Multidisciplinary Artist | Liminal Fiction | Alternate Reality Games
Joseph Matheny learned the hard way what happens when this kind of thing works too well. His Ong’s Hat project, which started in the late 1980s as a collaborative fiction … Continue reading Nancy Guthrie and the gamification of crime
AUDIO – NON-FICTIONThis Is Not A Game: Season 1, ‘Portal to Utopia’ and ‘Joseph Matheny’ – Marc Fennell with Emma Weatherill Alex Lee and Suren Jayemanne hosted the awards, held … Continue reading AWGIE
Some memories of future and past (time is a flat circle) I am including an old LEGO podcast about Galidor because Galidor will be a chapter in Art is War. I want to … Continue reading That damn Galidor and moar
FROM Why Locals Flock To Pine Barrens Towns In New Jersey To Explore Folklore And Legends Article By: Esme Whitman | January 13, 2026 Ong’s Hat is one of the most enigmatic locations … Continue reading Ong’s Hat: The Ghost Town That Became an Internet Legend
Explore Ong’s Hat, the real Pine Barrens ghost town behind the legendary 1980s–90s interdimensional cult myth and Joseph Matheny’s groundbreaking Incunabula/ARG that blurred fact and fiction, inspired The Blair Witch … Continue reading Ong’s Hat: The NJ Ghost Town That Invented Alternate Reality Games
@jeffreykoval has written a very flattering piece that covers my virtual appearance at the LHFF, which I very much enjoyed, so it’s satisfying to know the attendees got a lot … Continue reading in the footsteps of giants
Hi there, friends! This week, back on the show, is the brilliant, Joseph Matheny! Joseph and I have a granular look into UFO, “the phenomena”, starving for original stories, being … Continue reading Joseph Matheny Starving for Story
It’s that time of the year again! Every Samhain, the Internet lights up (or darkens?) with spooky stories and inevitably, Ong’s Hat gets thrown into the mix. Here’s an entry … Continue reading Tales of perpetual fire, demons and ghosts haunt these creepy US towns
I’ll be making a virtual appearance at the Lambertville Halloween Film Festival on Sunday. October 19th @ 4:30pm Easternwww.acmescreeningroom.org/lhff Slides from the presentation
Where to get it PDF only on Google Reviews Ong’s Hat: COMPLEAT was an Amazon bestseller in two categories in 2025. If you’re looking for a book, this is not for … Continue reading Ong’s Hat: Compleat
For a long time, Ong’s Hat, an abandoned ghost town in New Jersey, has been the subject of many urban legends and local folk tales, but it was also the … Continue reading Ong’s Hat: How did the First ARG Spiral out of Control?
A wonderfully comprehensive entry on Ong’s Hat at TVTropes. Whoever did this entry was very inclusive. LINK: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ARG/OngsHat
Η πρώτη θεωρία συνωμοσίας (Guest Storyteller Elena Strouthou) H φίλη και host του “Breaking the 20%” έρχεται στο στούντιο για να μας μιλήσει για την πρώτη θεωρία συνομωσίας του ιντερνετ! … Continue reading Ong’s Hat episode of Historicon (not in English)- Η πρώτη θεωρία συνωμοσίας (Guest Storyteller Elena Strouthou)
The strange saga of Ong’s Hat is one of the earliest and most enduring legends of the internet — an elaborate blend of fact, fiction, and possibility. Born in the … Continue reading Ong’s Hat: The Internet Myth That Became a Reality
p. 27 I Read It On The Internet So It Must Be True w. Joseph Matheny. Joseph joins us to discuss Ong’s Hat, and how the Internet caused his social … Continue reading EarMobPodcast Ep. 27 I Read It On The Internet So It Must Be True w. Joseph Matheny
LINK: https://polypores.bandcamp.com/album/ongs-hat-compleat-official-soundtrack Also, a great write-up of this project: https://moonbuilding.substack.com/p/issue-73-1-august-2025 The soundtrack to the audiobook version of Ong’s Hat: Compleat New addition: Hat Complete soundtrack! The dl now includes a … Continue reading Ongs Hat Compleat – Official Soundtrack
Heute die Vollversion vom Interview mit Joseph Matheny. Wir reden über Ongs Hat, Lovecraft und das Nekronomikon, Wandern und andere spirituelle oder psychedelische Reisen, das Künstlerdasein, die App Randonautica und … Continue reading Interview mit Joseph Matheny – Ongs Hat, Nekronomikon, Randonautica, UAPs, KI, Dimensionen, Künstler
If you subscribe to this site via email or something like WP Reader, I wanted to let you know that I only update it with major announcements. Those would be … Continue reading Keeping up to date
This Is Not a Game is the award-winning, extraordinary, untold story of the internet’s first conspiracy theory, the legend of Ong’s Hat. Marc Fennell will dive deep into a previously … Continue reading This Is Not a Game with Marc Fennell (Ong’s Hat History)
James A. Hodges (School of Information, San Jose State University, San Jose, California, USA) Journal of Documentation ISSN: 0022-0418 Article publication date: 21 April 2025 Abstract Purpose This paper aims to reframe contemporary research on … Continue reading A bibliographic archeology of game-like conspiracy narratives: examining the Ong’s Hat Incunabula catalog
Ong’s Hat is a real place. But the stories about it aren’t. That didn’t stop tales about a dimension hopping, scientific, transcendentalist, sadomasochistic cult from spreading across the early internet. … Continue reading The Mysterious Egg in Ong’s Hat – The First ARG
Ong’s Hat: The Beginning (Authorized Version) Reissued, authorized, and final version, 2021. Available as Kindle, Print, and Audiobook Free versions at Archive.org ONG’S HAT FAQ REVIEWS “…a bizarre Internet phenomenon: … Continue reading Ong’s Hat: The Beginning (Authorized Version)
The Cosmic Salon This is such an incredible conversation with a truly lovely soul and fellow journeyman — Joseph is behind many things in this reality that folks may not … Continue reading Getting out of the way with Joseph Matheny
Some of the new Substack mailing. Read the entire message here. First of all, I want to say hello and thanks for sticking around. It’s been a busy year, and … Continue reading Happy Solar Return (New Year)
(This conversation originally took place in 2021.) Joseph Matheny, legendary transmedia storyteller and creator of Ong’s Hat, has got some insight to share about the appeal of conspiracy theory and the … Continue reading Cracking the Code with Joseph Matheny
Joseph Matheny 