The Black Tapes
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | The Black Tapes Podcast |
| Abbreviation(s): | TBT |
| Creator: | Pacific Northwest Stories and Minnow Beats Whale |
| Date(s): | 2015 - 2017 |
| Medium: | |
| Country of Origin: | United States |
| External Links: | [7] [8] |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Black Tapes is a fictional podcast centered around journalist Alex Reagan as she narrates and investigates different paranormal mysteries. Her investigation brings her to the "deeply enigmatic" Dr. Richard Strand, a serial skeptic who heads the Strand Institute. She wants to interview him for the podcast, but he ignores her many attempts to reach out. Reagan quickly learns that Strand has offered one million dollars for confirmed proof of paranormal activity. Once he finally agrees to the interview, she learns of his cold case files-- Black VHS tapes sent to Strand as various people around the world document paranormal experiences.
The podcast ran from May of 2015 to September of 2017. The first and second season had twelve episodes. The third season had six, and was originally completed, however in 2020, the description of episode 3x06 changed to "midseason finale[1]".
...It feels like what might happen if a perky NPR journalist decided to investigate the Blair Witch Project [2]
Canon
Characters:
- Alex Reagan | Alex Reagan's Twitter
- Dr. Richard Strand | Dr. Strand's Twitter
- Nic Silver | Nic Silver's Twitter
Criticism
At first, listeners didn't realize that this was a scripted podcast. It's horror-paranormal subjects quickly drew the attention of more mainstream media [3]. When the season ended abruptly, it sparked widespread frustration from fans who felt that the ending was rushed. When the 'season finale' was changed to 'midseason finale' many fans felt that this was a disingenuous attempt to stir up interest, with no intention of releasing new content. [4]
Do They Finish Any of These Damned Stories! After Rabbits ended on a cliffhanger and they never did a second season, I'm not ready to invest in anything else PNWS unless I know they haven't given up on it...[5]u/TheHuntedCity.
Fandom
The Black Tapes Podcast sparked several online fan theories and blogs [6] created to keep the various mysteries introduced straight. To date there are 441 fanworks on AO3.
Pairings
Notable Works
- 100 ways to say I Love You by ZombieBabs (First published 2016-02-25; Completed 2017-03-03) 89003 Words | Rated: General
- And the mountains said I could find you here by elevenhurricanes (Published 2018-08-20) 29047 Words | Rated: Explicit
- Stay With Me by Arriva (Published:2017-05-04 Completed:2019-01-31) 58569 Words | Rated: Mature