Web Series Wednesday – The Optica Network

By: Spring Marie Cullen

WHAT? The Optica Network

BY: Gothic Arthouse

WHY SHOULD I WATCH?

Last week Gothic Arthouse released the pilot of their newest venture The Optica Network. The brand-new web series starts off asking the age-old question – what is a dream? It also begs the question, what isn’t a dream? What is a nightmare?

In a world where things like psychoanalytic dream interpretation has become a popular topic and the existence of so-called sleep paralysis demons haunt people, The Optica Network taps into something I haven’t seen much of in a web series. I’ve had some wild dreams in my time, especially lately, and have found myself Googling the most obscure details from them to try and make sense of my subconscious. This series turns that on its head, giving off a feeling that’s equal parts eerie and fascinating.

The entire pilot, that’s only a few minutes long, elicited a hair-raising reaction; the visuals matched with the monotone and robotic voiceover were chilling. Using images of fuzzy television screens and old black and white footage was creepy enough, but the plain screens that simply stated things like “do not panic” were what really got me. It had a very “Twilight Zone” feel and made me feel anxious for reasons I couldn’t explain – the exact thing you want from a horror series. The next episode will raise the question what do you see when you close your eyes? And I can’t wait.

Gothic Arthouse produces original horror content regularly and their YouTube channel is filled with other short films and creepy commentaries on the genre. If you’re a fan of all things spooky, you’re looking to get into a new web series or simply want to support creators making original content, you should definitely check out The Optica Network and everything else the channel has to offer.

WHERE CAN I WATCH? Episodes are available on YouTube.

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