Mystery: Slender Man

Over the course of this little blog’s history. I’ve gone through a fair number of weird little stories. Blair Adams, the 3X Killer, and the 2006 Volleyball Incident are three that, in my eyes, are some of the strangest. They all have elements that really make them stand out in a sense that defies what we as a species accept as the norm.

In the case of Blair Adams, we see the elements of something that has no puzzle pieces to connect. Every piece that exists paints the picture of a disturbed man, but one who realistically has no enemies unless we’re to speculate on a darker and more sinister secret at play. As such, it shows how sometimes, we just consider the more fantastical theories when there’s nothing else to go off of.

With the 3x Killer, there’s really nothing to work with. It’s the embodiment of strange in every realistic capacity. So much so that I had to stop and wonder if I was potentially chasing a fictitious story. All of this stands out in how it showcases that reality is stranger than fiction.

Last, but certainly not least, the 2006 Volleyball Incident introduces is to a different kind of strange. It makes one wonder how the powers that be may be working against you to program you to react to tragedies by tampering with media coverage. This sort of thing I’ll cover in more detail, but there’s a lot of coverage of this kind of thing on many, many websites that specialize in conspiracies and the like.

All three of these stories have something in common though. They’re all based in reality. While the 2006 Volleyball Incident is admittedly a conspiracy theory, it’s nonetheless something that hits close to home due to the topic at hand: a sociopath causing harm to many people for seemingly no reason whatsoever.

That brings us to today’s story. It introduces to us a new sort of deviation from the norm—and it’s a very heavy deviation at that. While the aforementioned three stories all diverge in a way that remains in the realm of reality, this one doesn’t. It instead takes is to the realm of fiction.

Last month, I briefly touched upon Shadow People. I need to revisit as the time limit I had on writing about them made me leave out a lot of details (and I was beginning to get very ill). One of those details was how belief can, in the eyes of some, allow for the manifestation of whatever the believer wishes could be real. This element ties into the belief that Shadow People are a product of the energies and emotions that someone emits.

The idea I’m getting at is this: what if Shadow People aren’t limited to that manifestation? What if other entities are also products of such acts? Such a concept is likely to be laughed at, but some believe it. Our central focus today is one of the more popular “creations” of this belief.

Known as Slender Man, this creepypasta character is one that originated from a contest on the website Something Awful. Since he’s become a horror icon around the world, some have come to say the tall, thin, faceless monster of Internet legend really lurks in the forests of the world. So take a gander and see if this is true or not.

Static In My Mind: The Mystery of Slender Man

Known as:

Slenderman

The Slenderman

Slender Man

The Slender Man

The Operator

The Administrator

The Controller

The Entity

The Father

The Fiend Without a Form

Lancer of Death

The Lingering Dread

The Thin White Duke

Thief of the Gods

Thief of Kuk

The Boogeyman

The Candlestick Man

The Man in the Fields

The Overseer

The Angel of Death

The Intruder

Tulpa

Der Ritter

Der Großmann

The Thin Man

The Tall Man

Suit Man

Der Schlanker Mann

Fear Dubh

Schlankwald

Tree Man

Slendy

Slender

The Pale Man

Mr. Slim

The White King

The Faceless King

The Faceless One

The Giant

Master

Stick-in-the-Mud

The Keeper

The Monster

Der Chirurg

Gorr’ Rylaehotep

Windigo

The Pale Prince

The Ajax Monster

Black Shadow

The Virus

Black-and-White

The Unknown

Noodle Boi

And a whole bunch of other—official and fan given—names that I can’t be asked to list or I’d be here forever, Slender Man is a creature that is said to be between 6 feet (186 centimeters) to 16 feet (487 centimeters) tall. He wears a business suit, can teleport, has extremely long, thin limbs and lacks a face. His skin is pale and he can spawn tentacles out from behind his back that supposedly allow him to walk in a similar manner to that of Spider-Man villain Doctor Otto Octavius (better known as Doctor Octopus), though I have never seen this in any of the stories I’ve read that feature Slender Man. Finally, his presence causes electronics to malfunction and produce static.

