Why are creepy games always set in Washington
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Date: 2024-06-12
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Comments and reviews: 20
hourglasstwins
oh wow i actually just started watching twin peaks for the first time recently. very cool timing!
i’ve lived in a small washington town my whole life (southwestern washington specifically, but i’m honestly not sure if i’ve ever found it creepy. the points you made here helped me understand how it might be perceived that way and how it got that reputation, though. the part about colonists/settlers and the whole feeling of not belonging makes a lot of sense. and there were even a couple facts i didn’t know about, like i’ve been to one of those abandoned military sites before but i wasn’t aware of how common they are. or maybe i learned that at some point and just forgot lol
it always makes me happy to see washington portrayed in media or to hear people talking about aspects of it that i’m familiar with (logging trucks frequently driving past in twin peaks, certain types of terrain, etc) and for as much disdain i may have for my hometown as it currently is (i have to see a lot of trump flags driving through it lol, i do still really love the place as a whole: ]
one last remark, the stuff about seattle is so surreal to me. i’m not super familiar with it, but me and my mom have driven there occasionally to visit relatives since i was little. seeing more and more billboards and tall buildings pop up the closer we got was always exciting when i was younger. it’s hard to imagine how much it’s changed since then, especially since i haven’t been in the city proper in quite a while, just close to it.
okay i’m done rambling sdfghj
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oh wow i actually just started watching twin peaks for the first time recently. very cool timing!
i’ve lived in a small washington town my whole life (southwestern washington specifically, but i’m honestly not sure if i’ve ever found it creepy. the points you made here helped me understand how it might be perceived that way and how it got that reputation, though. the part about colonists/settlers and the whole feeling of not belonging makes a lot of sense. and there were even a couple facts i didn’t know about, like i’ve been to one of those abandoned military sites before but i wasn’t aware of how common they are. or maybe i learned that at some point and just forgot lol
it always makes me happy to see washington portrayed in media or to hear people talking about aspects of it that i’m familiar with (logging trucks frequently driving past in twin peaks, certain types of terrain, etc) and for as much disdain i may have for my hometown as it currently is (i have to see a lot of trump flags driving through it lol, i do still really love the place as a whole: ]
one last remark, the stuff about seattle is so surreal to me. i’m not super familiar with it, but me and my mom have driven there occasionally to visit relatives since i was little. seeing more and more billboards and tall buildings pop up the closer we got was always exciting when i was younger. it’s hard to imagine how much it’s changed since then, especially since i haven’t been in the city proper in quite a while, just close to it.
okay i’m done rambling sdfghj
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Kiyosuki
Yeah it really is mostly Twin Peaks. It can't be overstated how much of an impact that series has had on the modern media zeitgeist whether people realize it or not. Even in Japan the series had a wildly engrossed cult following, which influenced a generation of creatives of all sorts, and it shows in a variety of their media in both subtle and not so subtle ways.
Granted obviously it's not the only thing. As well as all the good reasons given in the video, I do think a big foundational reason is that the pacific northwest was one of the last parts of the united states that western colonialism reached so I think it's since had that feeling of being the most mysterious and out there area where even the law barely reached if at all. Even fast forwarding a bit, that at the edge spirit still lingers even in things like Seattle's music scene. I think that edge of civilization vibe combined with the natural landscape of beautiful but haunting deep forests has always made it a ripe setting for that sort of vibe. I have a theory that cold, foresty near northern coastal areas like that often give off that trippy liminal vibe to people, Maine on the other side of the country is often a setting for weird stories itself.
In the pacific northewest's case though, I do think much of it comes from Twin Peaks; but if you have a densely forested cold area in general it's just going to give off a mysterious vibe no matter what.
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Yeah it really is mostly Twin Peaks. It can't be overstated how much of an impact that series has had on the modern media zeitgeist whether people realize it or not. Even in Japan the series had a wildly engrossed cult following, which influenced a generation of creatives of all sorts, and it shows in a variety of their media in both subtle and not so subtle ways.
Granted obviously it's not the only thing. As well as all the good reasons given in the video, I do think a big foundational reason is that the pacific northwest was one of the last parts of the united states that western colonialism reached so I think it's since had that feeling of being the most mysterious and out there area where even the law barely reached if at all. Even fast forwarding a bit, that at the edge spirit still lingers even in things like Seattle's music scene. I think that edge of civilization vibe combined with the natural landscape of beautiful but haunting deep forests has always made it a ripe setting for that sort of vibe. I have a theory that cold, foresty near northern coastal areas like that often give off that trippy liminal vibe to people, Maine on the other side of the country is often a setting for weird stories itself.
