Is 'Horror in the High Desert' Real?

October 08, 2024

The Big Picture

Horror in the High Desert is a found footage-style movie that blurs fact and fiction, drawing inspiration from the real-life disappearance of Kenny Veach.
Kenny Veach, an avid hiker, claimed to have found a strange cave in the Nevada desert shaped like an "M," but couldn't enter due to intense vibrations.
Veach's disappearance resulted in wild theories, including encountering aliens or stumbling upon a military secret.

It’s not surprising that so many horror fans question if Horror in the High Desert is based on a true story. After all, the movie perfectly mixes found footage and interviews to create something that feels like a low-budget documentary. It doesn’t help that the film begins with a disclaimer notice that warns viewers about the shocking images that’ll be revealed, supposedly released by the police department, to invite people to share information that might lead to the arrest of Gary Hinge (Eric Mencis) murderer. The young man disappeared in Nevada’s High Desert, only for his severed hand to be found, holding a camera with disturbing images. It’s a terrifying story, but how much of it is real? As it turns out, Horror in the High Desert has been loosely based on the actual disappearance of Kenny Veach, who vanished in Nevada while supposedly recording a YouTube video.

Horror in the High Desert is not the only found-footage film to take inspiration from real-life incidents. The 2018 horror movie, Followed, sees a group of vloggers document their stay at a haunted LA hotel which has been home to a series of unexplained deaths and disappearances. The film is based on the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles and the mysterious death of Elisa Lam. While Followed is a lot more obvious in its reconstruction, there are several more found-footage movies that, like Horror in the High Desert, have had fans questioning whether what they just watched is fact or fiction. Check out the much more disturbing titles, Megan Is Missing and The Poughkeepsie Tapes, both of which presented such disturbingly believable content that both have been banned in different countries.

Horror in the High Desert

In July 2017, an outdoor enthusiast went missing in northern Nevada. He was never located. Friends and loved ones recall the events and, for the first time, talk about the horrific conclusion to his fate.

Release Date March 27, 2021 Director Dutch Marich Cast Suziey Block , Eric Mencis , David Morales , Tony Williams Ogden , Errol Porter Runtime 82 Minutes Main Genre Horror Writers Dutch Marich Expand

What Is 'Horror in the High Desert' About?

Told in a documentary style, we watch several people be interviewed and learn quickly that they are all connected to a man named Gary Hinge, who we know was subjected to something awful and is now dead or missing. Gary's sister, roommate, and a journalist are all seen giving their accounts of his disappearance. Gary was an introverted but beloved young man who had a passion for hiking, particularly around Nevada's High Desert. He would frequently go on solo trips that would see him away from home for days. However, when Gary doesn't return home after one trip, an investigation is launched to track him down, which leads to terrifying discoveries, including disturbing video footage. The investigation reveals that Gary, after being harassed online, returned to an ominous property in the middle of the woods, simply to prove to people online its existence. Horror in the High Desert immediately sets an unsettling realistic tone, so much so that the viewer has to repeatedly remind themselves that this is not real and that they are watching paid actors. However, that doesn't mean that the basis for the movie wasn't taken from reality.

Is 'Horror in the High Desert' Real or Fake?

Kenny Veach was a resident of Las Vegas, passionate about hiking and spelunking. In 2014, Veach commented on a YouTube video named “Son of an Area 51 Technician,” which is no longer available online, to share a weird experience he had during a hike. Under the username “snakebitmgee,” Veach described his eerie discovery of a cave with a big entrance perfectly shaped like an “M.” Kenny liked to present himself as an overconfident person with a lot of experience when it came to exploring the High Desert. Yet, he claimed he couldn’t enter the M-shaped cave, as his whole body pushed him away from the place. In Veach’s words:

“One time during one of my hikes out by Nellis Air Force Base, I found a hidden cave. The entrance to the cave was shaped like a perfect capital M. I always enter every cave I find, but as I began to enter this particular cave, my whole body began to vibrate. The closer I got to the cave entrance, the worse the vibrating became. Suddenly I became very scared and high-tailed it out of there. That was one of the strangest things that ever happened to me.”

