The Slender Man The Slender Man was created at the Something Awful Forums in a thread entitled "Create Paranormal Images." He is described as wearing a black suit strikingly similar to the visage of the notorious Men In Black, and as the name suggests, appears very thin and able to stretch his limbs and torso to inhuman lengths in order to induce fear and ensnare his prey. Once his arms are outstretched, his victims are put into something of a hypnotized state, where they are utterly helpless to stop themselves from walking into them. He is also able to create tendrils from his fingers and back that he uses to walk on in a similar fashion to Doc Ock, the Spider-Man villain in the Marvel Universe. The superhuman stretching ability could also be seen as a similiarty between himself and Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four. Whether he absorbs, kills, or mearly takes his victims to an undiclosed location or dimension is also unknown as there are never any bodies or evidence left behind in his wake to deduce a definite conclusion.
Not much is known, as no specific information has been found about origins, but his objective and habitat are made very clear. He has the need to kidnap children, and is seen right before the disappearance of a child or multiple children. He seems to prefer fog enshrouded streets and wooded areas as a way to conceal himself from being noticed. It should also be noted that children have been able to see him when no other adults in the vicinity could. Children also have dreams or nightmares concerning The Slender Man before their disappearance. Confiding these stories to their parents are met with the usual parental admonition: overactive imaginations.
SightingsEven though The Slender Man is fairly new in the media, people have already claimed sightings. He appears to the unwitting mostly at night, and most always peering out of wooded areas or near rivers. He has also been reported to peek inside left open windows and to walk out in front of lone motorists on long uninhabited roads. The Slender Man or men, have appeared everywhere from Japan, Norway, and America to name a growing few.
Symptoms that Slender Man is coming for you
-Coughing up blood -Slender Man messes with technology -Memory loss -Nightmares about him -drawing the symbol (circle with an "X" through it) -diarrhea (yes, I know) -vomiting
"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.
A sighting of Slender Man was possibly inspiration for the famous Johanne Goethe poem and Schubert song "Der Erlkonig" (translated- "Night King" or "Boogeyman). The poem and ballad are about a father and his son riding horseback to their home, the son fearfully talks of visions of the "Erl Konig" while the father tries to comfort and dismiss the visions. The Erl Konig and Slender Man have surprising similarities in their appearance and actions when looking at a translation.
"My son, wherefore seek'st thou thy face thus to hide?" "Look, father, the Erl King is close by our side! Dost see not the Erl King, with crown and with train?" "My son, 'tis the mist rising over the plain."
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Original Thread wiki/Slender_Man Slender Man
Typical early Slenderman photo Names Slender Man, Him, The Operator, Der Ritter, Der Großmann, Bundle, The Tall Man, The Thin Man, Der Schlanker Mann, Fear Dubh, Schlankwald, Tree Man, Slendy, Slenderman, Slender, The Pale One, The White King, Master Identity Unknown being Appearances MH EMH ML TT DH
Origins Victor Surge, Something Awful Forums The Slender Man (See other names to the right) is a creature or being with various nebulously defined characteristics and abilities. Slender Man was first mentioned in Something Awful Forum's "Create Paranormal Images". Slender Man generally appears (in modern times) as a tall man in a black or grey suit, red or black tie, and white shirt, with no eyes, mouth, or clearly defined facial features. It has no hair, and generally has normal-looking bare hands. Slenderman typically is depicted in imagery and literature as between 6 and 15 feet tall, depending on the situation, and in video as around 6-7 feet tall. Because of its inexact nature, and differences between series, no one has yet determined what it is. Currently, the two leading theories as to what the Slenderman may be are the Tulpa Effect and Quantum Theory. The internet popularity of Slenderman has spawned a massive amount of interconnected ARG's, collectively known as the Slenderman Mythos.
