From Garth Marenghi to Inside No.
9 to What We Do in the Shadows, are mockumentary and comedy horror ever more than a laugh?
Heres the thing about ghost stories.
They are always better when theyre true.
Bram StokersDraculais a prime example.
WellssThe War of the Worldsas if it were a real news report, reportedly causing widespread panic.
Long beforeThe Blair Witch Project,Ghostwatchwas scaring the pants off audiences with shaky cam footage.
Plenty has been written aboutGhostwatchitself, but perhaps what sold the hoax so effectively was hownaffeverything was.
The jokes were cheesy but unfunny, the presenters were visibly but not unconvincingly strained by the material.
For me, it always felt too technical.
The next time TV would attempt something quite this audacious was in 2018, withInside No.
9s2018 Halloween special, Deadline, a live edition of the show.
Five minutes into the show, the sound cuts out.
But as the repeat progresses, the sound starts to fail.
A figure appears in the background who was definitelynotin the original episode.
The presenters next apologies are backed by an eerie whispering… and it goes downhill from there.
Going for a Laugh
But while it was genuinely unnerving, asInside No.
One of the biggest collisions of mockumentary and horror is of courseGarth Marenghis Darkplace.
It would go on to inspire a whole generation of film and TV makers.
Garth Marenghis Darkplace is so inspiringly specific with every choice it makes, says screenwriter, James Hamilton.
The straight-to-camera interview is perhaps the most vital ingredient to the genre.
I think what worked for us about this format is its very character-forward, he tells us.
What if, instead of zeroing in on one very guilty-seeming person,everyonebeing interviewed clearly had a motive?
That comes from the same quality as the ghost story you hear that took place in this very house.
But is the Mock in Mockumentary the operative part?
Is it possible to do a horror story in this format without falling into parody?
Ultimately, they can be two sides of the same coin.
