MarilynManson.com
MarilynManson.com is the official Marilyn Manson website. The website, since its launch in 1998, has been integral to the promotion and direction of the band. In the past, Marilyn Manson was known to launch hidden sites to promote select albums (Mechanical Animals and Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) prominently), but promotion campaigns by this method have since been discontinued. Similarly, during the Celebritarian era of the band (following the release of Lest We Forget (The Best Of)), a code that was thought to be hidden was discovered. Much to fans' beliefs that this was intentionally meant to be found and deciphered, Marilyn Manson recently revealed in a 10-page exclusive interview with The Hierophant that the cause for alarm over the "hidden" code in the site was not his intention, and that his involvement in the Celebritarian era-incarnation of the website was minimal. Manson also stated that his involvement in the Eat Me, Drink Me incarnation of the website launched on April 16, 2007 is very high, and he even designed the homepage launched on May 8, 2007.
Contents
History of the website
Mechanical Animals era
Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) era
On December 15, 1999, a new intro video was placed on the website, featuring Manson with a shaved head and the alchemical symbol for mercury painted on his forehead holding a gun and walking towards the camera. On the same day, a webcast was launched, which announced the name of the album, it's direction and previewed several upcoming songs. During the summer of 2000, a second intro was uploaded (featuring Manson with a monkey clinging to his back) and during the autumn of 2001, it was replaced with a new intro, which contained numerous occult and alchemic references and also served as navigation page with links to all of the website's sections. The main page consisted of four buttons, each of them containing a single letter, with all the letters reading "ADAM", probably a reference to Adam Kadmon, the main hero of the storyline of the Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) album.
The Golden Age of Grotesque era
The website of The Golden Age of Grotesque era featured most notably an extensive photo gallery and a journal kept by Manson, which he stopped updating shortly before the album release. The preface to the journal was a small vignette written by Marlene Dietrich. The website itself had many references to the 30s, including a new Manson logo (stylized to have an SS emblem-like look) and different photos of the era (including those of go-go girls and Nazi parades) used in the design. Also notable is a section named The Oracle, which allowed fans to ask Marilyn Manson questions, with the most interesting of them being made public along with Manson's answers.
Lest We Forget era
Original website
The new website was reminiscent of the Lest We Forget (The Best Of) booklet design. The intro page featured a photo of Manson taken from the "(s)AINT" video, fading in and out. It was on this page that the first codes appeared (later their irrelevancy was confirmed by Manson). The website also featured a small photo gallery consisting only of screenshots from the "Personal Jesus" video and Manson's journal from the previous website.
Intermission website
On January 19, 2006, the website was replaced with a page containing a single image. The image, apart from containing the Cross of Lorraine, had text similar to that of a statement from Justice Jackson during the Nuremberg trials which read:
- By novel and EXPERIMENTAL inquest
- Not the product of abstract SPECULATIONS
- Nor vindicative legalistic theories
- This website and all contents herein have
- Been SEIZED by explicit orders from
- The Celebritarian Corporation
- – The Celebritarian Corporation
- This Tribunal, while it is novel and experimental, is not the product of abstract speculations nor is it created to vindicate legalistic theories.
- – Justice Jackson
On February 5, 2006, the image was changed to a Flash-based animation depicting two nude girls wearing masks and covered in blood. An image of a white rabbit in a cage was added to the animation on the following day.
On April 21, 2006, the animation was replaced by a rapid sequence of images including a cover of a newspaper about the Columbine high school massacre, a distorted still-frame of Marilyn Monroe singing "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" and a photo of Charles Manson's eyes.
On April 25, 2006, a second page became available on the website. It featured a small code sequence, completing which resulted in a small piece of music (which became known as the "Celebritarian Hymn") playing. The page also featured voice samples of Alfred Hitchcock, Albert Speer and a radio translation by Stuart Hibberd announcing Hitler's death. The page remained until the full launch of the new website on November 5, 2006.
Much to fans' beliefs that the secret code was intentionally meant to be found and deciphered, Marilyn Manson recently revealed that the codes were not his idea and that he didn't necessarily approve of them.
Fully active launch
On November 5, 2006 the full website was finally launched. Its sections were:
- Todays News — The news page.
- Performance — This page didn't exist at first; it was created after Marilyn Manson announced that he will be touring for Eat Me, Drink Me.
- Artworks — A page containing most of Marilyn Manson's paintings. The page featured an abstract image of a face (presumably Manson's) and a small red bar containing the words "HOW DO I LOOK?" to the right. The page was also dubbed with audio of a woman's distorted voice saying, "How do I look?" repeatedly, and a another audio sample that variates when you refresh the page.
- Gallery of Shapes — A page providing links to the following three pages:
- The Slideshow — A photo gallery containing screenshots from the "(s)AINT" and "Personal Jesus" videos.
- The Spectacle — The page was never created.
- The Style — A non-interactive version of the pre-launch page with the code sequence.
- Cinema — A page with the Flash animation depicting a white rabbit in a cage and two blood-covered girls, also from the pre-launch.
- Synesthesia Archive — A full discography; the links to the different albums' pages were photos of Marilyn Manson stylized to look like Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe silkscreen prints.
- Prescriptions — A link to a shop with Marilyn Manson merchandise.
Celebritarian references included were:
- On the news page, the news articles that were not taken from external sources such as Rolling Stone but rather from the band itself were credited to "The Celebritarian Corporation".
- The Cross of Lorraine acted as a "back" button on all pages.
- The news page featured a short video of a John Kennedy speech.
Eat Me, Drink Me era
On April 16, 2007 the website was again redeveloped and launched. The site featured imagery reminiscent of the themes expressed on the Eat Me, Drink Me album (no images of which are featured in the album's booklet).
