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The slenderman myth


Tarnibritan

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hmm thats odd, emf usually and in many recorded cases including the military, have mentioned thier radios working but not anything else.

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Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum. I understand that my credibility is on par with a tomato or a cut-and-pasted section out of any paranormal site on the internet, perhaps less so, but please read carefully and ask any questions that you may have.

At age 14 (I am now 24), I awoke in the middle of the night, lying on my stomach. My room was almost pitch black, with only a moonlight glow, partially obstructed by outside trees, coming through the windows. Upon awakening, a thought entered my mind and said, "look over your left shoulder". The thought was not a voice, it was like I myself had thought it, but its character was harsh. My bed bordered with a wall on its left edge. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw the silhouette of a tall figure, resembling a man, with a trench coat and wide-brimmed hat, cast upon the wall. The wall appeared black, yet this figure was so much more so. I remember the image distinctly and am certain the room was very poorly lit as I could hardly make out my bookshelf, which stood behind the bed. Upon seeing the image, I was filled with an empty feeling. I knew immediately I was in a hopeless situation and my death was imminent. Gazing to my right, I confirmed that no significant light sources or structures were present to cast such a clear shadow on my wall. I then took another glance over my left shoulder and saw the same figure, unchanged. I pressed my head into my pillow, unsure what to do and slightly resigning myself to the situation. I felt as if my life was being pulled from my body, toward the location of the figure behind me. Another thought entered my mind which said, "pray, and everything will be fine". This thought entered similar to the one previously, but made my mind feel at ease. I immediately listened to it, saying the Our Father (I am Catholic). After doing so, a strange feeling of an ovoid barrier coming over my body ensued. I remember falling asleep quickly after and slept soundly for the rest of the night.

Those who say that these figures are based on a recently created myth and the stories people relate are merely the result of psychosomatic processes and are purely hallucinatory should re-examine their views. I had and have had no history of psychiatric disturbances or illness. In addition, I had never heard of the slenderman, shadow people, etc., prior to investigating this traumatic episode in my life about 5 years after it occurred. Truthfully, I have no desire to know the truth behind what happened to me that night. That task can be left to others interested in the investigation. However, I am interested that the investigation survives for the sake of others threatened by similar phenomena. The presence of denial in the face of very real, sincere experience is intolerable. Please offer your criticism.

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Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum. I understand that my credibility is on par with a tomato or a cut-and-pasted section out of any paranormal site on the internet, perhaps less so, but please read carefully and ask any questions that you may have.

At age 14 (I am now 24), I awoke in the middle of the night, lying on my stomach...............

Your credibility is what you make of it. Being new has no objective bearing on this. Since I'm not you and I wasn't there, its hard to say what happened to you. My opinion based on what you have written and its similarity to other tales on this site would be that you experienced sleep paralysis and what you saw occured in a dream state. Of course, its impossible for me to prove that, and equally as impossible for you to prove that you weren't just dreaming very vividly.

Thank you for posting. Its always interesting to hear the rare story here in crypto from someone with a personal account to share. While I'm not convinced, based on what you've offered that your experience was paranormal - I do certainly applaud your courage in coming forward to share. Welcome to the site!

Edited by orangepeaceful79
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I'm more concerned about sweaty man, fat man and smelly man in line at Walmart.

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I agree, sounds very much like sleep paralysis.

Waking up in bed with a sense of dread and hopelessness and shadowy silhouetted figure(s) in the room with you was a common theme of my sleep paralysis experiences. In my case, the figure was usually a hooded figure in tattered robes, like the typical depiction of the Grim Reaper.

Edited by Archimedes
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Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum. I understand that my credibility is on par with a tomato or a cut-and-pasted section out of any paranormal site on the internet, perhaps less so, but please read carefully and ask any questions that you may have.

At age 14 (I am now 24), I awoke in the middle of the night, lying on my stomach. My room was almost pitch black, with only a moonlight glow, partially obstructed by outside trees, coming through the windows. Upon awakening, a thought entered my mind and said, "look over your left shoulder". The thought was not a voice, it was like I myself had thought it, but its character was harsh. My bed bordered with a wall on its left edge. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw the silhouette of a tall figure, resembling a man, with a trench coat and wide-brimmed hat, cast upon the wall. The wall appeared black, yet this figure was so much more so. I remember the image distinctly and am certain the room was very poorly lit as I could hardly make out my bookshelf, which stood behind the bed. Upon seeing the image, I was filled with an empty feeling. I knew immediately I was in a hopeless situation and my death was imminent. Gazing to my right, I confirmed that no significant light sources or structures were present to cast such a clear shadow on my wall. I then took another glance over my left shoulder and saw the same figure, unchanged. I pressed my head into my pillow, unsure what to do and slightly resigning myself to the situation. I felt as if my life was being pulled from my body, toward the location of the figure behind me. Another thought entered my mind which said, "pray, and everything will be fine". This thought entered similar to the one previously, but made my mind feel at ease. I immediately listened to it, saying the Our Father (I am Catholic). After doing so, a strange feeling of an ovoid barrier coming over my body ensued. I remember falling asleep quickly after and slept soundly for the rest of the night.

