User blog:Urkelbot666/Static in stories.

It seems that in a lot of game based, or 'lost episode' stories I have read, a recurring theme is the TV or monitor cutting to static, or TV snow. It can be effective, as there is something very cold, empty and dead feeling about a TV screen in the dark, hissing and showing scrambled fuzz.

The main issue I have is that TV static is becoming more and more a thing of the past, and is sometimes used in ways that I feel detract from the suspension of disbelief of a piece of fiction. That's just my opinion. I feel like I have read several stories in which someone is watching a DVD, or playing a newer gaming console, and the screen gets fuzzy, or cuts to static.

As hard as I try to give the benefit of the doubt, it irks me. Most new electronic media devices are digital, and therefor either give a signal, or don't. For over a decade whenever my TV signal has gone out, the screen goes blue, or displays an image corrupted with RGB squares, not old fashioned static. Same with newer video games, or video players. Even VCRs from several years ago only display a bit of static before giving a blank blue screen.

Stories that are said to have taken place a while ago, or that state that older analogue devices are being used are fine.

It's just a personal nitpick, but when I read a story about a 'lost episode' that cuts to static, or fuzz, it takes me out of the feeling a bit. I believe that many TV shows in recent times have never been on any type of analogue tape, they have been created and produced entirely digitally.

I know it's silly to complain about themes in stories that are purely fictional, and as I stated, static is inherently creepy. I just felt like rambling about this recurring effect in creepypastas.