In the pacific northewest's case though, I do think much of it comes from Twin Peaks; but if you have a densely forested cold area in general it's just going to give off a mysterious vibe no matter what.
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orangesilver8
I live in one of the towns Twin Peaks was filmed in! We went to the diner from the show for my mom's birthday. It's super crowded, you need a reservation to get in most of the time.
It's kind of funny that sign at the beginning said the population was 50, 000. That's more than double the combined population of all three towns they used in filming. That's not really a small town anymore.
That clip from The Killing is kind of funny, they said they had a lot of rain to make it feel like the Pacific Northwest but as someone from there, they got the rain wrong! It does not rain like that here! At least not that frequently. Total amount of rainfall in Seattle isn't that high, it's the frequency of very light rainfall that's really high. They show a scene where they're holding umbrellas, a lot of people never use umbrellas here. Because it makes more sense to just wear like a coat that can take light rain instead.
Oh I also live very close to a ghost town. My sister's been there. But we moved here recently I haven't had a chance to go to it yet.
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I live in one of the towns Twin Peaks was filmed in! We went to the diner from the show for my mom's birthday. It's super crowded, you need a reservation to get in most of the time.
It's kind of funny that sign at the beginning said the population was 50, 000. That's more than double the combined population of all three towns they used in filming. That's not really a small town anymore.
That clip from The Killing is kind of funny, they said they had a lot of rain to make it feel like the Pacific Northwest but as someone from there, they got the rain wrong! It does not rain like that here! At least not that frequently. Total amount of rainfall in Seattle isn't that high, it's the frequency of very light rainfall that's really high. They show a scene where they're holding umbrellas, a lot of people never use umbrellas here. Because it makes more sense to just wear like a coat that can take light rain instead.
Oh I also live very close to a ghost town. My sister's been there. But we moved here recently I haven't had a chance to go to it yet.
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zyaicob
It's fascinating how the PNW as a concept is so much the colonists' experience of the PNW. Fear of the unknown and a sense of not belonging That's unique to the colonial experience. Meeting a sense of unease and distance when it comes to newcomers Check. And as the last place the colonists would have gotten to geographically it's probably the place in North America with the most surviving anthropological ingigeneity, which uncaring colonists would probably just characterise as the supernatural anyway.
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It's fascinating how the PNW as a concept is so much the colonists' experience of the PNW. Fear of the unknown and a sense of not belonging That's unique to the colonial experience. Meeting a sense of unease and distance when it comes to newcomers Check. And as the last place the colonists would have gotten to geographically it's probably the place in North America with the most surviving anthropological ingigeneity, which uncaring colonists would probably just characterise as the supernatural anyway.
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loslomo
Lifelong Portlander here. I think that your commentary on the woods is pretty on point, I know I was definitely raised to respect them and all that they hold, but to not stray too far from the beaten path. Also, exploring the old forts and derelict towns/camps growing up was not something that I had specifically pinned as being a PNW thing, but it absolutely makes sense in retrospect. Also, good deflection about the weird stuff that goes on in those places, its better if the outsiders don't know.
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Lifelong Portlander here. I think that your commentary on the woods is pretty on point, I know I was definitely raised to respect them and all that they hold, but to not stray too far from the beaten path. Also, exploring the old forts and derelict towns/camps growing up was not something that I had specifically pinned as being a PNW thing, but it absolutely makes sense in retrospect. Also, good deflection about the weird stuff that goes on in those places, its better if the outsiders don't know.
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seratoxin3825
there's no trend there. you could make the same video about every location, especially in the u. s.
midwest, appalachia, northeast (especially with stephen king books and netflix shows like midnight mass) southwest (especially in comics like Immortal Hulk and that great Swamp Thing series by Ram V, both set in Arizona, and my personal favorite location for spooky media; the deep south (louisiana swamps, florida everglades, etc)
it's not a PNW thing. we just like spooky stuff.
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there's no trend there. you could make the same video about every location, especially in the u. s.
midwest, appalachia, northeast (especially with stephen king books and netflix shows like midnight mass) southwest (especially in comics like Immortal Hulk and that great Swamp Thing series by Ram V, both set in Arizona, and my personal favorite location for spooky media; the deep south (louisiana swamps, florida everglades, etc)
it's not a PNW thing. we just like spooky stuff.