Slenderman's original abilities included invisibility to select people, adult humans, or anyone without use of a camera, the ability to change height and body shape, the ability to shape its arms into tentacles, and the ability to sprout tentacle-like appendages from its back and shoulders to be used as additional arms or legs (or simply to instill fear into its prey). Many stories seem to indicate that it can control a person's mind, which became the basis for the Proxies in the video ARGs, a trend that would later spread to Slenderblogs. Slender Man also had connections to children, with many of the original stories revolving around disappearing children or featured Slender Man being sighted in photos with children. the Slenderman's Impressive height. Fobarimperius
As more stories came forth, however, the use of tentacles and tentacle-like appendages became less common, and the invisibilty was limited or eliminated depending on the storyteller. EMH, TT, ML, and DH all contain some sort of video and/or audio distortion, indicating that Slenderman has some sort of effect on modern digital instruments. This does not appear in any of the original accounts- however these mostly make use of photographs and video of primarily lower-tech varieties. EMH Has applied this distortion to be the effect of "Sigma Radiation", a radiation given off by Slender Man and The Rake. Sigma Radiation is also contagious, as it entered Evan's blood-stream when his arm is brutally maimed by The Rake EMH and ML also make use of "Slenderwalking", a term created to describe Slenderman's apparent teleportation, appearing, and disappearing at will. EMH independently indicates the use of selective invisibility to groups or individuals through head tilting, and also spacetime warping/teleportation between locations. Similar abilities were seen in early Slenderman accounts. EMH also hints at the affecting of mental health or control of it. Slenderman has no exactly defined or specified history, however contributors have placed early sightings of Slenderman-like beings known as Der Ritter and Der Großmann in early 1600s German and before, where it took the dress of a knight or royal figure. Germanic fairy tales and mythology also makes use of the creatures to be used as cautionary tales for children.
Photographs from the early 1900s were the next confirmed reports, where imagery of Slenderman can be found in classical black and white and sepia imagery. Reports from this time indicate sightings in America, the UK, and Russia, as well as reports of child disappearances. By the mid-1900s, some rare run-ins occured in the warzones in Germany, apparently Slenderman's native . . Ritter Added by Misiek1997Soldiers were the primary targets here. In America and Canada, reports of missing skiers and children appeared, coming from forested areas of the nations. After a spree of building burnings from unknown causes, several deaths and a few surviving witnesses, it could be gathered that the Slenderman had the following traits: * Slenderman will find interest in a victim for reasons unknown * It would then contact the victim, if it is a child, presenting itself as friendly * The adults he stalks have a common trait: they have all been through a terrible tragedy in their life, even if the tragedy was made by Slenderman directly * If an adult, it would stalk the victim for long amounts of time causing what is known as "Slender sickness" causing massive paranoia, nose bleeds, nightmares, hallucinations appearing to only the sick person, and many other dangerous symptoms. * Eventually, it would abduct the victim into nearby forest, where they would be killed. * In 'messy' cases, it may remove evidence of its existence by causing fire of their home, place of work, or school Death of the victim originally occured through an odd means- the victim would be impaled on branches of very tall trees while still alive, and bleed to death. The organs would be individually removed, then placed in plastic bags. They would then be replaced into the body in their original positions, plus the plastic bags. The victims' corpses do not show any sign of a struggle. In the late 1990s, technology shed more light on the creature through the use of commonplace cameras and camcorders. Slenderman was recorded and photographed stalking potential victims many times. In the late 2000s to early 2010s, several individuals recorded ongoing stalking and attack scenarios of themselves and their friends. These video accounts are codenamed Marble Hornets, EverymanHYBRID, DarkHarvest00, MLAndersen0, and TribeTwelve. As well as certain Rivn videos. Slenderman makes association with several groups, individuals, or creatures. The least known of these is the unknown organization tracking, observing, or involved with Slenderman, whose identity or name is yet to be confirmed. The Organization appears only in early Slenderman written accounts, and makes an (assumed) appearence in only one ARG, DarkHarvest00. The SCP organization, though mostly unrelated, maintains hold of a creature known as SCP-582, aka "Bundle", whose appearance and nature is similar to Slenderman. It is possible that Bundle is a local dialect or local version of Slenderman. SCP is unable to currently permaently contain Bundle, indicating that because it is not stationary, it could be the same entity as Slenderman. Slenderman has links to many Proxies, or insane individuals under its control or influence. The nature of Proxies, their workings, etc, are et unknown, however Proxies make appearances in MH as Masky/totheark, EMH as HABIT, and DH as an unknown Proxy. The Rake is the name given to another mystery creature that is somehow linked or associated with Slenderman. The Rake has a far shorter history, and only real appearance of association with Slenderman or a Proxy is through the video accounts of EMH.