Those who say that these figures are based on a recently created myth and the stories people relate are merely the result of psychosomatic processes and are purely hallucinatory should re-examine their views. I had and have had no history of psychiatric disturbances or illness. In addition, I had never heard of the slenderman, shadow people, etc., prior to investigating this traumatic episode in my life about 5 years after it occurred. Truthfully, I have no desire to know the truth behind what happened to me that night. That task can be left to others interested in the investigation. However, I am interested that the investigation survives for the sake of others threatened by similar phenomena. The presence of denial in the face of very real, sincere experience is intolerable. Please offer your criticism.

Sounds much more like the Shadow People Phenomena, then Slender Man. Slender man has a physical presence. Shadow People appear onlly as darker shadows on walls, or sometimes in the air itself. They also sometimes are reported wearing old style hats.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_people

shadows.jpg

http://www.shadowpeople.org/

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Map, that was a great account, and I believe that you experienced this event. DC beat me to the punch when he said that the being sounded more like a shadow person or the Hat Man. The Slender Man likely began as an urban legend started by an unknown writer and then promulgated by varied bloggers, posters, etc.. Your story made me wonder if pop culture played a role in the shapes that these mysterious beings take.

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??? Is he really fake? Or is there a possibility enties like his are real? This forum is just a disscusion on views of slenderman and the possibilities.

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The Slenderman is a fictional entity, however the only way it would ever be real is if it was created as a sort of Tulpa. And that's only if Tulpa's exist. :unsure2:

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??? Is he really fake?

Yes. He was invented by one of the forum members at Something Awful who had a thread for people to post Photoshopped pictures of the paranormal. One of the forum members posted the following pic in a post:

Stirling_City_by_Victor_Surge.jpg

Along with the following description:

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.

That was posted in June 2009.

http://forums.someth...40&pagenumber=3

This forum is just a disscusion on views of slenderman and the possibilities.

Yes, we know. The thread title kinda gives it away that this is discussion about Slenderman.

So yeah, it's just an Internet meme created by one of the goons at Something Awful that has sprouted legs. But a lot of people claim it's real with one of the dubious arguments being that because of the popularity of the Slender Man meme, demons or shadow people or whatever appear in that form because it is in the public consciousness.

Of course, all sorts of claims can be validated with that logic. Elvis is really dead but ghosts or demons are appearing in Elvis form which explains the sightings.

Edited by Archimedes
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Hello everyone,

Thanks for the replies! I am relieved to find this level of interest and am consoled by the opportunity to discuss what occurred when I was younger. I wish to address a few points that several people have posted:

On the question of sleep paralysis:

I do not believe, for several reasons, that sleep paralysis can fully explain my experience. First and foremost, I was not paralyzed; I could freely move in my bed and turned to look around my room several times, which involved lifting my chest off of the bed using the power of my arm and back musculature. After observing the shadow and becoming filled with fear, I very physically buried my head in my pillow out of the disdain I held for my situation. I distinctly remember choosing not to flee. Intuitively, I understood my situation was dire and my only choice was to rule out this apparition as a normal shadow. After gazing about my room and finding no significant source of light able to project this image onto my wall, and confirming the image of the figure a second time, I felt helpless and began to resign myself to the apparent futility. When the second thought came into my mind and ordered that I pray, I physically made the sign of the cross before and after reciting the Our Father, which again required an activation of mutliple muscle groups to accomplish. Although sleep paralysis can occur as an acute, isolated episode, it is often associated with multiple events and other sleep disorders -of which, I have experienced none. In addition, I was not under the influence of sedatives, stimulants, or any other substance that would cause undue stress on my ability to sleep soundly. Frankly, that episode was the only time I had ever experienced such an event and it was the first time, to my conscious knowledge, that I had ever been exposed to the imagery present (shadow figure).

On the image observed:

I confirm the image DieChecker posted (the figure with the hat) to be very similar to the one I saw. The only differences I can note are the shadowy aura and the length of the hat; the shadow I observed had distinct clear, extremely black borders and a wide-brimmed hat that nearly spanned the width of its shoulders.

Edited by MAPip
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as far as RPH's research goes, slenderman doesnt wear a hat.

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Actually slenderman was around in old Germany and around Europe also. It isnt the same name, but the same creature. Some agrue that he goes back as far as Ancient Egypt, but I will have to find the information later.

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So yeah, it's just an Internet meme created by one of the goons at Something Awful that has sprouted legs. But a lot of people claim it's real with one of the dubious arguments being that because of the popularity of the Slender Man meme, demons or shadow people or whatever appear in that form because it is in the public consciousness.

Of course, all sorts of claims can be validated with that logic. Elvis is really dead but ghosts or demons are appearing in Elvis form which explains the sightings.

I like that. Using that logic, one could argue that there's actually only one demon and he/she changes their appearance to look like every single thing discussed in these forums.

