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Slender Man The Slender Man $also %nown as Slenderman& is a fictional character that originated as an 'nternet meme created by Something Awful forums user (ictor Surge in )**+. 't is depicted as resembling a thin, unnaturally tall man with a blan% and usually featureless face, and wearing a blac% suit. The Slender Man is commonly said to stal%, abduct, or traumati-e people, particularly children. The Slender Man is not tied to any particular story, but appears in many disparate wor%s of fiction, mostly composed online.

The Slender Man was created on a thread in the Something Awful forum on .une /, )**+, with the goal of editing photographs to contain supernatural entities. #n .une 0*, a forum poster with the user name 1(ictor Surge1 contributed two blac% and white images of groups of children, to which he added a tall, thin spectral figure wearing a blac% suit. 2re"ious entries had consisted solely of photographs3 howe"er, Surge supplemented his submission with snatches of text, supposedly from witnesses, describing the abductions of the groups of children, and gi"ing the character the name, 1The Slender Man14 5e didn6t want to go, but its persistent silence and outstretched arms horrified and comforted us at the same time7 0+/8, photographer un%nown, presumed dead. #ne of two reco"ered photographs from the Stirling City 9ibrary bla-e. :otable for being ta%en the day which fourteen children "anished and for what is referred to as ;The Slender Man<. 0+/=, photographer4 Mary Thomas, missing since .une 08th, 0+/=. These additions effecti"ely transformed the photographs into a wor% of fiction. Subse>uent posters expanded upon the character, adding their own "isual or textual contributions.

The Slender Man is described as "ery tall and thin with unnaturally long, tentacle-li%e arms $or merely tentacles&,which it can extend to intimidate or capture prey. 't has a white, featureless head and appears to be wearing a dar% suit and tie. The Slender Man is associated with the forest and has the ability to teleport.

The Slender Man soon went "iral, spawning numerous wor%s of fanart, cosplay and online fiction %nown as 1creepypasta14 scary stories told in short snatches of easily copyable text that spread from site to site. i"orced from its original creator, the Slender Man became the sub?ect of myriad stories by multiple authors within an o"erarching mythos. The first "ideo series in"ol"ing the Slender Man e"ol"ed from a post on the Something Awful thread by user 1cegars1. 't tells of a fictional film school friend named Alex @ralie, who had stumbled upon something troubling while shooting his first feature-length pro?ect, Marble Hornets. The "ideo series, published in found footage style on YouTube, forms an alternate reality

game describing the filmersA fictional experiences with the Slender Man. The A!B also incorporates a Twitter feed and an alternate YouTube channel created by a user named 1tothear%1. Marble Hornets is now one of the most popular Slender Man creations, with o"er )C*,*** followers around the world, and CC million "iews. #ther Slender Man-themed YouTube serials followed, including E"erymanDYE!' and Tribe Twel"e. 'n )*0), the Slender Man was adapted into a "ideo game titled Slender: The Eight Pages. Se"eral popular "ariants of the game followed, including Slenderman's Shadow and Slender Man for i#S, which became the second most-popular app download. The se>uel to Slender: The Eight Pages,Slender: The Arrival, was released in )*08. Se"eral independent films about the Slender Man ha"e been released or are in de"elopment, including Entity and The Slender Man, released free online after a F0*,*** @ic%starter campaign. 'n )*08, it was announced that Marble Hornets would become a theatrical film.

Ale%s @rotos%i, a commentator for EEC !adio G, called the Slender Man 1the first great myth of the web1. The success of the Slender Man 1legend1 has been ascribed to the chaotic, ambiguous nature of the 'nternet. 5hile nearly e"eryone in"ol"ed understands on some le"el that the Slender Man is not real, the 'nternet offers up a mess of conflicting perspecti"es, blurring the boundary between fiction and reality and obscuring the characterAs origin, thus lending it an air of authenticity. (ictor Surge $real name Eric @nudsen& has commented that many people, despite understanding that the Slender Man was created on the Something Awful forums, still entertain the possibility that it might be real. 2rofessor Shira Chess of the Hni"ersity of Beorgia has noted that the Slender Man exemplifies the similarities between traditional fol%lore and the open source ethos of the 'nternet, and that, unli%e those of traditional monsters such as "ampires and werewol"es, the Slender ManAs mythos can be trac%ed and signposted, gi"ing a powerful insight into how myth and fol%lore form. Tye (an Dorn, a writer for The Elm, has suggested that the Slender Man represents modern fear of the un%nown3 in an age flooded with information people ha"e become so inured to ignorance that they now fear what they cannot understand. Troy 5agner, the creator of Marble Hornets, ascribes the terror of the Slender Man to its malleability3 people can shape it into whate"er frightens them most.