Slender Man
Part of a series on Creepypasta. [View Related Entries]
About
Slender Man, also known as Slenderman, is a mythical creature often depicted as being tall and thin, wearing a black suit with a white shirt and necktie, and having a blank face. He can stretch out or shorten his arms at will, and has tentacle-like appendages protruding from his back. He has inspired fan arts, fictional stories (creepypastas) and videos.
Origin
On June 8th 2009, a “’paranormal pictures” photoshop contest was launched on the Something Awful forums.[1] The idea was to create creepy images and use them to trick people on paranormal forums into thinking they were authentic. Users started editing images by adding fake ghosts and other strange figures, usually accompanied by a fake story to make it seem more realistic.
On June 10th, user Victor Surge posted in a thread containing the first known mention of the Slender Man as a creature who stalked children.[2] Two photos of the creature were posted to the thread as well.
Something Awful Development
On June 11th, 2009, Victor Surge continued to improve upon the myth by adding another picture and a fake doctor’s account.[3] The very first Something Awful user to reuse the myth was LeechCode5[4] on June 12th. On June 14th, SA goon TrenchMaul[6], reused the Slender Man character for his own story.
That thread, still active today, extends for 46 pages as over June 2011.
On 4Chan
Slender Man became a well-known creature on the /x/ (paranormal) 4chan board.[7] While there is no archive of its first arrival on the board, an archived thread mentioning it dates back to the 24th of June.
In the thread, an anonymous user joked about Slender Man being bound within a creepy thread, which suggests that the character may have been mentioned on 4chan prior. The image was coupled with drawn pictures and fanarts:
It should be noted that The Slender Man (shown left) bears many similarities to the Anonymous’ drawn character (shown right). Both are wearing a suit, and lack facial features.
Spread
Slender Man has caught the attention of several websites including the Unfiction Forums[8], Fangoria[9], Bungie[10], Facepunch[11]. Wikibin[12]. /x/enopedia[13], TVTropes[14], Kongregate[15], DeviantArt[16], SlenderNation[17], and Mythical Creatures Guide.[18]
Fan Art
The “Marble Hornets” Project
On June 20th, 2009, the YouTube account “MarbleHornets” started hosting videos called “entries” which claimed to be taped segments retrieved by someone named “Jay” (or also “J”), and contained footage of a friend that had since disappeared.
It would later become clear that it was a series created by two film students, SomethingAwful users “KicksYouInHalf” and “Ce gars”, as part of a “Alternate Reality Game” centered around the Slender Man myth called the “Marble Hornets Project”. As of May 2011, there are more than 40 videos (divided into 2 seasons), in addition to the ones by YouTube user “totheark”, who is a recurring character within the story.
Many forums threads have been created for people to share their speculations and theories about the game on sites like Something Awful[19], Unfiction[20], BuzzFeed[21], and Reddit.[22]
A Marble Hornets wiki entry[23] and a Twitter account[24] (Jay’s) have been registered to keep track of everything.
These may have inspired the blog named “Just Another Fool”, which contains a story about a man whose brother has been placed into a mental hospital after he returned from Iraq, where he’s the only survivor of a team that supposedly met Slender Man.[25] This has inspired other blog-based stories like “Seeking Truth : Assignement”[26] and “Dreams in Darkness”.[27]
Marble Hornets-inspired projects have appeared on YouTube since then, uploaded by YouTubers EverymanHYBRID[28] and TribeTwelve[29]. Other Blogs and Vlogs that exist to pertain the mythos can be found on the Unfiction forums.[30]
A radio interview has been done with Troy Wagner (director/Jay) and Joseph DeLage (Alex Kralie) in the beginning of August 2010 about the Marble Hornets Project. The interview, divided into 5 parts, is hosted on Troy’s YouTube channel “troyhasacamera”.[31]
Marble Hornets Sub-meme : $20 dollars parodies
On September 30th 2009, YouTube user “brett824” made a parody video in reference to the Marble Hornets’ series. Titled MARBLE HORNETS ENTRY #6 MISSING AUDIO FOUND!, referencing how many of the entries lacked audio. It featured the 2009 song “Gimmie $20 dollars” by Ron Browz. “$20 dollars” would become a joke about Slender Man’s real motivation for chasing people.
Interview with Victor Surge, creator of Slender Man
Tomberry : Please introduce yourself a little. Who is Victor Surge ? How long has he been a SA goon and how active is he there ?
Victor Surge : I’ve been a goon for about four years, but I’ve lurked in the forums since ‘99. I’m not a large poster, but I spent a few years in EVE Online’s goonfleet and spend a lot of time reading threads in the forums. I don’t spent a lot of active time on the Internet since I usually have a lot of real-life stuff going on.
T : Back In June 2009, 10th to be precise, what motivated you to join the “create paranormal images” kind of contest on SomethingAwful forums ?
VS : It was pretty spontaneous. I saw some of the pictures in the thread and just decided to make something that I myself would find creepy.
T : What was your sources of inspiration in creating your first two pictures dealing with a strange figure that you called “The Slender Man” ? How did people react to it ?
