Tales From The Darkside

Poster for Series

**Tales From The Darkside** is a supernatural mystery musical action comedy-drama web series created, written and produced by Bryan Martinez Rodarte. The series premiered on September 7, 2023, and is currently ongoing. The series takes place in the fictional town of Nelson, Colorado, and features a group of high schoolers as they investigate true crimes in the small town, and eventually unravel dark secrets kept by the town’s residents.

## Seasons

1. Season 1: The Larson Case
2. Season 2: The Framing
3. Season 3: California Trip
4. Season 4: Ship of Dreams
5. Season 5: Senior Year
6. Season 6: Back Home
7. Season 7: The City of Belsen
8. Season 8: Memories
9. Season 9: The Murder of Melissa Walker

## Characters

### Main

* Bryson Martinez; A Mexican-American former Nelson High student. He is part of the Nelson High Marching Band, where he plays Baritone. He later graduates and goes to the University of California. He is part of and the leader of The Group. He was also Katie’s boyfriend before they break up mutually, and becomes Yasmin’s boyfriend. He also serves as the de facto narrator of the series.
	+ Bryson Martinez (Belsen); A Mexican-American who is sacrificed by the town of Belsen to life the “curse” that plagued the town. He later becomes the writer of both Nelson and Belsen, saving both universes. (Season 7)
* Carson Vagil; A former Nelson High student. He is part of the Nelson High Marching Band, where he is part of the Color Guard. He later graduates and goes to the University of Texas. He is part of The Group and Veronica’s boyfriend.
	+ Carson Vagil (Belsen); An American Belsen High teacher. He is married to Veronica Cortez, and together, raise 3 kids. (Season 7)
* Katie Jackson; A Japanese-American former Nelson High student. She is part of, and head of the theater department, where she selects and runs the school’s musicals. She later graduates and goes to Yale University to study human rights. She is part of The Group, and Bryson’s first girlfriend.
	+ Katie Jackson (Belsen); An anomaly who is also the narrator of Belsen. (Season 7)
* Veronica Cortez; A Venezuelan-American former Nelson High student. She is part of The Group and Carson’s girlfriend. She later graduates and goes to the University of Texas. (Seasons 2-; Recurring Season 1)
	+ Veronica Cortez (Belsen); A Venezuelan-American Belsen High teacher. She is married to Carson Vagil, and together, raise 3 kids. (Season 7)
* Yasmin Gutierrez; A Mexican-American former Nelson High student. She is part of the Nelson High Marching Band, where she plays the cymbals in the drumline. She later graduates and goes to the University of California. She is part of The Group and later Bryson’s second girlfriend. (Seasons 3-; Recurring Seasons 1-2)
	+ Yasmin Gutierrez (Belsen); A Mexican-American Belsen High teacher. She is married to Bryson Martinez, and raised a kid before she lost both to the colliding universes. (Season 7)
* Sabrina Kalene; An Indian-American former Nelson High student. She is part of the Nelson High Marching Band, where she plays the flute. She later graduates and goes to the University of Colombia. She is part of The Group, and Kayla’s best friend before the latter’s death. (Seasons 3-; Recurring Seasons 1-2)
	+ Sabrina Kalene (Belsen); An Indian-American Belsen High teacher. (Season 7)
* Kayla Drate; A Dutch-American former Nelson High student. She is part of the Nelson High Marching Band, where she plays the flute. She is part of The Group, and Sabrina’s best friend. She planned to go to Brown University before being killed when a meteor from the God Box hits her while evacuating citizens. (Seasons 3-5; Recurring Seasons 1-2)
	+ Kayla Drate (Belsen); A Dutch-American Belsen High teacher. (Season 7)
* Amelia; A former Georgia High student who comes to Nelson to chase down James. After his death, she decides to remain in Nelson to support The Group. She is part of The Georgia Group and Shelby’s girlfriend. (Season 4; Recurring Season 3; Guest Season 5)
* Shelby; A former Georgia High student who comes to Nelson to chase down James. After his death, she decides to remain in Nelson to support The Group. She is part of The Georgia Group and Amelia’s girlfriend. She dies when she sacrifices herself to save Amelia aboard the Titanic. (Season 4; Recurring Season 3)
