'Slender Man' trailer brings Creepy Pasta Internet legend to life

Slender Man is the most famous piece of Internet lore to emerge from the Something Awful forum, and certainly ranks as the top Bogeyman of the web.

The 2009 Creepypasta creation of Eric Knudsen (posting as Victor Surge, who gets a creator credit here, but I don't know if that involves real money) is an amalgam of so many tropes and myths that he immediately speaks to many collective fears. Knudsen himself has said he was inspired by the work of Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, and Williams S. Burroughs.

But he also became a real-world Bogeyman about three years ago when two 12-year-old Wisconsin girls stabbed another to become "proxies" for Slender Man.

And today, Screen Gems dropped its trailer for Slender Man, a film directed by Sylvian White (The Losers) from a screenplay by David Birke (Elle). The plot:

"In a small town in Massachusetts, four high school girls perform a ritual in an attempt to debunk the lore of SLENDER MAN. When one of the girls goes mysteriously missing, they begin to suspect that she is, in fact, HIS latest victim."

As a horror fan, there isn't much for me to sink my teeth into with the trailer. It's a lot of disjointed fast cuts that tell nothing of the story, but include a few Ring-like images meant to unsettle the viewer. It also holds back on showing too much of Slendy.

It feels a little too generic at this point -- especially after 2017 saw the release of IT, and horror movies had a nice mainstream moment. We will see, and I will keep an eye on it.

More importantly, I am somewhat troubled by the filmmakers' choice to craft a story that seems to intentionally evoke the 2014 Wisconsin stabbing case. There is a treasure trove of interesting Slender Man materials to draw inspiration from without recalling such a recent case.

Slender Man opens May 18. Meanwhile, check out Tim Seeley's sci-fi/horror comic Imaginary Fiends, that borrows from Slender Man and spins the yarn of Polly Peachpit, and a realm of interdimensional fear-consuming monsters.

Let me know your thoughts on the Slender Man movie.

Plus: Read more about my thoughts on Slender Man's cultural significance, and his attempted successor.

-Aaron Sagers

Screen Gems gets into Slender Man movie business

According to ComicBook.com, Screen Gems is developing a Slender Man movie based on a script by David Birke for a 2017 release.

The Internet horror creation, and modern urban legend, emerged on the Something Awful forum, and is the most famous of the creepypasta stories out there. Although created by Eric Knudsen, aka "Victor Surge," Slender Man has many roots in folklore and pop culture (See: The Gentlemen from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The Silence from Doctor Who).

While there is more news to come, Screen Gems has a strong track record of success with its previous films The Mothman Prophecies, Boogeyman, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Hostel, and the Resident Evil and Underworld franchises.

Read more about the paranormal roots of Slender Man, and let us know if you think a Slender Man movies sounds like your kind of horror -- or if it doesn't work outside of the Internet.

-Aaron Sagers

Slender Man Comes Alive in New Short Film

Despite the recent tragedy in Wisconsin, the Slender Man myth remains as popular as ever, inspiring a short film based around the Internet created monster from Freeze Frame Films production company.

"The Eidolon State" a 20-minute short film, will make its debut  on YouTube on August 29, but you'll be able to catch the official premier on "Dread Central" on August 27, thanks to a partnership between the online magazine and Freeze Frame Films.

Directors Dion Cavallaro and Paul Thomas told Dread Central the goal in making this film was to stay as true as they could to the Slender Man story that first made its appearance on CreepyPasta-a short story horror forum. "Originally we were going to call our antagonist The Tall Man, but ultimately decided The Slender Man was more fitting and favorable with the fans."

The short film also stars actress Sarah Pike and the film's producer, Cain Harrip, pulls double-duty also portraying Slender Man himself.

The filmmakers went on to praise Dread Central for their support of not only the horror film industry, but also the independent film community. "We are glad to have collaborated with them, and would not hesitate to do so again in the future."

We just may have another "Candyman" on our hands!  Check out the trailer below:

-Roxy Orcutt 

Slender Man Is Real: From Cultural Conversation To Paranormal Topic

Slender Man graffiti in Raleigh, North Carolina by unknown artist. Photo taken by Flickr user mdl70.

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.

Two 12-year-old girls in Wisconsin stabbed another girl 19 times to become "proxies" of Slender Man. A Cincinnati mother believes a Slender Man obsession is what led to her 13-year-old daughter attacking her. And a neighbor said the man who, along with his wife, killed two police officers and a civilian in Las Vegas on Sunday used to dress as Slender Man.

Much like violent video games, rock music, comic books and horror movies before him, Slender Man is on track to becoming the devil du jour, the newest "won't someone think of the children?" scapegoat.

Anyone who has been to a Halloween party in the last few years can tell you Slender Man costumes aren't unheard of, but this particular scapegoat is different. Especially because these attacks involve, not violent behavior supposedly stirred up by a medium, but by a literal monster. Also, this monster "lives" on the Internet, which some think of as an entirely scary place where bad things happen. So Slender Man is a Bogeyman from Bogeyman Land.

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.