Several nights ago I spent several hours watching videos involving Valley View Mall, an abandoned mall in Dallas, TX. It has since turned into quite a rabbit hole.

The Oldest View, a DIY horror series on YouTube from teenage CGI whiz kid Kane Pixels, features an abandoned mall modeled on Valley View Mall. And a rolling giant.

I know the mall is modeled on a real place. I believe the giant is based on a real piece of public art.

Kane Pixels is about to have a movie out on A24 based on the Backrooms, a found footage series about an infinite maze of shabby hallways in an aging modern building. You end up there by “no clipping” out of reality.

The other was an urban explorer video by some guys who took an unauthorized tour of the mall shortly before it was torn down.

Naturally I had a nightmare. People either needed help or were out to get me, I had to run in slow motion down dark hallways and I had locked my keys and cellphone in the car.

Malls are an obvious setting for what they call Liminal Horror, creepypasta about the uncanny, places almost but don’t quite make sense. Familiar yet strange. Like empty places that were meant to have lots of people.

The Backrooms is already a cultural phenomenon on YouTube, with other creators expanding on Kane Pixels’ series. They’ve created lore and additional levels. There’s even a video game.

Really entertaining found footage horror series. Soon to be the subject of a movie on A24. Looking forward to seeing what this kid can do.

It seems appropriate that this type of storytelling is popular right now. I think it captures the uncanniness a lot of us feel right now.

Kinda like New Weird, the genre of fiction I’ve been attracted to recently, by the likes of Jeff Vandermeer, Jeff Noon and China Miéville. Stories that combine science fiction with other genres like horror  fantasy.