* Kendra Brates; An American former Nelson High student who is the clarinet section leader. She relatively stayed to herself until being involved with The Group after the possession of Angela. She later graduates and goes to Princeton University. After returning 7 years later and seeing the chaos, she leads the charge to unincorporated Nelson. (Seasons 4-8; Recurring season 3)
* The Angel Lord; A goddess who serves as the ruler of The Angel Graveyard, and serves as Katie’s guardian angel, protecting her and The Group from The Dark Lord. She dies when she kills herself and The Dark Lord to destroy the God Box. (Seasons 4-5; Guest Season 3)
* The Dark Lord; A demon who served as the ruler of the God Box before it was destroyed by The Group. He swore revenge on Katie, and strives to kill them all. He dies when The Angel Lord kills him and herself to destroy the God Box. (Seasons 4-5; Guest Season 3)
* Diana Colbe; A former Nelson High student. She was Kathy’s best friend before Kathy’s death, and swore revenge on The Group because she blamed them for Kathy’s death. She then meets her own end when she is killed by Eldritch Melissa with a laser. (Season 4; Recurring Season 3)
* Annalise Ortiz; A Mexican-American former Nelson High student. She was formerly a student at Argos High School, where Bryson went to during his exile. She and Bryson dated briefly before breaking up when Bryson returned to Nelson. Annalise followed him and attends Nelson High. She later graduates and heads overseas to study at the University of Berlin. (Seasons 5-; seasons 2-4)
	+ Annalise Ortiz (Belsen); A Mexican-American Belsen High teacher. She had a fling with Bryson years ago, and helps sacrifice him alongside the town in an effort to forget about him. (Season 7)
* Sonia Lane; A former Nelson High student. She was an ally to The Group during Janice’s murder case, and helped bring Bryson to his senses after his exile. She is murdered by Kathy in a ritual, but is resurrected over 2 years later. However, the resurrection doesn’t last long as she becomes the fourth and final target of The Dark Lord when he sucks her life force out, killing her once again. (Season 5; Recurring season 2 & minor season 1)
	+ Sonia Lane (Belsen); A Belsen citizen. She organized the movement to sacrifice Bryson, but later died after a mysterious man arrives and causes havoc. (Season 7)
* Allison Role; A German-American former Nelson High student. She joins the Midnight Club after being convinced by David. She graduates and heads to an unknown university. She later returns, and joins Jennifer in her personal vendetta against The Group before switching sides once again after a chaotic and violent race. She later sacrifices herself and grows large to battle a recently enlarged Jennifer. She sustains massive injuries, and dies in space after fighting Jennifer. (Seasons 6-7; Recurring season 5; Guest season 8)
* Jennifer Weston; An African-American former Nelson High student. She is initially hostile towards Bryson, but after he shows her the Midnight Club, and what they do, she becomes friendly and becomes an acquaintance of said club. However, this changes after her campaign for mayor kicks off, and she begins despising her former friends for seemingly no reason. She graduates and heads to an unknown university. She later returns, and forms a violent vendetta against The Group. After many trials and tribulations including fighting The Group across the globe, she is dragged to hell by The Devil after she made a deal with him. (Seasons 6-7; Recurring season 5; Guest season 8)
* Summer Marley; A Russian-American former Nelson High student. She becomes involved with The Group after Carson joins the Color Guard, and eventually becomes a member. She is also Bryson’s “daughter,” in a false adoption. She graduates and heads to an unknown university. (Seasons 6-; Recurring seasons 4-5; Minor season 3)
	+ Summer Marley (Belsen); A Russian-American Belsen citizen. (Season 7)
* Madeline Macera; A French-American former Nelson High student. She returns to Nelson after her best friend, Bailey, informs her of the struggling town. She is immediately infatuated by Bryson. (Seasons 8-)
* Bailey Johnson; An American former Nelson High student. They return to Nelson after the town is struggling financially. (Seasons 8-)

