When someone is partaking in shrooms or other psychedelics, committing to a book, movie, or TV show can feel impossible. In the age of mobile media, however, we have an infinite catalog of shorts, reels, and clips to keep our visual cortex engaged.
To our attention-challenged psychonauts, we know keeping the videos short, sweet, and mostly to-the-point is the way to go. Below, you’ll find our list of short videos curated to enhance your trip to the Outer Limits.
Adult Swim’s Off The Air Series
Adult Swim has brought us a lot of really weird shit over the years, from anthropomorphic fast food items in Aqua Teen Hunger Force to the inane ramblings of the chimerical Xavier: Renegade Angel.
Back in 2011, Adult Swim aired a series of art-filmy shorts called Off The Air. Each of these shorts centers on a particular theme, such as “Love,” “Bliss,” or “Colors.” Some are funnier than others, some more somber. Thankfully, you get 29 to choose from. Or you can just run all of them on a loop.
READ: The (Very) Best Movies to Watch on Shrooms
MTV’s Liquid Television
You may have caught this one on a couple of our previous lists, but it’s just so good it gets another mention here, too.
A collection of visceral, hilarious, sexy, and downright rotten animated shorts, there’s a little something for everyone in Liquid Television. The series aired late nights on MTV, back in the ‘90s when programming like this one was sandwiched between hours of music videos.
Fortunately, MTV has been kind enough to include the first five episodes of Liquid Television for free on YouTube. (There are a total of 27 episodes across the entire series.)
Keep an open mind, and enter at your own risk.
Psychedelic Zen’s “Long Psychedelic Trip” Collection
The Psychedelic Zen channel features dozens of “Long Psychedelic Trip” videos, which include barreling through illuminated tunnels, or gliding over repeating geometric patterns, for hours upon hours. Mellow electronic soundtracks accompany each one.
If journeying through computer generated abstractions isn’t your thing, check out Zen’s “Nature Vibes” playlist, which features high-def footage of animals just going about their business in their natural environments. Note, however, that the music in this playlist can be a bit more sinister-sounding than those in the Psychedelic Trips playlist.
BBC Earth’s “Deep Ocean”
This 10-hour long video showcases some of the deep sea’s most uncanny creatures. If you’re looking for cool aquatic animals with only simple underwater audio — and not electronic music — this vid may be for you.
READ: The Best Calming Songs for When You Get Too High
“Insects Up Close” with Amazing Insects World
Brought to you by the Relax with TV Backgrounds channel — known best for their vids of fireplaces just… being fireplaces — this 46-minute video narrows in on bugs, insects, and other crawlies going about their daily business. The music on this video is fairly upbeat and chipper, encouraging chill vibes through and through.
“Pooky Park”
This AI-generated TV commercial is supposed to promote a puppet-based theme park. But, like most things AI-generated, it’s terrifying as hell. The black-and-white film look lends to the creepiness, as well.
“I Asked an AI to Show Me Hell (And It Terrified Me)”
This video by Qxir is more of a short documentary than it is a collection of zany images. Although there is narration, you can skip to the one-minute mark to get to the good stuff. You can also mute the video if you just want the visuals. Be warned: The images start off fairly freaky, but they’ll become more comical as the AI spirals deeper into its endless hole of self-referential algorithms.
“Falling Into a Black Hole” by Stargaze
Admittedly, this one is a bit creepy, between the sound effects and the, y’know, eventually getting spaghettified at the end. If you’re itching for more, check out Stargazer’s Falling Into Jupiter, Falling Into the Sun, and Falling Into the Earth videos, as well.
Chill Heroes’ “Abstract Liquids” Series
The Abstract Liquids series uses colored inks dropped in water. Directed by the randomness of Brownian motion, each video, though containing the same thing each time, looks completely different from the rest.
The BZ Reaction (multiple sources)
One of the most famous chemical reactions known, the BZ reaction initially was thought impossible by scientists. It seemingly defies the laws of thermodynamics, but for the average person, it looks pretty heckin’ cool.
“Astronaut Floating in a Liquid Universe”
Pretty simple: CGI of a suited up spaceman floating in an ocean of stars. For eight hours.
“Throat Notes”
This bonkers short film follows a rambunctious frog whose croak is stolen by an obscenely round-faced man.
Enchanted – TRIPPY 4K Psytrance Visuals
There are several of these psytrance videos online, which are all reminiscent of peaking on shrooms.
“Amazing Jellyfish Aquarium”
Jellyfish are one of the ocean’s natural psychedelic light shows, and this lengthy video invites viewers to sit back, relax, and take it all in.
