Slender Man is real. The product of a creative mind, cross-pollinated across the Internet, he is a fictional creation. But when two young girls tried to kill their friend
as an offering to him last week, followed by two more attacks
referencing him, he became a large enough part of our cultural
conversation to make him reality.
Still, while I don't know of a
Slender Man story where he encourages sacrifices (which is not to say it
doesn't exist on the big wide Web), there is more to this creature than
just being an online creation. In fact, a contingent of the paranormal
community believes this creature actually exists - either as a
manifestation of our collective thoughts, or that he has been always
been present in our world.
Appearing as a very tall, thin man with
white, featureless face and tentacles spreading from his back, and
always wearing a black suit, Slender Man was created by Eric Knudsen
(posting as Victor Surge) and made his debut SomethingAwful.com in 2009. This past January, Knudsen told WNYC's "On The Media"
he wanted to create "a creature that causes general unease and terror,"
and the being does indeed represent a mysterious danger whose
intentions are unclear.
Though not exactly a fringe character on
the Internet in the five years since he debuted in response to Something
Awful's "create paranormal images" challenge - and subsequently became a
topic for a lot of stories, Photoshop images, videos and so on --
Slender Man only became a household name last week.
Yet the concept behind Slender Man taps into something very old and familiar.
Modern
myths and paranormal theories are rife with beings clad in black, and
many times in black suits. Slender Man shares his DNA with folkloric
beings like the Grim Reaper -- the personification of death -- ghostly
monks, shadow people, Hat Man, Men In Black. These creatures have at
times been thought of as harmless or even considered helpful guides, but
much more often they represent a vague malevolence. They are seen out
of the corner of the eye, darting around, or looming over someone as
they sleep, and have been considered both supernatural and
extraterrestrial.
Even within popular culture, we've seen a lot of
dark, creeping creatures with odd features similar to Slender Man.
(Cenobites from Hellraiser; Observers in Fringe; Strangers in Dark City; The Silence from Doctor Who; etc.)
Speaking of pop, I began Paranormal Pop Culture
in June 2009. My purpose was to "explore the entertainment of the
unexplained." I am not a ghost hunter or paranormal theorist, or even
much of a believer. But from an academic standpoint, I am fascinated by
how our legends and beliefs influence, and are altered by, popular
culture. Slender Man is a pretty perfect example of that -- and the
coincidence that he was created the same month of my launch is not lost
on me.
But in the five years since I launched the site, and began
speaking at events about various elements involving the crossroads of
paranormal and entertainment, I've received numerous accounts from
people claiming to have encountered Slender Man. Many of these stories
supposedly took place before Knudsen first introduced his monster on
Something Awful, and most of the "experiencers" claimed they had never
heard of a "slender man" before.
Granted, I am incredibly
skeptical. These stories could be the products of over-active
imaginations or created by people desperate to feel special and receive
some attention. Maybe they were mistaken in what they saw, were
experiencing pareidolia,
or had even become aware of Slender Man in some way and used that image
to fill in mental blanks from their past. They could have been outright
charlatans and liars as well - though I tend to doubt this applied to
most.
One thing I definitely believe to be true is that, after a
decade of paranormal programming and reality TV, ghosts have lost some
of their entertainment value. If specters, and even demons, have become
mundane, then a new kind of entity will become more popular. Just like
vampires and then zombies, paranormal pop culture will look to a new
extreme as another begins to seem pedestrian.
Further, it is curious how many similar accounts I've learned of from paranormal researchers. David Weatherly relays a few Slender Man stories shared with him in the final chapter of his book Strange Intruders. And "paranormal pastor" Robin Swope devotes an entire book to the phenomenon in Slenderman: From Fiction to Fact.
For
those within the paranormal community who believe in him, of which
there is a significantly increasing amount, there are typically two main
ideas regarding Slender Man's existence.
One is that he has
always existed. The suggestion is that either people are paying more
attention to the unexplained, and discussing these topics, or that he is
only now choosing to reveal himself. If the latter is true, the thought
is he may have nefarious plans that are close to fruition.
The
other theory is that we created Slender Man by thinking about him. Not
entirely unlike Tibetan Tulpas, Slender Man may be a so-called
"thoughtform." Through people dedicating energy to him, crafting
stories, fleshing out characteristics, and talking about him at length,
the theory is we may have collectively given life to the monster and
allowed him to enter our realm.
If this sounds like something out of a Hollywood movie, it sort of is. Both the recent flick The Quiet Ones and 2012's The Apparition play
on the notion of creating a supernatural force through scientific
experiments and the focus of a group. But the films are in turn loosely
based on the actual Philip Experiment.
In the 1970s, a group
called Toronto Society for Psychical Research (TSPR) set out to create a
ghost. The group crafted a fake biography for a 17th century nobleman
they named Philip Aylesford, sketched a portrait of him, surrounded
themselves with images of castles a noble man from that time might have
lived in, and held a séance to summon him.
By visualizing Philip,
they'd ask questions and claim they received answers in the form of raps
on a table. The team supposedly experienced a mist forming over them,
reported the table would move on its own and that Philip could dim
lights on command. Eventually the experiment was performed in front of
an audience of 50 people and a television crew.
This was not a
paranormal home run and it remains contested. None of Philip's "answers"
revealed substantial facts about him the team wouldn't have already
known. But some believers think the team actually created Philip with
their minds. Others say they summoned a real entity who just answered
when they were trying to conjure Philip. And many others think the whole
thing was fixed and a lot of bad science.
However, this is an
especially creepy idea that, if a group of eight could manifest a
tapping ghost, countless millions could manifest a Slender Man. Even if
we don't bring him to life in a literal, physical sense, we have made
him real. After all, we did it with Santa Claus.
The legend of
the jolly old elf was collected and combined by several stories and
folklore to become the benevolent seasonal visitor who shares top
billing with Jesus every Christmas. We have taught children what Santa
looks like, who he hangs out with and where he lives (and what his
address is, since we send mail to him). Parents use him as a reward for
good behavior, a threat for bad, and even take their kids to visit him -
though they sometimes explain that the guy at the shopping mall is
actually a "helper" dressed like Santa, who reports back to the big man.
Paranormal author Jeff Belanger even interviewed Santa and got more details about his history than you could pry out of a particularly private celebrity.
We
have made Santa Claus real, but that was done over the course of
multiple generations.
Meanwhile, Slender Man is getting there in just a
few years on a high-speed connection.
Even if your older relatives have never visited sites like 4chan, CreepyPasta, the Reddit thread dedicated to him, or watched/played the Marble Hornets
augmented reality game revolving around his legend, you can bet they
are going to start asking about Slender Man. He might even become a
topic in Washington, D.C. As politicians are wont to do, he may be
further invoked as a need for online regulation or some such
legislation.
Although I question how much the Las Vegas shooter
was involved in Slender Man mythology, it is as necessary to look into
with him as it is with the stabbings. But I don't think a fictional
creature can force people to head down a violent path. I would rather
discuss that under the topic of mental illness and how we're addressing
it before blaming a demonic thoughtform.
Still, Slender Man is
real. He may not be a physical being, but what began as a creepy story
told on the Internet has made the leap into our cultural conversation.
Sadly, that makes him real enough.
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