YouTube Original Highlights

There's a lot of content on YouTube. Roughly 500 hours of video are uploaded to the platform every minute. So it's no surprise that a lot of great original material is lost amid the flood of reactions, unboxing videos, and video game reviews. So I thought I might make a post recommending a few series.

Hi I'm Mary Mary

This is a surprisingly well done horror series seemingly made by just one person. Details surrounding the protagonist's predicament reveal themselves over time in an effective expression of the pitfalls that come with crippling depression/anxiety.

Bigtop Burger

Animation is a tough art form to break into. Especially if you're not part of a team. Yet thanks to new technology (and no small amount of dedication) we have this treasure of a series to enjoy. If Big Top Burger were a full length series I'd watch it religiously. It was originally released as a series of 2-3 minute shorts but all of the current episodes have been compiled into "Season One". If you're looking for quirky over-the-top humor that's oddly wholesome this is a good place to start.

Interface

Umami is another solo animator but his style couldn't be further from Bigtop Burger. Interface is an emotionally gripping surrealist story. It follows one man suffering from the alienation of immortality accompanied only by a strange shape shifting being called Mischief. It's been in the works since 2017 and doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon so support this artist so we get to see the end one day! While you're on his channel check out his other content including a choose your own adventure series.

Local58

WARNING: Episode 2 of this series entitled "contingency" contains themes of self-harm and the rest can be pretty disturbing if you're unprepared.

Imagine you're home alone. It's about midnight when you switch on the TV to a local station in the hopes that you can find something boring enough to help you sleep. Yet the programming seems strange... The longer it goes on the more you wonder if the world outside is truly safe and if the TV station isn't speaking to you directly. This is the typical vibe of a new genre of internet media called Analog Horror and Local 58 is the best example I know of so far. If you're looking for a truly chilling experience this is highly recommended. Just remember... don't go near the windows... and if you should find yourself under the night sky... don't.. look.. up..