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Brazilian Cave PaintingsThe earliest argued reference to the legend is within the cave paintings found in the Serr da Capivara National Park in the Northeast of Brazil, which are believed to date from as far back as 9000 BC. These paintings show a strangely elongated character leading a child by the hand, but make no reference to the extra appendages.
Egyptian HieroglyphsThe next known possible reference to the Slender Man comes from around 3100 BC in lower Egypt, with references to the "Thief of the Gods" or the "Thief of Kuk" becoming common place during the reign of Pharaoh Wazner. Hieroglyphic carvings representing the Thief were found in the pharaoh's tomb, who was rumored to have had some kind of encounter with the entity. The carvings resemble a strange figure with multiple upper limbs, one that has never been found in any other hieroglyph language.
German WoodcutsRenowned German woodcutter Hans Freckenberg created at least two woodcuts featuring a character
he described as Der Ritter (The Knight) during the mid-sixteenth century that were discovered in Halstberg Castle in 1883. Whilst Freckenberg was well-known for his realistic depiction of human anatomy - something that was unusual among woodcuts of the time - these pictures featured a skeletal, multi-limbed character. Historians are unsure of the exact symbolic nature of the character, with some claiming that it is a personification of the religious wars that raged in Europe at the time, while others say it represents the mysterious plagues that have been believed to be the reason for the mysterious abandoning of the Hastlberg Castle and the nearby village in 1543.
However, many insist that Freckenberg was attempting to represent "Der Großmann" (the Tall Man). According to lgend, he was a fairy ho lived in the Black Forest. Bad children who crept into the woods at night would be relentlessly chased by Der Großmann, who wouldn't leave them be until he either caught them or they were forced to tell their parents of their wrongdoing. Even then, there is a chillding account from an old journal, dating from about 1702:
"My child, my Lars… he is gone. Taken, from his bed. The only thing that we found was a scrap of black clothing. It feels like cotton, but it is softer… thicker. Lars came into my bedroom ysterday, screaming at the top of his lungs that "The angel is outside!" I asked him what he was talking about, and he told me some nonsense fairy story about Der Großmann. He said he went into the groves by our village and found one of my cows dead, hanging from a tree. I thought nothing of it at first… but now, he is gone. We must find Lars, and my family must leave before we are killed. I am sorry, my son… I should have listened. May God forgive me."++Romanian Mythology There is also Romanian fairytale which tells the legend of the Tall Man, featuring this description which may have taken to refer to the Slender Man.
The tall man stoon in a clearing, dressed as a nobleman, all in black. Shadows lay over him, dark as a cloudy midnight. He had many arms, all long and boneless as snakes, all sharp as swords, and they writhed like worms on nails. He did not speak, but made his intentions know,in the fairytale, the Tall Man causes a mother to kill her husband and child, before he slid from a fireplace and "clenched her in his burning embrace."
Selected 20th Century AppearancesThe number of Slender Man sightings has increased dramatically during the Twentieth Century. This is generally attributed to increased media coverage and access to news reports from around the globe. However, allegedly intercepted messages from an unknown source posted on an internet forum have brought forward two further hypotheses:
TO; OPTIC NERVE HQ FROM: FIELD AGENT *, N American branch SUBJECT: RISING S MAN REPORTS DATE: JUNE 16h 2009, 1234 hours Something Agent , from the Japanese field office, told me has been kicking my head for the past couple days. She said that maybe this thing isn't breeding… but these others are WAKING UP. That maybe these things have been hibernating for god knows how long and how they are up and feeding. It makes some kind of sense with the stories of this thing dating back to the Dark Ages of Europe and beyond that. That leaves the six million dollar question… If 's theory is true… how many of them are there? Henderson Horse Farm Incident 1953The Henderson Horse Farm, located outside Tryon in Polk County, NC, was situated on land owned by the Henderson family since the mid 1800s. By 1953, the farm was owned and run by Ted Wilcox Henderson (41 years old), Judi Henderson (wife, 36), and Tracy Henderson (daughter, 6). On the morning of June 15th, neighbors called local police complaining of hearing screams and the sounds of gun fire originating from the property.
