The Human Pet: YouTube's Oldest Dark Interactive Webseries

welcome back to knight mine friends and welcome for the first time to our new residence I'd like to thank you all immensely for bearing with me over the past say month and a half while the work was put in to make this place a reality I never feel good about taking time away from regular upload patterns to do anything because I always want to be a consistent presence in your lives but I knew at the beginning of the year that it was time our community had a proper gathering place and so after taking the time to become a self-taught carpenter interior designer electrician and one monster moving crew I was able to put together the very first night mind office a perfect place for conducting our new investigations oh I also learned how to break into buildings but let's not talk about that too much some very celebrated old mansions in New England are itching to find out who broke in and stole their wallpaper here you'll see of course we have our internet access and Technology workstation as well as our document storage resource materials and a few odds and ends you might recognize something on my bookshelf from a very specific time of the year that will be coming up again and quite soon on our right side we have my new and I do I mean very old and very fragile projector screen as well as some wall-mounted file cabinets this is where we're going to be conducting our work for any and all case file investigations from now on unless a case somehow involves a visit to the TOC arcade but wait if only one wellness room is dedicated to case files how about the others don't worry I need sugar to utilize the space provided here to suit our needs in the event of sudden happenings and ongoing investigations on our left we have the new space for cat's-eye with a few mementos at prior night my topics pinned to the side boards to remind us of lessons learned and Who am I kidding it's also fun to look at old memories right mug shots are my favorite kind of portrait as for the back wall well that is a little something special we'll get to later right now we have business to attend to I've kept you all waiting long enough to return to our normal activity it's been entirely too long since we've opened up one of our Case Files and to serve as an appropriate ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new gathering space I decided to pull out the oldest story I currently have on record after the Wyoming incident in November of 2006 YouTube had reached a point of peak popularity online in just a year and a half of operation the web site had already pulled in a viewership to gain the attention of Google YouTube's owners were approached by Google in October of 2006 negotiate a purchase which was finalized on November 13th to the price of about one point sixty five billion dollars the YouTube we know of today have just begun and that's why I find it very satisfying that YouTube's first full interactive horror webseries the human pad began just four days later he is here against his will the video title that grabs you immediately with the image of a man tied up gagged and laying on a bare mattress in an empty room it was again November of 2006 YouTube is brand new the concept of alternate Roundy games an immersive online storytelling with brand-new Nine Inch Nails Year Zero game hadn't even begun yet the dateline NBC segment to catch a predator had been running for two years informing viewers nationwide that the internet was fly more dangerous alone less and capable of real atrocities and they ever expected with only a few days of Google ownership before the advent of automated content tracking in less than two years of operation under its name YouTube really could have been hosting anything at all on the side and had no idea it was very possible that the horror depicted in certain videos could be horribly appallingly real a man in a mask holding another person captive in front of an audience online could it be legitimate crazier things had already happened thankfully alternate rounder game detectives back in the day who knew signs of a fictional experience had a foothold to support the assertion that the video was the start of a series for most of the runtime there is no audio but just as the masked kidnapper looks into the camera and distortion occurs we catch a message I think by now most of you will pick up on the sound of audio that's been played in Reverse this trick is even easier than binary code one trip to any number of programs lets us decipher what's being said actual serial killer or web series creator and say any form of vague threatening message that's been obscured by reverse playback or form of code usually gives the game away nobody out there actually thinks that they can top the Zodiac killer and as you'll see there's plenty more evidence of it being fiction where that came from on the same day in 2006 the next upload appeared you will see everything the message declaring pretty clearly that the kidnapper isn't just showing off a prize he's putting on a show for us including teasers of the action to come and now rounding out the uploads for November 17 2006 we received the third promise of the series viewer involvement my pet needs to eat help him the pet looks into the camera and asked if he can have something to eat begging for food while the kidnapper enjoys his dinner the pet speaks through him out loud in the room asking whether his kidnapper wants revenge or money or if he has a need to do this if he's crazy he can get help Grimm who get him pills his family will give him money anything he wants he just wants to eat and he wants to leave the kidnapper presents us with a message and we'll give my pet only one solid food from now on there's only one solid food that provides all the vitamins and minerals a human needs to survive get it right and he lives and just like that online viewers became players in a game of life or death early responders had a challenge to complete give the kidnapper the right answer to keep the pet fed on a diet that wouldn't slowly kill him and do it before somebody else gave the wrong answer but how would this work YouTube comments no it seemed there was a different outlet for interacting with the kidnapper listed in the About section for the channel along with information that sheds a bit of light on the situation my name is unimportant I am an artist I will never be caught but what I have done here will live forever for several months now I've been uploading videos of my human pet his name is Eric he is being held against his will that is all you need to know about him for now Eric would very much like to leave his prison cell and go home to his family but that is not up to me it is up to you you will decide whether Eric gets to see his family again you will decide whether Eric lives or dies this is my masterpiece and you will play by my rules code master yes art is a mystery to be unraveled a link is provided to a black spot page for the human pad where code master goes by another name Sam dear cot