VS : I was mostly influenced by H.P Lovecraft, Stephan King (specifically his short stories), the surreal imaginings of William S. Burroughs, and couple games of the survival horror genre; Silent Hill and Resident Evil. I feel the most direct influences were Zack Parsons’s “That Insidious Beast”, the Steven King short story “The Mist”, the SA tale regarding “The Rake”, reports of so-called shadow people, Mothman, and the Mad Gasser of Mattoon. I used these to formulate asomething whose motivations can barely be comprehended and causes general unease and terror in a general population.
The reaction was suprisingly good so I continued making pictures based on Slender Man.
T : What was your reaction when people started creating pictures and stories about your newborn myth, in parallel with yours ? Did you think it would get that much popular and spread to others websites (4chan, Kongregate, Facepunch…) as quickly as it did, gaining the status of “Internet Urban Legend” and a meme ?
VS : It was amazing to see people create their own little part of Slender Man in order to perpetuate his existance.
I didn’t expect it to move beyong the SA forums. And when it did, I found it interesting to watch as sort of an accelerated version of an urban legend. It differs from the prior concept of the urban legend in that it is on the Internet, and this both helps and harms the status of the Slender Man as one. In my personal opinion, an urban legend requires an audience ignorant of the origin of the legend. It needs unverifiable third and forth hand (or more) accounts to perpetuate the myth. On the Internet, anyone is privy to its origins as evidenced by the very public Somethingawful thread. But what is funny is that despite this, it still spread. Internet memes are finicky things and by making something at the right place and time it can swell into an “Internet Urban Legend”.
T : Do you know about users “Ce Gars” and “KickYouInHalf”, or overall, the Marble Hornets project itself ?
VS : There have been a couple of e-mails, but I don’t know them personally.
T : Did you help with their series of video (to these days, more than 26 episodes) ? Was it more of a tribute to your work ? What was your reaction toward it and their own popularity as a series on Youtube ?
VS : I had nothing to do with their series of videos or any other that may have anything seemingly to do with the Slender Man. I’m keeping my projects close to my chest (in a plastic bag with the rest of my organs). I hope other groups create new concepts and make series of videos. Not necessarily a horror series or somehing about the paranormal, but productions using all sorts of subject matter and in multiple genres. I think the Marble Hornets project’s strongest point is showing what you can achieve with this medium.
T : One year later, people still seem to continue to like the Slender Man character, enough to make the Marble Hornets crew consider about a new season. Do you still get recognition from time to time about Slender Man ? Has that character changed your way of browsing the web ?
VS : I do on occasion, but I like it to stay mysterious (does interview).
T : Do you have anything to add on what has been said, or any last word you would want to say to the readers ?
VS : Before you had angels and succubi, and then ghosts and spirits, today we have shadow people and inter-dimensional beings. The Slender Man, and other newly created entities, are just the newest addition in the progression of a long, and very real, human tradition.
You’ve seen him, now you can’t unsee him.
T : Thank you very much again for your time.
Minecraft’s Enderman
On July 26th 2011, Notch, Minecraft’s creator, posted on his Google + account a screenshot of his game featuring new monsters that will appear in an upcoming update.[32]
In a Reddit’s post from the same day, Notch stated that the mob’s name would be Enderman as a reference after someone, user drodeznop, coined the name “Slender Man”.[33]
An entry on the Minecraft Wiki has then been made with images featuring a clearer view of the creature.[34] Because of the similarities in names and abilities with the Slender Man mythos, 4chan users from the /v/ board launched a petition to change the Enderman’s name to “Far Landers”. Notch wrote a tweet joking about the initiative, implying that he won’t change it[35]. More info can be found in the Enderman entry.
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External References
[1] Something Awful – Create Paranormal Images – Gerogerigege 6/8/2009
[2] Something Awful – Create Paranormal Images – Victor Surge / 6/10/2009
[3] Something Awful – Create Paranormal Images – Victor Surge / 6/11/2009
[4] Something Awful – Create Paranormal Images – LeechCode5 / 6/12/2009
[6] Something Awful – Create Paranormal Images – TrenchMaul / 6/14/2009
[7] (NSFW Link) 4chan Archive / 6/24/2009
[18] Mythical Creatures Guide – Slender Man
[21] BuzzFeed – Marble Hornets: Real or Hoax
[22] Reddit – Marble Hornets and Slender Man
[24] Twitter – @MarbleHornets
[26] Open The Door And You Will Find Me – Seeking truth : Assignement
[28] YouTube – EverymanHYBRID
[29] YouTube – TribeTwelve
[31] YouTube – troyhasacamera
[32]The new mob I’ve been working on is a bit creepy.. – Google + / 7-26-2011
[33]Notch posts images of new Mob – Reddit / 7-26-2011
[35]Notch Tweet – Twitter / 7-30-2011
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Top Comments
Edan, Herper of Many Derps
Jul 01, 2011 at 12:16PM EDT+23
Slenders gonna slend.
LeSpatula
Oct 04, 2011 at 11:21PM EDT+11
Slenderman. Final boss of the internet.
Comments 108 total
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