YMMV / Bedtime Stories (YouTube Channel)

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Invoked. One of the most common recurring themes in this series is whether or not the various phenomena, incidents, or examples shown are supernatural or have a scientific/rational explanation. Among many examples listed here include:
  • Michael Taylor: A man genuinely falling to the corruption of some 40 demons or driven insane by joining a religious group purportedly known for using brainwashing techniques?
  • The SS Ourang Medan: Supernatural phenomenon responsible for the deaths of her crew and subsequent sinking, or the result of poor handling of Deadly Gas dating from World War II? Or completely made up, since no record of such a ship exists?
  • Elisa Lam: Was she killed by malevolent spirits residing in her hotel? Or was it a Serial Killer checked in there at the time of her disappearance? Or was it the result of her mental illness?
  • The Men in Black: Are they Government agents? Aliens? Some sort of Government Conspiracy involving both alien and human agents? Supernatural entities? Or just characters in very old scary stories?
  • The "Bones" on Mars: Are they actual evidence of alien life that possibly once existed on the Red Planet, Ancient Astronauts, or just the result of an optical illusion?
  • Flight 19: Pilot and navigation error or Alien Abduction? Unlike the previous cases, the creators themselves emphasize that the probability is more on the former.
  • The Lead Masks of Vintem Hill: Alien Abduction? Or the more rational explanation of being mugged and killed by a crime syndicate?
  • The Grinning Man: Humanoid Abomination? Humanoid Alien? Part of The Men in Black? Or some fabricated hoax?
  • Cindy James: Did she really have a stalker? Was she stalking herself, wittingly or otherwise? Or is the truth something else entirely?
  • The Manchester Pusher: Is a rash of drownings in Manchester the result of one or more people committing murder, or just a series of unconnected tragic accidents? Or is it a combination of the two?
  • Kenny Veach: Did he die on the way to the cave? Was he murdered for witnessing something he shouldn't have? Or did he deliberately find a spot where nobody can find him so he can end his own life? The narrators believe Kenny had killed himself due to evidence of him suffering from depression and planning his own suicide, Kenny's girlfriend also believes this to be true as well.
  • Christopher Case: Was his death a result of a curse? Or was his death a result of mental health issues and myocarditis due to his excessive use of supplements.
  • Bridgend: Was there really a curse causing people to kill themselves? Or was it all just the result of a single tragedy that was so poorly handled by the media and public that it drove more people to suicide? The narrator theorises that the disillusioned teenagers of Bridgend were driven to suicide because they were overexposed to the tragedy; they came from an isolated town, they were from an economically deprived region, and they had to cope with unemployment and social apathy. These combined factors drove them to suicide and not many people knew how to help and how to support them in their time of need.
• Awesome Art: Mikey Turcanu's illustrations for the videos, especially after the Art Evolution, are commonly regarded to be very well done, especially with creature designs.
• Broken Base: The jump scares, especially those in earlier seasons. Do they make the episodes which feature them scarier or make them less scary and more annoying to the point of being unwatchable?
  • The long intro. A good buildup to a great narration, or a waste of time?
  • "The Strange Death of Gaurav Tiwari" briefly mentioned the detrimental effects colonialism had on India. This ignited some controversy in the comments. Some thought the video was presenting a one-sided view of a complicated historical issue or trying to push a political agenda. Others felt there was validity to what was said, or just that the complainers were making mountains out of molehills.
• Can't Un-Hear It: For a time, Richard While stepped down from narrating to focus on writing and research, the crew hired an actor named Ash Steel to do the job instead. While not disliked, subscribers had come to hear Richard's voice for so long that they wanted Ricard to continue narrating. So, after 2 videos, Ash stepped down.
• Funny Moments: "Creatures of April Falls" is a parody of the show’s normal material using less precise art and limited narrative, as well as more visual and verbal humor than the show usually has (it was an April Fools’ Day joke, after all). It’s topped off by the ending containing a (bad) guitar cover of “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley and the narrator attempting to use a different accent before dropping it.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • "The Curse of the Ourang Medan" covers several theories as to why the titular ship's crew were all found dead as well as the cause of the explosion and subsequent sinking. The most likely of these theories was that the ship was carrying a chemical weapon called Tabun, which killed anyone exposed to it painfully and was very prone to catching fire. Come the game Man of Medan in 2019, it turns out that the developers probably took a cue or two from this episode, as the Ghost Ship of that game turned out to be carrying a similar chemical weapon, except this one causes hallucinations.
  • A comment on "The Kentucky Goblins - Part Two" video made a joke when the narrator brought up the possibility the person known as David Christie used a VPN to hide his identity as a lead in to the video's sponsor. The year after came "There is Something in the Woods Part Two", which did indeed lead in with a VPN related sponsor.
• Memetic Mutation: Or something far more sinister. ^Explanation It's become something of a recurring gag among the fans to joking repeat the phrase due to how many times it's said in the show, usually after a more mundane subject (Ex: Is this Bedtime Stories, or something far more sinister?)
• Narm:
  • Most of the illustrations are appropriately creepy, but the Grinning Man's huge smile and wall-eyed stare might strike you as more funny than scary. He's kind of derpy in some of his appearances.
  • Likewise, 'The Hoosac Tunnel Hauntings' feature an illustration of a man who was nearly killed by a speeding train if a ghost hadn't pushed him clear. The man's shocked expression as he sits in shock is unintentionally hilarious.
  • While a necessary evil for the sake of sponsorship, the ads in the beginning of recent episodes after the opening narration and before the theme song are joked about how they kill the tension and build-up to the episode. For example, the episode "Phantom of Leap Castle" on the most haunted castle of Ireland featured the unfitting sponsorship of Manscaped.
  • Depending on the viewer, the mysterious barking man from 'Highways of Horror - Praeter Naturam' is either this or genuinely terrifying.
  • The Silver Man of "The Mysterious Ridley Encounter, for a lot of viewers is this, resembling horror movie monsters from low-budget horror movies, down to even moving and acting like it was either being pulled by strings or made out of duct tape and tinfoil.
  • "The Hairy Hands of Dartmoor", though a terrifying tale, has a less than scary name ripe for jokes.
  • The incident with the unknown member of the Myers family and their neighbor in "Tales From Skinwalker Ranch Part Three". Not only are their expressions more goofy than anything, the "swooshing" sound effect used for the zoom out is more comical than creepy, especially since the same effect used for the sponsorship segments. There's also the fact the car on the mesa is clearly too big to be proportionately accurate to where the homestead is.
• Nausea Fuel: Mutilated and rotting corpses are already this, but mutilated corpses with flies buzzing around them? That's exactly the treat we get in an episode involving Alien Abduction and Cruel and Unusual Death.
• Paranoia Fuel: "There Is Something In The Woods", big time. The thought of just vanishing of the face of the earth with no rational explanation is chilling.
• Spiritual Adaptation: This is pretty much Fortean Times the YouTube channel- it regularly releases episodes discussing the weird and paranormal in a balanced manner. It even describes itself as being "for the Fortean at heart."
• Squick: The description of the titular man's injuries in "The Burning Man Of Brazil" are sickening, with fat and skin dropping off his body and his lips and face burning up into a Nightmare Face.
• Unintentional Uncanny Valley: While Mikey Turcanu is an amazing artist, some drawings of normal people, depending on expressions and how realistic they're depicted, can sometimes be even more unsettling than the monsters featured.