DARK WEB: Blank Room Soup (A So SOUPernatural Bonus)

Summary

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So Supernatural – DARK WEB: Blank Room Soup (A So SOUPernatural Bonus)

Podcast: So Supernatural
Host(s): Racha Pecorero, Yvette Gentile, Brit (special guest from Crime Junkie)
Date: April 1, 2026

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Episode Overview

This bonus episode dives deep into one of the internet’s oldest and most disturbing mysteries: the "Blank Room Soup" (also called "Freaky Soup Guy") videos. Racha, Yvette, and guest host Brit unravel the origins, viral trajectory, and wildest theories around the bizarre series of videos, touching on everything from the dark web and performance art to allegations of true crime and supernatural speculation. With a mix of humor and skepticism, the hosts explore what makes these unsettling clips so endlessly fascinating—and why no concrete answers have been found in more than two decades.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Rise of YouTube and “Blank Room Soup”

• YouTube’s Early Days

  • YouTube launched in 2005, with very limited features. Early viral content was rare, making anything truly memorable get shared and re-shared among the internet’s small but growing community.
  • Quote:

    “YouTube also has a very dark side, and it has since the very beginning.”
    — Yvette Gentile (00:32)

• The Original Video (“Freaky Soup Guy”)

  • Posted by user RenaissanceMen in Nov 2005, it was just 66 seconds long but deeply unsettling.
  • Described by the hosts: A man with a black censor bar over his face eats soup in a stark, white room, using an oversized ladle. Two costumed figures with unnerving cartoon doll masks silently comfort (or taunt) him as he sobs uncontrollably, but keeps eating.
  • No explanation, no context, deeply disturbing—yet no explicit violence or gore.
  • Quote:

    “All you can see behind him is a doorway, but it’s completely dark, so you can’t tell what’s through that door.”
    — Racha Pecorero (07:43)

• Viral Traction

  • The video spread rapidly, in part because there were few things like it on YouTube at the time; curiosity and confusion drove replay.
  • Quote:

    “We were Internet babies. And so, like, of course it got shared because we were sharing anything and everything that was provoking a conversation… because there was just—it was so new and exciting to be able to even do something like that.”
    — Brit (11:47)

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2. Was it from the Dark Web?

• Origins and Urban Legends
  • Rumors swirled that the video originated from the dark web; this only amplified its mystique, even though there’s no proven connection.
  • Quote:

    “But rumors started to spread that it didn’t originate on YouTube. It originated on the Dark Web.”—Racha (12:16)
    “It’s the seedy back alley that you can only enter if you’re up to some shady stuff.”—Yvette (13:14)

  • Hosts are skeptical of this theory but highlight how the unsettling nature of the video made such rumors almost inevitable.

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3. Follow-up Videos and Escalating Mystery

• Second Video

  • Near-identical setup; Freaky Soup Guy seems even more distressed, doll creatures loom, and one charges at him before a cut-to-black and a scream (16:38).
  • Quote:

    “Right before it cuts out, you hear someone start to scream and then just, like, cuts to black.” — Brit (16:45)

• Third and Fourth Videos

  • The third video just 11 seconds: a man (possibly not the same one) is gagged and disguised, led by a doll in dark surroundings.
  • The fourth: a blurry, night-time street shot focusing on one doll figure standing still, illuminated by streetlights.
  • The lack of context, increasing ambiguity, and “creep-factor” drove further obsession and theorizing.
  • Quote:

    “Which even without the first three videos, that’s a terrifying video...” — Brit (20:21)

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4. Theories: Torture Porn, Aliens, Demons, or Art?

• Snuff Film & Torture Theory

  • The leading theory: Is this a real person being tortured and ultimately killed? Some speculated the soup was made from human remains, invoking horror-cannibalism tropes.
  • The hosts point out no evidence of death or direct violence is ever shown.
  • Quote:

    “We talked about this in the beginning. All part of a snuff film.” — Yvette (21:51)

• Aliens & Demons

  • Wild speculation included the masked figures being actual aliens or demons, and the blank room as a vision of hell, with the "crime" being gluttony.
  • Hosts agree these ideas are highly unlikely, but fun to tease out.
  • Quotes:

    “They feel so humanoid... If they’re actually aliens, they really have that many human-like attributes? Feels unbelievable... And I’m not necessarily an alien girly.” — Brit (24:29)
    “Here’s my issue with this theory: my version of hell is having to upload a video on the Internet in 2005...” — Brit (26:33)

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5. The “Ray Rays” and Raymond Percy Connection

• Internet Sleuthing and the Art World

  • Investigators linked the costumes to LA-based animator/puppeteer Raymond Percy, creator of the “Ray Rays”—experimental art/puppet costumes with big, faceless heads.
  • Percy has gone on to mainstream fame (Simpsons, Frozen, Zootopia), but his early art background connects directly to the videos’ imagery.
  • Quotes:

    “If you take one look at the Ray Rays, you’ll realize that these are the exact same suits that the doll figures were wearing in Blank Room Soup.” — Yvette (30:18)

• Contact with Raymond Percy

  • Via Tumblr in 2015, Percy admitted the Ray Ray costumes are his—but denied making the videos. He says the costumes were stolen in 2005; the video was emailed to him by an unknown person. He uploaded it to YouTube to get advice from friends and claimed ignorance about its viral status and original intent.
  • Percy maintains he did not create “Blank Room Soup,” but the clear connection to his creations keeps suspicion afloat.
  • Quotes:

    “He confirmed also that they’re just ordinary people in these suits.” — Yvette (31:46)
    “But listen up. Raymond is also very adamant that he didn’t create Blank Room Soup... has no clue about blank room soup until 2015 when they reached out.” — Yvette (32:06, 32:30)

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6. New Revelations, More Uncertainty

• SuperHorrorBro & "Evan" Confession (43:31)

  • In 2017, a YouTube creator (“superhorrorbro”) claimed to have sourced inside information from an “anonymous hacker” (Evan, via Enigma), who confessed to stealing the costumes and making the videos. Evan described a gruesome tale of actual abduction, murder, and cannibalism.
  • The hosts note this is entirely unsubstantiated—no proof, just internet rumor/legend.
  • Quotes:

    “All we know is that for a while, the man and the woman were held hostage and supposedly tortured. Then Evan and their associates murdered his wife, butchered her, and made soup of her remains.” — Yvette (44:00)

• Skepticism & Wild Goose Chases

  • The “Enygma/Evan” account can’t be corroborated and is likely an urban legend, possibly for attention or “clicks.”
  • The hosts note the difficulty of separating Internet myth from possible reality.

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7. Is It All a Viral Hoax?