Suffice to say: Slender Man is someone who’d make Shaquille O’Neal look like Warwick Davis in height and is a God in the way of power. As for what he does, he kidnaps children and others that he lures into the forest or drives insane. The lore on Slender Man is admittedly something I’m not the most refined on and given how big he’s become, there are a lot of fan variations on who (or what) he is. This isn’t all that important in the long run though, but I figured I’d make a note of it.

As for his origin: this can be traced back to a contest held on the website Something Awful by a man named Eric Knudsen (who went by Victor Surge). Said contest was for users to create “paranormal images”. Knudsen’s entries were two black-and-white pictures that showed groups of children with a tall, slender person that sported a black suit. He also included quotes with the pictures that added a bit of lore to them.

The first image read as follows:

The quote under the first photograph read:

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.

For the second:

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.

From here, the story of Slender Man was one of a rise to the zenith of what could be called an Internet sensation. The first major addition to the lore of Slender Man was the web series “Marble Hornets”, which over a decade later is still widely regarded as the best fan-made piece of entertainment to include Slender Man. A few years after that series began, on June 26, 2012, the video game “Slender: The Eight Pages” was released. This catapulted the well-dressed, faceless horror into the mainstream overnight. YouTubers playing the game and having horrified reactions to whenever he appeared made it so every 12–15-year-old knew his name. He was everywhere and it didn’t take long for amateur developers to know that. App stores were flooded with knockoffs of Slender. Fan films were made. Slender Man was everywhere.

For most, this character was something fun. Teens had a horror icon to latch onto in a similar way that their parents were afraid of a character like Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers. It was all in good fun at the end of the day really. For most at least.

On May 31, 2014, two 12-year-old girls, Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser, stabbed 12-year-old Payton Leutner 19 times in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Their motivation was that they believed this act would appease Slender Man and he would make them his proxies—a concept that’s an extension of the creature’s lore that states that his victims become servants of his to seek out additional victims by luring them into the woods.

The attack on Leutner can best be described as something akin to an occult sacrifice. It took place in a forest during a game of hide-and seek. Weier and Geyser pinned Leutner down and proceeded to stab her 19 times in the arms, legs, and torso with a five-inch-long (13 centimeter) kitchen knife. Of these wounds, two struck major organs, one went through Leutner’s diaphragm, one cut into her liver and stomach, and one missed a major artery of her heart by less than a millimeter.

Once the attack was done, Weier told Leutner to “lay down” because her blood would come out slower. She also said that she and Geyser would go and get help (they didn’t; they fled). Once they were gone, Leutner dragged herself to a nearby street where she was found by a cyclist named Greg Steinberg. Miraculously, Leutner survived the attack and recovered after being in the hospital for six days and returned to school in September of the same year.

As for Weier and Geyser, they were later arrested in a furniture store; the knife they used being in a bag they were carrying. Geyser was said to have felt no empathy for the attack whatsoever while Weier was said to have felt guilty for stabbing Leutner, but claimed that the attack was “needed” to appease Slender Man. Three years after said attack, both were sentenced to mental institutions—potentially for life.

In the wake of this stabbing, Scott Walker—the governor of Wisconsin at the time and a man whose name I’ve repeatedly wanted to say is Scott Waldon—declared August 13th “Purple Hearts for Healing Day”. He encouraged the people of Wisconsin to wear purple to honor Leutner, who he also praised for the “strength and determination” she showcased during her recovery.

Since the stabbing, Leutner has expressed no ill-will towards her attackers. Rather, she was motivated by it to pursue a career in medicine. Though the wounds of the past didn’t fade or heal entirely from the family. When Sony Pictures announced that it would be releasing a feature film based on the eldritch horror himself, the Bill Weier—the father of Anissa Weier—was livid about both the film’s production and release. He stated that he found it “extremely distasteful” and urged local theaters to outright not show the film.