which is just an anagram for code master now something might be bugging you regarding the information we just went over through the About section Sam dear can't mention that he's been uploading for several months now but the videos begin on November 17th right here's the issue we don't know the exact timeline for every action involved in a human path it's unknown when the information in the amounts have on YouTube is posted and we don't really know at which point traction and series began because that bit I mentioned early about YouTube viewers not being able to figure out whether this was real or fake in 2006 really did hinder the project according to an article on the human pet giving a heads up to alternate reality game fans on November 8 2006 some of the links of the game have changed the videos we can see now appeared on the 17th but this article went up on the 8th and it seems from the writing that the videos had already been going up for a while by the time it was covered in 2006 what happens exactly for that we can take a look at the comments section on the article on November 12 ciara polar bear ro Sam dear calm posted this on his blog profile today YouTube deleted my account it looks like censorship is alive and well in America please be patient I'm looking for another option Sam dear Kyle had been posting before November 17th and some viewers blew the whistle suspecting he was legitimate as such he was deleted causing a reupload attempt that thankfully worked out and made it possible for us to conduct this investigation at all we can also use the blog where he made that post to our advantage and fixing the timeline to it seems that Sam was using the blog as his primary portal for record-keeping and spreading the videos outside of YouTube activity for the human pet actually began on October 4th 2006 with the announcement that all evil things must come to a beginning the following posts appeared to be the first video uploads embedded to the blog apparently we're missing the very first video but Sam picked up his reuploads with he is here against his will and you will see everything on October 12 and 14th the following upload secured almost weekly and it is Santa signed to see major activity took place around Halloween when viewers were issued the first challenge of making sure that Eric survives we also do have an extended blog post from Sandia con talking about the channel deletion to confirm what happens you got back up and running immediately with the version of the channel that's still around today hey and kept uploading in July of 2008 over a year and a half later what happens why is there such a major drop in upload activity if we check out the blog updates from December of 2006 and beyond we can see posts for every video that appears on the current Channel all taking place in relatively quick succession however the video links which do show up now appear to all be unavailable either YouTube's attack the human pet again where the videos have been set to private my guess is that Sam dear Khan had way too many issues with people taking the web series on face value viewers must have believed in its reality too strongly despite it being fiction and because of that Sam decided to edit the branding for the show at the beginning of previous uploads then re-upload them his video header doesn't exist for the first few uploads but you can find it on all the rest along with some content warnings every video description also includes the tagline an interactive fictional horror story directed by Sam dear Khan that's the best guess I can offer for why Sam went through the entire run of videos at his first pacing in 2006 and 2007 and then set them to private he needed to edit the videos with enough obvious tags about it being a webseries that he could get away with uploading them and then did so in 2008 I guess it stands as a testament to how far we've come along and being able to upload our storytelling without too much worry even though we still have challenges other types of channels don't necessarily face Sam was forced to rebrand his art but thankfully the art itself remains so now that we fixed the timeline let's get back into the story and see what happened with Eric the and Pat as stated earlier uploads on the existing channel began again in 2008 on July 25 starting with a video titled the answer Sam has seen approaching an altar with his mask nearby where he Nilsa preyas clips play of Eric waking up in his row he discovers a bag of cat food has been delivered and we see clips of Sam filming a black cat the illusion here is obvious the human Pat is still a Pat so he gets to eat pet food we're also given a clip that catches Erik going for a run I know where he's being filmed Sam is teasing us about the content of his next video stalking most of Sam deer counts videos feature orchestral music and choir singing in all of it is a very recognizable as is the case with this upload in which he plays the very dramatic piece o Fortuna we see him following Erik as he goes for a run each night when music climbing throughout the build-up of the song Sam doesn't wait long to catch his new pad he comes around just enough times to confirm the route Erik is going to take then hides in the trees and strikes as his victim passes just inside for the dramatic tension in o Fortuna to explode reaction cuts the cliffs of someone uncovering a woman's body buried in the woods and then at the climax of O Fortuna a line of mugshots with dates and letters attached ending with Erik and unfolding to reveal a full wall Sam tear cuts resume he's been stalking kidnapping and killing people since August of 1989 Erik is victim number 24 his story is only the first to go up online in Sam deer Cod's career it shouldn't surprise us really that deer Caan has been doing this for so long but the way it's presented the impact lands much harder than expected there's such a way of delivering this reveal that it creates goosebumps and makes your blood run a good deal colder we're not dealing with a first offender here this is a truly lethal incredibly sick person and they have been very successful in perfecting their methods over a period of 17 years we're not entirely hopeless in this situation there Sam's resume is intimidating enough to worry that we'll never free Erik the next video my pet needs your help to survive issues the next challenge reviewers who want to save Sam's captive again dear cat plays intense orchestral music that swells and pound where's he leads us to the next dehumanizing condition for his pet to endure in one week he's going to give Eric only filthy pond water to drink the audience must decide how he's going to filter and purify the water and they can choose only one in common household item the bar has been raised Eric may have been able to survive on one type of solid fruit of the audience I got it wrong for a while before dying of malnutrition but if he fails to clean the water he'll suffer the effects within hours and die so much faster as he was waiting for the results of their voting Sam