• Performance Art as Intent
  • Plausible theory: Percy made the videos as experimental, boundary-pushing art to get noticed. The uncanny effect draws viewers in even two decades later.
  • Quote:

    “If you’re trying to make a name for yourself in the art world... I mean, what was viral in 2005 and what did it take to get there? Wasn’t much.” — Brit (51:00)

  • The hosts note that no matter the theory—true crime, art project, or myth—the lack of any explicit resolution keeps the fascination alive.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [07:37] Yvette Gentile:
  “It’s almost like, obviously, he doesn’t want to be there…he’s almost like he’s forced.”
• [13:14] Yvette Gentile:
  “The Dark Web is the seedy back alley that you can only enter if you’re up to some shady stuff.”
• [16:45] Brit:
  “Right before it cuts out, you hear someone start to scream and then just, like, cuts to black.”
• [24:29] Brit:
  “They feel so humanoid…if they’re actually aliens, they really have that many human-like attributes? Feels unbelievable...”
• [26:33] Brit:
  “My version of hell is having to upload a video on the Internet in 2005—that is, like, its own circle to me…”
• [30:18] Yvette Gentile:
  “If you take one look at the Ray Rays, you’ll realize that these are the exact same suits that the doll figures were wearing in Blank Room Soup.”
• [51:00] Brit:
  “What was viral in 2005 and what did it take to get there? Wasn’t much.”

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:32] – The dark side of YouTube and introduction to "Blank Room Soup"
• [07:37] – First video breakdown: unsettling details, reactions
• [11:16] – Viral nature, early YouTube culture
• [12:21] – Rumors of the dark web origin
• [16:38] – Description and analysis of the follow-up videos
• [21:51] – Theories: snuff film, human experimentation, supernatural
• [24:29–26:33] – Alien and demon theories debated (and dismissed)
• [28:15] – The breakthrough: Ray Rays, Raymond Percy, and the performance art connection
• [31:04] – Ray Rays confirmed; Percy denies direct involvement
• [43:31] – 2017’s SuperHorrorBro claim of abduction/cannibalism (and hosts’ skepticism)
• [49:37] – Speculation: hoax, viral branding ploy, or something deeper?
• [54:30] – April Fool’s tie-in: nothing confirmed, nothing ruled out, and the value of mystery

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Episode Tone & Approach

• The episode maintains a balance of true crime intrigue, open-minded skepticism, and playful banter. The hosts make it clear: the most disturbing mysteries are those that cannot be fully explained. They swing between plausible forensic investigation and outlandish speculation but always return to a grounded, evidence-minded perspective—with humor providing levity to a dark subject.

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Conclusion: Why the Mystery Endures

• No confirmed answers exist: The videos remain unexplained after 20+ years. Was it performance art? A viral hoax? Or is there a darker truth?
• The power of viral mystery: Blank Room Soup persists because it sits at the intersection of horror, art, urban legend, and the unknown.
• The hosts’ final word:

  “While nothing can be confirmed about this story—and we mean nothing—we also can’t completely debunk it either, right?”
  — Racha Pecorero (55:16)

• April Fools’ Day Theme: The episode was chosen for April 1st as a nod to the murky, prank-filled origins of internet lore. But, as the hosts note, “as long as they have elements that cannot be explained, there’s just so much possibility.” (55:24)

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Special Note:
This episode is rich with essential details for true crime fans, internet sleuths, urban legend aficionados, and fans of bizarre, unexplained phenomena. The hosts encourage listeners to think critically, enjoy the thrill of the unknown, and to watch what they believe—especially on April Fools’ Day.

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Transcript

[Racha Pecorero]

Hello?

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[Brit]

I thought I paid that.

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[Yvette Gentile]

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[Yvette Gentile]

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[Yvette Gentile]

It's wild to think how much YouTube has become a part of our lives over the last two decades. Now it's where we go for our workout videos, our how to videos, our podcasts. I know I go there for all my recipe videos and then you send them to me. And then I definitely send them to you. It's how so many people exclusively stream all of their content. But YouTube also has a very dark side, and it has since the very beginning. There's a lot of content that is incredibly disturbing. It's weird, even supernatural. It's one place on the Internet where we can go to question the boundaries of our reality, where we can watch videos that challenge our beliefs. What we, you know, truly know about the world. It's also one of the few corners of the Internet where anything is possible.

[Racha Pecorero]

Take a series of clips collectively known as Blank Room Soup. The first video was posted on YouTube in the year 2005. I didn't even know that YouTube existed in 2005, but anyway, shortly after YouTube launched is when Blank Room Soup was posted and and several follow up videos went viral online afterwards. They're mostly famous because nobody's entirely sure what the heck is going on. They might be a snuff film depicting a person's final moments before they're killed. They might be aliens performing some kind of murderous ritual, which, of course, aliens. We have to talk about aliens, right? Or they might be something even darker, like a glimpse of hell itself. The most fascinating part is the questions are still unanswered to this day, over 20 years later. I'm Racha Pecorero.

[Yvette Gentile]

And I'm Yvette Gentile.

[Brit]

And I'm Brit.

[Racha Pecorero]

I'm sorry, I'm just fanning her out right now. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

[Yvette Gentile]

And welcome back to Sew Supernatural.

[Racha Pecorero]

Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm like, oh my God. I just heard. And I'm Brit in person. And I'm like, freaking out.

[Brit]

It's funnier when me and Ashley have to introduce ourselves to new people. And she's like, I'm Ashley Flowers. And I say, And I'm Britt. Like, in real life.

[Racha Pecorero]

Oh, my God.

[Brit]

Does that happen? It's my name. It's really hard to not do it. Yeah.

[Racha Pecorero]

I love you so much.

[Brit]

Oh, my God.

[Racha Pecorero]

Well, needless to say, we are so excited to be here for this episode of so Supernatural, because we are diving into one of the oldest mysteries on the Internet. An elusive video dubbed Blank Room Soup. But before we get into that, Yvette and I have another surprise this week, if you haven't figured it out, we are doing today third host. We've officially stolen her from Crime Junkie.

[Yvette Gentile]

That's right.

[Racha Pecorero]

So she's now ours.

[Brit]

I'm so excited to be here.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yes.

[Racha Pecorero]

The one and only Brit Prewa.

[Brit]

Hi, guys. This is. I'm so excited about this episode. I can't wait to hear the story. I remember this time of YouTube, so, like, I can't wait to dive in.

[Racha Pecorero]

Oh, well, I'm happy that you are the expert, because nothing about.

[Yvette Gentile]

Nothing about it. But we know now we are relying on you.

[Brit]

Okay. No pressure, Brit. Yeah.

[Yvette Gentile]

So today we are turning back the clock to the early days of YouTube, which first went live in February of 2005. And at that time, there were no influencers, there were no ads. The whole YouTube culture that exists today, it hadn't been developed yet, but this launch was still a pretty big deal. And there weren't any other websites that let people easily upload and share their own videos online. Even though YouTube's interface was still pretty simple and pretty basic. People couldn't subscribe to a feed or even watch videos full screen. I mean, I just have to say I didn't know anything about YouTube until this one over here turned me onto it because I created my own YouTube channel. That's right.

[Racha Pecorero]

Excuse me. Thank you very much.

[Brit]

So sweet. Yeah.

[Racha Pecorero]

But it's the only reason they did it. Honestly, it was. And this was in 2013, so it wasn't even in the beginning of YouTube. I didn't even. Like I said, I didn't even know YouTube existed in 2005, but I had been on the reality TV show the Biggest Loser, and the majority of us, if you haven't seen the Netflix documentary,

[Brit]

I'll tell you, there's a lot of things going on.

[Racha Pecorero]

A lot of things going on. And the majority of us gained our weight back, and a lot of us had weight loss surgery, and none of us were talking about it. So I'm like, I'm gonna talk about it.

[Brit]

Yeah.

[Racha Pecorero]

You know, I had weight loss surgery in 2013, and here we are all these years later and I've kept the weight off.