While theaters may not have listened to Mr. Weier, audiences sure did. Against a budget estimated to be between 10–28 million US dollars, it grossed a paltry $51.7 million. While it made a profit, it was nowhere near what it could—or should—have been. Perhaps next time, Sony will hop on the bandwagon five years earlier—and produce a better film that doesn’t land a laughably low score of 7% on Rotten Tomatoes.

That brings us to today. Slender Man’s popularity has declined considerably, but he remains one of the most iconic modern day horror figures and a staple of Internet lore. However, throughout the years—from his inception to now as I type this—there are those that swear up and down that old Noodle Boi himself is real; that he haunts the woods of planet Earth. These sightings are, perhaps unsurprisingly, met with a lot of skepticism and event criticism. Slender Man was, after all, created in a contest was held on an image board. The creator is publicly known. His origin is based and rooted on the Internet. How exactly can he exist in reality?

Well, as I discussed at the start, the idea is that he has manifested into our reality/world/dimension/whatever you want to call it through the belief that he’s real that’s held by pre-teens and teens. This belief is what sustains him and presumably, should everyone cease believing in him, he would either die or simply vanish from this plane of existence. Alas, due to there being so many that believe in him, that is unlikely and now the woods and forests are where Slender Man hunts for those that are unlucky enough to meet him.

They are also where he is most often seen. Most sightings of the Slender Man come in the form of videos uploaded onto the Internet (typically on platforms such as YouTube) that show him in the background. This is occasionally accompanied by static and/or the director panicking and screaming. These sightings often happen in the woods or at the very edge of them, though it’s not uncommon for Slender Man to appear near abandoned buildings. Below is a video from a YouTube channel called Sir Spooks that showcases a few of these supposed sightings. I also recommend checking out his channel as a whole. It’s a great deal of fun.

With that, the overall story of Slender Man concludes. I must admit that back when he was at the height of his popularity, Slender Man was a major part of what helped to cement what I find scary. Although the extended lore on him—which I didn’t cover in this write-up as I didn’t view it as important—does take away from what is otherwise a somewhat Lovecraftian entity, he’s one of the few characters that truly unnerved me in my teenage years. Though enough about me. It’s time we move onto something else.

You Made Me A Believer: Other Real Life Creepypastas

Slender Man is far from the only creepypasta entity to be seen in real life. There are a fair number of other ones who are said to have come to life—or outright have been alive long before their Internet horror counterparts ever came to be. While I won’t go over every single one, these are the ones I could find. Most of the information I’ve amassed I got via the aforementioned Sir Spooks, so all credit goes to him. With that said: let’s dig in!

#1: The Rake

You know, over a decade later, I still don’t know where that image originates from. That’s the only reason I’m using it here. Anyone have any idea where it’s from?

The Rake is a creature that’s so simplistic in its design, you’d be forgiven for thinking that a 5-year-old designed it. That’s why I love it though. Simplicity is a beautiful thing and it makes this monster all the more terrifying. It’s said to be humanoid in appearance, about 6-feet-tall, has grey skin, hands that sport long, sharp claws (or sharpened nails), and can move incredibly fast. It’s more or less the apex predator and then some.

Its real life counterpart is a lengthy story that I will do my best to not ramble on about for another 7,000 words. While the story of The Rake claims it to be a folk story of sorts, people claim that it may in fact be real. The same isn’t consistently used, but there are creatures that are called “Crawlers” that are often passed around on image boards like 4chan and talked about on various YouTube channels.