presented news from the world outside Eric's cage his father Michael Taylor set up a website to find Eric in films himself asking for help in the search for his son he's also aware of the YouTube channel the human Pat and knows they need to work with the rules set up by Sam dear Khan if they want Eric to live this doesn't prevent him from asking Sam directly to stop the game and release his son Sam naturally will not comply he moves ahead with the next video a human life in your hands in which Eric is given his first delivery of pond water he doesn't know what to do with it but can't drink it Eric despairs on the bed until Sam lets us know that it's time to see the effects of the audience input now Eric lives or dies based on your decision we've had a sense of Sam t-accounts attitude about this whole affair right along but now get to see just how much of a joke he's willing to make this next as he shows up in a Santa outfit and a gift while the carol of the bells plays he leaves Eric with the present which unwrapped reveals a bottle of bleach the audience member who won the decision for this gift was allowed to leave Eric a message providing instructions for him on how to use the bleach he follows the instructions taking off his shirt to use as a filter so he can remove solid items from the pond water then it's up to him to guess just how much bleach he's putting in the water and how long he's letting it set he has no watch no way to count the time this is educated guesswork at best and if he dies now it may be his own fault but it seems the gift paid off Eric isn't shown to be dead or suffering at the act and there aren't any messages of the audience's failure to save him instead we have Eric looking at the camera and asking why are you torturing me like this we're showing footage of Sam breaking into Eric's home and going to the kitchen at night followed by a surveillance video of air walking to the fridge on the phone you tell someone relax nobody knows about this sand delivers the final word in this video I know there is indeed a reason that Eric is here his suffering does not appear to be the result of random chance Sam has a secret he wants to tell us and bit by bit through new channels set up by Sam to deliver the videos we do find out it's unclear how the following video is originally made it to the audience during the active run of the series I can't find evidence of distribution on Sam deer hunts blog so I can only assume he provided links to lucky commenters he got in contact with or use the old video response system that YouTube used to have it's just lucky that they can be found on YouTube at altar associated videos Eric's face is so clearly centered in the video thumbnails that you can't miss it when they appear in the sidebar Sam deer conclaves this is just one of many interesting things found on Eric's computer so we're given proper context for what we're about to see in total there are seven videos recorded for the benefit of somebody Eric knows and as he talks we get to know his story and gain a sense of why Sam might be keeping him captive we don't need to watch the entirety of these vlogs just the relevant portions I'll go ahead and provide a run through for you all now [Music] today is February 2nd 2006 my day consisted of filing King coffee for someone finally some more photocopy stalking office supplies and using basic math math that I studied in third grade and the thing is I'm not out here for any of that but the auditions are not really doing it anywhere right now I have just about no friends out here and the friends I do have I feel like are trying to use me for something because that's the theme with everybody out here and since I have very little to offer I imagine these friendships are not going to last too long my parents aren't talking to me my dad hasn't called me back in about two weeks he's mad at me of course because I'm out here pursuing my dreams my mom hasn't talked to me either because she has what my dad says and it's can be kind of lonely I'd be honest with you I'm reading a book called the power of positive thinking and that's me now I must stay positive because I know that I'm out here for a reason I'm pursuing my dream and I'm gonna look back on this in like a year or two and I'm gonna laugh about it cuz it's gonna be funny cuz I know this business is all about perseverance and there's nobody more persistent than me today is March 29th 2006 and I am in a very good mood today so you remember how I was talking about that audition for that independent horror film that I found Craigslist and I've been going to callbacks and blah blah well I got the part yes I know we're smiling all right I'll see let me break it down for you so I had to go in I have a really small part like that big but it's cool because it's my first you know actual speaking role in a film that's gonna get distributed and shown it possibly a film festival this director he's apparently done some other independent work he's very mysterious in fact I've never even met the guy which is really weird I met a couple of his assistant directors and they were really nice and you know I get to play a victim so I get which is gonna be a lot of fun I'm excited about it today is April 15th 2006 and this marks my second week now of being on set rehearsing for this independent horror film and I have to be honest with you I love it this is exactly what I wanted to do and I just love everything about it I love being on set I love the cameras on me I love rehearsing the lines I love having the crew around like the whole atmosphere is just I mean this is what I came out here to do I'm finally doing what I've wanted to do oh and today even though I still haven't met this director his wife showed up on set she has some free time or something but this woman is gorgeous I mean like a perfect 10 and so of course I started talking to her really nice conversation and she says that she's looking for a basin for a son and I told him you know I like about that big I said yeah I've done babysitting before I've had little babies and experience back in Chicago and you know I love kids but anyway I start next Saturday she said okay so I'll get over your house probably get to meet this director since he can't really avoid me if I'm at his house make a little extra cash and the best part is I'll get to see his gorgeous wife her name was Sue she said call me sue I said call me Eric um anyway I'll get to see her and yeah not too bad for a day's work if I could say that I've been enjoying the last few days can't August 26 2006 and today I had my second interrogation and this whole thing has been like a nightmare that I can't wake up from even though I keep trying to suit has just been a wreck I've been wreck and I don't know doesn't even want to talk anyone put this wall up it's just been a very difficult couple of days you know we had the funeral just a couple days ago and that was I was pretty bad but there's still no word back out of anything I don't know I don't know what's gonna happen I'm just trying to be there