The Miller Tapes

I get a lot of emails asking me to write about certain stories. A lot of them fit outside the razor-thin but somehow nebulous purview that I consider my area of interest. Of the ones that fit the mould, many requests are things I have already attempted and abandoned, or have on my list to get to eventually. Occasionally, I get an email asking for information about something I've never heard of before. Such was the case with The Miller Tapes.

The Miller Tapes are six VHS cassettes filmed over a period of three years. They detail the vacations of The Miller family between 1986 and 1989 at Lake Dagmar. The videos appeared in the media collection of the vacation house in 1994 without explanation but they became known on the internet in August of 2015, when user LostMediaFan92 uploaded the videos to Youtube. The videos are detailed below, each by the title that was used on Youtube, followed by the date of upload and the video description used by LostMediaFan92.

Video 1 – July 1986

Uploaded to Youtube in August 2015.

This video cassette was found in the vacation cabin at Lake Dagmar, Mille Lacs County, Minnesota in 2004. It was initially thought to have been left by a previous guest and was found within the VHS and DVD library that visitors were encouraged to use and contribute to. It is presented here without editing.

The first shot is a title card. Against a black background the words 'Miller Family Vacation '86!' appear in white text.

The first 27 minutes of the video shows the Miller family arriving at Lake Dagmar. The father, Jim, is not seen in this section as he is always behind the video camera. Mother, Carol and the two children Meghan (13) and Tom (10) seem excited by the concept of a two week vacation. They explore the house, Jim takes Tom and Meghan down to the lakeside, and the family walk through the woods surrounding the cabin.

After going on a walk through the woodlands and discussing plans for the following days, the video begins to experience static interference before cutting to a shot of the cabin from the opposite side of the lake. It is now night time and the ambient sounds of the wind are gone. It is eerily quiet as the static shot watches the lights in the cabin go off one by one. This shot is notable as the first time the 'other recorder' appears. The other recorder's footage is notably clearer than that taken by the Miller family.

There is more static interference and it then cuts to the family eating pancakes in the morning.

The rest of the video, a further 14 minutes, are primarily focussed on two days at the lake. The children and Carol swim, teasing Jim for his inability to do so. They have dinner with another family, unnamed, who join them for a barbecue. Finally, Jim goes out onto the lake with Tom in a small wooden row boat. There is a burst of static. Tom jokes about the depth of the water, then uses one of the oars to test how deep it is, revealing that it is only marginally deeper than the full length of the oar. There is another burst of static.

The final shot of the video shows Jim and Tom on the boat in the centre of the lake. Their voices are inaudible but Tom takes one of the oars and tests the depth, exactly as he had just done. Of note is the fact that Jim is visibly holding the video camera and filming the events. Via studying the angles, it appears that this recording is taking place from the eastern edge of the lake, an area that is obscured by woodland. Whilst birds can be heard singing and there is the gentle sound of water lapping at the shore, the perpetually present roar of the wind that can be heard in any of the Millers' recordings taken near the lake is absent.

Video 2 – July 1986

Uploaded to Youtube in November 2015.

This video cassette was found in the vacation cabin at Lake Dagmar, Mille Lacs County, Minnesota in 2004. It was initially thought to have been left by a previous guest and was found within the VHS and DVD library that visitors were encouraged to use and contribute to. It was the only video cassette with a title written on the label – Lake Dagmar. It is presented here without editing.

The title card at the start of the video reads 'Miller Family Vacation at Lake Dagmar'.

It appears to be several days after the events of the first video. Jim and Meghan walk through 'town' which appears to be some distance from the lake itself. Meghan buys earrings from a small store and Jim jokes about not telling her mother. Jim makes an effort to capture various landmarks on film – a small stone wishing well, an old-fashioned horse and cart being driven through town, an older man serving ice creams, a collection of wooden carvings leading into the woods. The scene cuts suddenly to a guide giving a tour of some kind to a small group, many of whom are also recording. He explains the history of the town as a settlement for Danish immigrants fleeing religious persecution in Europe.

The video cuts to black for twenty nine minutes. Muffled sounds can be heard, but even with audio enhancement technology, they cannot be defined. At the twenty nine minute mark there is a burst of static and a vaguely humanoid shape appears for a split-second before the scene cuts to Carol and Tom unpacking the shopping from Jim and Meghan's trip. Carol comments on the earrings and Meghan laughs at the camera. From off camera, Tom is heard muttering something and Jim turns around to reveal his son holding a strange wooden figure made of woven twigs.

