“Okay, guys, so to wrap up this video, I
really don’t think this ‘cursed episode’ of this show was real. It’s obviously just a really good scary
fan animation, and the fact the creators behind it didn’t come out and claim ownership of
it sooner, allowing it to be reposted and reuploaded so many times is really what got
people thinking it was legit. That being said, it’s still a good attempt
at what a cursed, lost episode would look like, so shout out to those animators, man! “Anyway, I’ve been the G.O.A.T. HellHolder98, be sure to like this video,
subscribe to my channel down below. Hey, if you know about any more lost media
you want me to cover, leave it in the comments and I’ll check it out. Oh, and be sure to follow my socials @HellHolder98,
I go live most days and post updates about new videos on my story, so go check it out! Alright, until then, I’ll see you somewhere
down the line!” The moment his finger pushed the button to
stop the camera recording, the practiced, false smile dropped from Holden’s face. It was hard not to feel down after he’d
finished filming a new video, not thanks to any post-creativity slump, but the more depressing
knowledge of just how much of an uphill battle this whole thing was. It felt like yesterday when Holden had first
gotten into the creepier side of the internet. He never ventured into anything illicit or
outright illegal, mind you. But there was a distinct corner of the web
that had pulled him in when he was still at school, and just starting to spend more time
online. This part of the internet was filled with
scary stories that were mostly fake or made up for likes – but that could have been
real. There were unsettling animations, short clips
that had been hand-drawn to give people the creeps and keep them up at night. Not to mention a whole archive of public safety
announcement videos, terrifying workplace and road safety warnings that used to be broadcast
on TV, and were as petrifying that the most acclaimed horror movies. Speaking of things that were broadcast to
TV, that had gradually become Holden’s specialist subject. One of his friends had sent him the link to
a fictional account of someone who had supposedly uncovered an unaired episode of a Saturday
morning kid’s cartoon – or so this person claimed anyway. They went on to describe bizarre imagery,
so intense and terrifying that it was unbefitting of a show for children. Then, the person who made the original post
explained how they got into contact with the show’s creators via email, to ask them about
this cursed episode. The showrunner responded stating that the
episode the poster had allegedly seen, didn’t even exist. To Holden, it didn’t matter if the story
was real or not. That wasn’t the point. What was far more important was that it felt
real. To him, it was plausible, even possible, that
there were pieces of media out there in the world that had never seen the light of day. Episodes of TV shows or entire movies that
were so wild and out there that they could have been banned and buried long before the
dawn of internet, wherein there was a record of everything, and nothing was ever really
lost. The idea of uncovering those lost pieces of
media became Holden’s primary hobby. He’d come home from school, throw his backpack
onto his bed, and then sit in front of his computer for hours without even changing out
of the clothes he had been wearing all day in class. But all time he spent trawling through forum
threads, following and messaging collectors on social media, listening to theories, and
coming up with his own; eventually it began to encroach on other things. Much to his mom’s disappointment, Holden’s
grades took a rapid decline, and it wasn’t long before he was failing his classes bad
enough to not make the cut to continue on at school. But, as much as it upset his mother, Holden
really didn’t mind. He was already thinking way beyond high school
and knew he didn’t need grades to be able to do the one thing he wanted to with his
life. Holden set up his own channel with the plan
to start uploading videos under his new online alter ego. And before long, ‘HellHolder98’ was born. He centered his whole internet persona around
lost media, discussing which popular rumors were true and which were fictionalized for
likes and clicks. It started out with a few discussion videos,
where he would simply sit in his bedroom, a camcorder opposite him as he spoke. But before long, Holden was adding more and
more flair to his content, learning how to edit on his computer, adding clips or screenshots
he could find of supposed lost TV episodes to give his videos some credibility; a very
necessary quality when trying to determine if certain things were real or not. Each video he finished, he’d add another
