Multidisciplinary Artist | Liminal Fiction | Alternate Reality Games
Multiverse
Chapter 2 of the ongoing series, Ong’s Hat: COMPLEAT This is a free podcast/post series of Ong’s Hat: COMPLEAT For reviews regarding this work, go here. You may subscribe to this series … Continue reading The COMPLEAT Broadcasts, Chapter 2
https://josephmatheny.substack.com/p/the-compleat-broadcasts-chapter-1 This is a free podcast/post series of Ong’s Hat: COMPLEAT For reviews regarding this work, go here.
Received my ‘Mycellium Parish News 2025‘ in the mail. Great zine and I highly recommend. @rawilson23.bsky.social published a review on their site, so go check that out. Ong’s Hat: COMPLEAT … Continue reading ‘Mycellium Parish News 2025’
A new series and some assorted news It’s been on my mind to do this for a while. So, I’m just going to do it. This is the beginning of … Continue reading The COMPLEAT Broadcasts, Chapter 0
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
Ong’s Hat© Patrick Tappe/Shutterstock.comTucked into the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, Ong’s Hat may be found on actual maps from the early days of the region. The small town finds … Continue reading 7 famous places that don’t actually exist
![Entertainment that invades everyday life: The birth and evolution of ARGs [Until ARGs became widespread in Japan]](https://josephmatheny.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/rectangle_large_type_2_57d1ca2b4b652b7b2d77aa04979018b3.webp?w=444&h=444&crop=1)
■Incunabula: Ong’s Hat “Ong’s Hat” is considered one of the oldest urban legends originating on the internet, and is akin to a creepypasta or SCP. Ong’s Hat is a real … Continue reading 日常浸食型エンターテイメント：ARGの誕生と変遷【国内にARGが浸透するまで】
Ong’s Hat — Burlington County, Pine Barrens New Jersey’s most mysterious ghost town — little more than a wooded clearing deep in the Pinelands today. The most popular folk legend says … Continue reading My Dad took me on graveyard picnics in the Pine Barrens — and I’ve never gotten over it
While most ghost towns fade quietly into history, Ong’s Hat has carved out a peculiar legacy that blends verifiable abandonment with decades of digital-age mythology. Located deep in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens, this settlement vanished … Continue reading Ghost Towns Used As Movie Filming Locations In New Jersey: Ong’s Hat and Other Mysterious Abandoned Settlements
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
The Unseen Internet Conjuring the Occult in Digital Discourse by Shira Chess In 2003, I had this idea that a book should be written chronicling the influence that psychedelic drugs … Continue reading The Unseen Internet
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
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 The COMPLEAT Broadcasts (Serialized COMPLEAT podcast) Reviews Ong’s Hat: COMPLEAT was an Amazon bestseller in two categories in 2025. This is an important … Continue reading Ong’s Hat: Compleat
I am happy to present my appearance on one of my favorite podcasts. If you like this one, consider joining their Patreon and gaining access to their Discord as a … Continue reading Unfolding Alternate Realities, Ong’s Hat, Synchronicity and more with Joseph Matheny
*LOUD AUDIBLE SIGH* “Ong’s Hat” might be the most bizarre early internet story that’s ever existed. It’s a mystery named after a ghost town called Ong’s Hat in New Jersey—a … Continue reading LEAKED Portal Experiments in New Jersey?
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
Joseph Matheny 