[Brit]

And YouTube was a platform for you to tell that story.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah, and it was for amateurs, too. You know, anybody could go on there and tell their story.

[Racha Pecorero]

I did it with my iPhone.

[Brit]

Right.

[Racha Pecorero]

But anyway, it takes about 10 months for YouTube to become, you know, what it looks like.

[Brit]

Start to be.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah, starts to be. And it gets a little help on November 26, 2005, when a shocking new video gets posted. It's uploaded by a user named Renaissance Men. The title of the clip is Freaky Soup Guy. It's one minute and six seconds long, but don't be fooled by that short runtime. They still managed to cover a lot in that minute and six seconds. This video opens with a man in a white tank top eating a bowl of soup. And it's in a very stark white room, no decor. He's sitting at this wooden table under fluorescent lighting, almost like he's in an office building of some kind. You can't really tell, but there's something off about the way he's eating. It's not like it's a mukbang, where you're like, okay, I'm watching every movie makes. First of all, he's not using a normal spoon. He's trying to slurp out of an oversized ladle or some kind of serving utensil. And you can't see the guy's face because there's a big black sensor bar over it. It's very disturbing. He's sort of panting as he's eating. Almost like he's out of breath. Yeah.

[Yvette Gentile]

And it's almost like, obviously he doesn't want to be there. Right.

[Brit]

So he's, like, fighting it.

[Yvette Gentile]

He's almost like he's forced.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah, it's really creepy. All you can see behind him is a doorway, but it's completely dark, so you can't tell what's through that door.

[Brit]

Okay.

[Racha Pecorero]

However, as soon as the video starts playing, someone walks in through the doorway. They're in a costume. Black clothes with bulky white gloves. And this is where it gets weird. They're in an oversized cartoonish mask is the best way I can describe. Makes them look like they have a huge doll like bobblehead with dark black circles for eyes and no nose or a mouth. The doll walks toward the man and pats his back, almost like he's trying to comfort him. But then the man who was eating the soup just starts uncontrollably sobbing and crying, even though he's clearly in distress. He still keeps eating the soup, almost like he can't stop. Then at about the 45 second mark or so, a second life sized doll creature appears just out of frame. They're dressed exactly as the first doll and they are also patting the guy's back. Then another 20 seconds or so after that, the video just ends. There's no caption, no explanation of what we just watched, nothing.

[Brit]

Which is like a shocking situation. And again, with no context. It's a minute and 60 seconds.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yep.

[Brit]

All this happens, but nothing happens. But there really is so much there to unpack. It's just. What is it?

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah.

[Racha Pecorero]

And why are we watching it?

[Yvette Gentile]

And why are we. Why are we obsessively watching it? Right. Yeah.

[Brit]

Why upload it?

[Yvette Gentile]

Right.

[Brit]

To be watch.

[Yvette Gentile]

To be watch. Right. To be clear, Freaky soup guy doesn't include any physical violence or anything. Right. So he's not being beaten, but he's obviously.

[Brit]

But it's still off putting.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yes, it's very off putting. Again, nobody gets hurt. There's no blood, there's no gore any. And yet, like you just said, it's off putting in spite of that. I mean, the, the video itself, as we all have just said, is very disturbing. Right. Mostly because nobody can explain why the man is that upset in the first place and why is he eating that much soup. And it almost seems like someone is forcing him to choke it all down because of that. Some people watch the clip and they immediately think this man is being tortured. Right. I mean, I just have to ask you, like, what would your gut reaction be?

[Brit]

Do you think the way he's like choking it down and like then he starts uncontrollably weeping, the fact that his face is covered, it feels.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah.

[Brit]

Kind of torturous. Like someone. Even the kind of pats on the back feel condescending.

[Racha Pecorero]

100%.

[Brit]

Yeah. It definitely doesn't feel like he's there

[Yvette Gentile]

willingly because he wants to be.

[Brit]

Right.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah.

[Racha Pecorero]

Or.

[Yvette Gentile]

Or does it feel like performance art?

[Racha Pecorero]

Right. That could be another theory. Another theory, yeah. But despite it being disturbing, upsetting, and so confusing, people can't seem to look away. And before long, that video goes viral,

[Brit]

which we were talking about this a little bit before when we were talking about this video or this video series, there weren't a lot of videos out there. I mean, YouTube is 10 months old.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah.

[Brit]

Yep. Yeah. So viral is kind of relative in theory, but also I just remember like seeing a funny video or seeing a weird video even in that sort of like baby YouTube time and sharing it and that Being the video that me and my friends watched exclusively for a month. Because guess what?

[Racha Pecorero]

There was nothing else.

[Brit]

There was nothing else to watch. It was a video on the Internet. And, like, we were Internet babies. And so, like, of course it got shared because we were sharing anything and everything that was provoking a conversation. Maybe not a good one.

[Racha Pecorero]

Right.

[Brit]

But something. Because there was just. It was so new and exciting to be able to even do something like that.

[Yvette Gentile]

Right. And you just nailed it right there. This is something that's new and fresh. So obviously people are going to be obsessed with it and trying to figure it out, right?

[Brit]

Yeah.

[Racha Pecorero]

But rumors started to spread that it didn't originate on YouTube.

[Brit]

Oh.

[Racha Pecorero]

It originated on the Dark Web.

[Brit]

We've had the Dark Web that long?

[Yvette Gentile]

That was our question.

[Racha Pecorero]

And like, in all honesty, I didn't

[Yvette Gentile]

know what the Dark Web was.

[Racha Pecorero]

I didn't either because I thought it was just something that was used in, like, TV shows. I didn't know it was an actual thing. So tell me what the Dark Web actually is. Because, like, I need an actual definition.

[Yvette Gentile]

Let me break it down in layman terms. Okay? The Dark Web refers to a bunch of websites that can only be accessed using special computer programs. And they're hidden and they're very hard to find, mostly because people who use the Dark Web are sharing illegal content. So there is that. So imagine the Internet is a city block. You have websites like YouTube, Facebook, or Amazon, and these are like stores or businesses.

[Racha Pecorero]

Right.

[Yvette Gentile]

And anyone can go in, and you're pretty. You're pretty safe. Right. But the Dark Web is the seedy back alley that you can only enter if you're up to some shady stuff. Right.

[Racha Pecorero]

I didn't even know it was a real thing.

[Brit]

I mean, we. I know about it because we've talked about it before. It's been in cases that we've covered on Crime Jeopardy. But it is always, for me, it's shocking to hear that this was something that if it predicates YouTube at YouTube's infancy and it came from somewhere else first, how long has that been around? Like, that is even wilder to consider for me.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah.

[Yvette Gentile]

Now there's no reason to think Freaky Soup Guy appeared on the Dark Web before it was posted on YouTube. But it's not surprising people believe that. But the contents feel a little too creepy to have originated on an easily accessible site like YouTube. Right, right.

[Brit]

That, like, discomfort in the video, it feels icky.

[Racha Pecorero]

As odd and icky as Freaky Soup Guy is, the mystery is about to get weirder because soon after the clip hits the Internet, there's more. At least three follow up videos end up getting posted, and they hint that something even more violent is going on inside the blank room.

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[Brit]

Josh.

