The Slenderman & The Slenderverse
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The Slenderman & The Slenderverse
**Trigger Warning- This article contains some references to violence, both fictional and true. May be disturbing to some readers. Read at your own risk!
By Kai Coyne, Staff Writer
September 8th, 2023
The Basics
The Slenderman was created by Eric Knudsen (also known as "Victor Surge") in 2009. Slenderman is a mythical creature that is somewhat of an urban legend in today’s society. In the early 2000s, this legend began to take on a life of its own, since the internet helped to spread it to fans of horror. Slenderman is described to be a tall, faceless entity wearing a suit, often seen amongst children. Slenderman is popular with individuals in and out of the “Creepypasta” (a website where people can create and post their own characters and stories) community or fandom.
The Creations
There have been Web Series based off of the fictional character known as “Slenderman”, including “EveryManHYBRID”, Marble Hornets, and TribeTwelve, the three being most popular for including the character in their uploads, these are examples of “The Slenderverse”. The series are created by individuals using real world situations and settings, making it seem more realistic despite the Slenderman only being a fictional character. Fans have created artwork, stories, and games, all centering around or mentioning the Slenderman being.
Marble Hornets
“Marble Hornets” is likely the most popular slenderverse webseries creation. Marble Hornets was filmed in Alabama, by cameraman Troy Wagner. Troy, who also played Jay Merrick in the film, is one of the creators of the series.
The series also features actors Joseph DeLage, playing as Alex Kralie, Tim Sutton who played as Tim/Timothy Wright, Brian Haight who played as Brian Thomas, Jessica May who played as Jessica Locke, and Bethann Williams who played Amy Walters.
The web series includes a group of film students trying to create a romantic comedy when it takes a turn for the worst. One character, Alex starts becoming increasingly paranoid and even violent due to a strange entity following him- Slenderman. Alex later gave the tapes from the recording to Jay, who wanted answers as to why the production suddenly stopped. Jay goes on a mission to find out what happened and why Alex had been so on edge about it, but Jay runs into trouble along the way.
Slenderman and two masked men, who looked strangely familiar, proceed to follow Jay and attack him several times. Even though Jay does not die from The Slenderman and the masked men (spoiler alert) he experiences problems with his memory. He uses the camera to collect data which led him to constantly recording. The filming started during 2009 and came to an end in 2014.
EveryManHYBRID
“EverymanHYBRID” was created by Evan Jennings and Jeffery Koval from 2010-2019, including Vincent Caffarello in the film as a main character. They all went by their actual first names in the film. The film took place in New Jersey and started as a fitness group, featuring physical and mental health advice. The group later experienced trouble with the Slenderman, The Rake, and another entity known as HABIT. The film was meant to be a fitness and wellness production with the intention to poke fun of the Slenderman however they find The Slenderman in their house at an unexpected time which causes Evan to become paranoid and (SPOILER) later known to be possessed, which causes difficulty for Vincent, Evan, and others.
The incidents
Slenderman gained real world notoriety when 2 young girls committed a serious crime in the name of the fictional character. On May 31, 2014, in Waukesha, Wisconsin, United States, two 12-year-old girls, Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser, lured their friend Payton Leutner into a forest and stabbed her 19 times, using the Slenderman as their motive. Morgan Geyser had been diagnosed with schizophrenia however Anissa did not have schizophrenia or any disorders that would make her hallucinate.
Commentary
The issue itself was not the creation of The Slenderman however the issue was related to the girls’ grasp of reality, and Morgan’s Schizophrenia. I believe that children with unmedicated schizophrenia that are given unrestricted access to the internet may cause youth to endanger themselves and others. In my experience, knowing someone with Schizophrenia, it can be very difficult to distinguish reality from fiction. The person claimed that the character they saw was threatening them and others. They have later been diagnosed with schizophrenia and medicated. People with undiagnosed and unmedicated schizophrenia may experience having auditory and visual hallucinations, taking the shape of a fictional character.
Since Slenderman lives in the minds of some of those with schizophrenia, many may argue that he is real. Characters like Slenderman have already been brought to reality; once the character lives in the mind of the individual they are as good as real, thus blurring the line between reality and fiction.
Sources used:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/15/movies/slender-man-timeline.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27776894
https://abcnews.go.com/US/slender-man-now-linked-violent-acts/story?id=24058562
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