In October 2021, several seemingly related
creepypasta stories were posted on the
NoSleep subreddit. Reddit users suspected the posts belonged to an
alternate reality game (ARG), and began following the clues in the stories. They were led to a series of in-universe websites centered around a mysterious entity called Auremana, and an island called Skinner, Oregon. The players, guided by a fictional user named Marlowe Verne, established a Discord server, working together to decode encrypted messages and seeking out physical clues dropped in Seattle, Los Angeles, and London. On November 5, 2021, a short film called
Skinner 1929, presented as an authentic livestream, streamed on
YouTube. It featured two hosts, Greg Skinner and Susan Wylde, who played the disturbing contents of a 1920s home movie Greg had found in his nightstand. During a power outage, Susan, unaware that the stream was still broadcasting, confessed that the footage involved an occult religion called Auremana, and that she was one of its members. Shortly afterward, the two were violently attacked by an unknown assailant. After
Skinner 1929 streamed, Marlowe Verne revealed to the ARG players that she knew Susan and Greg. She announced that she was going to Skinner to investigate, and would record her experiences and present them online as a weekly podcast, recruiting the help of the ARG players along the way. == Podcast (Season 1) ==