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[Racha Pecorero]

It's safe to say follow up videos were created by whoever made Freaky Soup Guy the first video.

[Yvette Gentile]

Right.

[Racha Pecorero]

Because of how similar they appeared. For example, the second video is 42 seconds long. Very close to that. 66 seconds. It starts out the same as the first one, with the same Freaky Soup Guy, the same man dressed in the same outfit, eating with the same oversized spoon or ladle. This time he's gagging and choking, like it's difficult for him to even take another bite, but he keeps shoveling it down his throat anyway. But this, this time, you can see what looks like a napkin and a can of soda on the table, too. Then our two doll characters are back. They come into the blank room from the hallway. They stand by the doorway watching Freaky Soup Guy struggle for a while, one with their arms crossed, another with their arms by their side. Then out of nowhere, one of them charges straight for the man. And then, of course, the video ends a millisecond before they get to him

[Brit]

and it just cuts out.

[Racha Pecorero]

But right before it cuts out, you hear someone start to scream and then

[Brit]

just like, cuts to black.

[Racha Pecorero]

Fade to black.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yep.

[Brit]

Whoa.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah.

[Racha Pecorero]

Creepy, right?

[Brit]

Yeah. I mean, these characters are already intimidating. And to just be like, looming in the background and then charging at the guy. A scream and then nothing.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah. So we don't know what happened.

[Brit]

And he's in the same outfit.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yep.

[Brit]

The table is a little different because there's more stuff on it.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yes, but we.

[Brit]

But like, there's. We don't know if it's like the same day, the same video.

[Yvette Gentile]

No idea.

[Brit]

Like a new. Like a different day, but the exact same setup. Right. We know nothing.

[Racha Pecorero]

Nothing.

[Yvette Gentile]

You know, I just have to say, like, I've watched the video and when I look at things, I start to analyze everything,

[Brit]

even how it's framed. Like everything.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yes. And I was looking at his hair. His hair looks a little bit longer to me in the second video. Now, I don't know if that's just melting like, for every little detail.

[Brit]

Right, right.

[Yvette Gentile]

And so. But it's hard to say if it's done all at one time or if

[Brit]

it's done over days, if it's recreated to look exactly like it for that creep effect, or if it actually is just 42 seconds in a. In the same day.

[Yvette Gentile]

Right. Yeah. All right, y' all hold on, because things are starting to get weird. Even weirder, I should say. Okay, so the third video is even more disturbing than the first and the second, even though this one is just 11 seconds now. So now we've gone down in time. All right? And it shot somewhere very dark, and you can't even tell if it's inside or.

[Racha Pecorero]

Or outside.

[Yvette Gentile]

And the clip shows one of the dolls walking with the man in a white shirt and a red jacket. This time he's tied up, he's gagged, and he's wearing sunglasses and a hat. So he's physically disguised. Right.

[Brit]

But there's no censor bar. Cause we can see all that.

[Yvette Gentile]

Right, Exactly. But you still can't see his face. Right. Because of that, a lot of people think that it's not the same man in the earlier videos, but we don't know. But we don't know for sure because

[Brit]

we don't know who the first guy was, and we don't know who this guy is. We don't know.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah.

[Brit]

No, but the change in the censor bar makes it feel like they could get away with it being a different person.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah. But we just have to say, though, in the first and the second, it is the same guy, right? It is the same guy. Yes.

[Brit]

But in the third, we don't know.

[Yvette Gentile]

We don't know.

[Brit]

Okay, so there could be an additional guy, but maybe not.

[Racha Pecorero]

But wait, now there's a fourth video that comes out. Okay, this one is 31 seconds. So it's backed up a little bit in time. It's blurry, and the camera pans quickly, so, honestly, it's kind of hard to see anything at all. But it seems like this one. The video's taken at night. The footage captures street lights and storefronts that are all lit up. And then the camera settles and zooms in on one of our creepy doll characters who's across the street standing perfectly still again with its arms crossed, staring right ahead. The whole thing is super disturbing. And apparently no one really knows what to make of it at all. Especially back we're talking, you know, early 2000s, when the Internet wasn't littered like you were. You used. You were saying Brit.

[Brit]

Right? There were like seven videos.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah, I mean, so like, what do we think? Was this made up for shock factor, for show?

[Yvette Gentile]

Or is it real?

[Brit]

And if it's real, what is it?

[Racha Pecorero]

Right.

[Yvette Gentile]

And why? And why are they doing it?

[Brit]

Because this last video doesn't have Soup guy in it. It just has the doll, like. Or one of them, and he's just looming across the street hanging out.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah.

[Brit]

Which even without the first three videos, that's a terrifying video. Like, even without all of the weird soup st. Just a video of this bobblehead doll, arms crossed in a dark street with like the glow of storefronts illuminating him is already unsettling.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yes.

[Brit]

But if you put it in this series of like three other videos where this character or character like this character are popping up and harassing a man eating soup.

[Racha Pecorero]

Poor little freaky soup.

[Yvette Gentile]

Oh, my gosh. But again, I go back to is this theater? Are they trying to.

[Brit]

Is it just. Are they trying to just elicit something?

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah, right. A feeling.

[Yvette Gentile]

But what is it?

[Racha Pecorero]

It almost reminds me you're. I know you're too young to know this, but the Blair Witch Project.

[Brit]

I was young, but I remember it. Okay. I'm not a scary movie girly, so.

[Racha Pecorero]

Well, no, I'm not either, but I remember going to it and people were. All of us thought it was real.

[Yvette Gentile]

I remember hearing handheld cameras too.

[Brit]

It was all like found footage style, handheld camera.

[Racha Pecorero]

And then later they're like, ha.

[Yvette Gentile]

Just kidding. It was art.

[Racha Pecorero]

So.

[Yvette Gentile]

So that's what I'm saying. Yeah.

[Racha Pecorero]

Okay, so let's get into the other theories.

[Brit]

Yeah, let's.

[Yvette Gentile]

Let's dive into the rumors and the theory.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah, let's see if that's one of them.

[Yvette Gentile]

Well, by the time the fourth video surfaces around 2010, everybody and their mother, father, sister has a theory about what they're seeing in the series. And some believe that freaky soup guy and the follow ups are all. We talked about this in the beginning. All part of a snuff film. I just have to say, in fairness, we don't actually see the man get physically harmed or killed during the blank room soup. Right.

[Brit]

Which, to be frank, is like the feature of a snuff film. This almost doesn't qualify as one because none of that stuff happens.

[Racha Pecorero]

Right.

[Yvette Gentile]

But we do see someone being force fed soup in what might be a form of torture. Right. Because we all. It all makes us feel very uncomfortable when we're watching it.

[Brit]

Right.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah, true.

[Yvette Gentile]

And in another video, someone else who looks different from the guy eating soup is bound and led Somewhere dark. And we know that he's all alone while he struggles to get himself free, Correct? Correct. So there is that. That feels like he's possibly being led off to some type of execution. Right. The theory goes that the people in these life size doll suits must have taken at least one man hostage, possibly tortured him, murdered him, and even filmed it all. So this is all, again, rumors and speculation. Right. And if the man in the third video really is someone different, that must have been done multiple times, right?

[Brit]

Right. Like that's another person.

[Racha Pecorero]

Right.

[Brit]

And if there was more than one, how many are there?