Sherrif Clint Denterman and two deputies, Dan Parks and Chris Fine, arrived at the farm at 8:34 AM. They found that horses in the barn had been torn apart, "almost as if attacked by wild animals." Inside the main house, reports stated the presence of fresh blood throughout the living room, kitchen, and hallway.
Ted Wilcox Henderson was found in the bedroom, barricaded behind furniture. Next to him was the body of his wife, killed by a shotgun blast to the chest. Ted still had the weapon in his hands. Dan Parks was quoted as reporting:
"Ted had a freaked out, far off look in his eyes. He seemed to not realize that we were in the room. We asked what happened. Where was his daughter. But he didn't answer."Ted was charged with the murder of his wife. However, due to his catatonic state, he was admitted to
Jenkins Mental Hospital in Sandy Plains, Polk County. Ted remained in a catatonic state for over three years. On the third anniversary of the murder, Dr Dauton on June 15th, 1956 refer to a "Skinny fella… suit… looking at me…" who had taken both Judi Henderson and her daughter Tracy. Ted claimed that Judi begged him to shoot her, and felt that he had "saved her" by doing so. However, after lamenting that he had been unable to stop the "skinny man" from absconding with his daughter, Ted commenced to "slam his face repeatedly" into the steel table at which he was seated, having to be restrained and sedated by hospital orderlies. Less than seven hours later, at approximately 3:00 am the 16th of July, Ted was found dead in his room after apparently escaping his restraints and chewing through his own wrist, severing the ulnar artery and bleeding to death. The body of Tracy Henderson was never found, however a photograph taken about a week before the Henderson Farm incident shows what appears to be a suited man standing in front of the stables, which some claim to be the Slender Man.
Stirling City Disappearances 1986 - 87Stirling City, Butte County, CA has been an apparent hot spot for Slender Man activity during the mid
1980s. Following the 1986 Stirling City Library fire, a small number of photographs were recovered, including one that had been taken only a week earlier on June 1st, 1986. On this date 14 children disappeared, followed less than two weeks later by the disappearance of the photographer, Mary Thomas. Some theorists claim that the figure on the left in the photo is the Slender Man, although officials have stated that the apparent extra appendages on the character can be dismissed as film defects.
Five months later, the body of one of the children, four year old Joseph Pertman, was found in the Great Swamp Nature Preserve in Kingston Falls, NJ. Deputy Sherrif Jim Stolz told reporters from the Associated Press that the body was still in early stages of decay, indicating that he was alive for at least four months after his disappearance. It was also reported that the body was found in a state of "bizarre contortion," although the cause of death was never officially established.
On April 21st, 1987 the Stirling City Post ran a story regarding a rash of animal mutilations in Stirling City, that the Butte County Animal Control Department were attributing to coyotes. As man as nine dogs and cat had gone missing since January, and had been found in various states of decay. many of the pets had been disemboweled, or otherwise seriously mutilated. Animal Control Officer Joel Driscol was quoted as saying that the wounds were "unusually precise" and that it was "rare that a wild animal would leave so much of the carcass uneaten." Also quoted inn the story was a local man, David Elkins, who was the owner of the latest victim - a cat that had been disemboweled and mutilated.
On July 12th, 1987, police were called to the Elkins' residence in Stirling by David Elkins, who had reported that his eight-year-old daughter Katrina had gone missing. The only possible witness to the disappearance was Katrina's ten-year-old sister Alice, with whom she shared a bedroom. SCPD Sergeant William Hohne reported that the last time Alice saw her sister, she was outside the window "hugging the tall man." According to further statements by Alice, over the previous weeks a man had been coming to the girls' bedroom window at night, where he would tap on the glass, "make faces," and watch the girls. However, police investigators initially dismisses the account as a dream, as the bedroom window was on their house's second story with no support beneath it.
