The Secret History of BOB: Transmedia Storytelling and Twin Peaks

This article investigates the ways in which the transmedia epitexts of Twin Peaks—which include tie-in books, audio cassettes, collector’s cards, websites, and video featurettes—contributed to the development of Twin Peaks’ supernatural mythology. By focusing on the series’ supernatural antagonist, BOB, it argues that the epitextual media not only fulfilled its paratextual function of presenting and commenting on Twin Peaks but also expanded and complicated the show’s supernatural mythology through its uses of transmedia storytelling. Applying Gérard Genette’s paratextual methodologies and Henry Jenkins’ concept of transmedia storytelling to explore the transmedia epitexts of Twin Peaks, this article considers the ways in which these epitexts expanded upon the show’s supernatural mythologies to such an extent that the majority of their mysteries have remained unacknowledged within the show’s canon. Exploring these unacknowledged mysteries reveals a transmedia storytelling strategy that not only promoted Twin Peaks but also created an immersive narrative experience that both reinforced and complicated the show’s supernatural mythologies