“What is that?” Tom asks his father.

Jim's answer is obscured by a burst of static and hissing, but he ends his response with, “make a neat memento.” Tom makes a face in response to this and tosses the figure back into the shopping bag.

The Millers eat dinner outside at a wooden table as the sun goes down over the lake.

The next day, all four of the family go out in the row boat. Despite being the weakest swimmer, Jim is relatively relaxed whilst Carol seems on edge. As they row out towards the opposite side of the lake, Meghan asks if any of the others can hear 'that noise'. Nobody is able to discern what she is hearing, but she describes it as being singing and bells. At one point Jim thinks he might be hearing the bells too, but at Carol's request, they turn around and head back towards the cabin.

There is a burst of static which contains an image that appears for only three frames. It is distorted and stretched by the interference, but when cleaned up using modern editing software it is possible to see a figure with their hands clenched in front of them and their face obscured by a hood. The lower half of her body descends into broken lines with the distortion caused by the static but the lower part of her body appears unnaturally long compared to her torso and head.

When the static clears it is night time. Whoever is holding the camera walks quietly, but not silently, along a woodland path. The figure ascends a slope in the woods, stepping over several long twisting branches and roots coming from the trees. As they crest the slope, they look down into a small valley path in which a number of hooded figures carry torches. The camera films them for a while. There is a sudden loud clanging of a church bell. Static.

The final fifteen minutes of the video show the Miller family packing their bags and saying goodbye to the house. Though they have all enjoyed their time at the lake, they are looking forward to returning home.

Video 3 – July 1987 – Night Walk

Uploaded to Youtube in January 2016.

This video cassette was found in the vacation cabin at Lake Dagmar, Mille Lacs County, Minnesota in 2004. It was initially thought to have been left by a previous guest and was found within the VHS and DVD library that visitors were encouraged to use and contribute to. It is presented here without editing.

The title card initially reads 'Back to the lake!' but after less than a second there is a burst of static and the text is replaced with 'who is with the family?!'.

The video begins with footage shot from a car approaching the cabin at Lake Dagmar. Tom and Meghan can be heard laughing as Jim proclaims “We're back!”

The first ten minutes show another sweep of the interior of the cabin which stop short when Tom rushes in and begins trying to get his father's attention.

The scene cuts to a shot of the fireplace in the living room of the cabin. Around the fireplace, nailed to the wall are a series of figures similar to the one seen in Video 2 that Jim brought back from town. They are arranged in an arch over the fireplace, each fastened to the wall with a nail through their centre.

“We've just turned up here and found these dolls around the fireplace.” Jim says from behind the camera. “Tom remembers having one of these last year.” Jim approaches the figures and manages to remove one from the wall, despite Carol's protests that he's going to break it. He holds the figure before the camera. Up close it is possible to see that it represents a nun or monk in prayer. Their habit is made from burlap and the cowl is black with a white stripe with a large flap of fabric that hangs down over the face like a funeral veil. Jim attempts to peel back the flap but it is sewn in place. “Weird,” he says. Carol hums the theme tune from The Twilight Zone in the background. The burlap habit ends where the dimensions of the body would naturally be, however, below this are an extended stretch of twisted roots and wicker that trail off to be three times longer.

The scene cuts to seven minutes of darkness and silence. After a brief burst of static, Carol and the children are seen playing a board game in the living room. In the interim, the figure has been returned to its position above the fireplace.

The scene cuts to daylight. Carol is attempting to operate the video camera from the shore to film Jim and Tom out on the water in the row boat. As she films, the boat becomes caught on something in the water. Tom attempts to use the oar to free it, stands up and almost immediately falls into the water. Carol panics, but continues to film as Jim throws himself down and plunges his arms in to the water. A few moments later, he drags Tom up to the surface and tries to pull him up into the boat. Both oars begin floating away. Just as Tom is about to be pulled into the boat, he plunges back into the water as if something has grasped him. Jim panics and leaps in after him. Whilst in the previous year the water appeared to be only as deep as one of the oars could reach, Jim instantly vanishes below the surface. Carol can be heard frantically calling for Meghan. After a few moments of stillness, Jim and Tom both emerge from the water gasping for breath and help each other into the boat. Jim waves with both arms to the camera and Carol repeatedly calls out “Are you okay? Jesus, are you okay?” but cannot hear their response. The camera cuts.