for him today is September 28th 2006 and today I called su again shake it back to me all I can think about is her I feel like I'm just completely empty inside I just I've just really depressed the last couple days and I haven't really left my room I kind of feel like she blames me for what happened even though she never admitted I'm not a person who gives up on things I'm not gonna give up today is October 10th 2006 today's the day I take action my hand is been forced and so today I and then after that maybe after that I have to go away for a while can't wait any longer [Music] I'm nervous [Music] I know I have to go after today everything will be done but you tenancy from these vlogs is the major portion of something I'm sure most of you already picked up on that's a very powerful Eric's humanity if you'll allow me to stop the run for just a moment to Marvel out the machinery that makes it run I'd like to point out that the human pet did something that's difficult to get right and is highly admirable for any form of storytelling each new addition generates more intrigue and overall emotional investment we're being hooked on mental and emotional levels through the inclusion of these personal vlogs by Eric seeing who he is as a person getting to know him at his most unguarded coming to like him and understand the situation he was in before he was captured we also get to see some of what he was wrapped up and that may have led to him being targeted by Sam Farrakhan I think you can all read between the lines for what Eric had going on but in case you didn't catch it all let's recap quickly Eric Taylor is a young man who moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of being an actor he's been working temporary jobs like most pursuing actors while trying to pick up auditions and get roles he did manage to get one too on the set of an independent horror movie run by a mysterious director someone that nobody ever really meets you know who Eric did manage to meet though and directors beautiful wife who seemed like she didn't get to see much of her husband either and invited a younger more approachable male presence to come around and babysit for her it's very clear what happened as a result see when I work out together behind the directors back and somewhere along the line of the affair things fell apart somebody died she was emotionally crippled and Eric can no longer get in touch with her he's also been interrogated twice in regards to the event that threw Sue's world into a tailspin but whatever happened left Eric with a need to act on her behalf even if that meant going away for a while and then he was captured by Sam dear Khan who made it clear he knew what Erika Donner was planning to do so we have an affair and we have the darkest implication for what can happen involving an affair murder maybe the funeral was for the director maybe the funeral was for the son Eric was apparently supposed to babysit after all Eric says he believes sue blames him for what happened but no matter who's dead Eric still feels the need to do something that's going to be quite possibly morally and legally wrong secrets secret secrets Sam dear [ __ ] knows how to tease as well and of course Sam knows that too which is why he just keeps on rolling with his next load still life-and-death featuring some video editing feeds he would have seldom seen in 2007 we began with Sam presenting an apple on the table and a note that changes throughout the video to convey new messages starting with a reply to Michael Taylor Eric's father Sam cannot honor Michaels request the release Eric he is an artist an artist he reminds us with a long career and he will not compromise his artistic integrity he will not sell out either he has a story that must be told involving Eric involving his viewers involving love death and beat Rahill and here we see a woman seated on account with Eric in a talk room Sam tells Michael that if he wants to see his son alive again he must call off the investigation and play along the only way this can end well for Eric is his way viewers too must follow Sam's ways all actions have consequences including the audience's it's then that Sam decides to demonstrate some of his skill as an artist in the literal sense using paper crafts that show off a time-lapse animation the seat planted spreads its roots and then grows tall and lush eventually bearing fruit and bringing a man a woman and a snake beneath it Sam t-account leaves us with a message a code in a Bible reference relating to the book of John the passage 8:32 reads then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free as for what the code itself says it means at the right time and this was only salt when a user on the unfitting forms threat ran it through a monoalphabetic substitution sulfur dozens of times a lot of the codes have been sold using what's known as a rotation cipher to the thirteenth degree others have been sold to using backwards alphabet matchups some of them have involved more complex methods by me it all boils down to what has so far been the leading result of coded messages in almost every web series ever cryptic statements at either promise to reveal secrets in the future leads to external characters or websites that would show up later on their own anyway to further the plot or messages of doom to enhance the scare factor I'm afraid that as good as the human pedos this web series does not break the pattern of using codes as a gimmick there is nothing hidden in anybody's codes that hasn't revealed to as a later we seem to be planned for an eventual reveal so much of the coded messages tell us things we already now suspect or find out within two videos or is just some kind of statement about Sam's entire idea about the situation and his power and it's exactly what you suspect of this kind of thing but on the same note Sam is doing exactly what should be done for a web series of this nature locking crucial information behind an arbitrary code when the main plotline is being told in linear visual storytelling is a misstep and the human pet is making sure to avoid it we might be a little bit sick of the code gimmick today but I will admit that in 2006 in 2007 it was definitely new enough to be cool and get people interested now it's easy to see that all the code breaking done during the game's life run resulted in nothing really my point is don't worry about missing out on any of these codes I've looked at the results of all the code breaking myself and there's nothing in them that gets in the way of continuing this story by not finding out what they meant anything they have to tell you we get anyway through videos so speaking of continuing the story through videos let's see where Sam picked up from the art display he made for us all those years ago it seems he went on a bit of a creativity streak while Eric languish in captivity Sam decided to take a video from the find Eric Taylor YouTube channel where family members were uploading pleas for his release and remix it adding his own fun spin to something he must