Kaelego and the Baldung witch coven were based on various pop culture tropes, references, and artifacts.
Streaming Did you catch the homage to Silence of the Lambs? Much like the scripted “found footage horror podcast” it’s loosely based on, Netflix’s Archive 81 is thankfully a work of fiction. The supernatural horror series stars Mamoudou Athie as archivist Dan Turner, whose job of restoring a collection of damaged videotapes from 1994 leads him down a rabbit hole involving the work of documentary filmmaker Melody Pendras (Dina Shihabi). As he becomes enveloped in her investigation of a dangerous cult at the Visser apartment building, he learns about Kaelego — the demon god they worship — and the Baldung coven of witches that fight against him. It all sounds like mythological folklore, but the story is completely original to the show: Archive 81 showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine told The Wrap that Kaelego is not based on anything in particular.