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josepholiveira2873
20: 05 The article excerpted here hits at the thought that I had throughout the video: Oh, so the Pacific Northwest is the new Maine. New England was The Place for horror for decades, influenced by Lovecraft and Stephen King living in the place. The two regions have a lot in common: Dense spooky forests, large cosmopolitan cities with prestigious universities, a history of brutal colonialism that exacerbates the sense that the European immigrants don't belong here.
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20: 05 The article excerpted here hits at the thought that I had throughout the video: Oh, so the Pacific Northwest is the new Maine. New England was The Place for horror for decades, influenced by Lovecraft and Stephen King living in the place. The two regions have a lot in common: Dense spooky forests, large cosmopolitan cities with prestigious universities, a history of brutal colonialism that exacerbates the sense that the European immigrants don't belong here.
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gwelengu
It’s funny how the forests get this dangerous and creepy’ reputation from the media when it’s like the safest natural environment to be in in the country (at least near Seattle. Theres no poisonous spiders or snakes, and it’s a very mild climate with a Mediterranean pattern (short, but very dry summers. Bears, cougars etc are more near the mountains or very isolated areas but you’ll probably never see one near where people actually live.
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It’s funny how the forests get this dangerous and creepy’ reputation from the media when it’s like the safest natural environment to be in in the country (at least near Seattle. Theres no poisonous spiders or snakes, and it’s a very mild climate with a Mediterranean pattern (short, but very dry summers. Bears, cougars etc are more near the mountains or very isolated areas but you’ll probably never see one near where people actually live.
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i_am_Emmet
I hope that the indigenous representation become the norm in these games in the fallowing years, my school district just made taking a BC first people’s class mandatory for graduation, so hopefully more creatives my age and younger can make this happen. (Pro tip: if you ever go to Vancouver or the Vancouver area try and see some of Bill Reid’s works, the Spirit of Haida Gwaii, aka the jade canoe is one of my favourite statues ever)
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I hope that the indigenous representation become the norm in these games in the fallowing years, my school district just made taking a BC first people’s class mandatory for graduation, so hopefully more creatives my age and younger can make this happen. (Pro tip: if you ever go to Vancouver or the Vancouver area try and see some of Bill Reid’s works, the Spirit of Haida Gwaii, aka the jade canoe is one of my favourite statues ever)
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ScoutSilico
One of the big reasons is all of the forest rituals we do in boy scouts. We go around the community asking for donations of sins and fears. We take a lot of those written down out into the forest and we bury them for Sasquatch. The rest of them we burn and raise their embers into the air to travel into the hearts and minds of the rest of the world.
Nothing like exploring old island war bunkers tho
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One of the big reasons is all of the forest rituals we do in boy scouts. We go around the community asking for donations of sins and fears. We take a lot of those written down out into the forest and we bury them for Sasquatch. The rest of them we burn and raise their embers into the air to travel into the hearts and minds of the rest of the world.
Nothing like exploring old island war bunkers tho
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LeviJoslin
Holy crap! I took a media studies course from Professor Groening at UW back in 2015. It was an excellent course, and he is an excellent professor. So cool to see him pop up in this, and glad to see he's still teaching at UW. As a Seattle native since 2005 it's great to see some PNW love. And yes, big tech is ruining the vibe up here, so they can go away. But another great video from Simone!
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Holy crap! I took a media studies course from Professor Groening at UW back in 2015. It was an excellent course, and he is an excellent professor. So cool to see him pop up in this, and glad to see he's still teaching at UW. As a Seattle native since 2005 it's great to see some PNW love. And yes, big tech is ruining the vibe up here, so they can go away. But another great video from Simone!
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umusuuk
now if I want to get my cultural studies hat on (a carhartt beanie never once worn to do physical labor) part of the reason why the PNW has the spooky, cryptid reputation is becuase it was one of the lat US frontiers during the advent of mass media, and ethnography, so a lot of the stories from the isolated logging camps got published when creepypasta was called men's adventure magazines.
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now if I want to get my cultural studies hat on (a carhartt beanie never once worn to do physical labor) part of the reason why the PNW has the spooky, cryptid reputation is becuase it was one of the lat US frontiers during the advent of mass media, and ethnography, so a lot of the stories from the isolated logging camps got published when creepypasta was called men's adventure magazines.