two topics to a list of ideas he kept, planning to just perpetually churn out content until
he eventually had a huge hit that went viral. Although the one thing he didn’t realize
until it was perhaps too late, was that social media success didn’t happen overnight. In fact, it didn’t happen over many, many
nights either. No matter how often Holden promoted his channel
on his social media profiles, or how many new videos he uploaded, he couldn’t seem
to get any to land well and get boosted in the algorithm. At least, that’s one of the things he attributed
the problem to; he pointed the finger of blame at anything that he could. One day it was that the algorithm was suppressing
his channel and boosting others who had already got more subscribers. The next it might be his slow internet connection
had led to one of his videos going live at a time when the site had low traffic. The one possibility that Holden didn’t stop
to consider was that maybe his genre of content was too niche, or that the days of the internet’s
interest in lost media had already peaked back when he was still in high school. Nevertheless, he kept trying, making content
day in and day out, working under the assumption that, if he just made enough videos, then
one day one was sure to blow up. That would be his big break, his ultimate
win, a video that did well enough to garner thousands, if not millions of views. But the more time he devoted to HellHolder98,
the only number that seemed to be at all increasing was the number of videos he had posted, each
one barely garnering view figures that were above a single digit. To make matters worse, getting help with growing
his online brand was next to impossible. Every now and then, he would post on forums
asking for advice, or if anyone wanted to collaborate so he could gain some exposure
from creators with bigger followings. Those posts were often met with a slew of
apathetic, snide responses, or comments telling Holden to just ‘make better content’ as
if that was solid, specific advice. On top of that, his mom had outright refused
to support her son’s chosen career path, citing his failure at school as the main reason. Speaking of, any friends Holden previously
had at school had all moved away in the years since, going off to pursue college and other
higher education, some were even starting their new and exciting professions. The old saying said ‘it’s lonely at the
top’, but Holden was just as lonely down at the bottom, posting his content in total
obscurity as if he was just shouting into an empty void, with no-one around to hear. The few people Holden did still consider his
friends were all as chronically online as he was, most of them fellow lost media collectors. After interacting with them in the comment
threads of various forums, the handful of like-minded guys were as close as Holden had
to people actively supporting his channel. The collectors would usually give him pointers
or topics to discuss in videos and contributing to the single digit view count underneath
his uploads. Although, to him, it wasn’t nearly enough;
he didn’t want just his friends to see his videos, he wanted an audience, a fanbase all
of his own. It was late, the light of the computer monitor
illuminated the dark of Holden’s bedroom. Hunched over his desk, he was clicking and
dragging clips into the timeline of a video project, trimming them down to make the whole
thing better paced, snipping out bad takes where he stumbled over his words or misspoke. It was while editing that Holden noticed another
screen lighting up on his desk, accompanied by a vibration; his phone. He reached for it, seeing a notification pop
up on the locked screen. It was from Goath, one of the lost media collectors
and it read: “Dude, urgent! Found something that you can make a video
on!” Holden sighed; it was late, and he was already
focused on editing this current video tonight. If he got it finished, then he could go to
sleep. “What do you know about the Deathly Video
Tape?” Goath asked in a second message, before Holden
even had a chance to open the first. “The what?” he replied bluntly, before
sending another text saying: “Can’t this wait until the morning? I’m trying to edit.” “If you don’t act fast, it’ll be gone
forever!” came the response only a second later, followed
by a link. Lethargically, Holden tapped the hyperlink
Goath had sent, his phone opening up its browser and displaying the webpage. It was a buy and sell website, one of those
places where people offloaded junk they didn’t want anymore to strangers for a bit of extra
cash. The page in question showed a few grainy photos
taken on a phone of a small, rectangular object in someone’s hand. “What is that?” Holden asked. “It’s a video tape, bonehead.” Goath fired back; although they’d never