Crawlers—which are sometimes referred to as Pale Crawlers because of their skin color—gained their name due to them moving incredibly quickly while walking on all-fours. Their appearance is generally described as being similar to that of The Rake, though they typically lack the claws that give The Rake its name. Two other key traits of Crawlers are that they smell like a rotting/rotted corpse and can emit an ear-piercing screech. Despite this, their inhuman agility makes them incredibly hard to track. Both creatures also sport similar habitats. Subways, the woods/forests, abandoned buildings, and caves.

One major difference between The Rake and Crawlers is that, while The Rake is known for mutilating its prey (be it animals or humans), Crawlers haven’t killed anyone. This is at least to the best of my knowledge, but they don’t seem to be shy about stalking and even attempting to attack humans, so make of that what you will.

Due to these similarities, some believe that The Rake is, in fact, a Crawler and it may have been inspired by historical accounts of Crawlers. I cannot confirm this as I haven’t looked into historical reports of such creatures—nor have I looked into legends and folk stories of creatures that fit the description of Crawlers. That said, of every supposed real life creepypasta character, The Rake is the most likely to be real (in my eyes at least). If you want to read more, click here to read an article on them on Mysterious Universe. On one final note: here’s a video that I shared back when I covered The Creature Under the Bridge last month. It’s one of the more popular videos that supposedly shows The Rake.

#2: Ticci Toby

I can never remember what this story is about because I read it once and promptly forgot most of it an hour later. What little I can recall is that it’s about a kid with tourettes who has a bastard for a father. He promptly goes crazy for some reason and becomes a proxy for Slender Man. These proxies are basically the henchmen for Slender Man; they manipulate objects, destroy evidence, and apparently handle social media accounts. I’m not kidding, click here to read the Slender Man wiki’s page on proxies.

Anyways, Ticci Toby is said to inhabit forests just like his boss. He stalks you, creeps you out, and drives you crazy before Slender Man himself claims you as one of his own. Here’s an example of a sighting.

#3: Jeff the Killer

“Go to sleep!”

Way ahead of you, buddy.

Jeff the Killer, love him or hate him, is one of the most iconic creepypasta characters. He’s all but the face of the genre—losing out only to someone like Slender Man or BEN from Ben Drowned. Regardless, losing such a prestigious title hasn’t prevented some from claiming that the teenager who has put a Glasgow smile on his face is as real as someone like Gary Ridgway. Though he’s probably just as smart given his removed his eyelids.

Given Jeff’s status in the realm of creepypastas, it’s not hard to see why he’s been allegedly seen in real life. Most claim that he just lurks about and will try to kill you, but his powers in the real world compared to his story are night and day. While he has superhuman strength, endurance, speed, and everything else in his story, he seems to be a slower, more generic killer in our world. As per the norm: here’s an example of a sighting.

On one final note: can someone please explain to me why Jeff has fangirls? It greatly disturbs me and I’d like to know if it’s just some weird subculture or if I’m witnessing the rise of the next Ted Bundy fandom.

#4: The Russian Sleep Experiment

I have plans to expand upon this story in March. The idea behind its existence is something I haven’t fully figured out. What little I do know is some claim the story is based in reality and that the Soviet Union carried out the experiment (or experiments if we go by what’s listed on the Conspiracy Iceberg, which is what I’ll be doing in March+) described in the story.

The Soviets had a pension for not being the nicest folks when it came to experimentation. So I’ll leave this up to you for now until I can find more on it. I don’t want a preconceived notion of whether or not it’s real until I’ve begun looking into it for the full write-up. I sadly don’t know of any videos that supposedly show this creepypasta in real life, but that’s likely for the better as the content of it is quite brutal and stomach churning at times.

#5: Eyeless Jack

Mimicking the blind nature of Jeff the Killer, Eyeless Jack is as his name states. He has no eyes and presumably, his name is Jack. He also eats kidneys because everyone needs their own unique trait.

The character presumably moves based on sound, though that isn’t explicitly stated. This transfers to the supposed real life sightings; Jack can apparently see just fine given his isn’t using his forehead to check his surroundings, nor is he using his hands to make sure his face doesn’t become intimate with the floor.

