How to Make Analog Horror: A 7-Step Beginner Guide

Use AI to create analog horror images inspired by damaged VHS recordings, old television broadcasts, found footage, surveillance footage, and forgotten tapes.

With Idoli, you can turn a simple idea into horror images and use them as references for video generation.

If you want to create your own analog horror, follow these seven steps.

Step 1: Start with a Simple Horror Concept

Think about the story before adding visual effects.

Your concept does not need to be complicated. In many cases, one unsettling sentence is enough to get started.

For example:

A local television station suddenly begins broadcasting warnings about people who look exactly like missing residents.

Or:

An old employee training tape explains how to identify an unknown creature pretending to be human.

A clear concept gives your characters, images, and videos a reason to exist.

Step 2: Choose the Recording Format

Next, decide:

Why is the viewer seeing this footage?

Common analog horror formats include:

• VHS recordings
• CRT television broadcasts
• Emergency alerts
• CCTV surveillance footage
• Home videos
• Employee training tapes
• School instructional videos
• Archived photographs

The recording format should match your story.

For example, CCTV works well for distant or unexplained figures, while emergency broadcasts are better suited to disappearances, unknown threats, public warnings, or fictional government announcements.

Choosing the format early also helps you decide:

• Camera angle
• Image quality
• Lighting
• On-screen text
• Visual effects

Step 3: Create an Analog Horror Character

A recognizable character can make a simple analog horror story much more memorable.

The character does not have to look like a monster. In many cases, an almost-normal human face can feel even more unsettling.

Try details such as:

• A slightly unnatural smile
• Emotionless eyes
• Dark eye sockets
• Asymmetrical facial features
• A frozen expression
• Slightly stretched facial proportions
• A face partly hidden in shadow

Start by changing only one or two features.

If every facial feature is heavily distorted, the character may quickly become a generic horror monster instead of an uncanny analog horror character.

If the same character appears across multiple scenes, keep important traits consistent:

• Face shape
• Hairstyle
• Clothing
• Age
• Key facial features
• Recognizable visual details

Try the Analog Horror Face Generator to create an unsettling face for your character.

Step 4: Generate Key Analog Horror Images

Once the character and story are ready, start creating the key scenes.

Avoid generating random horror images. Instead, treat each image as a shot in your story.

For example:

Shot 1: An empty hospital hallway.

Shot 2: A figure appears at the far end of the hallway.

Shot 3: The figure suddenly appears closer.

Shot 4: The surveillance signal begins to distort.

When using AI to generate images, describe both the subject and the recording medium.

Instead of writing:

A scary person standing in a hallway.

Try:

Empty hospital hallway at night, fixed ceiling CCTV camera, a motionless human figure standing at the far end, monochrome surveillance footage, low resolution, timestamp, compression noise, deep shadows.

Step 5: Add VHS, CRT, and Image Distortion Effects

Next, add the visual degradation commonly associated with analog media.

For example:

• VHS grain
• Scanlines
• Tracking errors
• Frame tearing
• Static
• Color bleeding
• Chromatic distortion
• Low resolution
• Underexposure
• Flickering
• Timestamps
• Signal interruption

Do not use every effect at once.

Too much distortion can make the image difficult to understand and weaken the horror itself.

A better approach is to connect glitches to unusual events in the story.

For example, every time the mysterious character appears, the video signal could begin to break down.

This makes the visual distortion part of the story rather than just a filter.

Step 6: Add Sound and Build Tension

Sound can quickly make an ordinary scene feel uncomfortable.

When editing your sequence, try using:

• Tape hiss
• Electrical hum
• Distant static
• Low-frequency drones
• Distorted voices
• Interrupted broadcasts
• Mechanical sounds
• Sudden silence

Avoid filling every second with loud sound effects.

A quiet recording with one faint, unexplained sound can sometimes feel more disturbing than constant noise.

Sound can also carry story information.

For example, a broadcast may suddenly cut off just before revealing something important. Or the same sentence may change slightly every time it is repeated.

Step 7: Turn Your Images into an Analog Horror Video

Finally, use your prepared images as visual references for image-to-video generation.

Generate short clips, then arrange them into a sequence in a video editor.

A simple short sequence could look like this:

0–3 seconds: Empty CCTV hallway.

3–6 seconds: A distant figure appears.

6–8 seconds: The video signal begins to distort.

8–10 seconds: The figure suddenly appears close to the camera.

10–12 seconds: The screen cuts to black.

Use these timings as an editing plan rather than expecting a single generation to follow every cut precisely.

You do not need to create a long video at the beginning. Start with a short sequence to test whether the idea works.

If the result is effective, you can expand it into a longer episode or a complete analog horror series.

Analog Horror Prompt Example

A late-night local television broadcast from the 1990s. A pale human figure appears in an identification photograph beside an emergency warning. The figure has a frozen expression and a slightly unnatural smile. Monochrome CRT television screen, VHS tracking errors, weak static, faded broadcast graphics, deep shadows, low resolution, realistic damaged videotape texture, restrained and unsettling analog horror atmosphere.

You can continue adjusting:

• Character
• Setting
• Recording format
• Lighting
• Level of distortion

Use these changes to create different types of analog horror content. If your scene needs readable warnings or precise timestamps, add that text during editing.

Start Creating Your Own Analog Horror

You do not need to make the story complicated when you are just getting started.

Begin with:

• One mystery
• One recognizable character
• A few connected scenes

Then use recording formats, lighting, visual degradation, sound, and missing information to make an ordinary environment gradually feel wrong.

With Idoli, you can create and save an AI character, then reference that saved character in later image and video projects. Keep its defining traits clear and review each result as you build connected analog horror scenes.