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah, yeah. So the clips that made it online could be bits and pieces of the longer, more disturbing and graphic movie of this scenario, right?

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah.

[Yvette Gentile]

But there are also theories that are much more outlandish. Some people believe the people with the doll, like, heads weren't in costume at all.

[Brit]

Okay, what does that mean?

[Racha Pecorero]

What is happening right now?

[Yvette Gentile]

Wait for it.

[Brit]

I'm forgetting that I am on so Supernatural.

[Yvette Gentile]

Right. Well, hello.

[Brit]

Yeah.

[Racha Pecorero]

You're gonna find out why right now.

[Brit]

Okay. There are only questions on this show.

[Yvette Gentile]

Okay. So some people believe maybe this is what they actually look like because they're not actually human at all. I am a huge believer. Alien believer. But this is very far fetched. Like, I can't get behind that.

[Brit]

They feel so humanoid. Right. Like, if they're actually aliens, they really have that many human, like, attributes. Feels unbelievable. Like, to me at least. And I'm not necessarily an alien. Girly. So what?

[Racha Pecorero]

Brit.

[Brit]

I know.

[Racha Pecorero]

That is why when we did our. Remember, we had to do the. Are you and Ashley or Rhea.

[Yvette Gentile]

Right.

[Racha Pecorero]

You were.

[Yvette Gentile]

Ashley. I was split.

[Racha Pecorero]

I was split.

[Yvette Gentile]

I was split.

[Brit]

But yes, I think every good pairing has like, a girly who. Who's like, aliens are real and one who's like, I could use some more proof. So this tracks. This tracks.

[Racha Pecorero]

She's made me more of a believer, to be honest.

[Brit]

I can see that in all fairness.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Racha Pecorero]

Okay. Well, if you don't believe in the alien theory, which I can. I think we can all agree that the three of us don't.

[Brit]

Yeah.

[Yvette Gentile]

And I just have to say these costumes are very cartoonish.

[Brit]

It wouldn't make sense for this to be an alien. Like, it doesn't look like a creature.

[Yvette Gentile]

Exactly.

[Racha Pecorero]

So I think we all three can agree that it's probably not the alien theory, Right?

[Yvette Gentile]

Yes. Right.

[Racha Pecorero]

But some people have put an even different spin on this, saying these entities are actually demons. So if that is correct, Blank Room Soup might have been filmed in literal hell. And the video could show the eternal torment that awaits you, especially if you've committed a crime or some serious sins like gluttony. Meaning if you were a gluttonous overeater in life, the devil might torture you by forcing you to eat until you're sick and keep up with that torment for all of eternity. Maybe that's exactly what we're seeing in Freaky Soup Guy and it's follow ups. But I have to say right now that I will be in hell myself because I was morbidly obese until 13 years ago.

[Brit]

Here's. Here's my issue with this theory is my version of hell is having to upload a video on the Internet in 2005 that is like its own circle to me on, like, dial up.

[Racha Pecorero]

Oh, my God. Yeah. On MySpace.

[Brit]

Oh, my gosh. No demon is waiting for that upload. This is more incredulous than aliens, you guys. It is not demons. Demons are off the list.

[Racha Pecorero]

Demon out, demon out, demon out.

[Brit]

No aliens, no aliens, no demons.

[Racha Pecorero]

No demons.

[Brit]

I realize I'm, like, bashing all of the supernatural things on this episode, but I'm not buying it.

[Yvette Gentile]

Let's get to the clues. Okay, okay, okay. So listen up. If you're not buying any of these theories, maybe we should go to the root of the problem. Right? The original creator. So sometime after Blank Room Soup goes viral, although it's hard to nail down an exact date, online sleuths uncover a major clue, and it leads to the person who may be behind the whole thing. The YouTube profile Renaissanceman belongs to an animator, a director, a voiceover artist, and a puppeteer named Raymond Percy. If you're a big film or TV buff, you might recognize that name. Because today, Raymond is very successful in Hollywood. Right? He worked on movies and television shows like the Simpsons, Frozen, and one of my favorite and my husband's favorite and my favorite, Zootopia.

[Racha Pecorero]

Oh, he's a slash.

[Brit]

This is like a sloth.

[Yvette Gentile]

He's a sloth.

[Racha Pecorero]

He's a sloth in Zootopia 1 and 2.

[Brit]

The best character. Okay, so he's like a person person.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah. But in the late 90s and early 2000s, his professional life, it hadn't taken off yet. He was trying to build a name for himself, and he did it by joining an experimental performance art group called the Mutator. They put on edgy experimental shows that toured all across the country. And they did this for, like, two decades. And they're still occasionally active today. So that's what I was saying in the Beginning performance art.

[Brit]

Performance art, yeah.

[Yvette Gentile]

So that's a huge clue.

[Brit]

Yeah. I mean, it doesn't explain anything great.

[Racha Pecorero]

Ish.

[Brit]

But, like, it seems possible.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yes.

[Brit]

I'm a Will. I'm like, I want to hear this one out.

[Racha Pecorero]

Okay.

[Yvette Gentile]

Okay. All right. So there's more to it. With the mutator, Raymond puts his puppetry skills to good use. Working with special effects artists. He designed these huge costumes that performers could wear at the shows. And get this. They featured big, bulky heads with black hair, those same eyes, and no other features.

[Racha Pecorero]

Okay.

[Yvette Gentile]

They also had the black suits and the puffy white hands.

[Brit]

So he was in charge of, like, creating these costumes, these puppetry features that just so happened to look just like the, like, looming characters in the Blank Soup room.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yes, the cartoon.

[Yvette Gentile]

The cartoon.

[Brit]

Yeah, the cartoon doll. Bobblehead, puffy hands.

[Racha Pecorero]

Okay.

[Yvette Gentile]

Right. We're in these.

[Brit]

And he's into experimental art.

[Racha Pecorero]

Right.

[Yvette Gentile]

And where these dolls would come to life. Right, Right. Okay. So he called his creations Ray Rays. And if you take one look at the Ray Rays, you'll realize that these are the exact same suits that the doll figures were wearing in Blank Room Soup.

[Brit]

Okay.

[Yvette Gentile]

And once the people online put this all together, they figure, okay, the mystery's solved.

[Brit]

Right? Yeah.

[Yvette Gentile]

Raymond must have filmed Blank Room Soup for, I don't know, some reason, and repurposed the Ray Ray suit during production.

[Brit]

Yeah, right. They're his. Ray Ray. They're his.

[Yvette Gentile]

Right? They're Ray Rays. It's his.

[Racha Pecorero]

Raymond's Ray Ray Sus.

[Brit]

Exactly. Yeah.

[Yvette Gentile]

So in 2015, one online sleuth messages Raymond on Tumblr.

[Racha Pecorero]

Is Tumblr still around?

[Yvette Gentile]

I don't know. Is Tumblr. I have no idea. I was never on Tumblr to begin with.

[Brit]

I was.

[Racha Pecorero]

You're a Tumblr girl. Okay.

[Yvette Gentile]

It is. All right.

[Racha Pecorero]

Oh, it is.

[Yvette Gentile]

Okay. She puts out a message to Raymond, and she asks if it's true that he created the Blank Room Soup, and if so, why did he do it?

[Brit]

Yeah.