"[Alice] Elkins reported that, on the night of her sister's disappearance, they were again awakened by a tapping on the glass," Sergean Hohne explained, "she heard her sister get out of bed, and have a short conversation. When she didn't hear her sister get back in bed after several minutes, he go up and went to the window, where she saw her sister in the side yard, "hugging the tall man." According to the witness, the man looked at her, grinning, and indicated that she was to come down as well with a "snakey arm." it was at this point that Miss Elkins became extremely frightened, and returned to bed. The tapping continued for several more minutes before it finally ceased."Alice Elkins' body was never found, and no charges were ever brought regarding the case.
Jasper, Alberta Disappearances 2009On January 10th 2009, three skiers - Amanda Fischer, Douglas Bellanger, and Natasha Pierce - disappeared leaving their cabin in Mica Mountains Resort of Jasper, Alberta. A day earlier, another friend, Thomas Chambers, left the party to return to Calgary, apparently due to health concerns. He was questioned by RCMP following the disappearances and allegedly informed them that he had left due to recurring nightmares featuring a tall man in black peering into the cabin windows at night.
Investigators confirmed they had ruled Chambers out as a possible suspect, but considered him a key witness. A source within RCMP, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed to the Calgary Sun that officers had confiscated a digital camera and a camcorder at the time of the interview, which were never returned. RCMP were, however, unable to question Chambers further, as he vanished on January 21st. His home was found ransacked that morning, he was never found.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Park Officials commenced a month-long search, culminating in the discovery of Amanda Fischer's remains high in a tree, in a severely contorted condition. The bodies of Bellanger and Pierce have yet to be recovered.
Literary ReferencesThe Suited Demon
Popular guro author Go Waita created almost 230 stories during his 40 year career, most of which featured his most renowned created, the Suited Demon; a tall, slim man in a dark suit who would kidnap, rape, and murder young girls in the woods. During an interview with Hiro Koga in the February 2009 issue Deadly Doom Delights magazine, Waita claimed that he did not create the Suited Demon, and that he was in fact a real creature that he had witnessed murder his seven year old sister as a child. Waita explained to the interviewer that the "real" Suited Demon was not interested in raping his victims, but his editors and publishers insisted on the graphic sex scenes being added.
Waita went on to say that "I tried to draw different things… normal pictures, portraits, even other types of stories… but it always comes comes up… for forty god damn years!" before becoming too agitated to continue and ending the interview. Hiro Koga stated in the printed article that he considered scrapping it completely before receiving a call from Waita insisting that he print the interview in full. Less than a week after publication, Waita burnt his studio to the ground, committing suicide in the process. Because of this, many understandably cast aspersion on the mental sate of Waita during the interview, and therefore dismissed his claims of the origins of the Suited Demon. Some theorists, however, are prepared to accept this as yet another case of a confirmed Slender Man sighting.
Possible Influences in Popular CultureAs well as the Suited Demon mentioned above, theorists postulate that a number of popular culture characters are based on the idea of the Slender man. In an interview with Wizard magazine, Dr Octopus creator Stan lee claimed that while looking for inspiration for a new Spider-Man villain, he remembered a story his Romanian-born mother Celia had told him about a man with "many boneless arms," and took that inspiration to create the distinctive tentacle harness used by Dr Octopus.
In the Phantasm movie series, the recurring character of the Tall Man shows an obvious physical resemblance to the move humanoid appearances of the Slender Man. Similarly, the character of the Reverend Henry Kane in Poltergeist II: The Other Side and Poltergeist III is also thought to be modeled on the Slender Man.
The television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer featured an episode in it's fourth series entitled Hush. In this episode, a series of creatures known as The Gentlemen steal the voices of the population of Sunnydale, rendering everyone in the town unable to speak. They then proceed to remove the hearts of their victims, who are unable to scream during the attack. Again, the appearance of the Gentlemen as emaciated, tall figures in dark suits seems to resemble reports of the Slender Man.