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Pratchettgaiman
I remember a conversation I overheard years ago in a Borders in my Oregon hometown between two people who had moved there from Utah, wherein the more seasoned resident warned the newer one it’s great to live here, but when it gets overcast you’re gonna want to kill yourself. I think about that conversation whenever I hear people from elsewhere talk about the PNW
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I remember a conversation I overheard years ago in a Borders in my Oregon hometown between two people who had moved there from Utah, wherein the more seasoned resident warned the newer one it’s great to live here, but when it gets overcast you’re gonna want to kill yourself. I think about that conversation whenever I hear people from elsewhere talk about the PNW
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MantasticHams
As a lifelong Seattleite who has never travelled much, i took for granted how frequently you just run into a patch of woods, or at minimum a bunch of trees. most suburbs have trees all throughout their city center, and even in downtown you are rarely much more than a mile away from a trail leading through a few city blocks worth of woods, a large park, etc.
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As a lifelong Seattleite who has never travelled much, i took for granted how frequently you just run into a patch of woods, or at minimum a bunch of trees. most suburbs have trees all throughout their city center, and even in downtown you are rarely much more than a mile away from a trail leading through a few city blocks worth of woods, a large park, etc.
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MemeSupreme69
I visited the PNW for the first time recently and driving on the interstate felt a bit spooky. The forests grow right up to the edge of the road, making it feel like a path was carved through this gigantic, still living organism. The way the trees press up against the road makes you feel like at any moment the forest might decide to start carving back.
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I visited the PNW for the first time recently and driving on the interstate felt a bit spooky. The forests grow right up to the edge of the road, making it feel like a path was carved through this gigantic, still living organism. The way the trees press up against the road makes you feel like at any moment the forest might decide to start carving back.
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drewbrew444
Fun Fact: Washington holds the world's largest temperate rainforest (meaning outside of the Tropics. There are only like 7 scattered across the world. I think this is a big reason why supernatural stories get set there, it's a place where the growth seems unnatural and our monkey brains feel like danger could be hiding within an arm's reach of us.
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Fun Fact: Washington holds the world's largest temperate rainforest (meaning outside of the Tropics. There are only like 7 scattered across the world. I think this is a big reason why supernatural stories get set there, it's a place where the growth seems unnatural and our monkey brains feel like danger could be hiding within an arm's reach of us.
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normative
As a huge Twin Peaks fan who was just a hair too young to be into it during it’s original broadcast run & caught it during the Bravo reairings a few years later, it’s easy to forget that this utterly bizarre Lynch show wasn’t some cult phenomenon in its day, but a massive mainstream hit. Which still sort of blows my mind.
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As a huge Twin Peaks fan who was just a hair too young to be into it during it’s original broadcast run & caught it during the Bravo reairings a few years later, it’s easy to forget that this utterly bizarre Lynch show wasn’t some cult phenomenon in its day, but a massive mainstream hit. Which still sort of blows my mind.
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RileyZilla1001
If you counted season 3 of Twin Peaks you got 4 more squares on that bingo card: fog, mountains, water, and ghost towns (with how empty the town of TP is in season 3)
Tbh mountains and water should have been marked anyways with how iconic The Great Northern hotel is with its crashing waterfalls on the cliff side.
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If you counted season 3 of Twin Peaks you got 4 more squares on that bingo card: fog, mountains, water, and ghost towns (with how empty the town of TP is in season 3)
Tbh mountains and water should have been marked anyways with how iconic The Great Northern hotel is with its crashing waterfalls on the cliff side.
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btbesquire5
I live in Spokane, Washington (as i have for 45 years now. I have pondered the same. Washington is weird, but supernatural weird yet undecided.
EDIT: Holey hell, after finishing this video, this is such an awesome Washington deep dive, in movies and TV and Video games, now subbed to Polygon.
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I live in Spokane, Washington (as i have for 45 years now. I have pondered the same. Washington is weird, but supernatural weird yet undecided.
EDIT: Holey hell, after finishing this video, this is such an awesome Washington deep dive, in movies and TV and Video games, now subbed to Polygon.
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ellisartwist
The real answer is because the PNW was first settled(after the natives anyway) by americans from New England. They took the curses they got from building on top of indian burial grounds and then got cursed again by building their new homes on other indian burial grounds. Double the curse!
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The real answer is because the PNW was first settled(after the natives anyway) by americans from New England. They took the curses they got from building on top of indian burial grounds and then got cursed again by building their new homes on other indian burial grounds. Double the curse!
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