have felt was very boring this is definitely more of the hateful prankster attitude we saw him what he put on the sandtown fret showing how much he's actually enjoying what he's doing but Sam is to a degree a fair sort of serial killer providing viewers with a chance to engage as an audience after having his fun viewers would be allowed to ask Eric three questions which he would have to answer the next two videos on the channel appear to be uploading out of order the sequence shows YouTube sins confessed followed by ghosts caught on tape but it's the second video in which Sam requests that viewers Kalimantan numbers apply the recoat to confess their sins before doing that however he shows us Jess ante plea he was stalking Eric before capturing his human pad Sam had installed cameras in every room of Eric's apartment and a shun of the living room reveals this is where we saw man and woman together in talk lighting we can assume this to have been Eric and Sue as we hear Eric leave a voicemail for her while seated on the couch we also have shots of Eric at his computer desk which looks a lot like the surface that Sam used for his video still life and death as well as the picture frames on that desk it's made easier to assume that Sam has been using Eric's stuff when we see him enter after Eric leaves for his nightly Ron room-by-room he takes down the cameras ready to collect the footage and prepare for the capture of his victim it's after this that viewers receive Sam's message to confess their sins in exchange for his own in the following video choir music plays over religious imagery as Sam allows voicemails from ascending audience members to be heard confessions range from coveting thy neighbor's goods to having an affair assisting in an affair and even committing incest most of the confessions in fact have to do with an affair Sam is clearly highlighting a fee at the end of the video we see a field of fresh graves with Sam's message God forgive me for I have sinned further affirmation of his long history of murder the next video too appears titled Kimberly Miller Bears Hall in which Kim the older sister of Iraq fights the viewpoint being expressed by Sam in his videos to her Eric is not willing participant in breaking up a marriage but somebody who witnessed the modern reproduction of a broken home situation that he himself grew up in with a depressed mother spiraling into alcoholism and an abusive absent father figure being a kind-hearted and empathetic person deeply affected by such a scene Eric Kimberly explains would have felt deep emotional needs to be involved and most likely got caught up in Sue's desires to feel loved again this video originally comes from the find Eric Taylor YouTube channel like the videos before it said in which Sam dear cop marked family members of Eric's once again he takes the opportunity to edit the video for his own purposes inserting surveillance footage that reveals Sam wasn't just recording Eric he was recording sue as well catching both of them having the affair in Eric's apartment and Sue's home and to top it all off really driving the knife deep into Kim's testimony Sam presents us with footage of Eric digging in a field at night presumably he was just finishing up taking care of whatever action he felt it was time to take during his final vlog or whatever caused the funeral that took place much earlier the next video is a bit of an odd one but easily explained in the aftermath of study by viewers at the time it's a reload by Sam deer cut up another man's video Tom D Caesar claiming not to listen to him because he specialized and had been attempting to mislead his viewers the video recounts the events of the character Tom DC's are interfering with the human peg game off of YouTube working with viewers on the unfit informs to catch salmon trying to prevent them from putting the life of one of their own in danger he goes on about how he needs to be trusted more by viewers because he used to be in a worldwide secret organization with Sam and is the only one who knows his tricks and therefore the only one who can outsmart him and save Eric does this sound like a terrible plot twist to you from this stock catch keep and murder serial killer story I'm not surprised and you should trust that feeling viewers put together quickly that Tom T Caesar was just an anagram for a Sam two air con which is again an anagram for a code master and Sam would never put up a video like this brutal on exposure to an enemy that knew his secrets if he actually did have an enemy this was reminds me yet another one of Sam's hateful prankster moments this time in the form of a long con Udrih players in early play them all the way through and then gave the hint in this video that if they kept following Tom D Caesar they'd find only misery because there was no Tom D Caesar only Sam dear God the next couple of videos give us what we've all really been after in a way mommy's affair : hidden camera is exactly what it sounds like showing footage of Eric and Sue's romancing to come with old home video shot by the director with his previously faithful wife there are even moments of voicemails left by Eric begging for sue to talk to him playing over clips of her emotional decline while accompanied by a sad piano heavy song in the end we have a long very well Shawn zoom out sequence through photo frames up Tablo is created by Sam punctuating moments of history between Eric and Sue and then completing the saga of Eric we have the upload dirty secrets revealed our human pet having suffered for so long in captivity is forced on camera by Sam to show off his long overgrown hair and beard and then spill his guts to those whose questions were accepted by the codemaster longtime followers of the human peg got their chance to speak to Eric here in video forum prompting him to confess what he was able Eric provided details of his relationship with Sue and her failing marriage doing his best to skirt the issue of his part in helping it dissolve at the end one interesting bit of information comes to light up and when Eric says he tried to help her but she made it so that no one could help her all of this is said as a clip of a bloody shirt is thrown into a hall here we have our first hint that Sue and not Eric may have been responsible for the death of the director Eric might have just helped her cover a table had Eric actually been planning to confess to the crime at the end of his vlogs was this the reason he felt he was going to go away for a while it's very possible the second question asks of Eric deals with Sue's son Russell where Kim told us about Eric's nature in his past seemed to ring true here as eric is obviously moved while recounting the decline of Russell's emotional well-being during his parents impending divorce the third question brings up the issue of Eric's father Michael claiming that contact with him was sporadic over the last few months before his kidnapping Eric explains that he was just a chaotic time with the sudden movement from working terrible part-time jobs to suddenly