A closer look
Internet forum user Eric Knudsen completely invented the slender man in 2009 for a photoshop contest, openly admitting that he created the modern myth just to see if he could scare people online. Despite this highly documented origin, a terrifyingly large number of teenagers genuinely began to believe the faceless entity was a real mystical creature with ancient historical origins and demonic powers. Within just a few years, the online collective had written so much fake lore about this tall man in a suit that real people committed actual crimes trying to appease a monster born on a comedy website. It is the ultimate cynical proof that human beings are so desperate for mystical folklore that they will literally worship a legally copyrighted image if you give it enough spooky background lighting