Rather than Manson's confirmed minimal involvement in the previous stage of the website, Manson has stated that his involvement in the Eat Me, Drink Me incarnation of the website launched on April 16, 2007 is very high, and he even designed the homepage launched on May 8, 2007.
The sections featured in this launch included:
- Home:
- The initial homepage featured two bloodstain-like M's and links to all sections below.
- The new homepage was created on May 8, 2007 and includes what appears to be a hallway of a hospital. A stretcher is carrying an amputated body that appears to be "put together" by a compilation of photographs attached to a string that carries up and off-screen. It is implied that the body on the stretcher belongs to the man seen in the News section, because both entities have hearts where their heads belong. On the wall can be found veins and muscles, "0550", a photograph of Manson, a clock without minute or hour hands, a painting of the rough "M M" found on the Eat Me, Drink Me album cover, and a wasp hive. Some objects found in this hallway scene link to the following sections when clicked.
Sister websites
During the Mechanical Animals and Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) eras, additional websites were launched. The following links provided to these sites are archived sites taken from Nachtkabarett, a critical Marilyn Manson fansite.
ComaWhite.com
ComaWhite.com, found through the Mechanical Animals album booklet, consisted of a chart, which can also be seen in the inlay of the Mechanical Animals album, and by clicking on various cells of chart certain images were revealed. One of the images linked to the official Marilyn Manson message board.
TheLambOfGod.com
Launched in the summer of 2000, the website acted as a prelude to the album Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death), with one of the updates adding an image of Kern Gate and a message by Manson stating the band is in Death Valley and writing a new album.
TheLoveSong.com
A website containing a preview of the identically named song from Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death). The image displayed on the website was the cover of the book Holy Wood, which was planned to be released along with the album, but as of 2007 remains currently unreleased.
Cruci-FictionInSpace.com
A website containing a preview of the identically named song from Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) and also featuring a single image displaying the process of evolution from a monkey to a man, depicting the song's theme.
YourBurningFlag.com
A website containing a preview of the identically named song from Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death). The single image displayed on the website was that of a senate press conference concerning violence in entertainment, which was held shortly after the Columbine High School Massacre, for inspiring which Manson was blamed. The image depicts senators Joe Lieberman and Orrin Hatch, the latter of which is holding Marilyn Manson's Antichrist Superstar album.
TheDeathSong.com
A website containing a preview of the identically named song from Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death). The image displayed on the website is that of a cemetery, echoing the song's theme.
ThisAsValentinesDay.com
Found through a post made by Manson on the official BBS on February 14, 2001, named "They'd Remember 'This As Valentine's Day'". The website contains an image of the Time magazine dated February 14, 1964, which had Marina Oswald featured on the cover. By clicking on her broach, Chapter 10 of the novel Holy Wood (meant to be released along with the album) is displayed. Also, by clicking on the date on the magazine, the user is redirected to ComaWhite.com.
Celebritarian.com
The original version of the website contained an extensive questionnaire and a video intro featuring photos of famous deceased political leaders. The song playing in the background is "I'm Leaving it Up To You" by Daly and Grace (the song was the number one song on November 22, 1963, the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated). After the Lest We Forget (The Best Of) release, the website was replaced with a single image of the Cross of Lorraine, which linked to the official Manson website. Currently, it redirects to the official Manson website.
MarilynMansonVault.com
On May 22, 2007, this official Eat Me, Drink Me site was discovered through a link found in the Europe "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)" single. The site contains lyrics, an art gallery, a mosaic, and the ability to stream up to two tracks per day starting on May 28, 2007. Upon completion of the mosaic, an Eat Me, Drink Me wallpaper becomes available for download, and three preview tracks ("Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)", "If I Was Your Vampire", and "Evidence") become available for streaming.
Registered, but unused domain names
Several domain names were registered throughout Manson's career, possibly with the intent of creating additional "sister sites", but were never used.
Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) era
- http://www.disposableteens.com/
- http://www.intheshadow.com/
- http://www.presidentdead.com/
- http://www.thefightsong.com/
The Golden Age of Grotesque era
- http://www.doll-daggabuzz-buzzziggety-zag.com/
- http://www.ghettodracula.net/
- http://www.ghettometal.net/
- http://www.gloominati.com/
- http://www.gloominati.net/
- http://www.goldenageofgrotesque.com/
- http://www.goldenageofgrotesque.net/
- http://www.grotesqueburlesque.com/
- http://www.ka-boom-ka-boom.com/
- http://www.para-noir.net/
- http://www.scabaret.net/
- http://www.thegloominati.com/
- http://www.thegloominati.net/
- http://www.thegoldenageofgrotesque.com/
- http://www.thegoldenageofgrotesque.net/
- http://www.themobscene.com/
- http://www.thirdnostril.com/
Flashcards
From 1999 to 2003 Marilyn Manson released six flashcards, which featured mostly drawn imagery (with the exception of the "mOBSCENE" flashcard) and small parts of songs. Flashcards released were:
- The Last Tour on Earth promotion flashcard, featuring a song preview of "Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes".
- "The Love Song" flashcard, featuring rapidly interchanging photos.
- "Cruci-Fiction in Space" flashcard, featuring images of monkeys, an image of a gun and an image of a human skull, portraying the main theme of the song.
- "Burning Flag" flashcard, featuring images of the American Flag and those of soldiers during the World War II.
- "GodEatGod" flashcard, featuring religious images.
- "Disposable Teens" flashcard, featuring the single cover, images of the John F. Kennedy autopsy and stills from the video for the song.
- "The Fight Song" flashcard, featuring the cover image and chapter index design taken from Manson's autobiography, The Long Hard Road out of Hell.
- "The Nobodies" flashcard, featuring band shots and different occult images.
- "mOBSCENE" flashcard, featuring band shots and stills from the music video.