being cast at a film and then of course his involvement with Sue it's during a montage of all these moments out another secret is revealed that sheds light on the conflicts in the narrative not from Eric but from Sam dear Khan remember the cameras installed in Sue's house well she found one one of many so many cameras in fact that one even found its way catching a dinner meeting between sue and Eric from a table behind them Sam dear cut was there for the entire event the whole sordid history from beginning to end caught on film and he was there to take the footage in somewhere along the line sue found out she discovered she was being spied on and there was only one thing she could have been doing that someone would want to catch her involved in this explains a lot express my co in a conversation with Eric Conn on tape you don't realize how bad this situation has become I don't feel safe with my son in our house somebody who catches their spouse cheating with undeniable video proven then filed for divorce on claims the cheater is the only one who broke eval wins in court very easily and a director with prestige money and influence would want to protect everything that was his when the marriage began and throughout its duration that director had everything to gain by filing for a divorce with proof that sue cheated in their own home no less sue however had everything to lose especially custody of her son as video evidence of her drinking and cheating could paint her as a mother unfit to be the primary caregiver she was immediately forced into a corner and she knew it the moment she spotted that camera sue knew how badly she'd been caught and what it meant she was caught Erik was caught and if she want to stop this before everything broke down it was only one way to do it only one way to defeat a man who was so heavily opted against her and ready to go to court and who else would help her pull off the ultimate solution besides her lover who helped create the situation in the first place of course Eric would help cover up the murder he would do anything for her wouldn't he especially when he saw the shadow of his own abusive an absentee father in the director and his poor poor mother and Sue Kim's testimony was meant to help but Sam dear contnue exactly how much it would seal Eric's fate once he showed us what Sue's part in this wants at the end of the video we're told by Sam that if we want to know the rest of what happened we would need to join his story and it's at this point that things we can to get simultaneously even better and worse on July 26 2008 Sam uploads what he refers to as the start of phase 2 apparently we now get to explore the doubts of his resume as shown also much earlier in the timeline all those pictures on the wall all those mug shots Sam has evidence that show us from each and every victim and now he's going to give us a free space I'm clearing the board his last job just before finding Eric Taylor driving around the city at night Sam comes across a woman on a sidewalk performing exactly the type of service you'd expect from somebody lingering on a sidewalk like this so late at night in a major city she approaches the window offers her services and then shows recognition of Sam it's an instant moment of delight as she realized while his face is familiar they share history some period in time long ago back from before her journey to the sidewalks and alleyways of Los Angeles Sam drops around as she recounts her tale the story of a struggling singer and guitarist with big dreams who came chasing her passion like Eric Taylor she worked on jobs and didn't quite fit into any of them and like we saw with Eric Taylor Sam dear Khan has footage of these moments that lets us know he's witnessed the story firsthand he doesn't need to be told this woman's journey he recorded it all himself he was there the entire time roughing it in the neighborhoods of LA she was found by some other street bound musicians who sympathized picked her up and included her in sidewalk performances they found friends to stay with vices too indulgent and eventually romantic partners with places to call their own she fell in with a local guy who ended up getting her into the gig she's working now and she said that while the money was great it wasn't enough to crush the sense of shame that came with it her place in the city was with a guitar not in a bedroom wearing an outfit made for only one purpose she didn't want to be that kind of working girl anymore her boyfriend wouldn't accept it and she was thrown out on the street Sam of course had footage of this moment too at this point there was only one thing she could do to make money and it was what she'd been thrown out for refusing but on her own facing homelessness once again she did what she felt was necessary and that brought her to a meeting with Sam dear Khan while working her night shift and you can all guess what happened from here although Sam is still nice enough to give us the end of the story in just a few simple bits of footage [Music] [Music] and now for the moment in which this webseries finishes fulfilling every last check mark of a major night mine case file and when the good mixes with the bad at their highest points on October 15 2008 Sam dear Khan uploaded this video takes you to hell and begin with a bit of background information to prepare us for what we were about to see on July 26 2008 a group of the human pet viewers began a treasure hunt that would lead them across the country from Chicago to New York to Los Angeles your final destination would require them to ziggo something horrible that I had buried something that revealed a secret from my past and took them literally to hell this is what they found my name is Scott I'm a youth pastor from st. Louis Missouri for nearly the last two Peters myself and several others have been following the story of one mr. Sam deer taught also known as the master recently as we followed his trail and it showed three locations there discovered a flyer for a long cat at a puzzle which one of our fellow viewers Nicole was able to decipher a viewer nicknamed Splosion dug up what was buried in the Los Angeles wilderness what follows are his words and images we went up to the gap in the fence and found a tree and there was a pile of turn which I sifted through and uncovered a box what to our wandering eyes should appear things that give more questions a silver earring with backing a leopard pump with a rose but in the toe part of a Polaroid with a woman on it in the CD which had a video it's here that Sam wants us about the contents of the video claiming it will take us to hell if we watch it and in a way it did if you were an avid viewer of a human pet series when it was running what follows is supposed to be a video recorded on March 22nd 1986 my doctor Henry Reid a child psychologist in Los Angeles who was on his way to a crime scene the police have requested his presence to help deal with the child found in the home of a couple who has been murdered the child has been reported to be more than