Web Video / Kwentong Takipsilim

“These are the truths that break the imaginations hidden in the roots of the mind. This is the portal to a world no one has ever seen. This is the world you want to discover.”

“In a world where you try to escape the past, you are chased by the memories that are the cause of all hate and anger, dragging you back to the cursed past. To the depths full of mysteries and magic.”

“Good night to you all. This is (insert name here), your narrator on a night full of mystery and scares. We bring you strange tales derived from the truth. Only here on the channel where there is hope to climb out of the darkness—Kwentong Takipsilim.”

— Introduction to their videos as of late 2023

Kwentong Takipsilim (literally “Tales of the Twilight”) is a Filipino horror anthology YouTube channel retelling stories sent in by viewers. Unlike Western horror series, Kwentong Takipsilim deals mostly with Filipino folklore and mythology. The retellings come in two categories: dramatic verbatim readings of viewer stories (now relegated to their side channel Sitio Bangungot, though occasionally appearing on the main channel) and radio drama-like audio plays where the viewers' text is interspersed by dialogue with designated roles played by voice actors. Current narrators include Jupiter Torres, Wilmor Plopinio, Jo Anne Chua, Sir Jun, and Sir Jack.

This page deals with tropes from both Kwentong Takipsilim and Sitio Bangungot, since episodes originally produced for the latter have been transferred to the former.

Note that the titles and quotes here have been translated/adapted from Filipino wherever possible; however, they are not official translations. The original titles can be seen on the recap page.

This series contains examples of:

• All Myths Are True: The stories detail alleged encounters with a wide variety of Filipino folkloric beings, including aswangs^note people said to be able to transform into animals and feed on humans, especially unborn babies and albularyos^note witch doctors.
• Ambiguous Gender: Due to the gender-neutral nature of Tagalog, the gender of several characters isn't exactly known. Unless their gender is clear, this page and related ones will refer to them with they/them pronouns.
• Anachronic Order: Each story is set in a different point in history, from many years ago to just weeks before an episode airs.
• Author Tract: Some stories end with a message about the Christian faith. Justified in that the Philippines is mostly Catholic.^note Christianity is so widespread that Christian messages are common even in schools and public TV, but people rarely object to these
• Big Ham: Sir Jupiter can get quite dramatic when reading certain quotes.
• Dramatic Wind: Sometimes happens whenever supernatural events occur.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: The channel originally posted fictional stories written by amateur writers before transitioning to true stories.
• Exposition: Some concepts are defined in-story. While written as if they are the characters' explanations, they sound like they were taken from online sources, translated, and injected into the story.
• Gratuitous English: Given that in Real Life Filipinos don't usually speak straight Filipino/Tagalog, this is bound to happen.
• Official Fan-Submitted Content: All the true stories are sent by viewers, and the introductions to several of them show that many senders are fans of the channel.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Several senders choose to refer to themselves by their nicknames.
• Quote Mine: The Opening Narration of the audio plays weave together lines from different parts of the stories without context.
• Stock Sound Effects: Accompanies many of the stories, narrations and audio plays alike.
• Unexplained Accent: Sir Wilmor appears to have a Batangas accent.
• You All Look Familiar: Or rather, "You All Sound Familiar". The same few voice actors can be heard playing different roles across different episodes.
• You Keep Using That Word: In recent episodes, "demonyo" (literally "demon") is used almost Once an Episode, either as an insult or referring to actual evil spirits.