{{Short description|Fictional supernatural character}} {{About|the fictional character}} {{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}} {{Use British English|date=October 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}} {{Infobox character | name = The Slender Man | image = Slenderman redacted bg.jpg | alt = | caption = An artistic depiction of the Slender Man | first = 10 June 2009 on Something Awful | last = | creator = Eric Knudsen | portrayer = {{Unbulleted list|Doug Jones|Javier Botet}} | voice = | full_name = | nickname = | alias = Slender Man, Slenderman, Slender, Slendy, Der Großmann, The Operator | species = Supernatural humanoid | gender = Male | occupation = | affiliation = | title = }} <!-- His name, according to the original post in which he was created, is "the Slender Man. -->'''The Slender Man''' (also called simply '''Slender Man''', '''Slenderman''', '''Slender''', or '''Slendy''') is a fictional supernatural character that originated as a creepypasta Internet meme created by Something Awful forum user Eric Knudsen (using the pseudonym Victor Surge) in June 2009. He is depicted as a thin, unnaturally tall humanoid with pale white skin and a featurless face, wearing a black suit, with branching tendrils.
Stories of the Slender Man commonly feature him stalking, abducting, or traumatizing people, particularly children. The Slender Man has become a pop culture icon, although he is not confined to a single narrative, and appears in many disparate works of fiction online. Fiction relating to the Slender Man encompasses many forms of media including literature, art, video series such as ''Marble Hornets'' (2009–2014), in which he is known as '''The Operator,''' and video games such as ''Slender: The Eight Pages'' (2012) and its successor ''Slender: The Arrival'' (2013). The Slender Man also inspired the Enderman in ''Minecraft''. He has also appeared in a 2015 film adaptation of ''Marble Hornets'', where he was portrayed by Doug Jones, and an eponymous 2018 film, where he was portrayed by Javier Botet.
In 2014, a moral panic occurred over the Slender Man after several violent acts were connected to fans of the character, most notably a near-fatal stabbing of a 12-year-old girl in Waukesha, Wisconsin.<ref name="Gabler" /> The stabbing inspired the documentary ''Beware the Slenderman'', which was released in 2016.
==Description== <!-- Do NOT add material to this article unless it is reliably sourced. --> Since the Slender Man's fictional "mythology" has evolved without an official "canon" for reference, his appearance, motives, habits, and abilities vary across the different interpretations formed by creators.<ref name="shirachess">{{cite web |title=Who is Slender Man? |first=Caitlin |last=Dewey |website=The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2014/06/03/who-slender-man/7LHDT69RcChSIaHg8CUUsJ/story.html |date=3 June 2014 |access-date=2014-06-04 |archive-date=2014-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606033346/http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2014/06/03/who-slender-man/7LHDT69RcChSIaHg8CUUsJ/story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He is most commonly described as very tall and thin with unnaturally long, tentacle-like arms<ref name="creep" /> which he can extend to intimidate or capture prey. He sometimes appears with appendages resembling tentacles that appear from his back. In most stories, his face is white and featureless, but his face occasionally appears differently to anyone who sees it.<ref name="shirachess" /> He also wears a black suit and tie. The Slender Man is commonly associated with the forest and abandoned locations, and has the ability to teleport.<ref name="bbc" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Tillotson |first=Kristin |date=27 April 2011 |title=Tall, skinny, scary—and all in your head |url=https://www.startribune.com/april-2011-tall-skinny-scary-and-all-in-your-head/120717934 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054245/http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/120717934.html?refer=y |archive-date=2013-09-21 |access-date=2013-02-23 |website=startribune.com}}</ref> Proximity to the Slender Man is often said to trigger a "Slender sickness"; a rapid onset of paranoia, nightmares and delusions accompanied by nosebleeds, as well as a TV static effect on devices with screens.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Origins of the Slender Man, the Meme That Allegedly Drove 12-Year-Olds to Kill |magazine=Time |first=Laura |last=Stampler |url=https://time.com/2817725/slender-man-killing/ |date=3 June 2014 |access-date=2014-06-04 |archive-date=2014-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140604012853/http://time.com/2817725/slender-man-killing/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Early stories featured the Slender Man targeting children and young adults. Some featured young adults driven insane or influenced to act on his behalf. Others included the idea that investigating the Slender Man would eventually draw his attention.<ref name="shirachess2" /> The web series ''Marble Hornets'' established the idea of proxies, humans who fell under the Slender Man's influence and were transformed into beings with similar abilities to him. Initially depicted as simply violently insane, they came to be portrayed as puppets of the Slender Man. ''Marble Hornets'' also introduced the idea that Slender Man could interfere with video and audio recordings, as well as "⦻", a symbol which became a common trope of the Slender Man fiction and as a general representation for the character.<ref name="shirachess2" /> Graphic violence and body horror are uncommon in the Slender Man mythos, with many narratives choosing to leave the fate of his victims obscure.<ref name="shirachess2" /> Shira Chess stated "few of the retellings identify exactly what kind of monster the Slender Man might be, and what his specific intentions {{nowrap|are{{px2}}{{mdash}}{{px2}}}}these points all remain mysteriously and usefully vague."<ref name="shirachess" />
==History==
=== Origin (2009) === {{Multiple image | direction = horizontal | image1 = First Slender Man Sighting.png | caption1 = The original photo of the Slender Man, posted to the Something Awful forum in 2009, by Eric Knudsen. The Slender Man can be spotted in the background in the middle of the group of children. | alt1 = The original photo of the Slender Man by Eric Knudsen in 2009 | image2 = H. P. Lovecraft in DeLand Florida, June 1934.png | alt2 = The writings of H. P. Lovecraft influenced the creation of the Slender Man | caption2 = The writings of H. P. Lovecraft influenced the creation of the Slender Man | total_width = 450 }}
The Slender Man was created on 10 June 2009, on a thread in the Something Awful Internet forum.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/06/03/the-complete-terrifying-history-of-slender-man-the-internet-meme-that-compelled-two-12-year-olds-to-stab-their-friend/|title=The complete history of The 'Slender Man,' the meme that compelled two girls to stab a friend|last1=Dewey|first1=Caitlin|date=3 June 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2017-06-21|last2=Dewey|first2=Caitlin|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=2017-08-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817123023/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/06/03/the-complete-terrifying-history-of-slender-man-the-internet-meme-that-compelled-two-12-year-olds-to-stab-their-friend/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 5, 2014 |title=Slender Man: How a myth was born |url=https://www.tampabay.com/news/nation/slender-man-how-a-myth-was-born/2182945/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924183229/http://www.tampabay.com/news/nation/slender-man-how-a-myth-was-born/2182945 |archive-date=2017-09-24 |access-date=2017-06-21 |website=Tampa Bay Times |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wagner |first=Meg |date=June 5, 2014 |title=What is Slenderman, and what does it have to do with the Wisc. stabbing? |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/slenderman-wisc-stabbing-article-1.1815135 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522045126/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/slenderman-wisc-stabbing-article-1.1815135 |archive-date=2017-05-22 |access-date=2017-06-21 |work=NY Daily News |language=en}}</ref> The thread was a Photoshop contest in which users were challenged to create "paranormal images".