just traumatized by the death of who seemed to be his parents or caregivers he was traumatized by the lack of care they actually gave having been found in a room with a bare mattress a broken TV set a litter box and two tog food bowls he is suspected as the culprit in the double homicide the setup here for the doctor and his visit is somewhat believable but not entirely convincing it's a very nice touch to have footage of the crime scene with two officers posted who can be seen an incredible 'ti to the performance but when dr. Henry Reid begins to approach a child's bedroom and hears a voice singing London Bridge is falling down so does our power to stay on board with a story being presented by Sam dear Khan we walk with dr. Reid directly into the cliche horror movie situation of the creepy child sitting in a dark room singing a nursery rhyme they're backed into us only to whip around and cause a jump scare as he attacks the doctor at the last second and it is followed of course by evil childish laughter this is all capped off by a shot of Sam dear Conan his mask with red Tex proclaiming what the world once abandoned has now come back to haunt you and then it ends like that and there's been no activity from the human pet series ever since it ended on a forced cliche horror situation filled with Trump's and the last one was the laughter of an evil child who was singing nursery rhymes with his back turned in a dark room I don't know what happens I don't know how we could go from such a meteoric high of getting viewers to actually go outside and take up trophies from one of Sam's victims to some of the worst cliches you'll ever find in bad indie horror games in a single video all the way up a human pet was doing a spectacular job in making things more interesting really actually on shiny projects I've seen produce in 2017 as far as back as 10 to 11 years ago when this entire field was new and just gaining experience I've been impressed by a web series from 2007 more than some of the stuff that I've seen lately and I've been engaged and inspired and all of a sudden right at the end immediately after making an awesome new milestone the series just bricks its own neck [Music] I'm not sure this has ever happened with something I've covered before I can't think of a good example I've seen a good amount of great things suddenly stop and go cold where the momentum disappears for a bit but I've never seen such an immediate crash and burn this doesn't feel like part of the human pad the way the quality just took a nosedive it's almost like I witnessed a murder it had everything going for it all along we were about to open an exciting new chapter and he fell to pieces like that it said the say that the human pen really does appear to have died right then and there too this truly is a case filed in the cell of the Wyoming incident older than 10 years so much going for it back when it was alive and then the trail goes cold with the Wyoming incident there was definite room for a big return and we actually saw it happen that game is now technically a still active but this I don't even know how you could come back from this as a creator I've enjoyed the run so much this far that I feel as if I can maybe overlook this moment if Sam dear con did reappear to pick up his storytelling I want to know more I want to experience more shock and awe and horror from his long sordid career of evil and Eric well I think it's clear now that Eric never actually made it and as much as Sam wanted us to find out the whole truth of that story it won't be told now there's a lot you can say about this project most of it is good once you get over the shock of the ending that crash is the series or something that came out before this field even really took root this is an awesome achievement and a true undiscovered gem I just kept seeing things to be impressed about as I went through the history of the human pad and even with the unnecessary code-breaking side work this was a great online storytelling experience that really took hold as an alternate reality game at the end or was about to anyhow we didn't just get to see some maniac online capture a man and torture him for show we got to witness the humanity of the captive know his story know his struggle spend time with him in a personal space and then see the talk sign that led Sam dear Khan to pull him into a cage secrets being revealed felt rewarding and made me hungry for more storytelling on the side of both Eric and Sam and then we find that Sue may have been responsible for the actual murder that's how you keep rewarding your viewers when it comes to spilling secrets this is quite an interesting case to study in a bit of a marvel to behold I wish it had left on a stronger note but for what it gave I am grateful this was a special discovery and quite an effort especially all the way back during the dawn of YouTube and I'm glad to have found it I'm even more grateful than enough for this project was preserved that I could show it to you that website find Eric Taylor calm was real by the way the internet wayback machine confirms that it does have records of the site unfortunately all the links and images are broken so we don't even really know what it looked like you've got to applaud that kind of effort now going to the lengths of creating so many channel when making a site establishing a phone number for viewers to call and the sheer work put into the videos alone if nothing else am dear Khan is quite the video graphics artist for 2006 and 2007 pulling out some techniques we didn't really see put into use for years and some of his practical editing and setup is to be applauded for sure a disappointment at the very last second but a star all the way up to that tragic end a human pet is certainly one for the records I think this was the best way to kicks out activity in our new office but now it's time to wrap up and head home the Sun will be up soon and it's best to be in pen before that happens Excel of you for coming by and thanks especially to my supporters on patreon who made it possible to construct the night mind office in the first place being able to dedicate the time necessary to learn the appropriate skills go through the training and just make this happen at all was only possible because of patreon support and I'm extremely grateful keep an eye open on your way out to see the names of all these awesome creatures of the night I do hope you enjoy the memorabilia pieces on the wall here as you leave I felt that a space for the night my community should have some fun reminders of past investigations and if you're not familiar with some of these take a look in the comment section I'm sure a few viewers will know precisely when all these items are from and which videos will let you experience the Associated journeys and that's it for now everyone thanks for joining me the doc again this evening and from meeting me in our new space once more I'm Nick Nocturne and just like a case of totally unnecessary secret codes I'll be back again real soon sleep tight [Music]