Despite this hindrance, Eyeless Jack is apparently out and about in our world. The video down below has been viewed over 200,000 times and has over 2,000 likes. Take a look if you want.

Jack’s appearance in our world isn’t limited to just this as there are more out there. Perhaps one day, we’ll take a look at them, though for now, I don’t want to linger too much on one of a few secondary examples.

Though on one final note: I realized something rather interesting in regards to Jack that makes him stand out compared to someone like Jeff. If you want to have some fun with the concept of him being real: you can argue that Eyeless Jack is actually one of the legendary Black Eyed Children. Not only do both look like they have no eyes, but both are said to wear hoodies. Hm, maybe I’m onto something here…

#6: Laughing Jack

All around the mulberry bush

The monkey chased the weasel

The monkey thought twas all in fun

Pop! Goes the weasel!

A penny for a spool of thread

A penny for a needle

That’s the way the money goes

Pop! Goes the weasel!

I hate this story and I hate that my dedication to trying my best to be as thorough as possible means that I have to talk about this stupid clown once more.

A resident of a jack-in-the-box that plays Pop! Goes the Weasel! when you wind it up, Laughing Jack is a clown that, if one considers his “origin story” to be canon, is also a celestial being of sorts who visits children that are depressed or have terrible lives. However, after one of the kids he befriended became a psychopath, Jack himself went mad and became a serial killer a la Jeff the Killer and a plethora of other creepypasta characters.

I listed off a bunch of reasons I don’t like Jack’s stories when I first started this blog and didn’t have a clear idea as to what I’d do with it. Click here to view it (they’re both listed as #3). If you don’t want to: it boils down to Jack not being a good character and his stories being needlessly graphic and cruel. Bad Creepypasta did two incredibly hysterical episodes on both the original Laughing Jack story and The Origin of Laughing Jack. You can view them below.

Now as for the real life counterpart, he seems to be more keen on standing around menacingly, like he’s auditioning for the role of one of those creepy clowns people kept seeing back in 2016. He also likes being an introvert who dislikes associating with others. This is likely because we live in a society. Take a gander.

While I’m sure this is just knowingly fake and was made for entertainment purposes, I can never be sure nowadays. The Internet has all but diluted the concepts of irony, satire, and what is really meant to be seen as paranormal or supernatural. There are a few other Laughing Jack videos out there that Sir Spooks covered. As for me, I want to get away from this story before I end up ranting about it for the next ten hours.

#7: Freddy Fazbear

Sir Spooks put this in his videos and admittedly, I can’t resist putting him here. You see, although he originates from an extremely popular video game that has a fanbase with its own gravitational pull, Freddy Fazbear and his pizzeria are said to be real. At least, by someone on YouTube who supposedly found the real location. There’s little else to say here, so here are two videos of it.

With those videos out of the way, I want to say: don’t harass the people who made the videos. They’re merely examples and nothing more; I’m certain most (if not all) were made for the sole purpose of having some fun. If they weren’t, that’s fine too. You’re free to do as you wish. I know this blog is as small as an atom, but better safe than sorry. Now then, let’s move onto theories.

Theories

1. A Shadow Person

First up: Slender Man is one of the infamous Shadow People.

While Slender Man lacks the shadowy details that the Shadow People have, a popular concept is that he’s something of an exception to the rule. Given the origin of Slender Man matches up quite well with the emotions and feelings one gets when seeing a Shadow Person, I guess it isn’t too big of a leap to say that the two could be one in the same.

2. It’s really Slender Man

Next up on our list of theories: people are really seeing Slender Man.

We’ve already more or less covered this; the belief that Slender Man is real has brought him into our world. Though some already think that Slender Man is real and that his existence predates the story by centuries or even millennia.