met in person, Holden always got the sense his friend was a little older than he was. Looking back on the seller’s ad, it was
for a second-hand Sony Color Collection 60-90 min Mini DV video tape, a type of cassette
used in a lot of old handheld recording cameras. “So, what?” Holden asked in another text. “Look, there have been rumors for ages about
something called the Deathly Video Tape,” Goath replied in a series of rapid-fire messages. “It used to be all the rage on of a lot
of old lost media forums, the real nasty ones before they got shut down. Supposedly, there’s a recording on this
tape of some kind of live show. Except, when you put it in your VCR and press
play, you see something horrible. Nobody’s ever known if it’s real or just
a legend.” “How do you know this is the same tape?” Holden queried; by now, he had typed out the
same link on his computer, and was looking at the ‘for sale’ page on the bigger screen
while he texted back and forth with Goath. “Read the item description,” he answered. Holden’s eyes scanned down the page, finding
a short message from the seller. “To anyone interested, I am giving this
old Mini DV tape away. I don’t know where I got it, or why I watched
it, but I wish I hadn’t. It had ruined everything for me, it’s impossible
to enjoy anything else now that I’ve seen what’s on it. Let me make this clear, I am not selling this
tape; I am giving it away free of charge. I hope that getting rid of it will help.” “Sounds ominous,” Holden texted. “If you’re so sure it's this Deathly Video
Tape, then why don’t you get it.” “Keep reading,” Goath responded. Underneath the item description was another
note that the seller had written: “Please note, I am unable to leave my town
at present, nor can I mail this tape to anyone even if you pay postage. Collection only, if you are interested, please
contact me at the following address.” Below was an address; it was in Holden’s
hometown, only a few streets away from where he and his mom lived. “This could be it, dude,” came another
slew of messages from Goath. “You buy this tape and make a video reacting
to it, then you might finally go viral. But you better be quick, before someone goes
and picks it up thinking its just an ordinary tape.” Holden looked back at the address, double-checking
where it was. At most, it’d take a quick walk there and
back, he thought. And if this tape was as exclusive as Goath
said it was, then owning it would mean Holden would be the only one who could make a video
featuring it… After messaging the seller the night before,
Holden found himself rushing around through his quiet neighborhood to the address. All night, as he’d tried to sleep, he kept
thinking of the video he was going to make, how it could finally put him on the map and
at long last bring him the e-fame he’d been working towards. Rapping his knuckles against the front door,
he was met by an older man who stood on the other side. He was walking with a crutch, with a few bruises
and stitched-up cuts on his face. The second that Holden explained he was there
for the tape, the man reached to an unseen shelf just inside the doorframe and thrust
the rectangular cassette into his hands before shutting the door as quickly as he could without
it hitting Holden square in the face. He stared at the tape in his hands; through
its transparent green plastic case, he could see a hand-scrawled note:
“I know you’ll ignore me if I tell you not to watch this,” it read. “So, if you do, then on your own head be
it.” Having spent the rest of the day looking up
exactly what he’d need to play such an old, outmoded recording format, and convert the
footage to digital so he could include it in his video, Holden had retrieved his mom’s
old VHS player from the attic, wiping the thick layer of dust of it. It took a while for him to get everything
ready to go; not just finding the right adapters and cables to hook the VCR up to his TV, as
well as linking that to his computer, plus angling his camera right and making sure the
ring light he’d bought for filming was putting enough focus on his face. After the substantial prep, Holden took a
deep breath, summoning up the faux excitement and staged smile, before he hit the record
button on his camera. “What’s up guys, it’s HellHolder98 here! Now, today I’ve got a real treat for you
all. So, my friend Goath – shout out to him – told
me that a while ago there was a lot of talk about something called the Deathly Video Tape. We found a Mini DV that we think might be
that very same tape, so we’re gonna watch it and see if it’s legit!” Dropping his persona as his face turned away
from the camera, Holden punched the play button on the VHS player, his eyes as glued to the
TV screen as the camera’s lens was fixated on him. “Okay, nothing so far,” he observed, met