Channel: Night Mind

Views: 1,673,837

Keywords: night mind, the human pet, webseries, codemaster, sam deercot, nick nocturne

Id: vjyC8TqYCgA

Length: 51min 56sec (3116 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 18 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/lumpyspacejams]

He sounds so disgusted by the last video in the series, it actually kind of loops around to being sort of funny again.

[u/_Waves_]

I remember tuning in to this back when. Watched the "Interview" video, thinking how fake the wig/beard looked. Interesting to see this ended up just basically disintegrating after a huge cliffhanger. Shame, really.

[u/astrangeone88]

Maybe the guys in charge of the ARG were sick of doing it. If there was a way to fix it? Leave the ending ambiguous...with Dr. Reed dropping the camera, and running or something.

Have the viewers find Dr. Reed's information (he survives the incident, but goes into hiding to save himself from the bad guy), reveal more about Scott and possibly reveal demonic/evil forces working through him (Maybe Dr. Reed worked with young Scott and we find out that he has delusions of grandeur or some such). Pan out with to see Dr. Reed being on the "mug shot wall"/resume. Maybe have Eric have an escape attempt go wrong and Scott losing it....(because it was all about control in Scott's case).

The series seems interesting, but the ending just smacks of the creators getting tired of the idea...

Edit: I just realized why the "found footage" segment bothered me on another level. Dr. Reed was called to an active crime scene involving double murder and the child in question was a suspect in the parent's murder. Wouldn't the cops have a hold of the kid? They won't be chatting outside the house normally. I mean, he's a suspect and that's an active crime scene. No way the cops are going to call for a doctor without clearing the house (maybe he wasn't working alone?), and send the doctor into the house to be jumped by a possibly agitated and murderous kid?

I mean, if you want to fix the series ending and keep the cliche creepy child laughter, make it obvious that Dr. Reed's version the events don't match. Hell, have the cops have differing audio logs/transcripts of the events, and have Dr. Reed attempt to figure what exactly what was with the child Scott. And then these events might lead to why Scott is obsessing with videotaping events....

[u/CausticTV]

OH HELL YEAH

[u/PaulmUnser]

I enjoyed nick’s analysis of this and to have it end like that seems like a massive let down even for standards back then

[u/[deleted]]

I really enjoyed this one

[u/SonOfGoadmaster]

Eric is fucking hot