Why do we obsess over Slender Man so much?
- Thread starter Saviordd1
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A lot of it is psychological. I never really knew about him that much until PewDiePie played Slenderman and Slender. Then I found about Marble Hornets. Then I found about EverymanHYBRID. Then I found about TribeTwelve (You can see a pattern here, right?) Now, he's my favorite horror figure. First off, he doesn't really look that threatening, just weird or wrong if you will. Second of all, what does he do? No one really knows. All he usually does in these series is stand and stare, stand and stare, stand and stare. Then suddenly he's either closer or gone. But children disappear, people lose months worth of memories, your camera footage becomes f'ed beyond recognition, strange figures send you cryptic packages and videos, then you follow your friend Alex into the woods where he tries to shoot you. You never see Slender Man do any of this, but it all happens because of him.
Horror has kind of died off in my opinion. Now, it's all about the shocking violence like those in SAW. I like the kind of thing that doesn't directly hurt you, but makes you hurt yourself. Slender Man is kind of a breath of fresh air to me. I always know that it's a bad idea, but I love watching that stuff at night knowing it's going to mess me up. Hell, last week I had a dream where I fought Darth Maul, then took part in an obstacle course at night in a park. After all that, I just randomly looked down a street. Underneath an orange street light, there he was. When I woke up, my whole body was shaking. No other horror figure, movie, series, etc. has ever caused that sort of reaction in me.
And that's all I have to say about that.
Horror has kind of died off in my opinion. Now, it's all about the shocking violence like those in SAW. I like the kind of thing that doesn't directly hurt you, but makes you hurt yourself. Slender Man is kind of a breath of fresh air to me. I always know that it's a bad idea, but I love watching that stuff at night knowing it's going to mess me up. Hell, last week I had a dream where I fought Darth Maul, then took part in an obstacle course at night in a park. After all that, I just randomly looked down a street. Underneath an orange street light, there he was. When I woke up, my whole body was shaking. No other horror figure, movie, series, etc. has ever caused that sort of reaction in me.
And that's all I have to say about that.
I'm not really obsessed with him, but I think the reason he is such a good urban legend is because of the fact he was pretty much the first big horror story to come out of the internet. Like someone said above, unlike Dracula and other horror characters he isn't a thing that's got any real story at all. The fact that pretty much everyone who gets scared by slenderman are people who look a bit further than just watching a movie or playing a game. But really, as long as you have 20 dollars you'll be fine if he ever starts stalking you.
Slender man is scary for two simple reasons: you can't fight him, and you can't outrun him. Once he sets his sights on you, you're his. He'll toy with you like a cat does to a caught mouse. He's a fictional enemy who you CAN NOT BEAT, but you watch as many struggle in vain to shake this supernatural predator from their trail. Plus you have the added bonus of his reasons for doing what he does being entire unknown.
I won't say that he is actually scary for everyone, but he symbolizes the horror genre better then any Hollywood film we've been given recently. The fear of the unknown enemy we can't beat is probably one of the bigger fears we can tap into, and Slender Man does exactly this.
I won't say that he is actually scary for everyone, but he symbolizes the horror genre better then any Hollywood film we've been given recently. The fear of the unknown enemy we can't beat is probably one of the bigger fears we can tap into, and Slender Man does exactly this.
never heard of him, thanks for bringing it to my attention.Saviordd1 said:IGNORE THE POLL, I accidentally pressed enter when writing it and now I can't fix it, sorry.
I don't get it, I've seen countless horror movies, read lovecraft, read Stephen King, and yet the one thing that leaves me up at night...
I don't get it, overall he doesn't seem that scary, he isn't visually disturbing, he isn't super fast or strong.
But he's fucking scary, and I'm not the only one to think so, the internet seems to be obsessed with him, and I have to ask.
Why?
What makes him so scary to all of us? What make's him so special?
So I guess that's what I'm asking, why do you think Slender Man manages to scare so many people compared to all the other horror things in the world?
TL;DR
Why is Slender Man so popular and scary to us all.
Also, if your not scared of the guy, tell us why.
as a horror fan to another I would recommend Clive barker (who Stephen king recommends)
interesting character, Ive never heard of it before though I shall research the subject and get back to you.