[Yvette Gentile]

And what did he have to gain by making some disturbing content? And Raymond actually replies to her message. In the exchange that follows, Raymond says that, yes, he did create the costumes the tormentors were wearing in the video.

[Brit]

Okay, meaning they're. They're Ray Rays.

[Yvette Gentile]

Meaning, like we said earlier, they're not aliens and they're not demons from hell. They're just ray rays.

[Brit]

Right, right. That's a. That's actually a huge answer. Yeah.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah. Right. And he confirmed also that they're just ordinary people in these suits.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah, they're not Aliens again, this is

[Brit]

a huge stride in this mystery. Yes.

[Yvette Gentile]

Okay, but listen up. Raymond is also very adamant that he didn't create blank room Soup.

[Brit]

Well, then that's another question.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah, nothing to do with the videos at all. In fact, he says that sometime in 2005, the Ray Ray suits went missing after a mutator show. And he assumes that they were stolen, but of course, he doesn't know who took them or what they plan to do with them. So he has no clue about blank

[Racha Pecorero]

room soup until 2015 when they reached out.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah.

[Brit]

So he's like, yes, those are my Ray Rays, but I haven't had those for years. Right.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah. And I don't know, conveniently got stolen in 2005.

[Brit]

We still have no answers. There's still sickly. We, like, know where the. We know. Again, not aliens, not demonstration. And definitely 1000% puppetry costumes made by this man. Yes, yes, but he hasn't had, like. He hasn't had them physically in his hands for a very long time and has no idea who took them, who used them for this video.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah, but they were made by him.

[Brit]

But they were made by him.

[Racha Pecorero]

So he does admit that.

[Brit]

Yeah.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yes, but I have to say Disney, or whoever his handlers are, have scrubbed the Internet with the exception of Reddit, because if you, like, Google, Raymond Percy, you know, blank room soup, like, it

[Brit]

doesn't connect at all.

[Yvette Gentile]

No, not to him.

[Brit]

Interesting.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah. The only things that we could find were, like, on Reddit or different, like, nothing.

[Brit]

Nothing official, nothing in his history, nothing in, like, his, like, experience or resume.

[Racha Pecorero]

Because, like, I went down those as,

[Brit]

like, someone in sort of, like, the entertainment industry. He has this history with some sort of theater. Even if it's experimental, like, that probably helped get him to where he is today. You'd think that would show up somewhere in his, like, Wikipedia page, even if it's not like. And also, these costumes were used in link rooms. Even if that isn't in there, something about his time with this group.

[Yvette Gentile]

Would have shown up.

[Brit]

You think would have shown up? Especially, again, like, there's kind of a through line from his work in this experimental space to what he's doing now.

[Yvette Gentile]

Right. And I did go down the Reddick deep dive.

[Racha Pecorero]

I know. I don't know how to do.

[Yvette Gentile]

He did mention his sister got a hold of these suits, so I. I,

[Brit]

like, need a head count on these.

[Racha Pecorero]

Okay. But I do have more information about what Raymond says about all of this.

[Brit]

Okay.

[Racha Pecorero]

His explanation, this. We're just referring to the very first video.

[Brit]

Okay.

[Racha Pecorero]

So Raymond says that a few weeks after the theft in 2005, he received an email from an account he didn't recognize. It had a video file attached. And when Raymond watched it, he saw the footage that we now know as Blank Room Soup, or who we call Freaky Soup Guy. So it was almost like the thieves, whoever stole the Ray Ray suits, were taunting him by showing him what kind of violent activities they were doing with his costumes. According to Raymond, he. He was puzzled by what he saw. Still, he wanted to figure out if this was a tasteless prank or some horrible actual crap. So he ended up like the generation you come from, Britt, sharing that video with his friends. He hoped someone could help him figure out who was behind the video and what they were up to. So he's saying that's why he first uploaded Blank room soup to YouTube, so he could just easily share the link with friends. He's claiming that he didn't know that it was public because, you know, you can. You have that option to upload private or public. Yeah, yeah, but he's. That's a stretch. You're like, explain this look.

[Brit]

So is he Renaissance man?

[Racha Pecorero]

He's not saying.

[Yvette Gentile]

He's not saying that, but he's saying

[Brit]

that at some point in time, he did upload this to YouTube. Just maybe not this upload that's connected to the other videos. TBD.

[Racha Pecorero]

TBD. But he says he did it in 2005, and basically he was trying to just share it with his friends. That's what he's saying.

[Brit]

I will. I'm willing to give him a little bit of a benefit of the touch.

[Yvette Gentile]

Oh, okay.

[Brit]

Because I would like to do more research on if private videos were an option in 2005 on YouTube.

[Racha Pecorero]

Right.

[Brit]

Because YouTube is less than a year old when this video gets posted.

[Racha Pecorero]

This is true.

[Brit]

And again, there were, like, 15 videos on there.

[Racha Pecorero]

Right, right.

[Brit]

When you're putting it on, like, when you have that access, you're just like, oh, I just want to put my video online. And I don't know if YouTube at that age would have had the forethought of, like, having that protected video private or public at that time. Maybe they did, but, like, without a little Google.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah, but is there a click where you.

[Brit]

Well, there is now.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah.

[Racha Pecorero]

In 2013, that. That was an option. Yeah, I know that from my video channel.

[Brit]

But, like. But did he even have that option when he put it up there? And again, like, it is. It is so new, like, the idea of, like, you know, like a reply all even Was confused. The idea that you were just like, oh, I can just make a link out of this video that I have on my computer and send it to my friends without realizing how public it was or wasn't. I kind of believe him for 2005,

[Yvette Gentile]

but I'm a little torn. Like, I'm. I don't know. I. That's a great point. Differently.

[Racha Pecorero]

Because of what.

[Yvette Gentile]

That's a great point. But I feel like he's already in the industry.

[Brit]

You know what I mean?

[Yvette Gentile]

There's.

[Brit]

There is like a little bit of, okay, but shouldn't you have known better?

[Yvette Gentile]

You know what I'm saying? Like, that's my. Yeah.

[Brit]

Did he know it went viral in 2000?

[Racha Pecorero]

Supposedly. He says he didn't even notice that it went viral. I say that in air quotes.

[Brit]

I mean, if he's not. If he's only using the video to, like, share with his friends to be like, hey, did you do this? And he's not necessarily going back to check the view counts, which you're right. And it's not like we said at the beginning, it's not the YouTube that we know and love slash hate today.

[Racha Pecorero]

YouTube, we love you.

[Brit]

We do love you. But, like, no, like. But with, like, influencer culture where they're like, we're. There's view counts that matter that count for people's careers that, like, you're like, banking on. If you aren't posting something for that reason, you may never think to go back to look at those view counts. No, I. I haven't trusted. So you may not. You may not know it goes viral if you're just like, I just needed a link to send to my friends.

[Racha Pecorero]

Right.

[Brit]

I never expected to even watch this video on YouTube ever again. Right. I mean, again, as someone in, like, the experimental art world at the time, it feels like if it had gone viral, he would have been part of scope of virality. It would have been sent to him in one of those awful chain emails that went around. Right. Maybe not by any of the friends that he originally sent it to, but it would have come back around to him. Especially if he was in that sort of culture or community. It seems odd that it wouldn't have circled back and met him. Be like, how did this even get to you? This was my video.

