Percy Bartelt, opinions editor 

You know those dreams you’d have as a kid that were surprisingly messed up for someone who was only 12 years old? Yeah, this show was exactly that and then some. “The Edge of Sleep,” directed by Corey Adams, centers around a nightwatchman known as Dave Torres (Mark Fischbach), who comes to find that nearly everyone around him is dead after going to sleep that night. Dave, along with his buddy Matteo (Franz Drameh) and a nurse named Linda (Eve Harlow), are all those we see still alive at the end of the first episode. Technically, there’s another doctor who leaves to check on his family — but who cares about him, am I right? 

We all know who we’re really here for. One of the most popular YouTubers online for the past decade is the one and only Mark Fischbach, but you probably know him better as Markiplier. Primarily a Let’s Play creator who has been dominating the internet celebrity world ever since his “Amnesia” playthroughs and his videos on the beloved game that boosted his popularity, “Five Nights at Freddy’s.” Markiplier’s following grew as he played a wide variety of games, playing with other popular creators and even exercising his creativity with comedic skits. Markiplier remains one of the most popular YouTubers, everyone’s childhood creator, their comfort creator and just all around amazing creative inspiration. 

In recent years, he has developed multiple interactive fiction, choose-your-own-adventure style videos, his most recent being “In Space with Markiplier,” a show that was nominated for an Emmy! Not only does he create on YouTube, but following “In Space with Markiplier,” he was part of the TV adaptation for the fictional thriller podcast “The Edge of Sleep.” This time, the beloved YouTuber was now on the silver screen — so to speak. “The Edge of Sleep” is available now on Amazon Prime Video and the first season consists of six episodes, all around 20 to 30 minutes long. 

Already the first episode had me hooked. Don’t worry, I’ll refrain from spoilers because I urge each and every one of you to go watch his new show — and to rate it well! A little piece of behind the scenes information: Amazon Prime Video barely wanted to promote this show. They did the bare minimum, and the audience has speculated that it’s due to Markiplier not being a traditionally trained actor/director or perhaps his YouTube presence. Recently, Markiplier himself even released his own version of the show’s trailer which was definitely better in my opinion; we shouldn’t be surprised that a streaming service doesn’t want to uphold their end of the job or promote new and emerging creators and shows, but I digress. 

I truly was intrigued by the storyline going into it, and while I will admit I was more engaged due to Markiplier’s presence,  it didn’t take away from the show being an interesting idea! It was very cool to see a guy that I’ve been watching since I was around 13 years old, now on a television show and creating his own stories,  even creating his first feature film that’s releasing soon. In a way, this show reminds me of HBO’s “The Last of Us,” with a sudden and mysterious outbreak of some kind that leaves the world in a standstill; no one knows what’s going on, why it’s happening, how to stop or avoid it or where it came from. All you have to do is hope it doesn’t happen to you too. Even my friend and fellow Augsburg student Hannah Schmeling found this new show to be a wild first-time watch. She said, in a quote to the Echo that “Watching “The Edge of Sleep” feels like slipping in and out of a surreal fever dream; you’re not quite sure where reality starts and the dream ends.”