Supposedly, there have been stories like Slender Man from various countries. I can’t name any off the top of my head, but his appearance is simplistic and the concept of a child snatching entity is by no means something revolutionary in the realm of folk tales. Every country—or almost every country—has stories of a monster that takes away children who misbehave. As such, I’d be inclined to say that any similarities between Slender Man and a story from, say, the 1550s of a tall man with no face is a coincidence. Though to some, that isn’t the case and Slender Man is, in fact, the real deal.

3. A malevolent spirit

Coming in at third is the theory that people are actually seeing some sort of malevolent spirit that haunts the woods of Earth.

This theory makes Slender Man out to be a more generic entity that’s filled with either hatred, sorrow, or some other negative emotion. It can also be used to say that he’s an Earth spirit a la a new age religion and that he’s merely defending the balance of nature or his home/privacy was violated by unwanted visitors.

This idea is one that relies mostly on what one believes in and if Slender Man is potentially a good guy. Some do believe this and as such, I leave it up to you. Just don’t send Slender Man after me please.

4. An alien

Our fourth theory is that Slender Man is an alien, because of course he is.

Slender Man is definitely alien in his appearance. While he looks humanoid, his limbs are massive, his tentacles aren’t human in the slightest, and his lack of a face is sure as heck not going to go over well with anyone who isn’t already Stevie Wonder. Because of this, some have speculated that if he’s real, he’s an alien that’s living among us (something that’s already a popular theory among those who believe that aliens are already here on Earth).

Could this be the case? Well, that depends on whether or not you think Slender Man is real, if you think aliens are real, and if you think that they live here on Earth. I guess if all three are marked as “yes” for you, then you could contemplate the possibility if Slender Man is, in fact, one of our intergalactic friends.

5. A legend of the Internet

Theory five is that Slender Man is, in fact, not real. Rather, he’s merely an Internet legend. This is the theory—or fact in the eyes of the vast majority—that we’ve come to believe.

Slender Man, like most stories that are in the same realm it, falls victim to the burden of proof. Everything is relying on it; we’ve all come to understand that the creature and the story that surrounds it to be pure fiction. When someone says to you that it’s a real entity that can do real harm to you, your friends, and your family, you naturally would want to see proof that would legitimize any fears you may have. While there may be some videos out there that show what is supposedly the real Slender Man, most can be chalked up to a person in a costume, CGI, or a prop.

It wouldn’t take much effort to create the illusion of the real Slender Man if you can use the proper camera angle[s] necessary for amplifying ones height. An amateur prop maker could also create either a puppet or costume of Slender Man rather easily. The same goes for a graphics designer. The creature isn’t very complex in design; it’s a tall man with no face in a suit. As such, there’s a lot of skepticism that can be allowed if you “film” the creature on camera. Some may call this being ignorant—which is understandable to a degree. I would merely argue that when you can easily fake something, skepticism comes packaged like juice in a juice box. As such, one can debate for hours about the semantics and hypothetical aspects behind what can and cannot pass for plausibility when it comes to footage of Slender Man, so let’s move on before we descend into that. In short: this theory merely posits he is as he’s historically been seen—a legend.

6.The Faceless Man

The sixth and final theory is a very peculiar one. It’s something of a hybrid of the Shadow People and malevolent spirit theories.

The Faceless Man is said to be a spirit that lacks a face that appears in a similar fashion to Shadow People and the Hatman. Some claim he’s a sleep paralysis demon. Others say he’s another type of Shadow Person. Then there are those that say he’s Slender Man—an idea that isn’t too far fetched given the similarities in their appearance. Both are tall, lack a face, and generally appear as dark, malevolent entities that invoke a feeling that your demise is imminent. In contrast to this though, The Faceless Man can appear anywhere while Slender Man is generally limited to desolate locations.

Admittedly, I didn’t put as much time as I could into researching this particular theory as I found myself information on the Faceless Man was a bit difficult to come by. Though his general appearance and the aura emits (along with the emotions one feels in his presence) all correlate perfectly with what one feels when seeing a Shadow Person. The only difference being he so much a shadow as much as he is a spirit of sorts. Some do claim he is a shadowy being though. Again, I apologize for being a bit lackluster here.

