Books, TV Specials, and the ‘Blair Witch’ Controversy [Guide to the Unknown]

The Blair Witch Project has been back in the news big time, and this time, no one is questioning whether it’s real or not.

You may have heard that the production company Lionsgate announced that they’re teaming up with Blumhouse to reimagine (read: reboot) some of their horror classics, starting with The Blair Witch Project, and in addition to predictably mixed internet reactions about the prospect of a new/old film, the announcement also kicked up some old resentments among the original stars. Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard wrote an open letter to Lionsgate requesting residuals, input on how their images are used in the franchise going forward, and a grant for young filmmakers.

What may come as slightly more surprising is that since The Blair Witch Project came out, dozens of Blair Witch properties have come out without the direct participation of Donahue, Williams, and Leonard – some using their names or references to them, but others not at all, likely because of legal mishegaas.

On this week’s episode of Bloody FM’s Guide to the Unknown, we’re continuing to examine some of these early 2000s works, discussing the novels The Blair Witch Files: The Witch’s Daughter and Graveyard Shift, the comic book The Blair Witch: Dark Testaments, and a SyFy TV special called Shadow of the Blair Witch, which was timed to come out alongside Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2.

We’ve been here before. Both Will and I, Kristen, are huge fans of The Blair Witch Project, and this is our whopping sixth, and probably final until the new movie, episode on the main GTTU feed about the movies and all the surrounding materials. This stuff largely flies under the radar unless you’re a big nerd (hi!), so we’re happy to bring it to the slightly less nerdy masses.

Discussing the supplementary Blair Witch entertainment in light of the statement from the original stars took on a different context – what would it have been like if their characters were allowed to be more fully integrated into the story beyond the first movie? There’s a bit of a wobbly line, here.

Obviously, Heather, Mike, and Josh have been peppered into the two Blair Witch sequels without compensation, which is a big part of the issue, but there’s reason to believe, discussed in the episode, that their absence from most subsequent works is intentional. What might this world of books, TV specials, comics, and video games have looked like if they were more involved?

We can’t know, but we hope that they come to a resolution that feels fair. We’re definitely in their corner. (Not that one.)

For tons of spoilers about these Blair Witch extras, check out this week’s episode of Guide to the Unknown. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts to get a new episode every Friday.