Emergency Broadcast

Our anonymous narrator tells of an unexplained phenomena involving the town's television sets and a set of strange and disturbing videos.

Most places have emergency broadcast systems, but you can be sure that ours is a bit...different. We, instead, have a technological phenomena that occurs seemingly at random. I refer to them as “Emergency Broadcasts”. What happens is this: across the entire town, on every television, on every channel, whatever is on is replaced by a light gray screen with scrolling black text that simply reads “THIS IS ONLY A TEST.” The statement slides across the screen repeatedly for about 30 seconds, and then the screen cuts to black. After a few moments of this, a video is displayed. With every occurence, a different video is played. These videos are usually somewhat disturbing, ranging from being somewhat unsettling to flatout sickening to watch, and can be as short as two minutes to as long as, so far, a half hour. When the video ends, the television screen cuts to black again. Some of those who have witnessed this occurrence have claimed that their televisions refused to turn on for a period of time, with some even saying that the malfunction was permanent.

To date, there have been around 92 documented Emergency Broadcasts, of which I have seen only a few. However, a couple of years ago, I began to film each Broadcast, perhaps in hopes of finding some kind of connection between them. Below, I have transcribed some of these filmings.

RECORDING DATE: 3/21/16

-  The screen cuts to footage of a stark white room. The room is empty except for a figure sitting on a stool in the middle of the room. The figure is wearing a long, black, hooded robe, black leather gloves, and a gas mask that appears to have been hastily painted bright red, save for the eyes. An acoustic guitar rests on the figure’s lap. After sitting and staring at the camera for a few moments, the figure picks up the guitar and positions it across their torso. Another similarly clothed person walks into the frame from the left, hands them a guitar pick, and then walks back out of the shot. The figure on the stool positions his hands, and then begins to play “The Hearse Song” while singing along. The figure’s voice is somehow not muffled by the mask, but it sounds as though they are using some kind of voice changer. -

Figure: *singing in a deep, slightly computerized voice*  “Did you ever think when a hearse goes by, / That you may be the next to die? / They wrap you up in a big white sheet, / And cover you from head to feet. / They put you in a big black box, / And cover you with dirt and rocks. / All goes well for about a week, / Until your coffin begins to leak. / The worms crawl in and the worms crawl out, / Into your stomach and out your snout. / They eat your fingers, / they eat your toes, / They eat the hairs inside your nose. / And your chest caves in, / And your eyes pop out, / And your brain turns to sauerkraut. / And your hair falls out, / And your teeth decay, / And that is the end of a perfect day.”

- When the song is finished, the figure wordlessly lays the guitar back on their lap and proceeds to stare directly into the camera for 10 straight minutes. The screen cuts to black. -

RECORDING DATE: 8/30/17

- The screen cuts to what seems to be a video taken from a VHS tape, as the date and time are displayed in the bottom right corner. However, the date is shown as simply “0/0/00” and the time as “00:00”. The camera is positioned so that it is looking out of the window of what appears to be a hotel room. A city skyline against a night sky can be seen through the window. The sound seems to have been removed from the video. This is displayed for about 5 minutes before the screen goes black. After a few moments, the image comes back. However, now the window is pitch black, save for two large, glowing red circles that could possibly be eyes. A faint buzzing sound, like sound distortion, can now be heard. This image is shown for another 5 minutes before the screen cuts to black again. -

RECORDING DATE: 6/18/18

-  The screen cuts to shaky night-vision footage of trees rushing by, with branches occasionally hitting the camera. Footsteps on grass and heavy breathing can be heard. After around 30 seconds of this, the person running seems to trip and fall. A loud splashing sound is heard as the person sharply inhales and the camera hits the ground. The camera is then quickly picked up again. A dark screen with loud shuffling noises is displayed for a few seconds before we see the person who had formerly been holding the camera. They appear to have dragged the camera into a rotten log, and are now lying on their stomach facing the camera. They are noticeably disheveled, with dirt covering their arms and face, and a large gash across their right cheek. The person lies looking around nervously and panting for a while before speaking in a hushed, quivering whisper. -

Person: “I went too far. I was stupid. I’m such an idiot….”

- Tears begin to fall down their cheeks. -

Person: “It’s gonna find me. I don’t know what it is…it’s huge…I didn’t even see it that well...all I saw was its tail...and those teeth...those huge needle teeth....”

- They mumble to themself incoherently in a shaky voice for around 30 seconds. Suddenly, loud, tromping footsteps can be heard in the background. The person puts their hand over their nose and mouth, probably in an attempt to muffle the sound of their breathing. The footsteps grow closer, and then the heavy breathing and faint snarls of some large animal can be heard. The footsteps fade in and out, growing fainter and stronger again, with the unseen creature occasionally letting out a hiss or a growl. All goes silent for a few seconds. The person’s eyes widen a bit and they look around. Then, they suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream as something smashes the log that they are hiding in. The camera falls out of the log and lands in a puddle. Distant wailing and rustling can be heard. The screen cuts to black. -

This last Broadcast is of the most interest to me. I believe that, somehow, it may be footage of what happened to someone who ventured into the Swamp. Why do I think this? The same date of the Broadcast, June 18th, 2018, a boy of 19 was reported missing, with their last known location being with a group of friends near the Swamp.

Author's Note

I'm back! I know it's been a while, but I somehow got locked out of my account and I was finally able to get back in and finish another chapter of this. Enjoy!