[Racha Pecorero]

Right, right, right, right.

[Yvette Gentile]

Very good point. Well, the Internet disagreed with you. Britt Raymond got a lot of criticism for his explanation, which I'm actually one

[Racha Pecorero]

of those people, but I'm with Brit.

[Yvette Gentile]

I mean, I.

[Racha Pecorero]

Now I am.

[Yvette Gentile]

I can see it Anyhow, a lot of people wondered why would he put something like this on the Internet rather than go to the police. Right. Let's just consider the timeline here. Supposedly, Raymond received the Blank Room Soup clip in 2005. He then uploaded it right away, never learned who was behind the video, and failed to mention it to law enforcement or anyone else for wait, 10 years.

[Brit]

So what would he tell, like, about the theft?

[Racha Pecorero]

I know. Hey, my Ray Razor.

[Yvette Gentile]

My Ray Razor. Stole it.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah. Like, why would he talk to Lawn first?

[Brit]

Yeah, I guess, like, the video is disturbing.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yes.

[Brit]

And it feels like something bad is

[Yvette Gentile]

happening, but it's disturbing because he made these costumes and now these costumes are in the video. Right.

[Brit]

My costumes were stolen. I don't know where they are. Someone is taunting me with this video, using my stuff, and it feels like something bad is happening, I guess. But it also. This is maybe my crime junkie cynicism. But, like, I don't know how any law enforcement agency would react. Like, how do you write that report? Right. I'm not saying that they should or shouldn't do that. Maybe they probably should take it seriously. But I kind of get his hesitation

[Yvette Gentile]

to do anything about it.

[Brit]

To do anything about it. Because what is there to do?

[Racha Pecorero]

There's more. And this comes in the year 2017.

[Yvette Gentile]

Okay.

[Racha Pecorero]

That's when a content creator reveals new information that wasn't available at the time of Raymond's statement in 2015. Okay, so. And these new facts suggest that Blank Room Soup might really be footage from a real life murder after all. One that also featured cannibalism.

[Yvette Gentile]

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He was a young Marine. She didn't care about convention. They made a life together. Then one night, the Marine died. And then the death investigation took a wild, unexpected, and utterly bizarre turn. I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and this is Trace of Suspicion, an all new podcast from Dateline. Listen to all episodes of Trace of Suspicion now, wherever you get your podcasts.

[Racha Pecorero]

So, in 2017, a creator with the username superhorrorbro posted a new video on YouTube about the blank Room Soup mystery.

[Yvette Gentile]

That's right. And the user claims he's investigated the videos with the help of an anonymous source known only as Enigma. And Enigma, in turn, knows another person of interest, an unidentified hacker, who we'll call Evan for simplicity.

[Racha Pecorero]

Okay.

[Yvette Gentile]

It's no wonder Evan doesn't want to reveal their words real name, because get this, they said they stole the Ray Ray costumes from Raymond, and they created the Blank Room Soup videos. They also share some disturbing details that. I'm just warning you, it's very unsettling. Okay. Evan says that he and some other collaborators kidnapped a man and his wife. It's still unclear who the couple was when they were taken, or why Evan and the others tormented them. All we know is that for a while, the man and the woman were held hostage and supposedly tortured. Then Evan and their associates murdered his wife, butchered her, and made soup of her remains.

[Brit]

So she was the soup.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah.

[Yvette Gentile]

And that's why the man in the original video was supposedly. I mean, which we all watched. Was so upset.

[Brit]

Yeah.

[Yvette Gentile]

You know, eating this soup.

[Brit]

Yeah. Oh, my God. This. I'm still stuck a little bit on, like, the trail of people that we had to get to to get to the story.

[Yvette Gentile]

I know. Yeah, I know.

[Brit]

Cause that's a little bit of a journey, for sure. But, like, why is my only question. Why? And why film it? Why the Ray Rays? Why any of it?

[Racha Pecorero]

Right.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah. Right.

[Brit]

But, like, there's also so many weird elements to this.

[Yvette Gentile]

Agreed, agreed.

[Racha Pecorero]

And claim it all those years later.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He also says that when the Ray Rays approached him, you know, to pat his back, that they weren't really comforting him, they were just mocking him. And it's hard to understand why Evan would have shared all of this with Enygma like this. Like we just said all this.

[Brit]

Yeah. Like why?

[Yvette Gentile]

What is the purpose behind all of this? And I just have to wonder what details might have gotten changed or, you know, misreported during that long game of telephone between. To Enigma, to Super Horror, bro.

[Brit]

Yeah.

[Racha Pecorero]

So naturally, people have some doubts about Super Horror Bros. Claims. And in terms of proof, Super Horror Bro has nada. Nothing. No proof.

[Brit]

So we don't even know if these conversations happen, right?

[Yvette Gentile]

We don't know if it's real or not.

[Brit]

If Enygma is real or Evan or Evan's story.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah, no idea. No idea. With all of that being said, though, we can verify Enygma does seem to be real. So at least one person with that exact username. It's E, the letter E. And then Nygma posted on a forum discussing their alleged conversation with Evan. And this post was from before Super Horror Bros. Video ever came out. So that's one kind of valid piece of proof that Enigma exists that.

[Brit]

That they exist, but we still don't have proof of like, Evan or these conversations. Like, Right? Yeah, it's an element of the story existing. Just like, it's as much proof as like. Okay. And also, the ray rays are ray rays, not aliens, right?

[Racha Pecorero]

Yes.

[Brit]

Kind of like the same amount of an answer.

[Racha Pecorero]

Tragedy.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah, yeah.

[Racha Pecorero]

I mean, Enygma obviously, like, so if someone does this, right, they're probably doing it for clicks or for the attention. So that's of course a possibility, right?

[Yvette Gentile]

I think that's a given either way.

[Brit]

Right?

[Racha Pecorero]

For sure. For sure. Actually, though, in their forum post, Enigma makes even more wild claims about Evan that don't make much sense. For example, they say that Evan didn't only steal the ray Rays and send Raymond the Freaky Soup Guy video, but they also allegedly hacked Raymond's Tumblr, his YouTube and his email accounts, and posed as him for years. So all these times that we've been saying, oh, Raymond said this, Raymond said that. That is probably why I couldn't find anything on the Internet about him.

[Brit]

It wasn't necessarily him, Raymond, at all.

[Racha Pecorero]

But Raymond is a public figure, right? And if he lost control of all of his counts, he probably would have

[Yvette Gentile]

said something with no statement of some kind.

[Racha Pecorero]

For sure.

[Brit]

Especially when there's like, I think you've been able to set up Google alerts for a while if you're. If your name is like, floating around there with, like, connected to this video, you would like, find out and be like, oh, that was around the same time my accounts were hacked, or whatever. Yeah, yeah, it's. It's getting really hard to like, separate him from all this still.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah, it totally is. But since he hasn't come forward, we have to take Enygma's claims with a huge grain of salt. And they might be nothing more than just A hoax or a sick attempt to get some online attention. Or again, for the clicks.

[Yvette Gentile]

Right, right, Yeah. I mean, you know, there are those people who do it just for the attention and then shock value. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So let's just talk about if it's

[Racha Pecorero]

a hoax or not.