For less than a second, the view shifts to the opposite side of the lake. The camera watches Jim trying to reach for the oars whilst Tom uses his hands to move the boat towards them.

Jim interviews Tom in front of the fireplace. It is night and the fire is burning. Tom is laughing as Jim pretends to be a news reporter. Tom explains that there is a big patch of weeds in the centre of the lake and that both he and the boat were tangled in it.

The final fifteen minutes of footage show a few days of activities in quick succession. Though none of the family return to the row boat, they paddle at the shore line and sit in rubber rings in the shallow waters.

At the end of the video, the Millers take a walk through the woods at night. Carol, Tom and Meghan walk ahead with flash lights and Jim follows behind with the camera. Climbing slopes and navigating through overgrown bushes, the camera occasionally drifts to show only darkness. The final time this happens, the view switches seamlessly to that of the other camera operator who follows the Millers, filming Jim who is still filming his family. Carol repeatedly urges them all to be careful and not get lost in the dark, and suggests that the turn around several times. Just as Jim is about to relent, the sound of a church bell can be heard. They all freeze and begin whispering to each other. Meghan says she can hear people talking but can't tell if they're whispering or far away.

Suddenly, Tom is missing and the camera view has returned to Jim. Jim, Carol and Meghan all shine flash lights around the area but Tom is nowhere to be seen. Carol begins panicking whilst Jim tries to remain calm and reassuring. He suggests he will go and look for him but both Carol and Meghan resist. After forty seconds of calling his name, Tom reappears through the trees. Jim loses his temper and shakes Tom by the shoulder but Tom says he was calling back to them the entire time. After everyone calms down, Jim becomes suddenly aware he is still filming and is about to stop recording when Tom says he wants to show them something before they head back. The family cautiously follow him off of the path where he reveals a life-size version of one of the wooden figures. The habit and cowl cover are draped over a small collection of saplings that have been woven together as they grow. The roots and branches trail off across the woodland floor. Meghan is noticeably freaked out by the life-size statue. Jim suggests they had back and tells her it is only scary because it's night time. He promises to bring her back in the morning so they can look at it properly by daylight.

The final shot is of the figure in the woods. Initially, it appears to be a frozen image, however, after fifteen seconds the branches above can be seen to move in the wind. There is a brief burst of static and the video ends.

Video 4 – August 1987 – Missing Child

Uploaded to Youtube in March 2016.

The third and forth cassette were handed into the Lake Dagmar camp ground administrator.

The title card initially reads 'What is with the creepy dolls?' but is quickly replaced with 'Praise her, Our Lady of Vodskov'.

The forth video begins in a similar style to the 'in town' section in Video 2. Jim films a number of short shots including another horse and carriage, a street performer playing the guitar and a shot of Carol, Meghan and Tom standing outside a white wooden church.

The Millers, having returned to the cabin, are sat around the dining room table playing cards. Jim is questioning his children, whilst also joking about filming their cards so he can cheat.

“Tell them what we learned today,” he asks. Between them, the children explain that the church bell they have been hearing likely belongs to the neighbouring town as the geography of Lake Dagmar acts like a dish and catches sound from unusual distances. Meghan also explains that Lake Dagmar gets its name from 'some weird made up saint'. The conversation continues but the video is slowly distorted by static until it is impossible to discern either visuals or audio.

The video cuts to black for seven minutes.

The next scene is shot by the other camera operator and shows the Millers inside the cabin around the table. Whoever is recording appears to be closer than in any video. Using other videos and maps as a reference point, it appears that the person recording is likely between the lake and the cabin, putting them at within 50 yards of the Millers. They approach the house slowly until they are standing approximately ten yards away from the large window where they continue to record the Millers playing cards. At one point, Jim looks up and stares out of the window, apparently unable to see the figure recording beyond the halo of light spilling from inside the cabin.

There is a sudden burst of static and a high pitched whining.

In the next shot, it is still dark. Tom, visibly upset, is rowing the boat out towards the centre of the lake. His eyes are glassy and he is pale and shivering. The bells can be heard in the distance.

“Where are you taking me?” he says directly in to the camera.

The sound that responds is deep in pitch and warbling as if the audio has been damaged.