I don't get it... isn't it just the Anonymous logo embellished into a Boogeyman by some imaginative forum dwellers?
Perhaps it's because I can remember a time before the Slenderman was thought up, but it just doesn't seem scary because it's so obviously fake and the product of some obvious pop-culture references combined on the Internet, e.g. Eugene Tooms from The X-Files + The Tall Man from Phantasm + The Anonymous logo, + any one of the dimension shifting/perception tricksters from lots of Sci-Fi + a Spider = Slender Man.
Now if you really want to see a scary made up entity, then check out the Silent Singer:
Perhaps it's because I can remember a time before the Slenderman was thought up, but it just doesn't seem scary because it's so obviously fake and the product of some obvious pop-culture references combined on the Internet, e.g. Eugene Tooms from The X-Files + The Tall Man from Phantasm + The Anonymous logo, + any one of the dimension shifting/perception tricksters from lots of Sci-Fi + a Spider = Slender Man.
Now if you really want to see a scary made up entity, then check out the Silent Singer:
at risk of warning or ban I have to say if his arms are that big imagine the size of his.....Dangit2019 said:He's not scary. He just wants to be roommates!
Would you like some more tar for that wide brush?AC10 said:
I like Slender Man. I don't find it scary, but I do like the Youtube video drama things.
That said, once I was driving home from work at about 1am, thought I saw Slender man, and almost crashed my car.
It's fine. It's Roland telling a story from his youth. A bit like Wizard and Glass.amaranth_dru said:
I'd recommend it. I read it when it came out and I'm no reading the series yet again.
OT - Who's this 'we'?
On June 8th, 2009, a ??paranormal pictures? photoshop contest was launched on the Something Awful (SA) Forums. The contest required participants to turn ordinary photographs into creepy-looking images through digital manipulation and then pass them on as authentic photographs on a number of paranormal forums. Something Awful users soon began sharing their faux-paranormal creations with layered images of ghosts and other anomalies, usually accompanied by a fabricated witness account to make them more convincing. On June 10th, SA user Victor Surge posted two black and white photographs of unnamed children with a short description of ?Slender Man? as a mysterious creature who stalked children.
People are obsessed with Slender Man? Well that's news to me.
All these obsessed people find Slender Man to be terrifying? Well that's news to me.
Honestly, I read his little bio when he was first thought up. I thought it was a bit creepy, but it certainly didn't draw me into a terrified obsession. There's just nothing that scary about the guy. And quite honestly, I didn't know there was a raving obsession with him on the internet. Really I've only seen one topic on this site involving him prior to this one, and it was simply to suggest that they should make a movie based off him because they've already made a game based off him.
However, the aspect of fear comes from the fact that his myth says he's a stalker. That he singles people out and then follows them around for who knows why. People fear the unknown, and having no face means you have no way at all of seeing intent or emotion. When dealing with a human, you can read their emotions and guess at their intent by their facial expressions. With Slender Man, that's not possible. It's a faceless, unknowable (apparent) evil whose motivations are a mystery, but apparently deadly.
All these obsessed people find Slender Man to be terrifying? Well that's news to me.
Honestly, I read his little bio when he was first thought up. I thought it was a bit creepy, but it certainly didn't draw me into a terrified obsession. There's just nothing that scary about the guy. And quite honestly, I didn't know there was a raving obsession with him on the internet. Really I've only seen one topic on this site involving him prior to this one, and it was simply to suggest that they should make a movie based off him because they've already made a game based off him.However, the aspect of fear comes from the fact that his myth says he's a stalker. That he singles people out and then follows them around for who knows why. People fear the unknown, and having no face means you have no way at all of seeing intent or emotion. When dealing with a human, you can read their emotions and guess at their intent by their facial expressions. With Slender Man, that's not possible. It's a faceless, unknowable (apparent) evil whose motivations are a mystery, but apparently deadly.
If you want a more psychological angle on ol' Slendy, it's the fact that he's an imperfect mimic- for whatever reason, he's an inhuman, faceless creature, wearing (or appearing to wear) an ordinary suit and tie- he hits the uncanny valley pretty hard... yet from a distance, or in poor lighting, you'd think he was human. Also add in the the factor that- at least in many tellings- there's no way to know what he actually wants. It's very difficult to defend yourself against something when its very motives are unguessable.