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Smith|first=Cathay|title=Beware the Slender Man: Intellectual Property and Internet Folklore|journal=Florida Law Review|date=6 March 2017|volume=70|issue=1|page=10|doi=10.2139/ssrn.3005668|language=en|url=https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1408&context=flr|access-date=12 December 2019|archive-date=7 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200307190319/https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1408&context=flr|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Gerogerigegege|title=Create Paranormal Images – The Something Awful Forums|url=https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3150591|website=forums.somethingawful.com|language=en|date=30 April 2009|access-date=19 April 2018|archive-date=10 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110133132/http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3150591|url-status=live}}</ref> Forum poster '''Eric Knudsen''', under the pseudonym "'''Victor Surge'''",<ref name="copy" /> contributed two black-and-white images of groups of children to which he added a tall, thin, spectral figure wearing a black suit.<ref name="taylor" /><ref name="dane">{{cite web |title=Why Slenderman Works: The Internet Meme That Proves Our Need To Believe |first=Patrick |last=Dane |url=http://whatculture.com/history/why-slenderman-works-the-internet-meme-that-proves-our-need-to-believe |date=31 October 2012 |access-date=2013-02-20 |archive-date=2016-04-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413051329/http://whatculture.com/history/why-slenderman-works-the-internet-meme-that-proves-our-need-to-believe |url-status=live}}</ref> Although previous entries had consisted solely of photographs, Surge supplemented his submission with snatches of text—supposedly from witnesses—describing the abductions of groups of children and giving the character the name "Slender Man":
The quote under the first photograph read: {{blockquote|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.<ref name="dane" />}}
The quote under the second photograph read:
{{blockquote|One of two recovered photographs from the Stirling City<!--from unreliable sources, Stirling City, California, 1986. Maybe there is a good source, but this doesn't seem worth linking.--> 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.<ref name="dane" />}}
These additions emphasised that the photographs were works of fiction. Subsequent posters expanded upon the character, adding their own visual or textual contributions.<ref name=taylor>{{cite journal |title=Open-Sourcing Horror: The Slender Man, Marble Hornets, and genre negotiations |journal=Information, Communication & Society |volume=15 |issue=3 |year= 2012 |doi=10.1080/1369118X.2011.642889 |first=Shira |last=Chess |pages= 374–393|s2cid=143297005}}</ref><ref name="dane" />
Knudsen was inspired to create the Slender Man primarily by Zack Parsons' "That Insidious Beast", Stephen King's ''The Mist'', reports of shadow people, Mothman and the Mad Gasser of Mattoon.<ref name="heavy">{{cite news |last=Walsh |first=Shannon |date=17 April 2015 |title=Victor Surge, the Slender Man Creator: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know |url=http://heavy.com/news/2014/06/victor-surge-who-created-slender-man-eric-knudsen/ |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808235722/http://heavy.com/news/2014/06/victor-surge-who-created-slender-man-eric-knudsen/ |archive-date=2016-08-08 |access-date=2016-08-05 |website=Heavy.com}}</ref> Other inspirations for the character were the Tall Man from the 1979 film ''Phantasm'',<ref name="shirachess2">{{cite book|first1= Shira| last1= Chess| first2= Eric |last2= Newsom|title=Folklore, Horror Stories, and the Slender Man: The Development of an Internet Mythology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xuGvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT58|date=27 November 2014|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US|isbn=978-1-137-49113-8|pages=58–59}}</ref> H. P. Lovecraft, the surrealist work of William S. Burroughs, and the survival horror video games ''Silent Hill'' and ''Resident Evil''.<ref name="rolling">{{cite magazine|last=Lovitt|first=Bryn|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/slender-man-from-horror-meme-to-inspiration-for-murder-w432163|title=Slender Man: From Horror Meme to Inspiration for Murder|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=3 August 2016|access-date=5 August 2016|archive-date=4 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804182507/http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/slender-man-from-horror-meme-to-inspiration-for-murder-w432163|url-status=live}}</ref> Knudsen's intention was "to formulate something whose motivations can barely be comprehended, and [which caused] unease and terror in a general population".<ref name="vanity">{{cite news|title=American Horror Story and Slender Man: The 5 Most Spine-Tingling Inspirations for Next Season's Potential Monster|work=Vanity Fair|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/01/american-horror-story-slender-man|first=Joanna|last=Robinson|date=28 January 2016|access-date=2016-08-11|archive-date=2016-08-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805113602/http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/01/american-horror-story-slender-man|url-status=live}}</ref> Other pre-existing fictional or legendary creatures which are similar to the Slender Man include: the Gentlemen, black-suited, pale, bald demons from the ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' episode "Hush"; men in black, many accounts of which grant them an uncanny appearance with an unnatural walk and "oriental" features; and The Question, a DC Comics superhero with a blank face, whose secret identity is "Victor Sage", a name similar to Knudsen's alias "Victor Surge".<ref name="shirachess2" />
In her book, ''Folklore, Horror Stories, and the Slender Man: The Development of an Internet Mythology'', Professor Shira Chess of the University of Georgia connected the Slender Man to ancient folklore about fairies. Like fairies, the Slender Man is otherworldly, with motives that are often difficult to grasp; like fairies, his appearance is vague and often shifts to reflect what the viewer wants or fears to see, and, like fairies, the Slender Man lives in the woods and kidnaps children.<ref name="shirachess2" />
=== Development (2009–2013) === <!-- Do NOT add material to this article unless it is reliably sourced. -->{{Further|List of adaptations of Slender Man}}