The footage cuts to Tom walking through the woods ahead of the camera, lighting the way with a flash light. Tom and the camera operator approach a huge tree with twisted root figures hanging from its branches. Tom walks silently and unquestioningly beneath the tree and into a large hole in the earth at its base. The camera operator follows behind carefully weaving between twisting white and brown roots that emerge from above. The earth beneath their feet is wet soil and slopes downwards. The camera follows Tom, the path leading deeper and deeper, lit by small torches. In this time, both Tom and the camera operator must climb over and duck beneath huge numbers of coiling brown and white roots that weave in and out of the earth. The descent lasts for close to seven minutes. After five minutes, a low pitched humming noise can be heard. Over the following two minutes it grows louder and higher and an increasing amount of static begins to distort the footage. Nearly eight minutes after he began walking down into the depths of the earth, Tom comes to a stop. At this point the footage is incredibly hard to piece together, distorted as it is by static, but he appears to be in a round chamber completely carpeted with roots. He tilts his head up and looks at something the camera operator is unable to see. After a moment, some of the roots twist and bend back and a figure dressed in burlap bows down towards Tom and the camera. There is a blast of shrill sound and the screen turns black.

The video ends with four silent images shown for one minute at a time. Each image shows and names a member of the Miller family, declares them missing and urges anyone with information regarding their whereabouts to contact Mille Lacs County Sheriff Department. These images are the original posters produced by Mille Lacs County Sheriff's Office in 1988.

Video 5 – July 1988 – The Order of Saint Dagmar

Uploaded to Youtube in May 2016.

I'm freaking out you guys, what do you think happened to them? Is this just a movie?

The title card is a mass of static and hissing but for several frames it is legible. It reads 'Watching you suffer' or possibly 'Watching you. Suffer.'

The video begins in a very similar manner to the third, with Jim filming from the car as they approach the cabin. The area is noticeably different from previous years with the woods having grown to cover more of the shore area, leaving the cabin feeling comparatively remote. As they approach the front door, Jim points the camera to the front porch and comments, “of course, here's where Tom will be sleeping for the next two weeks.” Tom, now twelve years old, jokingly gives his father the finger.

Static.

Darkness.

The family are laughing as Jim moves around the house, recording how the décor of the cabin has changed. A number of religious paintings have been placed around the building. The scenes depicted are clearly Christian in nature but seem not to reflect any notable biblical story. “Wait for it,” Jim says. “Just wait 'til you see the pièce de résistance.” Turning the corner into the living room, he reveals a huge picture above the fireplace which depicts a young woman atop a large pile of kindling, tied to a stake, surrounded by priests and nuns holding burning torches. The rest of the walls of the living room are now covered in the twisted wood figurines. “Who put this here? Who thought I wanted to see the burning of Joan of Arc whilst trying to relax?” Carol asks.

Static.

Darkness.

The footage cuts to a shot that appears to be taken from within the lake. As the camera angle turns, the sun can be seen above the surface which appears to be several feet away. The camera turns back and moves very rapidly through the water.

Static.

A huge mass of branches and roots can be seen emerging from the base of the lake, creating a vast matrix of coiled wood. It has the appearance of a great nest.

Static.

Jim films his family walking through the woods. The sun is bright and though it is vastly overgrown compared to the previous two years, the Millers enjoy cutting their way through the undergrowth. “Maybe we should go visit your parents next year?” Carol says, slapping at insects on her arm. Jim notes that the place is deserted and he hasn't seen any other families the entire time they've been there.

Three minutes of darkness.

The footage begins with a deafeningly loud bell ringing that seems to shake the ground. It is night and Jim is sprinting from the cabin towards the lake. He babbles incoherently as he wildly swings the camera around. The church bell strikes again and the force of the sound knocks him to the ground where it is revealed that Tom is with him. Jim clambers to his feet and drags Tom behind him. Neither Carol nor Meghan are present. Tom is once more pale and shivering. Jim grabs his son's shirt and lifts him to his feet, dragging him towards the lake where he throws him into the row boat and the launches it deep into the water before climbing in. He attempts to reassure Tom but he is breathless and choking.

Static.

The other camera operator watches Jim and Tom moving towards the centre of the lake from inside the cabin. From above, there is a deep creaking noise followed by the sound of snapping wood. White roots begin to crawl through the ceiling and one of the windows shatters as vines creep through it.

