''Tanis'' is a

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

pseudo-documentary A pseudo-documentary or fake documentary is a film or video production that takes the form or style of a documentary film but does not portray real events. Rather, scripted and fictional elements are used to tell the story. The pseudo-documentary, ...

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

. Published by Pacific Northwest Stories, it is part of their series of podcasts set in the same

fictional universe A fictional universe, also known as an imagined universe or a constructed universe, is the internally consistent fictional setting used in a narrative or a work of art. This concept is most commonly associated with works of fantasy and scie ...

(such as ''

The Black Tapes ''The Black Tapes'' is a mystery- horror pseudo-documentary podcast created by Paul Bae and Terry Miles. Published by Pacific Northwest Stories, it is part of their series of podcasts set in the same fictional universe (such as ''Tanis'' and ''Rabb ...

'' and ''

Rabbits Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated form ...

'') which, despite being works of fiction, are presented as legitimate true stories both within the podcast and outside of it; the podcast has no credited writers or performers, as the events and characters are framed as real. The main character, Nic Silver, is voiced by executive producer Terry Miles. In the podcast, Silver undertakes a search to discover the meaning of "Tanis", a word of unknown meaning that seems connected to various elusive individuals and organizations, leading him to unearth a web of

conspiracies A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

with the help of an internet "information specialist" known only as "Meerkatnip". After its premiere on October 13, 2015, episodes of ''Tanis'' were released every two weeks during the first four seasons and weekly during the fifth. Critical reception of the show was positive and it peaked on the U.S.

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

podcast download chart in the eleventh spot. A television adaptation of the podcast was planned in 2017 and the fifth season of the podcast premiered on September 2, 2020.

Content

Synopsis

Nic Silver, a former radio host, discovers references to something called Tanis in two disparate sources. He begins hosting the podcast in an effort to determine what and where Tanis may be, quickly enlisting the help of an "information specialist" known via the username Meerkatnip. Silver comes to believe that Tanis is currently somewhere in the

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

area. His search, aided with information provided by Meerkatnip, leads him to confront a variety of mysterious groups and organizations: Tesla Nova Corporation, a group Silver calls "The Cult of Tanis", and a group known as the Grackles.

Format

''Tanis'' is a mystery

horror podcast A horror podcast is a podcast that covers fiction, non-fiction, or reviews of the horror genre generally. History Horror podcasts are typically created and run by volunteers in their free time. As some podcasts such as '' Archive 81'' and '' ...

released every two weeks on

and other services. Terry Miles, with the production company Public Radio Alliance, serves as the show's executive producer and provides the voice work for Silver, who Miles refers to as his "cousin" and who is listed as the show's other executive producer. Episodes of the show take approximately one week to plot and write, another week to record, and two weeks to mix, edit, and score. Dialogue is recorded where it occurs in the narrative, such that a scene which takes place in ''Tanis'' in a living room would be recorded in an actual living room. ''Tanis'' is scored with backing music and features a musical intro song by Miles's former band, Ashley Park. Financial support for the podcast comes from listeners via

Patreon Patreon (, ) is a monetization platform operated by Patreon, Inc., that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service and sell digital products. It helps artists and other creators earn a recurring income by provid ...

and sponsors, for whose products and services ads are integrated into the production. The podcast was described as "deep fiction" by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' because, while it blends real-world and fictional events and people into its narrative, the show's creators and characters never acknowledge that the podcast is fictitious. The podcast, according to Molly Osberg in ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

'', occurs in a world that "isn't so much an alternate reality as worldthat hovers comfortably adjacent to ours." In addition to the regular episodes, Miles also produces a variety of supporting documents and interviews which he posts on the show's official website in order to lend plausibility to the notion that the events of the show may be real. ''Tanis'' mimics the successful format of the earlier nonfictional investigative podcast '' Serial'', notably its "unpretentious narrative style and mystery 'plot'". It is one of a spate of podcasts released in the wake of ''Serial'' first season in 2014 that remixed those elements of ''Serial'' with the horror and mystery genres, other such podcasts including ''

Alice Isn't Dead ''Alice Isn't Dead'' is a mystery horror fiction podcast created by Joseph Fink, and produced by Night Vale Presents. It stars Jasika Nicole as Keisha, who broadcasts on a radio signal her experiences on her road trip across America to locat ...

'', '' Ars Paradoxica'', and ''Tanis'' sister show ''

''.

Themes

Themes of powerlessness and uneasy alliance with a (possible) enemy are present in ''Tanis''s narrative. Michael J. Collins described a pattern in mystery horror podcasts of narrators existing within uncertain personal or professional situations, such as Silver's inconsistent work and sleep schedules, which mimic "the lifestyles of overworked, yet unremunerated, Millennials." Collins wrote that ''Tanis'' evoked

millennial Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ...

economic unease when Silver accepts aid in his investigation from Tesla Nova Corporation and thus becomes complicit with the organization Silver believes may be responsible for the goings-on he is investigating.

Episodes

The first season of ''Tanis'' premiered October 13, 2015, when the first two episodes were released. The third episode was released on October 19 and subsequent episodes have generally been released every two weeks, although episodes were released weekly in season five. The second season premiered April 20, 2016, and season three premiered February 21, 2017. The fourth season premiered February 28, 2018, with the fifth premiering September 2, 2020.

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Reception

''Tanis'' received critical acclaim. Melissa Locker, writing in ''The Guardian'' described the podcast, as well as sister show ''The Black Tapes'', as "compelling and wildly addictive." The scholars Danielle Hancock and Leslie McMurtry described the podcast as "elegantly the new Gothic horror podcast paradigm" on account of its production value, attentiveness to the possibilities of the podcast format, and in-universe connections with traditional elements of

Gothic fiction Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean me ...

. In ''

Bustle A bustle is a padded undergarment or wire frame used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skir ...

'', Lucia Peters praised the melding of real-world and fictional elements in ''Tanis''s narrative, calling the podcast "a fascinating, if somewhat confusing, ride." ''Tanis'' peaked on the U.S. iTunes podcast download chart at number 11.

Television adaptation

In 2017,

Universal Cable Productions Universal Content Productions LLC (UCP) is an American television production company operating within the Universal Studio Group division of NBCUniversal, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. History Universal Cable Productions In July ...

and

Dark Horse Entertainment Dark Horse Entertainment is a motion picture and television production arm of American comic book publishing company Dark Horse Comics, founded in 1992. They also have a sub-label, Dark Horse Indie. They have their headquarters in Milwaukie, Ore ...

announced a deal to adapt ''Tanis'' for television, led by Miles and television writer Lee Shipman.

Sam Raimi Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the first three films in the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present) and the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007). He also directed the super ...

and

Debbie Liebling Deborah Liebling is an American entertainment executive and film producer. She was formally President of Production of Universal Pictures. Previously, she was a Senior Production Executive at 20th Century Fox. Before her tenure at 20th Centur ...

will serve as the show's producers.

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.tanispodcast.com/ 2015 podcast debuts Audio podcasts Horror podcasts Washington (state) in fiction American podcasts Scripted podcasts