Slender Man soon went viral,<ref>There is some dispute over whether the Slender Man qualifies as a viral phenomenon since, under some definitions, viral phenomena must spread quickly, while the Slender Man initially spread rather slowly. Some, therefore prefer the term "spreadable" to viral. See {{cite book| last1= Chess |first1= Shira| last2= Newsom| first2= Eric| year= 2015| title= Folklore, Horror Stories, and the Slender Man: The Development of an Internet Mythology| page= 20}}</ref> spawning numerous works of fanart, cosplay, and online fiction known as "creepypasta"—horror stories told in short snatches of easily copyable text that spread from site to site.<ref>{{Cite news|first=Devan|last=Sagliani|url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comicsandcosplay/columns/darkdreams/11906-Slender-Man-Birth-of-an-Urban-Legend|title=Slender Man: Birth of an Urban Legend|magazine=The Escapist|date=14 July 2014|access-date=21 June 2017|archive-date=24 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924182453/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comicsandcosplay/columns/darkdreams/11906-Slender-Man-Birth-of-an-Urban-Legend|url-status=live}}</ref> Divorced from its original creator, the Slender Man became the subject of myriad stories by multiple authors within an overarching mythos.<ref name="creep">{{cite web |title=The Definitive Guide to Creepypasta—The Internet's Urban Legends |first=Aja |last=Romano |url=http://www.dailydot.com/culture/definitive-guide-creepypasta-slender-man/ |website=The Daily Dot |date=31 October 2012 |access-date=2013-04-22 |archive-date=2019-05-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505084433/https://www.dailydot.com/culture/definitive-guide-creepypasta-slender-man/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Many aspects of the Slender Man mythos first appeared on the original Something Awful thread. One of the earliest additions was added by a forum user named "Thoreau-Up", who created a folklore story set in 16th-century Germany involving a character called Der Großman, which was implied by the writer to be an early reference to the Slender Man.<ref name="shirachess2" />{{rp|36}} [[File:Left to right, Joseph DeLage, Troy Wagner, Tim Sutton.png|thumb|The creators of ''Marble Hornets''. From left to right, Joseph DeLage, Troy Wagner and Tim Sutton]] The first video series involving the Slender Man evolved from a post on the Something Awful thread by user "ce gars" ({{midsize|''lit.{{px2}}transl.''}}{{tsp}}'this guy'). It tells of a fictional film school student 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 the Slender Man. The ARG also incorporates a Twitter feed and an alternate YouTube channel created by a user named "totheark".<ref name="Contemporary Legends">{{cite book |last=De Vos |first=Gail Arlene |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6HJwCRAlpioC&pg=PT162 |title=What Happens Next? |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2012 |isbn=9781598846331 |page=162 |access-date=13 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160901091842/https://books.google.com/books?id=6HJwCRAlpioC&pg=PT162 |archive-date=2016-09-01 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Marble Hornets ARG">{{cite web |last=Peters |first=Lucia |title=Creepy Things That Seem Real But Aren't: The Marble Hornets Project |url=http://crushable.com/entertainment/creepy-things-that-seem-real-but-arent-the-marble-hornets-project/ |website=Crushable |access-date=2012-10-09 |date=14 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121052514/http://www.crushable.com/2011/05/14/entertainment/creepy-things-that-seem-real-but-arent-the-marble-hornets-project/ |archive-date=21 January 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> By 2013, ''Marble Hornets'' had over 250,000 subscribers around the world and had received 55 million views.<ref name="variety" /> Other Slender Man-themed YouTube serials followed, including ''EverymanHYBRID'' and ''TribeTwelve''.<ref name="Contemporary Legends" />
In 2012, the Slender Man was adapted into a video game titled ''Slender: The Eight Pages''; and the official website crashed after too many people tried to download the game.<ref>{{Cite web |last=C |first=Luiz H. |date=6 March 2023 |title='Slender: The Arrival' – Revisiting the Playable Jump Scare Machine Ten Years Later |url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/video-games/3752375/slender-the-arrival-revisiting-the-playable-jump-scare-machine-ten-years-later/ |access-date=2023-05-27 |website=Bloody Disgusting |language=en-US |archive-date=27 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230527142332/https://bloody-disgusting.com/video-games/3752375/slender-the-arrival-revisiting-the-playable-jump-scare-machine-ten-years-later/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Several popular variants of the game followed, including ''Slenderman's Shadow,''<ref name="Shadow">{{cite web |first=Lana |last=Polansky |url=http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/8673/article/slenderman-s-shadow-sanatorium-map-released/ |title=Slenderman's Shadow "Sanatorium" Map Released |website=Gameranx |date=20 August 2012 |access-date=2012-09-09 |archive-date=2012-08-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120823004756/http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/8673/article/slenderman-s-shadow-sanatorium-map-released |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Slender: Source''<ref name=":0">{{cite magazine |last=Senior |first=Tom |date=26 July 2012 |title=Slender Man Source mod will let you scare the hell out of yourself for free, with friends |url=http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/07/26/slender-man-source-mod-will-let-you-scare-the-hell-out-of-yourself-for-free-with-friends/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120909044909/http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/07/26/slender-man-source-mod-will-let-you-scare-the-hell-out-of-yourself-for-free-with-friends/ |archive-date=2012-09-09 |access-date=2012-09-09 |magazine=PC Gamer}}</ref> (later renamed to ''Faceless'' for copyright concerns<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sarkar |first=Samit |date=2012-11-14 |title=Copyright concerns prevent Slender Man game Faceless from launching through Steam Greenlight |url=https://www.polygon.com/2012/11/14/3645438/slender-man-game-faceless-steam-greenlight-copyright-concerns |access-date=2025-07-29 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}}</ref>), and ''Slender Rising'' for iOS.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Devlin |first=Paul |date=2013-01-28 |title=Slender Rising Review |url=https://www.pocketgamer.com/slender-rising/review/ |access-date=2025-07-27 |website=www.pocketgamer.com |language=en}}</ref> The sequel to ''Slender: The Eight Pages'', ''Slender: The Arrival'', was released in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |first=Jeffrey |last=Matulef |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-02-11-pre-orders-for-slender-the-arrival-are-half-off-come-with-instant-beta-access |title=Pre-orders for Slender: The Arrival are half-off, come with instant beta access |website=Eurogamer |date=11 February 2013 |access-date=2013-04-03 |archive-date=2013-05-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518004932/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-02-11-pre-orders-for-slender-the-arrival-are-half-off-come-with-instant-beta-access |url-status=live }}</ref> Several independent films about the Slender Man have been released, including ''Entity''<!-- Entity was Canceled per the kickstarter: [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/entitymovie/entity-0?ref=discovery&term=Entity%20slender&total_hits=0&category_id=11] although there are no reliable sources to add this information. --><ref>{{cite web |title=First Trailer & Poster For The Jadallah Brothers' Horror Movie ENTITY! |first=Jeanne |last=Standal |website=FilmoFilia |url=https://www.filmofilia.com/first-trailer-poster-for-the-jadallah-brothers-horror-movie-entity-129637/ |date=22 December 2012 |access-date=2013-02-20 |archive-date=2013-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130411005602/http://www.filmofilia.com/first-trailer-poster-for-the-jadallah-brothers-horror-movie-entity-129637/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and ''The Slender Man'' (2013), released free online after a $10,000 Kickstarter campaign.<ref>{{cite web |title=Slender Man Movie Producer Steven Belcher Wants to Create True Terror with the Faceless Figure |first=Danny |last=Gallagher |website=GameTrailers |url=http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mission/33230/slender-man-movies-steven-belcher-says-his-kickstarter-project-wont-just-be-a-found-footage-film |date=12 October 2012 |access-date=2013-02-20 |archive-date=2013-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209020958/http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mission/33230/slender-man-movies-steven-belcher-says-his-kickstarter-project-wont-just-be-a-found-footage-film |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2013, ''Variety'' announced that ''Marble Hornets'' would become a feature film.<ref name="variety">{{cite news |title='Marble Hornets' flying to bigscreen |first=Dave |last=McNary |website=Variety |url=https://variety.com/2013/digital/news/marble-hornets-flying-to-bigscreen-818489/ |date=25 February 2013 |access-date=2013-02-26 |archive-date=2013-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130228192958/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118066545/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This would later become ''Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story'' (2015).<ref>{{Cite web |last=C |first=Luiz H. |date=2018-02-02 |title=[Editorial] Remembering 'Marble Hornets' |url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3481206/editorial-remembering-marble-hornets/ |access-date=2025-07-25 |website=Bloody Disgusting! |language=en-US}}</ref>
