Slenderman was born as a creepypasta or Internet legend to traumatize children. The original story emerged on the “Something Awful” forums in a contest called “Paranormal Picture Creations.” On July 8, 2009, participants had to submit a terrifying image that looked like a real photograph with a horrifying story.
Victor Surge managed to shock everyone with the vision of Slenderman. After the original story, more photographs and legends about the character emerged. They spread quickly across the internet, and at some point, it was asserted that the stories were, of course, real. More fake news about Slenderman’s historical past circulated from then on.
YouTube channels inspired by this character were born, such as “Marble Hornets,” “Everyman Hybrid,” or “Tribe Twelve.” In 2012, the independent video game “Slender: The Eight Pages” was released. The legend says that the first time Slenderman appeared was in the 1980s. While some men were sorting through the rubble of a library fire in the city of Stirling, California, they found a photograph in which a group of children played in the park. In the background of the shot, a dark figure of over two meters could be seen, but the children seemed not to see it. They were never heard from again, nor was Mary Thomas, the woman who took the photograph. The only trace that remained was the snapshot that they somehow found in the library.
Apparently, this being is invisible to human eyes; it only appears through electrical devices or if he so wishes. A monster that observes from the shadows and stalks without any kind of urgency or interaction, taking the victim’s soul little by little. Those who are near Slenderman become forgetful and irritable. They soon realize that they no longer have a social life, have trouble getting up from the couch, and most lose their jobs. Slenderman is one of the most powerful creatures in the supernatural world, capable of inducing madness or different mental disorders in its victim.
Slenderman feeds on fear. He wears black. His victims are never found. In the midst of sinister forests, lonely places, urban landscapes shrouded in fog, Slenderman can be seen in photographs that circulate everywhere. And it seems that Slenderman has been present more than we imagine. The German myth “The Grossman” shows a very similar being, as does the alû, a half-human, half-demon monster that has been present since the Babylonians.
The urban legend of this character sounds terrifying, but what it triggered is even worse. In mid-2014, two girls stabbed one of their friends 19 times. The victim survived the attack, but the other minors were tried for attempted premeditated homicide. They claimed in court to be followers of Slenderman and to have attempted to kill their friend to gain recognition from Slenderman. The story inspired an HBO documentary, Beware the Slender Man, directed by Irene Taylor Brodsky.
In 2018, a movie inspired by this character was released: Slender Man (Sylvain White, 2018), which focuses on a fictional story in which Slenderman begins to stalk a group of friends. The film does not do justice to one of the scariest creepypastas in the history of this literary subgenre born in the era of the internet and social networks.
Slenderman has become the representation of fear and those instinctive ideas that make us consider that it is not us, but something else that is stealing our lives. We have not stopped enjoying ourselves, surely it is something that ties us down and does not let us be free. Slenderman transformed the way of dealing with the pain of loss, but it is also a being that undoubtedly represents homogenization and loss of individuality, not only because of its blank face but also because of the phenomenon it caused.
Have we become beings that only digest the information that exists on the internet without analyzing what is behind it? Hundreds of viral news stories circulate without a hint of certainty or truthfulness. We don’t even bother to open a link and we rely on what our friends or colleagues know about it. And when it comes to ignorance, given the wealth of information that exists, perhaps the example of the girls who killed their friend because they believed in Slenderman is the point to consider how irrational we are.
Some claim that those who see him once will have him in their lives forever. He will always be by your side: family meals, parties, work meetings – which will occur with less and less frequency – in the bathtub, in intimacy, and even while you sleep. Slenderman does not rest. If you feel a deep chill capable of freezing your thoughts, perhaps Slenderman is nearby and without warning, as soon as he has the opportunity, you will simply disappear.
Lost people, children who lost their way home and were never heard from again, are the most terrifying mysteries related to Slenderman. The character that causes a panic attack to those who look at him. A dark figure over two meters tall, faceless, pale, with tentacles on his back and long arms. He arrives without warning, observing stealthily until some curious photograph makes us realize his presence. No one looks at him, but whoever was present while Slenderman was near disappears without remedy.
On the internet, in the United States, and the rest of the world, these viral phenomena exist that sometimes are impossible to verify their truthfulness.