### Recurring

* Janice Larson; A former Nelson High student. She is murdered before the series begins, and her death drives the entire series. Over a decade after her death, she is resurrected after Bryson wakes up in a psychedelic trip that takes him back to the day she died. (Seasons 1, 7-; Special guest season 2)
* Evan Hernandez; A Mexican-American former Nelson High student. He has a major crush on Bryson, and explicitly shows him it, but he is disappointed when it’s only one-sided. Later, it’s revealed that he was Janice’s murderer and payed Skylar to kill Emily, Mal and go on the rampage. Thankfully, he is killed before he manages to kill Katie. Over a decade afterwards, he is resurrected after being forced out of The Sweet Hereafter. (Season 7; recurring season 1)
* Angela Nalie; A Vietnamese-American former Nelson High student. She is part of the Nelson High Marching Band, where she played the flute, but switched to Baritone. She is part of The Group. She sacrifices herself and dies when the God Box is destroyed. She is resurrected over a decade later, and reunites with Yasmin. However, the reunion doesn’t last long as she betrays The Group to help Jennifer. She is later betrayed herself by Jennifer, and imprisoned in the Island Prison. A few weeks into her detainment, Matthew reveals she was killed. (Seasons 1-2 & 6-8; Main season 3)
	+ Angela Nalie (Belsen); A Vietnamese-American detective. She investigates the murder of Tania Thompson, and later covers a case through Belsen High. (Season 7)
* Skylar Thompson; A former Nelson High student. They cause a massacre that unravels dark secrets hidden by Nelson. Over a decade after their death, they are resurrected and reunited with Emily. (Season 1, Seasons 6-)
	+ Skylar Thompson (Belsen); A Belsen citizen. They call upon Angela to investigate the murder of their sister, Tania. (Season 7)
* Emily White; A former Nelson High student. She was in a relationship with Skylar before they killed her at the request of an unknown perpetrator. Over a decade after her death, she is resurrected and reunited with Skylar. After staying in Nelson, she witnesses the chaos and votes to unincorporated the town, (Seasons 6-8; Minor season 1)
	+ Emily Gutierrez; The daughter of Yasmin and Bryson, who is erased from existence after the universes start colliding. (Season 7)
* Megan; A former Nelson High student. She was best friends with Veronica before the former’s untimely demise. (Seasons 1-2)
* Kathy Beefer; A former Nelson High student. She directly causes the exile of Bryson, and later his spiral into insanity. She murders multiple allies of The Group before being “exiled.” She returns, and possesses Angela. She dies following the God Box’s destruction and the destruction of Eldritch Kathy. Over a decade after her death, she is resurrected after being forced out of The Sweet Hereafter. After staying in Nelson, and seeing the chaos, she decides to leave the town, voting to unincorporated it. (Seasons 7-8; seasons 2-3)
* Alex Kindley; A Chinese-American former Nelson High student. She is an ally of The Group, who she always sticks up for and protects. She graduates and heads to Dartmouth University. She returns, and becomes the second victim to Jennifer’s rampage. (Seasons 3-6)
* Gordon Molina; A former Nelson High Student. He teamed up with Kathy and later Angel0 to kill Katie and Bryson. He and Michael attempted to kill Bryson and frame Katie for his murder, but failed. He dies when Angel0 used his energy life force to build a rocket, and the machine explodes. (Season 3)
	+ Gordon Molina (Belsen); A mysterious man who arrives in Belsen. He causes havoc, but kills himself to prevent apprehension. (Minor season 7)
* Michael Brooke; A former Nelson High student. He teams up with Gordon to kill Bryson and frame Katie for his murder, but fail. He dies when Kathy possesses Angela to become Angel0. The shockwave kills him. (Season 3)
* John; A former Georgia citizen. He comes to Nelson after fighting an Eldritch being in Georgia. After learning James came to Nelson, he helps The Group battle and defeat him. He is part of The Georgia Group and Natalia’s older brother. (Season 3; Minor Season 4)