===Waukesha stabbing (2014)=== {{Main|Slender Man stabbing}}
On 31 May 2014, two 12-year-old girls in Waukesha, Wisconsin held down and stabbed a 12-year-old classmate 19 times. When questioned later by authorities, they reportedly claimed that they wished to commit a murder as a first step towards becoming proxies for the Slender Man, having read about it online.<ref name="Gabler">{{cite news |last=Gabler |first=Ellen |date=2 June 2014 |title=Charges detail Waukesha pre-teens' attempt to kill classmate |url=https://archive.jsonline.com/news/crime/waukesha-police-2-12-year-old-girls-plotted-for-months-to-kill-friend-b99282655z1-261534171.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140604000105/http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/waukesha-police-2-12-year-old-girls-plotted-for-months-to-kill-friend-b99282655z1-261534171.html |archive-date=2014-06-04 |access-date=2014-06-04 |work=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel}}</ref> They also stated that they were afraid the Slender Man would kill their families if they did not commit the murder.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Miller |first=Lisa |date=August 25, 2015 |title=Why Did Two Girls Want to Kill for Slender Man? |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2015/08/slender-man-stabbing.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625160300/http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/08/slender-man-stabbing.html |archive-date=June 25, 2016 |magazine=New York Magazine}}</ref> After the perpetrators left the scene, the victim crawled out of the woods to a roadway. A passing cyclist alerted authorities, and the victim survived the attack. The attackers were diagnosed with mental illnesses,<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/slender-man-trial-trying-these-girls-as-adults-is-absurd-w431464 |title= Slender Man Trial |first= Bridgette |last= Dunlap |date= 29 July 2016 |website= RollingStone.com |archive-date= 16 June 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180616205138/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/slender-man-trial-trying-these-girls-as-adults-is-absurd-w431464 |url-status= live }}</ref> but were charged as sane adults, and faced up to 65 years in prison.<ref>{{cite news |title=Girls charged in Waukesha stabbing motivated by 'Slenderman' character |first1=Jermont |last1=Terry |first2=James |last2=Kust |work=WTMJ |url=http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/Waukesha-police-investigate-after-12-year-old-stabbed-261384231.html |date=31 May 2014 |access-date=2014-06-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605075206/http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/Waukesha-police-investigate-after-12-year-old-stabbed-261384231.html |archive-date=5 June 2014 }}</ref> One of the girls reportedly said the Slender Man watched her, could read minds, and could teleport.<ref name="Gabler" />
Experts testified in court that she also said she conversed with Lord Voldemort and one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. On 1 August 2014, she was found incompetent to stand trial and her prosecution was suspended until her condition improved.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vielmetti |first1=Bruce |last2=Luthern |first2=Ashley |date=1 August 2014 |title=Judge rules 12-year-old incompetent, for now, in Slender Man trial |url=https://archive.jsonline.com/news/crime/lawyer-for-girl-in-slenderman-case-wants-mental-reports-on-co-defendant-b99319419z1-269441661.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802010531/http://www.jsonline.com//news//crime//lawyer-for-girl-in-slenderman-case-wants-mental-reports-on-co-defendant-b99319419z1-269441661.html |archive-date=2014-08-02 |access-date=2 August 2014 |newspaper=Journal Sentinel |location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin}}</ref> On 19 December 2014, the judge ruled that both girls were competent to stand trial.<ref>{{cite web| title= Slender Man Stabbing Case: Wisconsin Girls Accused Of Attempted Homicide Are Mentally Fit To Stand Trial| url= http://www.ibtimes.com/slender-man-stabbing-case-wisconsin-girls-accused-attempted-homicide-are-mentally-fit-1763289| first= Suman| last= Varandani| year= 2014| work= International Business Times| access-date= 5 January 2015| archive-date= 2015-01-02| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150102220553/http://www.ibtimes.com/slender-man-stabbing-case-wisconsin-girls-accused-attempted-homicide-are-mentally-fit-1763289| url-status= live}}</ref> In August 2015, the presiding judge ruled that the girls would be tried as adults.<ref>{{cite news|title=Slender Man case: Young suspects to be tried as adults|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33857137|access-date=14 August 2015|date=10 August 2015|archive-date=2015-08-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150813020426/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33857137|url-status=live}}</ref> They were tried separately.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2016/12/12/separate-trials-ordered-slender-man-case/95338628/|title=Separate trials ordered in Slender Man case|newspaper=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|access-date=14 December 2016|archive-date=13 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213024341/http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2016/12/12/separate-trials-ordered-slender-man-case/95338628/|url-status=live}}</ref> On 21 August 2017, one of the girls, now 15, pleaded guilty to being a party to attempted second-degree homicide, but claimed she was not responsible for her actions on grounds of insanity.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/slenderman-stabbing-suspect-pleads-guilty-to-lesser-charge/|title=Slender Man stabbing suspect pleads guilty to lesser charge|access-date=2017-08-21|website=CBS News|publisher=CBS|archive-date=2017-08-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822015002/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/slenderman-stabbing-suspect-pleads-guilty-to-lesser-charge/|url-status=live}}</ref> Although prosecutors alleged that she knew what she was doing was wrong, the jury determined that she was mentally ill during the attack. On 21 December, Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren sentenced Anissa Weier, then 16 years old, to be hospitalized for 25 years from the date of the crime—until age 37.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/21/slender-man-case-anissa-weier-sentenced|work=The Guardian|title=Slender Man case: girl who stabbed classmate gets 25-year hospital sentence|access-date=2017-12-22|archive-date=2017-12-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222001054/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/21/slender-man-case-anissa-weier-sentenced|url-status=live}}</ref>
In a statement to the media on 4 June 2014, Eric Knudsen said: "I am deeply saddened by the tragedy in Wisconsin and my heart goes out to the families of those affected by this terrible act." He stated he would not be giving interviews on the matter.<ref>{{cite news |title='Slender Man' Creator Speaks on Stabbing: 'I Am Deeply Saddened' |first=Keith |last=Wagstaff |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/slender-man-creator-speaks-stabbing-i-am-deeply-saddened-n122781 |website=nbc.com |date=4 June 2014 |access-date=2014-06-04 |archive-date=2014-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140604201650/http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/slender-man-creator-speaks-stabbing-i-am-deeply-saddened-n122781 |url-status=live }}</ref>
