Slenderman

Slender Man

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One of the original photos of the Slender Man, created on the Something Awful forums

The Slender Man (also known as Slender Man or Slenderman) is a fictional character that originated as an Internet meme created by user Victor Surge on the Something Awful forums in 2009. It is depicted as resembling a thin, unnaturally tall man with a blank and featureless face, and wearing a black suit. The Slender Man is commonly said to stalk, abduct, or traumatize people, particularly children.[1]

Contents [hide]

1 Origin

2 Development

3 Description

4 Reaction

5 See also

6 References

7 External links

Origin

The Slender Man was created in a contest launched on the Something Awful forums on June 8, 2009, with the goal of editing photographs to contain supernatural entities. On June 10, a forum poster with the user name "Victor Surge" contributed two black and white images of groups of children, to which he added a tall, thin spectral figure wearing a black suit.[2][3] Previous entries had consisted solely of photographs; however, Surge supplemented his submission with snatches of text, supposedly from witnesses, describing the abductions of the groups of children, and giving the character the name, "The Slender Man":

We didn’t want to go, we didn’t want to kill them, but its persistent silence and outstretched arms horrified and comforted us at the same time… 1983, photographer unknown, presumed dead.

One of two recovered photographs from the Stirling City Library blaze. Notable for being taken the day which fourteen children vanished and for what is referred to as “The Slender Man”. Deformities cited as film defects by officials. Fire at library occurred one week later. Actual photograph confiscated as evidence. 1986, photographer: Mary Thomas, missing since June 13th, 1986.[3]

These additions effectively transformed the photographs into a work of fiction. Subsequent posters expanded upon the character, adding their own visual or textual contributions.[3][2]

Development

The Slender Man soon went viral, spawning numerous works of fanart, cosplay and online fiction known as "creepypasta"; scary stories told in short snatches of easily copyable text that spread from site to site.[4] The first video series involving the Slender Man evolved from a post on the Something Awful thread by user "ce gars". It tells of a fictional film school friend named Alex Kralie, who had stumbled upon something troubling while shooting his first feature-length project, Marble Hornets. The video series, published in found footage style on YouTube, forms an alternate reality game describing the filmers' fictional experiences with

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