My Take

I don’t think that Slender Man is real—not in the slightest. I do think he’s a very eerie character with a minimalistic design that makes him terrifying, but the idea of him being real is something I don’t buy. Any spirit, entity, demon, or poltergeist that people see in real life is purely a coincidence thanks to him not having many traits that separate him from something one may see in real life. Much in the same way that, say, a man like John Wayne Gacy could’ve easily been compared to a real life Joker (though Gacy sure didn’t have the same build as the Clown Prince of Crime).

Now as for why I think that Slender Man is real, that boils down to a few things. The first is that the supposed sightings aren’t credible. Many claims often come from younger people likely have read the story and get spooked. They then see a shadow and think that it’s Slender Man. They post this to Tumblr, Instagram, or some other social media site, their friends get spooked, and it begins a domino effect. This is simply human nature and when you’re younger, this happens more often than one would think.

The second reason is an entity like Slender Man would’ve easily been passed down from aboriginal people, yet no such account that closely resembles such an entity exists. To go by the United States, the closest I can think of is the Skinwalker or Wendigo, but the differences in those two compared to Slender Man are astronomical. The former is a Navajo Shaman that wears the skin of an animal to gain its powers (a Fleshgait would be the more proper term for the shapeshifter who mimics a person’s voice and appearance—to the best of my knowledge anyway). A Wendigo, meanwhile, is a demon that was once a person. Neither of these are even remotely close to Slender Man, but they’re the best my addled mind can think of.

The third and final reason is that Slender Man’s actions—namely causing people to disappear in the forest—is too easy to pin blame on. Plenty of people vanish in the forests each year and while David Paulides may claim that the government is covering up the real reason[s] for this in his Missing 411 books, I’m extremely doubtful that Slender Man—or Slender Men—are the reason for this. I would have an easier time believing that staircases in the forests are the reason for those disappearances.

Now as for the Faceless Man, that’s a theory that honestly got me pondering. Could there potentially be a spirit or entity that’s like Slender Man out there, but isn’t exactly him? While the notion of Shadow People is one that sparks debate and not everyone believes in them, I’m of the opinion that they’re real (I’ve had my own experiences with them). Though The Faceless Man is one that I hadn’t heard of until recently. As such, I feel I’ll need more time to look into him before I cement my views on him. Though from what I know? It’s the most plausible theory in the way of saying that Slender Man is real.

Conclusion

I genuinely find the idea of something becoming real solely through belief to be an extremely fascinating concept. I do hold the belief that this is likely the case when discussing Shadow People (as I stated when I wrote about them at the end of last month), but the idea that we can materialize entire fictional characters such as Slender Man and The Rake through pure belief is a bridge too far for me. The idea of Shadow People is that they’re created through negative and hostile emotions; almost like a manifestation of one’s own hatred and disliking for someone or something.

That said, I don’t think that the belief in Slender Man is inherently a bad thing or even silly. In the past, people have believed in stories similar to him. Creepypastas are, at their heart, the modern day campfire story that one tells while out camping. Slender Man is not much different than something like, say, the Old Wicked Witch in the Woods, The Hook, The Man in the Backseat/High Beams, or anything similar to that. Belief in him is a given when it comes to what the core audience for him is (pre-teens and those in their early teens). While there are people who are older than that who are ardent believers in Slender Man’s existence, that’s a given. Probability would dictate there’s at least one person who thinks Slender Man is real.

With all of that said: whatever you think of Slender Man is up to you. There is ultimately no wrong view on his existence since we’re all free to make up our minds on what he truly is. He could be real, he could be fake, or he could be the next contestant on Hell’s Kitchen. Whatever the case may be, thank you as always for reading and do tell me what your view is. I’d love to read it!