Slender Man

"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..."

- ''Caption from original Slender Man post on Something Awful

Slender Man is a villain made popular on the internet, who first gained stardom in the Something Awful forums and branching out across the web as a figure that has established his own mythos: he is popularly believed to be some sort of malevolent fairy or demon that abducts and pyschologically traumatizes people.

Contrary to popular belief, he did not originate on the Something Awful forums (although, like we said before, he did gain popularity there). Throughout history, Slender Man has been a figure of death and several sightings of him have actually occurred.

Appearance
One of the main issues facing Slender Man investigators in the fact that "his" appearance seems to be subjective, with reports varying largely from area to area. This is often put down to cultural bias, with the observer projecting his fears into the sighting and recollections being blurred. However, it is generally agreed that it's appearance is that of a pale, emaciated male figure, with an apparent height of between 7 and 9 feet tall, along with having no facial features. Some believe he can actually change his height. In addition, some say his face is difficult to focus on, documented that it is "ever changing." The figure is often described as wearing a black suit, although it seems to be a relatively recent addition to the mythology.

Appendages
One of the more unusual aspects of the Slender Man's appearance is the description of additional appendages or limbs in reported sightings. witnesses have described these as being "a snaky arm," to rope-like in appearance. These appendages are apparently only visible under certain conditions; and can be used for mobility as well as, perhaps, weapons.

History
Believers in the Slender Man tie his appearances in with many other legends around the world, including; Fear Dubh (or, The Dark Man) in Scotland, the Dutch Takkenmann (Branch Man), and the German legend of Der Großmann or Der Grosse Mann (the Tall Man).

The earliest argued reference to the legend is within the cave paintings found in the Serr da Capivara National Park in the Northeast of Brazil, which are believed to date from as far back as 9000 BC. These paintings show a strangely elongated character leading a child by the hand, but make no reference to the extra appendages.

The next known possible reference to the Slender Man comes from around 3100 BC in lower Egypt, with references to the "Thief of the Gods" or the "Thief of Kuk" becoming common place during the reign of Pharaoh Wazner. Hieroglyphic carvings representing the Thief were found in the pharaoh's tomb, who was rumored to have had some kind of encounter with the entity. The carvings resemble a strange figure with multiple upper limbs, one that has never been found in any other hieroglyph language.

Slender Man's most infamous historical connection is that of the woodcut "Der Ritter," made in 1540. It puzzled historians in the 1880s due to the being on the right hardly resembling anything in nature, odd for such a realistic carving for it's time. Stranger yet, "Der Ritter" stands for "The Knight." While the focus is clearly on the bizarre being, some speculate that the human character is the real monster and the creature is attacking merely in self-defense. The true symbolism of the artwork has never been discovered. The picture is highly associated with Slender Man due to the similarities.

Sightings
Stirling City, Butte County, CA has been an apparent hot spot for Slender Man activity during the mid 1980s. Following the 1986 Stirling City Library fire, a small number of photographs were recovered, including one that had been taken only a week earlier on June 1st, 1986. On this date 14 children disappeared, followed less than two weeks later by the disappearance of the photographer, Mary Thomas. Some theorists claim that the figure on the left in the photo is the Slender Man, although officials have stated that the apparent extra appendages on the character can be dismissed as film defects.

Five months later, the body of one of the children, four year old Joseph Pertman, was found in the Great Swamp Nature Preserve in Kingston Falls, NJ. Deputy Sherrif Jim Stolz told reporters from the Associated Press that the body was still in early stages of decay, indicating that he was alive for at least four months after his disappearance. It was also reported that the body was found in a state of "bizarre contortion," although the cause of death was never officially established.

On April 21st, 1987 the Stirling City Post ran a story regarding a rash of animal mutilations in Stirling City, that the Butte County Animal Control Department were attributing to coyotes. As many as nine dogs and cat had gone missing since January, and had been found in various states of decay. many of the pets had been disemboweled, or otherwise seriously mutilated. Animal Control Officer Joel Driscol was quoted as saying that the wounds were "unusually precise" and that it was "rare that a wild animal would leave so much of the carcass uneaten." Also quoted inn the story was a local man, David Elkins, who was the owner of the latest victim - a cat that had been disemboweled and mutilated. On July 12th, 1987, police were called to the Elkins' residence in Stirling by David Elkins, who had reported that his eight-year-old daughter Katrina had gone missing. The only possible witness to the disappearance was Katrina's ten-year-old sister Alice, with whom she shared a bedroom. SCPD Sergeant William Hohne reported that the last time Alice saw her sister, she was outside the window "hugging the tall man." According to further statements by Alice, over the previous weeks a man had been coming to the girls' bedroom window at night, where he would tap on the glass, "make faces," and watch the girls. However, police investigators initially dismisses the account as a dream, as the bedroom window was on their house's second story with no support beneath it.

Alberta disappearances 2009
On January 10th 2009, three skiers - Amanda Fischer, Douglas Bellanger, and Natasha Pierce - disappeared leaving their cabin in Mica Mountains Resort of Jasper, Alberta. A day earlier, another friend, Thomas Chambers, left the party to return to Calgary, apparently due to health concerns. He was questioned by RCMP following the disappearances and allegedly informed them that he had left due to recurring nightmares featuring a tall man in black peering into the cabin windows at night.

Investigators confirmed they had ruled Chambers out as a possible suspect, but considered him a key witness. A source within RCMP, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed to the Calgary Sun that officers had confiscated a digital camera and a camcorder at the time of the interview, which were never returned. RCMP were, however, unable to question Chambers further, as he vanished on January 21st. His home was found ransacked that morning, he was never found.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Park Officials commenced a month-long search, culminating in the discovery of Amanda Fischer's remains high in a tree, in a severely contorted condition. The bodies of Bellanger and Pierce have yet to be recovered.

In popular culture
Slender Man has gained internet fame since the Something Awful Forums.
 * Marble Hornets uploaded a series of clips on YouTube in which Slender Man is seen stalking a man through various footage. Since then it has started a whole chain of other Marble Hornets videos from other users.
 * Slender_Man_appearing_in_Equinox.jpger Man also makes a cameo appearance in the music video "First of the Year (Equinox)" by Skrillex. It is presumed that the young girl in the video is a "Proxy" being controlled by Slender Man in order to kill the child molester stalking the young girl.
 * Slender Man has also inspired the Endermen of the Minecraft series, having many similarities such as impressive height and lanky arms, but act differently in-game, like moving blocks with their elongated arms.
 * A parody video of Marble Hornets, known as Concrete Giraffes, created by LittleKuriboh (famous for his Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged series on YouTube) is recognized and accepted by Slender Man followers. It spawned the phase "Slender Man just wants $20" from a scene in the video.
 * Slender Man has many online games inspired and based around him - however, the most notable (and recent) one is known as Slender, which has become extremely popular and some gamers are claiming it is "the scariest game ever." It was even reviewed on TV by Toonami.
 * After completing the game, it has additional features to reward the player for "beating it." One is "MH Mode," which ups the ante on the fear factor by giving some background in Marble Hornet fashion, paying homage to the web series. The second offers "$20 Mode" which features the game in daytime and instead of a chilling music sting when Slender Man appears, it plays the "twenty dollar" music from Concrete Giraffes, changing the mood of the game from tense and scary to humorous.
 * Slender Man may have also inspired a certain inhabitant at the SCP Foundation known as "Bundle," or SCP-582. It can be seen here:.