Jim grabs the oars and begins rowing, dropping the video camera into his lap. As he rows, he starts to catch his breath, but Tom simply stares towards him in shock. He makes a vague yelping noise, then another, slowly gritting his teeth and wincing. The skin in Tom's neck starts to move as if something is crawling beneath the surface of his flesh. There is another thunderous bell chime and the row boat nearly capsizes. Tom opens his mouth and begins shrieking in pain. A series of roots begin to emerge from his mouth and crawl skywards. In the background, torches are lighting one after another on the opposite side of the lake. Jim grabs his son by one shoulder and, manically babbling, grabs the roots and tugs at them. There is slow shift and then a huge mass of writhing branches pours from Tom's face. Small white strands begin growing out from around his eyes and with the sound of bone shattering, a thicker branch erupts from his chest, flinging his head back. Jim screams and moves back within the row boat as Tom's flesh is either torn apart by, or seems to turn into coiling branches and roots which weave together. Blood fills the bottom of the boat as the church bell rings again. After less than a minute, Tom is gone and all that remains is a vaguely humanoid shape of coiled wood.

The camera falls into the base of the boat.

Darkness for ten seconds, though the sound of the water and Jim's babbling continue.

The footage cuts to beneath the water, looking up at the underside of the boat. Slowly the operator of the camera rises up out of the water and looks down at Jim. Jim tries to brandish one of the oars but tendrils of wood are creeping up from beneath the water and before he manages to free the oar he is engulfed in tangling roots and the entire boat is ripped beneath the surface of the lake.

Static.

Video 6 – August 1987 – The history of Saint Dagmar

Uploaded to Youtube June 2016

The final video left in the cabin at Lake Dagmar.

The title card reads 'A nice day out'.

The final video appears to have been shot on the same day that the Millers went into town in video 4.

It begins with sound of someone talking but no video, before the lens cap of the camera is removed and the screen is bathed in white. Slowly, the camera adjusts to show a tour guide mid-speech to a small group of people.

“...rumours regarding what for. Officially, it was heresy, but bearing in mind the climate of the time it could have been a political move. Some people have theorised that perhaps she was simply rebuffing the advances of a senior religious official and that was enough. Regardless of the reason, she was executed by the church and in the isolated wilderness of Vodskov, they did not wait for approval from the wider Catholic church.”

Jim moves around the crowd to get a better view of the tour guide.

“Now, here is where the story gets interesting. When the clergy took her to the stake, she claimed that as she was innocent, God would not allow the kindling to light. Legend has it that she was absolutely correct and that after trying several times, she was eventually killed by stab wounds to the chest. With her corpse left to decompose at the stake, the people of Vodskov were horrified to find in the morning that her legs had broken and twisted into the wooden roots that made up the kindling beneath her. Over the following three days, her entire body was consumed by wood and the people declared her a saint and her body a sacred relic. Again, this was entirely without any approval from the wider Catholic church and when the officials back in Rome heard about this, they completely disavowed Saint Dagmar and all who followed her. It's also been said that when the clergy of the town who were responsible for her execution returned to their church, many of their books had been rewritten to detail her death and the agony of her limbs twisting and splintering as she was turned into wood. This is a phenomenon known as divine thoughtography in which god bestows the gift of remotely recording memories and visions in words, photography and video.

Eventually, the Order of Our Lady of Vodskov emigrated to America and brought their religion with them, naming the lake after her.”

There is a brief flash of static and the video ends with 42 minutes of silent darkness.

Whilst many initially brushed off The Miller Tapes as a horror series or marketing for an upcoming movie, there are a number of facts the refute this.

Firstly, no attempt to monetise The Miller Tapes every emerged and no studio took responsibility. Likewise, there are no credits or links to any production company professional or amateur.

Secondly, the Miller family did exist and did go missing in the summer of 1989 whilst on vacation at Lake Dagmar. The case is considered closed at this time due to no further leads, however, the family of Jim and Carol both vouch that the material that was uploaded to the internet does feature their missing relatives. Several members of the Millers' extended family recall being shown the first four cassettes by Jim and Carol at the time, however they insist that much of the footage was not present in the cassettes they were shown.

Thirdly, police have investigated Youtube user LostMediaFan92 in the disappearance of the Miller family. Whilst they are unwilling to discuss The Miller Tapes, the Mill Lacs County Sheriffs Office have declared LostMediaFan92 unrelated to the investigation and removed him as a suspect in the disappearance of the family. It is theorised that this is the reason for the deletion of the Youtube account and the removal of The Miller Tapes from Youtube.