* Natalia; A former Georgia citizen. She comes to Nelson after fighting an Eldritch being in Georgia. After learning James came to Nelson, she helps The Group battle and defeat him. He is part of The Georgia Group and John’s younger sister. (Season 3; Minor Season 4)
* Melissa Walker; A Filipino-American former Nelson High student. She stays near The Group only as an ally. This changes after Angela Nalie’s death, when she is promoted to member. She has a crush on Yasmin and tries to confess her feelings to her. She eventually does, but doesn’t live long to enjoy it as she tells Yasmin to kill her to destroy Eldritch Melissa. (Season 4, Seasons 8-; Minor seasons 2-3)
	+ Melissa Cortez; A Venezuelan-American Belsen citizen, and the youngest daughter of Carson and Veronica.
* Olaf Sambers; A Venezuelan-American former Nelson High student. He stays relatively close to The Group. He is Marina’s best friend and later boyfriend. He graduates and heads to an unknown university. He later returns, but becomes the first victim to Jennifer’s rampage. (Seasons 5-6; Minor Seasons 3-4)
	+ Olaf Sambers (Belsen); A Venezuelan-American Belsen citizen and the boyfriend of Marina. He dies after having his body turned into half-molten lava, and later killed by Bryson. (Season 7)
* Marina Colvin; A Filipino-American former Nelson High student. They stay relatively close to The Group. They are Olaf’s best friend and later girlfriend. They graduate and heads to an unknown university. They return, and assist The Group in fighting Jennifer after Olaf’s death. They die after sacrificing themselves to save Summer and Tania. (Seasons 5-6; Minor Seasons 3-4)
	+ Marina Colvin (Belsen); A Filipino-American Belsen citizen. They are the girlfriend of Olaf, and loses him when the universes begin to collide. (Season 7)
* David Longe; A former Nelson High student. He is a super senior, repeating his senior year, when he decides to join the Midnight Club to enhance his driving skills. He dies when he is accidentally killed by Bryson when Bryson protects Katie. (Season 5)
	+ David Longe (Belsen); A Belsen citizen. (Minor season 7)
* Kaleb Keeps; A former Nelson High student. He is part of the softball team, but takes time out of his day to join and attend the Midnight Club. He gets into an accident trying to impress Jennifer, but is cold-heartedly rejected. This causes him to attempt a school shooting on Prom Night, but is killed by The Dark Lord to begin his final domination over Earth. (Season 5)
	+ Kaleb Keeps (Belsen); A Belsen police officer. He closes down some streets for Carson and Veronica to have their race. (Minor season 7)
* Ethan Morales; A Mexican-American former Nelson High student. He joins the Midnight Club after having known Bryson since elementary school. He graduates and heads to an unknown university. He returns to Nelson briefly, but later leaves after unincorporating the town. (Seasons 5-8)
	+ Ethan Vagil; A Venezuelan-American Belsen citizen, and the middle child of Carson and Veronica. (Season 7)
* Johnathan Martin; A Nelson High student. He joins the Midnight Club after his best friend, Ethan, joins as well. He graduates and heads to an unknown university. He returns 7 years later, but distances himself from the main fight. He later dies when he tries to explain to Carson about the memories, apparently being assassinated. (Seasons 5-8)
	+ Johnathan Vagil; A Venezuelan-American Belsen citizen, and the oldest child of Carson and Veronica.
* Carly Dotson; A former Nelson High student. She was friends with Katie in high school before the two drifted apart after graduation, but reunite to help Carly win the mayoral election against Jennifer. She later becomes deputy mayor, but decides to unincorporated the town after many battles and the town is left in shambles. (Seasons 6-8)
* Tania Thompson; A Nelson High student. She is revealed to be the sister of the deceased former Nelson High student Skylar. She meets Yasmin and Bryson, and immediately figures out Bryson was slightly responsible for Skylar’s death, and plans to kill him. However, after multiple deaths and scary tactics, Tania betrays Jennifer at the end of Season 6. (Seasons 6-)
	+ Tania Thompson (Belsen); A Belsen High student. She is killed by an unknown assailant, but is later resurrected.