with nothing but a blank, black screen. Suddenly, after twelve seconds of nothing,
the playback started instantly, and Holden started relaying what he was seeing on the
tape to the camera. There was no sound, either because the recording
on the videotape was filmed that way, or Holden hadn’t properly figured out how to hook
up the VHS. The video itself showed a recording of Sesame
Street Live, and for the most part just seemed pretty underwhelming. Characters were up on stage, their puppeteers
managing to stay out of sight as they entertained their young audience. After two and a half minutes, Holden was starting
to feel like he’d gone to all this effort over what seemed to just be someone’s old,
unwanted home video. Just as he was considering turning off the
camera and throwing the videotape in the trash, at almost the three-minute mark, something
weird started happening on stage. The actor playing one of the bigger characters
seemed to be having some trouble, instantly trying to pull off his cumbersome costume,
much to the distress of the kids in the audience, looking on in horror. But it wasn’t just that the illusion had
been broken, the actor was trying to get out of his costume because he was choking. He dropped to his knees on stage, clawing
at his own throat before finally falling face-down. Totally still, asphyxiated… dead. Over the next almost twenty seconds, the same
thing started happening to another three of the characters on stage, all of them violently
choking while the children in the audience screamed and cried silently on the inaudible
tape. Then, at three and a half minutes, the video
cut out. Holden was unsure how to react, at first a
little creeped out, only to be somewhat bemused. He played it down for the camera, remarking
that the video seemed tame compared to some of the other more graphic, faked content he’d
seen. But the whole time, even after wrapping recording,
sitting awake all night to edit his reaction video, blurring out the parts that would break
terms of service, he had no idea if what he’d seen was actually real or not. Finishing the final edit just as the sun was
coming up, Holden hit upload and crawled into bed while his video was uploaded. The buzz of a text message from Goath awoke
him. “Dude, I told you this video was going to
make it big!” Without even replying, Holden booted up his
computer and opened the page for his newly uploaded video. The view count was already in the thousands
and climbing, comments pouring in underneath; mostly from people debating whether or not
the contents of the tape had been faked. Holden punched the air in excitement; he’d
finally done it. But as the video kept playing, he heard a
retching sound coming from the computer’s speakers. He turned to look back at his earlier self,
filmed only the night before. Except what he was seeing play out on screen
now wasn’t what he remembered happening last night, it couldn’t have… because
the Holden in the video was choking. That wasn’t possible, he was alive and watching
his own video right now, but somehow the footage was showing him dying, his airway blocked,
face turning red then blue as tears streamed down his cheeks. In the video, HellHolder98 fell down, dead
from asphyxiation… and watching it made Holden feel sick. To make matters worse, none of the comments
under the video seemed to have witnessed the same ending. Holden even texted Goath to ask if the same
thing had happened, but he described the ending exactly as Holden remembered filming it. But afterwards, it didn’t stop happening. Everything he watched ended the same, every
clip online, every TV show, every movie, Holden couldn’t even read a book without some character,
fictional or otherwise, keeling over and choking to death, just like the characters on the
tape. He barely had time to acknowledge the hits
his reaction to the Deathly Video Tape were getting. He was too busy trying to figure out why he
couldn’t stop seeing people dying the exact same way, even himself when he watched back
his old HellHolder98 videos. ‘Reacting to the Deathly Video Tape’ garnered
a respectable three million views, but HellHolder98 never uploaded again afterwards. His channel went silent, remembered only as
a one-hit wonder until the video, and the entire channel were taken down. Holden was never reported missing, the Foundation
made sure of that when they came by to collect SCP-583, and placed the video tape into containment… Now, if you’re still in the mood for some
lost media that you might not want to watch alone, then you should go and check out “SCP-1733
SEASON OPENER”. Or, if you like your TV gameshows to be a
little too real and a lot deadlier, why not grab the remote and hit play on “SCP-024
THE ANNOUNCER”.
