 4th, 2013, NBC premiered the first episode of “Hannibal“, the Bryan Fuller developed series based on characters created by Thomas Harris in his novels “Red Dragon”, “The Silence of the Lambs”, and “Hannibal”. Starring Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale, Valhalla Rising, Clash of the Titans) in the title role, the series followed FBI special investigator Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) as an empath who has the ability to investigate and understand crime scenes, and criminals, in startling, almost eerie ways.
I don’t have cable or basic TV channels. I haven’t had them for well over 20 years. When I moved into my own place and ordered internet, Comcast asked if I wanted TV, something I explicitly turned down. To this day, I still get calls asking if I want to upgrade my account to include even the most basic package, which, ridiculously, has something like 100+ channels. For those of you who have cable, that might seem like nothing. For me, that seems unnecessary. I remember as a child having 60-ish channels and that’s it.
I bring this up because “Hannibal” was the first show to make me seriously consider upping my package so that I could watch it as it aired. Something about it just drew me in, almost hypnotizing me with its gorgeous visuals and brilliantly built characters. It was a show where I would seek a fix once an episode ended because I wasn’t ready for it to be over. I needed more but had to be patient, much like Hannibal and how he was ever vigilant in selecting and ultimately dispatching his victims.
I miss “Hannibal”, which, as I’ve mentioned previously, “…was a gift from above for horror fans.” It featured some of the most gruesome and horrifying scenes I’ve ever witnessed, such as Hannibal making Dr. Abel Gideon (Eddie Izzard) eat his own leg or the people buried alive to act as fertilizer for fungi in “Amuse-Bouche”. Every episode expertly crafted a narrative around the crimes that delved further into the minds of each character, their own psyches the truly fascinating aspect of the series. For every moment we saw something nauseating, there was far more time dedicated to the haunting impact and toll these events had on those around them. Graham was breaking more and more with every episode, Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas) desperate to come to his aid, Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne) demanding control from his employees while desperately spiraling out of control with his wife and her illness. Hovering over them all, controlling them like a marionettist, was Hannibal, making them all dance on strings of his own weaving, his cold calculations deeply, intricately, and terrifyingly constructed.
As the show progressed, we only saw these relationships intertwine themselves further, becoming a web of distrust, suspicion, and unknowing betrayal, all according to Hannibal’s conniving plans. It’s only because of Hannibal’s affection for Will, and what he could potentially become, that the threads expose themselves, able to be pulled, unravelling the entire picture. It is because of this magnificent arrangement that the story was so enthralling. With every new revelation, with each new episode, the story moved forward and it felt meaningful, unlike shows where we have exciting premieres and finales but the middle feels lackluster. “Hannibal” was, in my opinion, a show that constantly progressed and evolved.
I miss the music, composed by Brian Reitzell. Yes, I can pop on my records anytime I wish or I can stream the soundtrack if I’m feeling lazy. But there was something delicious about hearing new music every episode that felt so disjointed and unsettling. It was dissonance of the purest form, the kind that mimics the tension on the screen as each layer of mystery is either added or unveiled, both fitting perfectly yet still feeling wrong and unwelcome. With a show so focused on intellectualism, introspection, and complex psychological patterns, there needed to be a soundtrack that aimed for those lofty heights. Reitzell met those heights and conquered them, week after week.
I miss the visuals, wonderfully brought to the screen by the directors and the show’s primary cinematographer James Hawkinson. Even in the first five minutes of the first episode, I knew that this was going to be a beautiful show and it never failed in that department. Every scene oozed beauty, even amidst the viscera. Splashes of blood arced gracefully through the air, bodies faded into nature, becoming one with the world around them, and even the food, which we knew was tainted and taboo, looked macabrely delicious. Some victims were transformed into angels, their majesty and horror vying for equal attention, while others were arranged in a gigantic eye, aimed to see a reflection that can’t possible be there.
I mourn the loss of a show that never hid from its horror foundation. Rather, it embraced it and aimed to elevate itself above all associated stigmas and preconceptions. It knew that horror could be smart, so it went there. It knew that horror could push boundaries, which it did. It knew that horror didn’t care about who or what you are, so everything was fair game. Being a witness to the craftsmanship behind “Hannibal” felt truly special as a horror fan. Rarely do we get something that looks and sounds so wonderful, that has such care and devotion given to every minute detail.
I could talk endlessly about my love of this series, but I feel that I need to come to an end and not overstay my welcome. So, to cap this off, I send these messages: To Bryan Fuller, thank you for developing “Hannibal”. To the cast and crew, thank you for bringing these characters and this story to life. To NBC, thank you for taking a chance and giving the show three seasons. To the fans of the series who so ardently and adamantly refuse to let go, thank you for your passion.
To “Hannibal” itself, thank you, I miss you, and I hope that one day we’ll see you again. Maybe for dinner?
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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