On 25 September 2017, it was reported that Morgan Geyser, then aged 15, had agreed to plead guilty to attempted first-degree homicide in an arrangement that would allow her to avoid jail.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/slender-man-stabbing/slender-man-suspect-morgan-geyser-will-plead-guilty-stabbing-n805901|title=Slender Man suspect will plead guilty in stabbing|website=nbcnews.com|date=29 September 2017 |access-date=2017-09-29|archive-date=2018-03-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314094311/https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/slender-man-stabbing/slender-man-suspect-morgan-geyser-will-plead-guilty-stabbing-n805901|url-status=live}}</ref> On 1 February 2018, the Associated Press reported that Geyser had been sentenced to 40 years in the Wisconsin mental hospital, the maximum sentence allowed.<ref>{{cite tweet |user=ap |number=959182536705478657 |date=1 February 2018 |title=Judge sentences Wisconsin girl to maximum 40 years in mental hospital in Slender Man stabbing case|author=The Associate Press}}</ref>
Both women were later granted supervised release, Weier in 2021, and Geyser in 2025.<ref>{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=US woman behind Slender Man stabbing is missing after leaving group home|newspaper=The Guardian|date=23 November 2025|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/23/wisconsin-woman-missing-slender-man-stabbing}}</ref>
===Moral panic and other incidents=== The stabbing in Waukesha spawned a nationwide moral panic over the Slender Man across the United States.<ref name="Velocci2018">{{cite news |last=Velocci |first=Carli |title=The failed Slender Man movie was a nail in the coffin of a dying fandom: The rise and fall of Slender Nation, the community that lived for the internet's most notorious Creepypasta |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/30/17793760/slender-man-movie-creepypasta-fandom-community-stabbing |access-date=28 May 2019 |work=The Verge |publisher=Vox Media |date=30 August 2018 |archive-date=28 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528041610/https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/30/17793760/slender-man-movie-creepypasta-fandom-community-stabbing |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Greene2018">{{cite news |last=Greene |first=Jayson |title=Slender Man Is Still Making People Uneasy — But Now for New Reasons |url=https://www.vulture.com/2018/08/is-slender-man-capitalizing-on-a-real-life-tragedy.html |access-date=28 May 2019 |work=Vulture |publisher=New York |date=7 August 2018 |archive-date=28 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528041607/https://www.vulture.com/2018/08/is-slender-man-capitalizing-on-a-real-life-tragedy.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Parents nationwide became worried about the potential dangers that stories about the Slender Man might pose to their children's safety.<ref name="Velocci2018" /><ref name="Greene2018" /> Russell Jack, the police chief of Waukesha, warned that the Slender Man stabbing "should be a wake-up call for all parents" and that "the internet is full of dark and wicked things."<ref name="Velocci2018" />
After hearing the story, an unidentified woman from Cincinnati, Ohio, told a WLWT TV reporter in June 2014 that her 13-year-old daughter had attacked her with a knife, and had written macabre fiction, some involving the Slender Man, who the mother said motivated the attack.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hamilton Co. mom: Daughter's knife attack influenced by Slender Man|url=http://www.wlwt.com/news/hamilton-co-mom-daughters-knife-attack-influenced-by-slender-man/26370588?_escaped_fragment_=WAFFp#!WAFFp|first=Brad|last=Evans|date=6 June 2014|website=WLWT.com|access-date=9 July 2014|archive-date=9 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809182049/http://www.wlwt.com/news/hamilton-co-mom-daughters-knife-attack-influenced-by-slender-man/26370588?_escaped_fragment_=WAFFp#!WAFFp|url-status=live}}</ref>
On 4 September 2014, a 14-year-old girl in Port Richey, Florida, allegedly set her family's house on fire while her mother and nine-year-old brother were inside. Police reported that the teenager had been reading online stories about the Slender Man, as well as Atsushi Ōkubo's manga ''Soul Eater''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Melrose|first=Kevin|title=Teen Claims 'Soul Eater,' Slender Man Led Her to Set Home on Fire|date=8 September 2014|url=https://www.cbr.com/teen-claims-soul-eater-slender-man-led-her-to-set-home-on-fire/|publisher=Comic Book Resources|access-date=7 February 2015|archive-date=7 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207125617/http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2014/09/teen-claims-soul-eater-slender-man-led-her-to-set-home-on-fire/|url-status=live}}</ref> Eddie Daniels of the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said the girl "had visited the website that contains a lot of Slender Man information and stories [...] It would be safe to say there is a connection to that."<ref>{{cite news |url= https://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-inspired-slender-man-set-house-fire-police/story?id=25262814 |title= Teen Inspired by 'Slender Man' Set House on Fire: Police |first= Rheana |last= Murray |publisher= ABC News |date= 5 September 2014 |access-date= 5 September 2014 |archive-date= 2014-09-05 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140905180014/http://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-inspired-slender-man-set-house-fire-police/story?id=25262814 |url-status= live }}</ref>
During an early 2015 epidemic of suicide attempts by young people ages 12 to 24 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the Slender Man was cited as an influence; the Oglala Sioux tribe president noted that many Native Americans traditionally believe in a "suicide spirit"<ref name="tallmanterror" /> similar to the Slender Man.<ref name="NYT050115">{{cite news| first= Julie| last= Bosman| url= https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/02/us/pine-ridge-indian-reservation-struggles-with-suicides-among-young-people.html| title= Pine Ridge Indian Reservation Struggles With Suicides Among Its Young| work= The New York Times| date= 1 May 2015| access-date= 5 May 2015| archive-date= 3 May 2015| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150503234300/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/02/us/pine-ridge-indian-reservation-struggles-with-suicides-among-young-people.html| url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Romero |first=Miguel |title=Slenderman & the Suicide Spirit |url=https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/07/slenderman-the-suicide-spirit/ |website=Mysterious Universe |access-date=24 August 2019 |date=24 July 2015 |quote=So, what seems to be happening here is a cultural ‘remix’ between the older myth of the Tall Man/Suicide Spirit which already existed among Native Americans prior to the rise of the World Wide Web, and the newer, more potent icon of Slenderman introduced to these communities through the pervasiveness of new social networks; all this coupled with the 'copycat' contagion effect which arises during a cluster of suicides or mass shootings. |archive-date=24 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824190731/https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/07/slenderman-the-suicide-spirit/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Other Sioux describe the "Big Man"{{efn|Which relation may be explored via attributes related by Matthieson,<ref name="spiritcrazyhorse" /> as cited by Redfern<ref name="tallmanterror" /> and Wilson.<ref name="bigfoot" />}} as a messenger or sign, warning that society is developing in a dangerous direction.<ref name="bigfoot" />