Veach’s comment became viral, with hundreds of people asking him to find the cave again and make a video. In October 2014, he finally convinced himself to go out into the desert again, taking a pistol for protection and a camera that could record the evidence he needed to prove his story true. Unfortunately, Veach didn’t find the M-shaped cave. Instead, he posted a video describing his whereabouts, the region where the cave was supposedly located. In the video, Veach is standing near an abandoned mine shaft, which would prove fundamental to the investigation of his disappearance. That’s because Veach went out in the High Desert again after his video was heavily criticized, with people calling him a liar.

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Veach told his family he would go for a “short, overnight trip” on November 10, 2014. That day, he left home for the last time. Once Veach was reported missing by his family, his disappearance became the main story on every news station in Nevada. People organized broad searches in the desert, hoping to find clues about Veach’s whereabouts and maybe learn more about the mysterious M Cave. On November 22, the police discovered Veach’s phone near the same mine shaft that appears in his video. Nevertheless, despite their best efforts, officers could not find Veach, dead or alive.

What Happened to Kenny Veach?

Veach’s disappearance fueled dozens of wacky online theories. To this day, many people still believe the hiker found the M Cave and uncovered a dark military secret that ultimately cost his life. Some claim that Veach might have found the legendary Area 51 or had a grim encounter with aliens. Others say that he might have faced supernatural threats in the desert. However, a comment on Veach’s M Cave video by a woman who claimed to be his girlfriend reveals that Veach might have met a more tragic end. According to Sheryon Pilgrim, Veach suffered from depression, and the backlash from his video might have pushed him to suicide. As she explains, Veach didn’t take his camera when he left home on November 10, meaning he didn’t intend to record his journey to the M Cave. Finally, he might have left his phone in the mine shaft so the police could not track his position using GPS. As Pilgrim puts it:

“There are so many posts. I had no idea until a friend let me know. So many people are wondering what happened and guessing different things. You are heart felt about the sadness around what has happened with Kenny. He has not been found and I feel that he probably will not be found for many, many months, if ever. I want to share what I know and feel about what happened, so that you might bring some closure and understanding in your own lives. Kenny absolutely loved hiking in the desert. It was his very, very favorite thing to do.

We hiked and camped together all over the Nevada desert…sometimes 9 hours in a day. We found many abandoned mining towns, usually referred to as “ghost towns” by Nevada hikers. We explored many caves and mine shafts. We were always careful how we explored them, but Kenny was a bit more daring than I was. We wore snake guards, sun protected clothing, used walking sticks, brought enough water and food for the hiking hours and had extra water/food in the car…I want you to know that I do not think Kenny had an accident. I believe he committed suicide.

He battled depression for many years and would not take medication or see a doctor. He quit his job a little more than a year before he disappeared…The search for him was started within a couple days of my call. Over 30 search and rescue team members searched three different times on foot. One helicopter fly over was done and there was no trace of Kenny or any of his camping things. They found his car in the area I told them it would be. They did find his cell phone by the mine shaft in the video. The mine shaft was only about a 4-hour hike from his car. It is my feeling he left it behind so that he could not be tracked from the GPS in it. He also did not take his video camera with him on this solo hike. It was left in his home. So, he had no intention of filming anything.”

'Horror in the High Desert's Plot Is Similar to the Disappearance of Kenny Veach

When we learn more about the real story of Kenny Veach, it’s impossible not to draw parallels between his sad disappearance and Horror in the High Desert. The movie follows a young man struggling with his mental health and putting himself in danger after online bullying. In addition, Gary’s disappearance is also motivated by his desire to prove naysayers wrong after he describes the spooky experience of finding a makeshift shaft that gave him an intense fear reaction. In short, just like Veach, Gary is a hiking aficionado who vanishes while trying to show the world they were being honest about their supernatural experience in the High Desert. Of course, in real life, there’s no evidence for Veach’s claims about the M Cave and no found footage to reveal what happened to him in the High Desert. So, Horror in the High Desert takes many liberties regarding how the story unfolds. Still, even if the terrifying ending of Horror in the High Desert is entirely fictional, the mockumentary side of the movie is obviously inspired by Nevada’s most prominent urban legend.

Horror in the High Desert is available to stream on Tubi.

Watch on Tubi

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