B Movies Blog

Hello, Movie Mavens! Welcome back to the B Movies Blog. Today, we’re popping MISTER MANTICORE’s The Monument Mythos into the ol’ VCR. 

I briefly covered The Monument Mythos last year in a piece over on Hyperreal Film Club to celebrate it being halfway to Halloween. However, I definitely think it deserves its own piece. 

Now, friends, I don’t know how exactly to categorize this series. Analog horror doesn’t quite fit, and it isn’t an ARG either. Unfiction doesn’t give the series enough credit. The best description I have is a PBS from an alternate reality mixed with Lovecraftian influences. 

If you aren’t familiar with this particular work, The Monument Mythos is rooted in the idea that James Dean was the 37th President of the United States. Unfortunately, Mr. Dean isn’t the good-looking, smooth-talking gentleman he appears to be. 

Guys, I don’t think that nature is healing. 

In his tale, MISTER MANTICORE presents a split reality in which children from our reality were swapped with versions of themselves from a different reality. The reality presented in The Monument Mythos has ghoulish, monster-esque creatures living beneath our national monuments, including The Lincoln Memorial. 

Additionally, the US government is hiding some big secrets, including mass murder (it’s a stretch, I know) to appease higher powers and greater entities. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen tentacles thrusting out of national monuments, I tell you what. 

The Monument Mythos has some fascinating twists and turns, and plays around with the ideas of wormholes, alternate realities, and collapsed timelines through various media outlets. At times, it truly feels as though you’re watching a documentary. Ken Burns, eat your heart out. 

It looks like Lady Liberty got a little lost in the sauce. 

I think The Monument Mythos is interesting to me because it’s not like anything I’ve ever seen. We all know I’m an analog horror girlie, but this is something entirely different. It’s an alternate reality series for people who are interested in both horror and history. It’s also a wonderful rabbit hole to jump down on a Sunday afternoon like I did (if you’re also a video essay/analysis video girlie like me, Wendigoon does a great deep dive on the series). 

The Monument Mythos is something special. Not only is the story incredibly unique, but the execution is next-level. Well done, MISTER MANTICORE.

And yes, Virginia, there is a S-pecial tree that will transport you to a different dimension and cause you great childhood trauma.