A documentary film on the incident called ''Beware the Slenderman'', directed by Irene Taylor Brodsky, was released by HBO Films in March 2016, and broadcast on HBO on 23 January 2017.<ref>{{cite web|last=DePaol|first=Tommy|title=Slenderman is Coming to HBO in a True-Crime Documentary|url=http://moviepilot.com/posts/3813085|website=MoviePilot.com|access-date=21 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412100618/http://moviepilot.com/posts/3813085|archive-date=12 April 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
===After the Waukesha stabbing (2015–2018)=== The Waukesha stabbing and the negative media attention altered the Slender Man's image and the online community surrounding him.<ref name="Velocci2018" /><ref name="Greene2018" /> Meanwhile, by around the same time, the Slender Man had lost much of his original popularity.<ref name="Velocci2018" /><ref name="Greene2018" /> Most of the original blogs that had once been devoted to the Slender Man either shut down completely or became less popular.<ref name="Velocci2018" /> The Slender Man's presence in mainstream popular culture also contributed to a decline in how frightening he seemed to many people.<ref name="Velocci2018" /><ref name="Greene2018" />
The late 2010s also saw an increase in benevolent portrayals of the Slender Man, with many depictions of him from this period portraying him as an antihero who protects victimized children from bullies, although often by violent means.<ref name="Greene2018" /> In more juvenile portrayals of the Slender Man from the late 2010s, he has a daughter named Skinny Sally, who is portrayed as a young girl covered in cuts and bruises.<ref name="Greene2018" /> The Slender Man is sometimes portrayed as carrying Skinny Sally on his shoulders protectively.<ref name="Greene2018" /> Lynn McNeill, assistant professor of folklore at Utah State University, observes that the increase in benevolent portrayals of the Slender Man seems to have begun shortly after the stabbing in Waukesha and states that this trend towards a benevolent Slender Man may be a reaction by fans of the character to the violence of the stabbing.<ref name="Greene2018" />
Despite the decline in popular interest in the Slender Man, commercial adaptations of the character continued.<ref name="Velocci2018" /><ref name="Greene2018" /> In 2015, the film adaptation of ''Marble Hornets'', titled ''Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story'', was released on VOD, where the character was portrayed by Doug Jones.<ref>{{cite web|last=Clow|first=Mitchel|title='Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story' Movie Review: Tell, Don't Show|date=8 April 2015|url=http://www.hypable.com/marble-hornets-movie-review/|publisher=Hypable|access-date=26 September 2015|archive-date= 2024-06-13 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240613225433/https://www.hypable.com/marble-hornets-movie-review/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2016, Sony Pictures subsidiary Screen Gems partnered with Mythology Entertainment to bring a Slender Man film into theatres, with the title character portrayed by Javier Botet.<ref name=screengems>{{cite news|title='Slender Man,' a Horror Meme, Gets Ready to Step Out of the Shadows|first=Katie|last=Rogers|newspaper=The New York Times|year=2016|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/07/movies/slender-man-a-horror-meme-gets-ready-to-step-out-of-the-shadows.html?_r=0|access-date=2016-05-07|archive-date=2017-10-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027030802/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/07/movies/slender-man-a-horror-meme-gets-ready-to-step-out-of-the-shadows.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref>
The film generated considerable controversy soon after it was announced, with many accusing the filmmakers of trying to capitalize off the Waukesha stabbing.<ref name="Greene2018" /> Bill Weier, the father of Anissa Weier, stated, "It's absurd they want to make a movie like this... All we're doing is extending the pain all three of these families have gone through."<ref name="Greene2018" /> A petition created on the online progressive advocacy platform Care2 that received over 19,000 signatures demanded that the film not be released and labelled the film "crass commercialism at its worst" and "a naked cash grab built on the exploitation of a deeply traumatic event and the people who lived it."<ref name="Greene2018" /> Sony representatives insisted that the film was based on the fictional character that had become popular online and not on the Waukesha stabbing.<ref name="Greene2018" />
Upon its release in August 2018, the film ''Slender Man'', despite being declared a box-office bomb<ref name="Velocci2018" /> and receiving both little marketing and overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/slender_man/|title=Slender Man (2018)|work=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Fandango Media|access-date=4 October 2018|archive-date=24 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180924170920/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/slender_man|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/slender-man|title=Slender Man Reviews|work=Metacritic|publisher=CBS Interactive|access-date=16 August 2018|archive-date=16 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816064257/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/slender-man|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Velocci2018" /> went on to gross several times its $10 million budget worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|title=Let's Talk About 'Slender Man's Performance and 'The Meg's Stupid Budget|first=Brad|last=Miska|work=Bloody Disgusting|date=3 September 2018|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3519142/box-office-lets-talk-slender-mans-performance-megs-stupid-budget/|access-date=2020-04-28|archive-date=2020-04-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423172453/https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3519142/box-office-lets-talk-slender-mans-performance-megs-stupid-budget/|url-status=live}}</ref> David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a D, writing "a tasteless and inedibly undercooked serving of the Internet's stalest creepypasta, ''Slender Man'' aspires to be for the YouTube era what ''The Ring'' was to the last gasps of the VHS generation. But... there's one fundamental difference that sets the two movies apart: ''The Ring'' is good, and ''Slender Man'' is terrible."<ref>{{cite web|last=Ehrlich|first=David|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2018/08/slender-man-movie-review-1201992576/|title='Slender Man'Review: A Tasteless and Inedibly Undercooked Serving of Creepypasta|date=9 August 2018|work=IndieWire|publisher=Penske Business Media|access-date=9 August 2018|archive-date=9 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809215542/https://www.indiewire.com/2018/08/slender-man-movie-review-1201992576/|url-status=live}}</ref> Writing for ''The Verge'', Carli Velocci called the Slender Man movie "a nail in the coffin of a dying fandom".<ref name="Velocci2018" />
==Folkloric qualities== <!-- Do NOT add material to this article unless it is reliably sourced. --> Several scholars have argued that, despite being a fictional work with an identifiable origin point, the Slender Man represents a form of digital folklore. Shira Chess argues that Slender Man exemplifies the similarities between traditional folklore and the open source ethos of the Internet, and that, unlike those of traditional monsters such as vampires and werewolves, the fact that the Slender Man's mythos can be tracked and signposted offers a powerful insight into how myth and folklore form.<ref name="taylor" /> Chess identifies three aspects of the Slender Man mythos that tie it to folklore: collectivity (meaning that it is created by a collective, rather than a single individual), variability (meaning that the story changes depending on the teller), and performance (meaning that the storyteller's narrative changes to reflect the audience's response).<ref name="shirachess2" />