## Story Arcs

On September 11, 2023, Bryan Martinez Rodarte started introducing new ideas to the series. One of which includes story arcs. These arcs make the series more entertaining and darker in tone. These story arcs introduce backstory to the characters and sometimes may not be the focus of the entire season. Currently, 8 arcs have released so far.

1. *Lockdown Arc: September 11, 2023-September 12, 2023*
2. *The Exile Arc: September 20, 2023-September 22, 2023*
3. *The Origins Arc: September 28, 2023-October 6, 2023*
4. *The Titanic Arc: October 10, 2023-October 17, 2023*
5. *Racing Arc; October 24, 2023-November 7, 2023*
6. *Revenge Arc; November 17, 2023-November 30, 2023*
7. *Belsen Arc; December 4, 2023-December 23, 2023*
8. *Skylar Memory Arc; December 30, 2023-January 16, 2024*

A select amount of these arcs are also part of trilogies. These trilogies expand the universe and give more backstory and more fighting to The Group. Currently, 2 trilogies have released so far.

1. The Jackson Cosmology Project Trilogy (Origins, Titanic, Racing); September 28, 2023-November 7, 2023
2. The Time Travel Memory Trilogy (Skylar Memory, Arc No. 2, Arc No. 3); December 30, 2023-Ongoing

## Films

On October 6, 2023, Bryan Martinez Rodarte continued introducing new ideas to the series. One of which now includes films. These films double as episodes, but in a much larger scale than ordinary episodes. These films are usually reserved for arc finales, more specifically endings arc related to The Jackson Cosmology Project Trilogy. However, as of the end of the Cosmology trilogy, films have been reserved for special occasions. Currently, 6 films has released so far.

1. *Tales From The Darkside Movie: The God Box Adventure; October 6, 2023*
2. *Tales From The Darkside Movie: War of the Universe; October 19, 2023*
3. *Tales From The Darkside Movie: Revelations; November 7, 2023*
4. *Tales From The Darkside Movie: Jennifer’s Origins; November 24, 2023*
5. *Tales From The Darkside Movie: The Other Universe; December 20, 2023*
6. *Tales From The Darkside Movie: The Meteor Shower; January 16, 2024*

## Songs & Musicals

The series is also known for being a jukebox musical, meaning it contains songs, either pop songs, or original music used for musicals. Speaking of musicals, the series contains musical episodes.

1. Hamilton Musical; *Chapter Nineteen: History Has Its Eyes On You; September 22, 2023*
2. Marching Band Parade; *Chapter Twenty-Six: The Pride of Broken Arrow; September 28, 2023*
3. In The Heights Musical; *Chapter Thirty-Two: Dance of Death; October 3, 2023*
4. Pop Songs; *Chapter Thirty-Five: Brave New World; October 6, 2023*
5. Once Upon A One More Time Musical; *Chapter Forty-Five: Angels in America; October 17, 2023*
6. Softwilly Music; *Chapter Fifty-Five: Halloween; October 26, 2023*
7. Football Game; *Chapter Fifty-Six: The Game Plan; October 28, 2023*
8. Mamma Mia Musical; *Chapter Sixty-One: Dancing Queen; November 3, 2023*
9. Pop Songs Pt. 2; *Chapter Sixty-Six: Graduation; November 7, 2023*
10. American Idiot Musical; *Chapter Seventy-Seven: American Idiot; November 26, 2023*
11. Fanmade Mario Kart Musical; *Chapter Ninety-Three: The Group Kart; December 16, 2023*
12. Softwilly Music Pt. 2; *Chapter One Hundred and Twelve: The Music Competition; January 14, 2024*

Specific songs are also tied to multiple characters, with being their theme songs, also known as leitmotifs.

