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Slenderman
An urban legend created by Something Awful goons and popularized by a massive alternate reality game.
- Date Discovered: 06/2009
- Discovered On: Something Awful
Summary
| —photographer unknown, presumed dead, 1983 |
Slenderman (or Slender Man) is an elongated or distorted humanoid creature with branching appendages that have been described as arms, branches, or tentacles. It is indistinct or hard to see but appears to be wearing a dark or black suit; no two witnesses have reported the same description for its face, the only exception being its blank white eyes. It reputedly has hypnotic properties or powers, and frequently abducts children. Most victims are never found, but a rare few are discovered, their bodies badly mangled. Reports on this are conflicting and unreliable though, as surviving witnesses are often driven to madness and physical evidence is rare if not nonexistent.
The Slenderman often appears in or near wooded areas or in heavy fog where it is best camouflaged, either by blending in with branches or simply hiding in the fog. Its victims, as stated above, are most often children playing near these wooded areas, who reportedly see the creature in nightmares in the days leading up to their abduction. None are ever found afterwards alive.
Origins
Slenderman was created by SA forums goon Victor Surge for a Photoshop thread entitled, "Create Paranormal Images." Included with the images was the explanation that the photographs were taken on a day on which fourteen children disappeared. He then further explained that the library where the photo was found burned down a week after the pictures were taken. He created several more images for the thread, as did other goons, who took the idea and ran with it, creating a now-extensive mythos surrounding the entity.
Current status
The Slenderman is now one of the focal points of the alternate reality game Marble Hornets, which combines YouTube and twitter accounts to build a story surrounding a film student's discovery of terrifying film footage his friend had taken. The game is now in its second season.
Marble Hornets' success inspired numerous additional youtube series following the Slenderman internet "urban legend." Additional takes on the mythos can be found at everymanHYBRID and TribeTwelve
Slenderman also enjoys popular meme status on 4chan's /x/ board.
Images
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Videos
Related Pages
External Links
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