[[File:Cosplay of Slender Man at MCM London Comic Con May 2013 (8978171869).jpg|thumb|left|Cosplay of Slender Man in 2013]] <!-- Do NOT add material to this article unless it is reliably sourced. --> Media scholar and folklorist Andrew Peck attributes the success of the Slender Man to the highly collaborative nature of his stories. Because the character and its motives are shrouded in mystery, users can easily adapt existing Slender Man tropes and imagery to create new stories. This ability for users to tap into the ideas of others while also supplying their own helped inspire the collaborative culture that arose surrounding the Slender Man. Instead of privileging the choices of certain creators as canonical, this collaborative culture informally locates ownership of the creature across the community. In these respects, the Slender Man is similar to campfire stories or urban legends, and the character's success comes from enabling both social interaction and personal acts of creative expression.<ref name="Tall, Dark, and Loathsome: The Emergence of a Legend Cycle in the Digital Age" />
Although nearly all users understand that the Slender Man is not real, they suspend that disbelief in order to become more engrossed when telling or listening to stories.<ref name="Tolbert 2013" /> This adds a sense of authenticity to the Slender Man legend performances and blurs the lines between legend and reality, keeping the creature as an object of legend dialectic.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Bill |date=2001 |title=Aliens, Ghosts, and Cults: Legends We Live |location=Jackson |publisher=University Press of Mississippi}}</ref> This ambiguity has led some to some confusion over the character's origin and purpose. Only five months after his creation, George Noory's ''Coast to Coast AM'', a radio call-in show devoted to the paranormal and conspiracy theories, began receiving callers asking about the Slender Man.<ref name="tldr">{{cite web |title=#13 – Managing a Monster – On The Media |website=TLDR |first1=PJ |last1=Vogt |first2=Alex |last2=Goldman |url=http://www.onthemedia.org/story/managing-monster/ |date=30 January 2014 |access-date=2014-06-04 |archive-date=2014-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140607002148/http://www.onthemedia.org/story/managing-monster/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Two years later, an article in the ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'' described his origins as "difficult to pinpoint".<ref name="shirachess" /> Eric Knudsen has commented that many people, despite understanding that Slender Man was created on the Something Awful forums, still entertain the possibility that he might be real.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news |title=Digital Human: Tales |work=BBC |year=2012 |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nl671 |access-date=2013-02-20 |archive-date=2012-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102032423/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nl671 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Shira Chess describes the Slender Man as a metaphor for "helplessness, power differentials, and anonymous forces".<ref name="shirachess" /> Peck sees parallels between the Slender Man and common anxieties about the digital age, such as feelings of constant connectedness and unknown third-party observation.<ref name="Tall, Dark, and Loathsome: The Emergence of a Legend Cycle in the Digital Age" /> Similarly, Tye Van Horn, a writer for ''The Elm'', has suggested that the Slender Man represents modern fear of the unknown; in an age flooded with information, people have become so unaccustomed to ignorance that they now fear what they cannot understand.<ref>{{cite web |title=Behind You: The Cultural Relevance of Slender Man |first=Tye |last=Van Horn |work=The Elm |url=http://elm.washcoll.edu/index.php/2013/02/behind-you-the-cultural-relevance-of-slender-man/ |date=15 February 2013 |access-date=2013-02-20 |archive-date=2013-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130220041659/http://elm.washcoll.edu/index.php/2013/02/behind-you-the-cultural-relevance-of-slender-man/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Troy Wagner, the creator of ''Marble Hornets'', ascribes the terror of the Slender Man to his malleability; people can shape it into whatever frightens them most.<ref name="bbc" /> Tina Marie Boyer noted that "The Slender man is a prohibitive monster, but the cultural boundaries he guards are not clear. Victims do not know when they have violated or crossed them."<ref name="shirachess2" /> Andrew Peck also considers the Slender Man to be an authentic form of folklore and notes its similarity to emergent forms of offline legend performance. Peck suggests that digital folklore performance extends the dynamics of face-to-face performance in several notable ways, such as by occurring asynchronously, encouraging imitation and personalization while also allowing perfect replication, combining elements of oral, written, and visual communication, and generating shared expectations for performance that enact group identity despite the lack of a physically present group. He concludes that the Slender Man represents a digital legend cycle that combines the generic conventions and emergent qualities of oral and visual performance with the collaborative potential of networked communication.<ref name="Tall, Dark, and Loathsome: The Emergence of a Legend Cycle in the Digital Age">{{cite journal |last=Peck|first=Andrew |date=2015 |title=Tall, Dark, and Loathsome: The Emergence of a Legend Cycle in the Digital Age |journal=Journal of American Folklore |volume=128 |issue=509 |pages=333–348|doi=10.5406/jamerfolk.128.509.0333|s2cid=143218081}}</ref>
Jeff Tolbert also accepts the Slender Man as folkloric, and suggests it represents a process he calls "reverse ostension". Ostension in folkloristics is the process of acting out a folk narrative. According to Tolbert, the Slender Man does the opposite by creating a set of folklore-like narratives where none existed before. It is an iconic figure produced through a collective effort and deliberately modeled after an existing and familiar folklore genre. According to Tolbert, this represents two processes in one: it involves the creation of new objects and new disconnected examples of experience, and it involves the combination of these elements into a body of "traditional" narratives, modeled on existing folklore (but not wholly indebted to any specific tradition).<ref name="Tolbert 2013">{{cite journal |last=Tolbert |first=Jeffrey A. |date=2013 |title=The Sort of Story That has You Covering Your Mirrors:The Case of Slender Man |url=http://www.semioticreview.com/pdf/monsters/tolbert_slenderman.pdf |journal=Semiotic Review |issue=2 |access-date=13 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151010074358/http://www.semioticreview.com/pdf/monsters/tolbert_slenderman.pdf |archive-date=10 October 2015}}</ref>
Professor Thomas Pettitt of the University of Southern Denmark has described the Slender Man as being an exemplar of the modern age's closing of the "Gutenberg Parenthesis": the time period from the invention of the printing press to the spread of the web in which stories and information were codified in discrete media, to a return to the older, more primal forms of storytelling, exemplified by oral tradition and campfire tales, in which the same story can be retold, reinterpreted and recast by different tellers, allowing the lore to expand and evolve with time.<ref name="bbc" />