* Hit Me by Yumi; Bryson Martinez
* ILY Baby by Softwilly & 1only; Yasmin Gutierrez
* I Love You So by Softwilly & Yung Kage; Carson Vagil
* Cowboy Blueballs by XANAKIN SKYWOK; Janice Larson
* Cyanide by Ghostemane; Veronica Cortez
* Hot N‘ Cold by Katy Perry; Katie Jackson
* The End Of The World by Riverdale Cast & Lazarbeams by Packgod; Sabrina Kalene
* Dancing Queen by ABBA; Kayla Drate
* Gladiator by XANAKIN SKYWOK & Blank Space by Taylor Swift; Jennifer Weston
* Just Dance by Lady Gaga; Kathy Beefer
* ALRIGHT\* by Yumi; Marina Colvin
* California Gurls by Katy Perry; Angela Nalie
* CHROME BERETTA by Softwilly & Jazz Hands by XANAKIN SKYWOK; Summer Marley
* Shut Up And Drive by Rihanna; Annalise Ortiz
* XXXMetaKnight by Yung Kage & Yumi; Allison Role
* Toxic by Britney Spears; Melissa Walker
* I Love You Hoe by Odetari; Madeline Macera
* Boys Next Door by Isaacwhy; Bailey Johnson

## Video Game

On December 24, 2023, Bryan Martinez Rodarte announced *Tales From The Darkside: The Video Game.* It serves as a non-canon timeline where The Group are high schoolers basically living a life full of crime. However, a majority of The Group revolves around the members of the band.

## Announcements

Multiple episodes, mostly special episodes, are announced ahead of time to hype up anticipation for it.

1. First Musical*; Chapter Nineteen: History Has Its Eyes On You; September 22, 2023*
2. Crossover; *Chapter Thirty-Two: Dance of Death; October 3, 2023*
3. First Film/Origins Arc Finale; *Chapter Thirty-Five: Brave New World; October 6, 2023*
4. Second Film/Season 4 Finale; *Chapter Forty-Eight: A Night to Remember; October 19, 2023*
5. Non-Canon Episode/What If…?; *Chapter Sixty-Two: WHAT IF…?; November 3, 2023*
6. Third Film/Racing Arc Finale; *Chapter Sixty-Six: Graduation; November 7, 2023*
7. Fourth Film; *Chapter Seventy-Five: Citizen Weston; November 24, 2023*
8. Special Arc; *Belsen Arc/Chapter Eighty-One: Welcome to Belsen; December 4, 2023*
9. Remake of First Episode; *Chapter Ninety-Four: The Secret Plan; December 17, 2023*
10. Fifth Film/Belsen Arc Answered; *Chapter Ninety-Seven: Return to Belsen; December 20, 2023*

## Trivia

* The series is named after 1980s American anthology series of the same name.
* The series draws many inspirations from many other media, including films, TV shows, web series, etc.
	+ The name alone was mentioned already.
	+ The idea of arcs mainly comes from the machinima series SMG4, and its own arcs.
	+ The idea of episodes that double as films also comes from SMG4, and its own movies.
	+ The idea of musicals comes from The CW’s Riverdale, and its own musical episodes.
	+ The Jackson Cosmology Project Trilogy comes from SMG4’s own Cosmology Lore.
* Every two seasons, the series experiments with different aspect ratios and different genre switches, and different styles;
	+ Season 1 has a 1:85:1 aspect ratio, and has a bright saturated color contrast.
	+ Season 2, 3 & 4 goes into a 16:10 aspect ratio, and a slightly darker contrast.
	+ Season 5 changes the aspect ratio to a 4:3 aspect ratio, and a brighter saturated contrast, similar to Season 1.
	+ Season 6 & 7 has a 16:10 aspect ratio, and similar to Season 2, 3 & 4, the contrast darkens.
	+ Season 8 tones it down slightly to a 16:9 aspect ratio, and a darker contrast.