The Kickstarter Horror Film (Backed by Mike Flanagan) That's the YouTube Blair Witch
After reaching their commercial heyday in the rough period between The Blair Witch Project and the Paranormal Activity series, found footage horror films have largely fallen out of vogue. That hasn’t stopped indie powerhouse Neon from throwing its weight behind Shelby Oaks, however, a movie combining found footage, documentary, and standard narrative storytelling for an ambitious hybrid of scare tactics. It debuted at 2024’s Fantasia Fest before hitting theatres in time for Halloween 2025.
The film follows a woman’s (Mia) search for her sister (Riley), who went missing over a decade ago while investigating the abandoned town of Shelby Oaks for her YouTube channel, Paranormal Paranoids. With elements of low-res analogue technology and folk horror, as well as shades of slasher and haunted house tropes, Shelby Oaks isn’t wholly successful at the many things it tries to do, but still delivers some genuinely jumpy moments and sustained chills. It’s also had an unconventional journey to the big screen that’s worth digging into.
Shelby Oaks Started as a 'Real' YouTube Series
Shelby Oaks is the brainchild of YouTube film critic Chris Stuckmann, who had been producing content on the platform for a two-million-subscriber-strong audience for about 10 years when the film, which he wrote and directed, was picked up by Paper Street Pictures in 2021.
Proof of concept already existed in the form of ‘actual’ Paranormal Paranoid videos, in which Riley and her team explore Shelby Oaks and eventually disappear under very sketchy circumstances. The feature version is described as a “continuation” of this web series, which, styled to look like it was made 12 years ago, will be nostalgic to those who grew up watching YouTube’s ‘golden age’ of pioneering creator content. In this regard, it could be the very first YouTube horror film, or at least, the first that likely wouldn’t exist without the juggernaut video-sharing site.
This origin is reminiscent of Blair Witch again, which used a famously innovative online marketing campaign to make audiences wonder if the film really was a documentary. However, while Blair Witch did this to drum up anticipation for the film’s release in 1999, Shelby Oaks achieved its groundswell of public interest before it was ever made.
Shelby Oaks Was Entirely Funded Through Kickstarter
For independent creators and established companies alike, Kickstarter has become a lifeline for all manner of creative pursuits. Chris Stuckmann certainly found that to be the case when lost funding and strike action prevented production on Shelby Oaks from starting in 2021. Turning to the crowdfunding platform in early 2022, Stuckmann’s impassioned plea to his YouTube audience helped raise three-quarters of its $1 million budget in a matter of days, which was a record for a horror movie. It hit $1.4 million within a week.
“We can already make the movie in the way we want to,” Stuckmann thanked backers. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. Two big studios have reached out to read the script.”
Shelby Oaks Is (Sort Of) Inspired By Real Events
Whether there’s any truth in the film’s depiction of the paranormal depends on your personal beliefs about such subjects. What is very personal and true, however, is the real-life inspiration Stuckmann drew for the emotional core of Shelby Oaks: two sisters estranged by forces beyond their control.
In a 2021 video uploaded to his YouTube channel, in which he also came out as pansexual, Stuckmann opened up about growing up in the Jehovah’s Witnesses, from which he and his sister were eventually ostracised. As well as claiming the group forced him to repress his sexuality and interest in filmmaking, the creator also characterised them as cult-like. Knowing this, and without giving too much away, if you’ve seen Shelby Oaks, this underpinning – and Stuckmann’s traumatic experience – is bleakly clear.
Mike Flanagan’s Important Connection To Shelby Oaks
To horror aficionados, Mike Flanagan needs no introduction. His films in the genre include Ouija: Origin of Evil and Doctor Sleep, and in TV, Netflix’s Hill House anthology, Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, and The Fall of the House of Usher. Suffice to say, he’s a big cheese in this world, so his involvement in Shelby Oaks is a huge boon.
Beyond just name-brand recognition as an Executive Producer, Flanagan had a preexisting relationship with Stuckmann, a casual friendship that was struck up following the YouTuber’s review of Flanagan’s debut feature, Oculus. When Shelby Oaks’ Kickstarter campaign launched, Flanagan offered notes on the script as well as an early cut of the film. Stuckmann called the filmmaker’s help a “blessing”, while Flanagan praised the up-and-comer’s “DIY attitude and determination”, which he said was reminiscent of his own journey to create opportunities in the industry for himself rather than wait for them.
Following Flanagan’s assistance, Neon, which had just made a splash with Osgood Perkins’ debut, Longlegs, starring a frightfully unrecognisable Nicholas Cage, came on as distributor. With enough industry weight and public interest behind it, Shelby Oaks finally made it to the big screen, hopefully allowing Stuckmann a less arduous road to getting the many other horror scripts he says he’s written made.
