Bedtime Stories (Video Series)

[marhawkman]

So, first a bit of back ground: I actually came to this forum while researching the Joao Prestes case. I felt the need to research it after watching a video made by Bedtime Stories based on it.

I actually found the Bedtime Stories youtube channel while watching a video about the "Man of Medan" game based on the Orang Medan case. So I watched the video they did on that then a few more. And kept watching.

Overall I think their general approach is good, but the end result is somewhat variable. Their approach tends to focus more on entertainment than information. In some cases this has resulted in them creating pieces where they write out a scenario describing one possibility then mentioning others exist. Another issue in some of the stories is relying on a single source of information and not verifying the accuracy of the source.
channel link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCD4-G3Aokt2sM7TYQV2HmA

I'm going to sort videos into one of five categories: UFOs, cryptids, supernatural, disappearances, general mysteries.
There are a lot of things that are just kinda... there, and could fit in one or more categories. Those I will endeavor to fit where they fit best. At any rate each individual entry will have commentary on what it is and what if anything I feel is wrong with it.

UFOs:

Cryptids:
Michigan Dogman:

This is a bit strange in the way the story is framed because it seems to mix the "Michigan Dogman" with multiple similar cryptids(such as the Beast of Bray Road) when discussing the topic. One of the most common problems with investigating cryptids is not being able to be sure if multiple sightings are even the same thing. But that's the only real issue I take with the presentation.
forum discussion link: https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/michigan-dogman.48730/

Supernatural:
Hoosac Tunnel:

This is a rather large collection of stories about the same place. As such it doesn't go into great detail about any one account. It does a good job of illustrating how the stories are different. The bad part is that it doesn't do much but present the stories.
forum discussion link: https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/in-the-tunnel.1547

Disappearances:

General mysteries:
Ourang Medan:

It's a rather well written piece. My only real objection is that there is not only no serious consideration but a flat denial of the idea it is fake. This is mostly annoying because the reasoning behind why they think it's definitely not fake is questionable at best.
forum discussion link: https://forums.forteana.org/index.p...-medan-mystery-derelict-ship-dead-crew.65122/
Joao Prestes:

As a bit of story telling it's quite nice. But the reason I came to this forum to do research on the case is that the presentation mentioned that multiple versions of the story exist, but they only present one of them. Also it turns out they chose the most fantastical version of the story they could find.
forum discussion link: https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/the-melting-man-joao-prestes-filho-1946-brazil.66526

 

[marhawkman]

Yeah I was planning to update this more regularly, welp time to get started.

General mysteries:
Lava Lake Murders

It's a classic cold case... in more ways than one. What was the motive for the murders? Why were three weapons used? How many murderers were there? Why did the killer/s hide the bodies by cutting a hole in the lake to dump them under the ice? Given that it was nearly 100 years ago we'll probably never know for sure. It's not that there's NO evidence, it's just not conclusive. One bit the video leaves out is that there is evidence that some things had been stolen. But not anything identifiable as personal property. Some of the furs had been left behind, but only some. One of the victims had had his trapping license used to sell a bundle of furs after his death, but the clerk didn't notice anything out of the ordinary and didn't remember the face of the man who sold the furs later.

 

[Junopsis]

Re: Bedtime stories-- They do rely on airing out the spookiest parts of a thing first and addressing the mundane aspects as an afterthought, so I'm not super into the presentation there (they're great entertainment though). The Bell story is pretty much accepted as an invention of a single book afaik and they did a segment on that too.

 

[Sharon Hill]

Re: Bedtime stories-- They do rely on airing out the spookiest parts of a thing first and addressing the mundane aspects as an afterthought, so I'm not super into the presentation there (they're great entertainment though). The Bell story is pretty much accepted as an invention of a single book afaik and they did a segment on that too.

I watched a number of Bedtime Stories presentations and was unimpressed. For the ones I was familiar with, I did not recognize some of the details they inserted and with the artistic license used, it actually felt like their depiction was misrepresented the phenomenon - Bennington Triangle, Michigan dogman, for example. It was not well researched. I'm probably not going to watch more. As with Lore podcast, these are stories for entertainment. They should not be used as factual sources, yet that's often done. People see them as documentaries.

 

[suburban wolf]

Re: Bedtime stories-- They do rely on airing out the spookiest parts of a thing first and addressing the mundane aspects as an afterthought, so I'm not super into the presentation there (they're great entertainment though).

Edit -

I agree with you there Junopsis (and Sharon). They are entertaining but I tend to take them at their title these days "Bedtime Stories" and personally think they are a little bit more akin to CreepyPastas, urban legends and general spooky Friend of a Friend tales. There are a few of the tales I've looked into a bit further, ones that caught the attention and some basics are either wrongly interpreted or just plain wrong.

Entertaining all the same though.