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Actually slenderman was around in old Germany and around Europe also. It isnt the same name, but the same creature. Some agrue that he goes back as far as Ancient Egypt, but I will have to find the information later.

Are you speaking of Der Grobmann? The tall man, a fariy of the Black Forest? Well, it wouldn't be the first time a wee folk legend got reinvented into a new category.

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Slenderman might have been built upon similar natural fears to the other spindly-limbed humanoids of legends past (like Grobmann mentioned above.) Whether or not its creators were familiar with those legends, I can't say. If they weren't, it might just be a coincidental appearance generated by the same fears in multiple cultures.

I'd say it could easily be a combined fear of spiders, snakes, octopi, squid, or other spindly beasts with the fear of strangers (who in the past would have either killed or raped you had they happened upon you at night) and the stretching nature of shadows.

Sorry this post wasn't very well worded. I'm having trouble organizing my thoughts today.

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Slenderman might have been built upon similar natural fears to the other spindly-limbed humanoids of legends past (like Grobmann mentioned above.) Whether or not its creators were familiar with those legends, I can't say. If they weren't, it might just be a coincidental appearance generated by the same fears in multiple cultures.

I'd say it could easily be a combined fear of spiders, snakes, octopi, squid, or other spindly beasts with the fear of strangers (who in the past would have either killed or raped you had they happened upon you at night) and the stretching nature of shadows.

Sorry this post wasn't very well worded. I'm having trouble organizing my thoughts today.

It makes perfect sense, and it adds to the good points made by other people up-thread. It almost makes one think that Slender Man is some kind of unknown archetype. Like other people said, his legend came from past folklore and mythology. Like you said, his being is a combination of universal fears.

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Ah finally something makes sense! thank you. Yes that would make sense. So the question is, is this entity the one projecting itself as people's fears, or are they projecting it onto the entity?

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Ah finally something makes sense! thank you. Yes that would make sense. So the question is, is this entity the one projecting itself as people's fears, or are they projecting it onto the entity?

Neither. There is no entity. Thats the only explanation that makes any sense in the real world. Its a combination of bull-$hit, pareidolia, and confirmation bias - all compounded by the gullibility of a generation that is increasingly unable to separate the real world from the one they spend so much time in while videogaming and movie-watching.

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Guest Nathan DiYorio

I was going to like the post above mine, but someone has a few issues with fiction.

But yes, there is no Slenderman. It's nothing but a series of scary bed time stories originating from the Something Awful forums. About as real as Aaahh!!! Real Monsters! if you can remember that.

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I was going to like the post above mine, but someone has a few issues with fiction.

But yes, there is no Slenderman. It's nothing but a series of scary bed time stories originating from the Something Awful forums. About as real as Aaahh!!! Real Monsters! if you can remember that.

Now that was a cool cartoon. I love fiction. I can also tell the difference between it and reality. Or at least I think I can......................

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I do not believe, for several reasons, that sleep paralysis can fully explain my experience. First and foremost, I was not paralyzed; I could freely move in my bed and turned to look around my room several times, which involved lifting my chest off of the bed using the power of my arm and back musculature. After observing the shadow and becoming filled with fear, I very physically buried my head in my pillow out of the disdain I held for my situation. I distinctly remember choosing not to flee. Intuitively, I understood my situation was dire and my only choice was to rule out this apparition as a normal shadow. After gazing about my room and finding no significant source of light able to project this image onto my wall, and confirming the image of the figure a second time, I felt helpless and began to resign myself to the apparent futility. When the second thought came into my mind and ordered that I pray, I physically made the sign of the cross before and after reciting the Our Father, which again required an activation of mutliple muscle groups to accomplish. Although sleep paralysis can occur as an acute, isolated episode, it is often associated with multiple events and other sleep disorders -of which, I have experienced none. In addition, I was not under the influence of sedatives, stimulants, or any other substance that would cause undue stress on my ability to sleep soundly. Frankly, that episode was the only time I had ever experienced such an event and it was the first time, to my conscious knowledge, that I had ever been exposed to the imagery present (shadow figure).

It may not have been sleep paralysis, but it definitely sounds like some sort of hypnopompic hallucination. I know from experience as someone who regularly experiences strange things during the falling asleep and waking up that there is no one experience that everyone agrees on. Sleep paralysis with a sense of fear or helplessness and with experiencing of seeing shadowy figures is perhaps the most common reported. Perhaps because it is also the most strange and vivid also. When I do experience odd waking up or falling asleep experiences (and I regularly do) they cover quite a big of ground from the truly frightening (full blown sleep paralysis accompanied with visual and auditory hallucinations, although sleep paralysis has gotten rarer and less intense as time goes by for me) to the quite enjoyable (vivid psychedelic shapes and patterns evolving and changing in weird ways) when falling asleep.

Note that although sleep paralysis (and related sleep phenomena) is often associated with other sleep disorders, that is not a given. A quick Google search reveals that up to 60% of people report having had at least one experience of sleep paralysis and that only 6% have experienced it regularly.

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