[Yvette Gentile]

As a matter of fact, some people think Blank Room soup might. All of it just might be fake. Right. A way for Raymond Percy to, I don't know, maybe build a brand and get some attention. There. There is that. I mean, the thinking is that back in 2005, before his career actually took off, Raymond decided to make some creepy videos. And Raymond knew that if he could get under people's skin, he was more likely to go viral.

[Racha Pecorero]

So I don't want to believe that

[Yvette Gentile]

about flashcards, but that's kind of where my thought process was in the beginning, that his forethought was thinking this from the get.

[Brit]

Yeah, well, especially knowing how unsettling the Ray Rays look.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah, yeah. And Freaky Soup guy.

[Brit]

Yeah. But, like, we know that Raymond made the Ray Rays. Yes. Something in him.

[Yvette Gentile]

That's a fact.

[Brit]

We know for sure that he made them. And they were involved with that experimental art girl.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yes.

[Brit]

So he had, like, I hate to say, like, something in him, but, like, he was compelled to make these creepy characters in general.

[Racha Pecorero]

Okay, thank you.

[Brit]

And so, like, that alone, to me, makes it totally possible.

[Yvette Gentile]

Now you're coming to my side.

[Brit]

That he was potentially capable or interested in making this sort of extra experimental art. And like, to be completely clear, growing up in this era, like, I remember one of my best friends, Nathan, his little brother, wanted to be a filmmaker. He was 13. He wanted to make, like, funny, weird videos. And he did all the time. At one point in time, he took his parents camcorder in a Ziploc and tried to film underwater.

[Racha Pecorero]

Very innovative.

[Brit]

It did not work.

[Yvette Gentile]

Oh, he was ahead of his time.

[Brit]

He got in so much trouble. But she did make, like, these weird little scripted vignettes and post them on YouTube in, like, 2007. And so that was a kid doing that. Just 13.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah.

[Brit]

But if you're trying to make a name for yourself in the art world and you already have these creepy characters, I mean, what was. We talked about this earlier. What was viral in 2005 and what did it take to get there? Wasn't much.

[Racha Pecorero]

Right.

[Brit]

But, like, if you thought you could maybe do it with this character you already created.

[Yvette Gentile]

Right.

[Brit]

I don't. Like, on top of that, he's admitted to putting it on YouTube.

[Racha Pecorero]

Right.

[Brit]

Like, whether or not he meant to blast it out there or not.

[Racha Pecorero]

But we're not sure if he admitted it because they're saying that potentially, potentially he got hacked, but he hadn't said anything about it, so.

[Yvette Gentile]

Right. It all.

[Brit]

I mean, the connection of him making them at all is like so strong for me though. Yeah.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah.

[Yvette Gentile]

Very. Yeah.

[Brit]

So hard to ignore.

[Racha Pecorero]

And it's weird that it's all scrubbed on the Internet. It's scrubbed. Like there's no connection to him in the Ray race.

[Brit]

Especially because if you think about, like, if it wasn't him, maybe they still scrub it, but he addresses it somewhere.

[Yvette Gentile]

Right.

[Brit]

Like this like, wild thing happened. And now I'm really careful about how my, like, creations are used or whatever. I'm really sensitive to what my. How my creations are represented in the world. And for him to not address it, not speak on it, like, have it.

[Racha Pecorero]

So Raymond Percy, if you want to

[Yvette Gentile]

come on Social and talk to us

[Brit]

all about it, clear the record for once and for all.

[Yvette Gentile]

Because you're our favorite on Zootopia.

[Brit]

I mean, if that's not. If that's not enough.

[Racha Pecorero]

I know,

[Brit]

but yeah, like, again, I'm kind of. I feel bad because I'm on Zos Supernatural, but like, I'm kind of ruling out all of the Supernatural options. I think it is creepy.

[Yvette Gentile]

Maybe he intentionally made the clips as unsettling as possible. Right. Just to say that. Sure, sure. But then Reman got jobs on the Simpsons, so he probably needed to keep his new bosses happy by building this new public brand that was more kinder, more friendly. Right.

[Brit]

Softer.

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah, exactly. To get away from the mutator side of things. Right. So he denied having anything to do with the blank room soup when people asked him about it. And then when the videos went viral, other creators like Super Horror Bro and Enygma may have started to pretend that they were involved again. Copycats, right?

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah. So they get some things. Exactly, yeah.

[Brit]

Connect themselves.

[Yvette Gentile]

And we know a lot about that in different cases. Right, right.

[Racha Pecorero]

And there is a reason we decided to cover this particular topic on April Fool's Day. In part because when else would we get to talk about a creepy video that's very likely a hoax? But also because this is a day when a of lot. A lot of pranks and a lot of misinformation are flooding the Internet? And while it's important to be skeptical about what you see, what you read, what you intake, especially on April 1, it's also good to keep an open mind. While nothing can be confirmed about this story and we mean nothing.

[Yvette Gentile]

Nothing at all.

[Racha Pecorero]

We also can't completely debunk it either, right?

[Yvette Gentile]

Yeah, but that's. That is the nature of the cases that we cover.

[Racha Pecorero]

This is true.

[Yvette Gentile]

And there's usually an official explanation, Right. The very safe and the grounded solution that we've all heard in many different cases. The allegation of pranks and hoaxes. And then there's the supernatural theory. That's why stories like these are so freaking exciting. Because as long as they have elements that cannot be explained, there's just so much possibility. Yeah. And frankly, if we were to prove tomorrow that ghosts, aliens, or other dimensions were real, that would take a little bit of the fun out of it, Right?

[Brit]

Yeah. The unknown is the best part.

[Yvette Gentile]

It's the best part.

[Racha Pecorero]

But I still want our mom to haunt us.

[Yvette Gentile]

Well, I know.

[Racha Pecorero]

I want to know that there's really ghosts. But yes, it is the. The unknown part.

[Yvette Gentile]

It's the best part, you know, for sure.

[Racha Pecorero]

With all of that being said, if you know me, you know that I'm a terrible, terrible liar. And I have all of these lines on my face because I am very expressive and I cannot hide anything. So I can no longer hide that. We have to share that this episode has been an episode for April Fools. As much as we would our beautiful Brit to stay with us as a permanent co host on so Supernatural, we do have to give her back to her bff, Ashley.

[Brit]

It is.

[Yvette Gentile]

We don't want you to go, Brit.

[Brit]

It has been so much fun to hang out with you ladies. I've wanted to do this for a really long time. I'm so glad we could make it happen. I loved this episode like I love all your episodes, but being on it was even more exciting.

[Yvette Gentile]

Oh well, you can come back anytime. You are welcome.

[Racha Pecorero]

That is not an April Fool's joke. You're welcome back anytime time.

[Brit]

I promise.

[Racha Pecorero]

And we love and adore you.

[Brit]

And you. We do.

[Yvette Gentile]

Mahalo nuiloa. Thank you, Brit.

[Racha Pecorero]

Thank you, Brit for being here. Eyvette and I will be back this Friday with another all new episode of so Supernatural. And that, my friends, is not a hoax.

[Yvette Gentile]

This is so Supernatural. And Adio Chucker. Original produced by Crime House. You can connect with us on Instagram at so supernatural pod and visit our website at sosupernaturalpodcast.com join rasha and me next Friday for an all new episode. I think Chuck would approve.