==Copyright== Despite his folkloric qualities, the Slender Man is not in the public domain. Several for-profit ventures involving the Slender Man have unequivocally acknowledged Knudsen as the creator of this fictional character, while others were civilly blocked from distribution (including the Kickstarter-funded film) after legal complaints from Knudsen and other sources. Though Knudsen himself has given his personal blessing to a number of Slender Man-related projects, the issue is complicated by the fact that, while he is the character's creator, a third party holds the options to any adaptations into other media, including film and television. The identity of this option holder has not been made public.<ref name=copy>{{cite web |title=How the Internet's creepiest meme mutated from thought experiment to Hollywood blockbuster |first=Miles |last=Klee |website=The Daily Dot |date=21 August 2013 |url=http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/slender-man-meme-marble-hornets-movie-origins/ |access-date=2013-11-18 |archive-date=2013-12-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231001418/http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/slender-man-meme-marble-hornets-movie-origins/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Knudsen himself has argued that his enforcement of copyright has less to do with money than with artistic integrity: "I just want something amazing to come off it... something that's scary and disturbing and kinda different. I would hate for something to come out and just be kinda conventional."<ref name=tldr/> In May 2016, the media rights to the Slender Man were sold to production company Mythology Entertainment,<ref name=screengems/> but the company split up in 2019, leaving the ownership of the character's rights in question.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mythology Entertainment Splitting Up |first=Mike Jr |last=Fleming |website=Deadline Hollywood |date=22 February 2019 |url=https://deadline.com/2019/02/mythology-entertainment-partners-split-jamie-vanderbilt-brad-fischer-william-sherak-1202561199/ |access-date=2021-10-26 |archive-date=2021-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026235512/https://deadline.com/2019/02/mythology-entertainment-partners-split-jamie-vanderbilt-brad-fischer-william-sherak-1202561199/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==In popular culture== In 2011, Markus "Notch" Persson, creator of the sandbox indie game ''Minecraft'', added a new hostile mob to the game, which he named the "Enderman" when multiple users on Reddit and Google+ commented on the similarity to the Slender Man.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Endermen are coming for you in Minecraft mob update|last=Conditt|first=Jessica|website=engadget.com|url=https://www.engadget.com/2011-07-30-the-endermen-are-coming-for-you-in-minecraft-mob-update.html|year=2011 |access-date=2013-02-21}}</ref> In 2013, the Slender Man appeared as the antagonist of the season 3 ''Lost Girl'' episode "SubterrFaenean", in which the Slender Man was said to be the basis for the Pied Piper legend.<ref>{{cite news |last=McFarland |first=Kevin |title=Lost Girl: "SubterrFaenean" |url=https://www.avclub.com/lost-girl-subterrfaenean-1798175544 |newspaper=The A.V. Club |date=21 January 2013 |access-date=2018-10-07 |archive-date=2018-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007111501/https://tv.avclub.com/lost-girl-subterrfaenean-1798175544 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2014, the TV series ''Supernatural'' parodied the Slender Man as "Thinman" in the Season 9 episode of the same name.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Thurm |first=Eric |date=March 5, 2014 |title=Supernatural: "Thinman" |url=https://www.avclub.com/supernatural-thinman-1798179669 |magazine=A.V. Club}}</ref> That same year, the sixteenth season of the crime drama TV series ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' featured an episode, "Glasgowman's Wrath", inspired by the Slender Man stabbings.<ref>{{cite web|title=Law & Order: SVU bends the conventions of the cop show|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/nov/06/law-order-svu-bends-cop-show-convention|work=The Guardian|year=2014|first=Jennifer|last=Gerson Uffalussy|access-date=2016-01-29|archive-date=2016-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205003356/http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/nov/06/law-order-svu-bends-cop-show-convention|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2018, the Slender Man appeared in the episode "The Planned Parenthood Show" in ''Big Mouth''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hypable.com/big-mouth-best-episode-planned-parenthood-show/|title='Big Mouth' delivers best episode with season 2's 'Planned Parenthood Show'|first=Karen|last=Rought|editor=Brandi Delhagen|date=8 October 2018|publisher=Hypable|access-date=22 February 2019|archive-date=29 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029191936/https://www.hypable.com/big-mouth-best-episode-planned-parenthood-show/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the 2020 video game ''Phasmophobia'', the Slender Man is hiding in one of the maps of the game as an Easter egg.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Capel |first=Chris J. |date=2021-10-30 |title=Slender Man is hiding in Phasmophobia |url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/phasmophobia/slender-man-halloween |access-date=2025-09-08 |website=PCGamesN |language=en-US}}</ref>
==See also== *Creepypasta – Horror-related legends that Slender Man came from *{{annotated link|Bogeyman}} *Kunekune – Another message board urban legend with wriggly appendages *Lange Wapper – a slender giant in Belgian folklore, said to haunt the streets at night *Pope Lick Monster – Another urban legend of a compulsive being with real consequences *The Silbón – A Colombian/Venezuelan legendary figure, who shares some traits with Slender Man
==Notes== {{Notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="tallmanterror">{{cite web |last=Redfern |first=Nick |title=The Terror That is the Tall Man Spirit |url=https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2019/05/the-terror-that-is-the-tall-man-spirit/ |website=Mysterious Universe |access-date=24 August 2019 |date=30 May 2019 |quote=He says that the Tall Man Spirit / Walking Sam seems to be telling the young people on the reservation to take their lives. |archive-date=10 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190610070642/https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2019/05/the-terror-that-is-the-tall-man-spirit/ |url-status=live }}</ref> <ref name="bigfoot">{{cite web |title=Bigfoot – Sasquatch Legends |url=http://www.ya-native.com/nativeamerica/Bigfoot-SasquatchLegends.html |website=Ya-Native |publisher=Reamus Wilson |access-date=24 August 2019 |quote=Ray Owen, son of a Dakota spiritual leader, told a reporter [...] 'We needed a sign to put us back on track, and that's why the Big Man appeared.' |archive-date=2 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702020723/http://www.ya-native.com/nativeamerica/Bigfoot-SasquatchLegends.html |url-status=live }}</ref> {{refn|name=spiritcrazyhorse|{{cite book |last=Matthiessen |first=Peter |title=In the Spirit of Crazy Horse: The Story of Leonard Peltier and the FBI's War on the American Indian Movement |date=1 March 1992 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-14-014456-0 |quote=He is both spirit and real being, but he can also glide through the forest, like a moose with big antlers, as though the trees weren’t there. |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/inspiritofcrazyh00matt_0 }}.}} }}
==Further reading== *{{Cite journal|last=Curlew|first=Kyle|title=The legend of the Slender Man: The boogieman of surveillance culture|journal=First Monday|date=2017|volume=22|issue=6|doi=10.5210/fm.v22i6.6901|doi-access= free}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Slender Man}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120120074129/http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3150591&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=3 Forum thread in which Slender Man was created], somethingawful.com *[http://victor-surge.deviantart.com/gallery/ Eric Knudsen's gallery that contains all of his Slender Man images], deviantart.com *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfhhdPaGd8E&list=PLKXjYv6codp5eC0E1YR-2IxabnRy9qJHr Slenderverse: A Documentary Film Series] - A docuseries on the Slenderverse various web series and community.
{{Slender Man}} {{Urban legends}} {{good article}} {{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
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