Collected Thoughts

After the sounds I have been hearing recently, I am still rattled. But I feel I must continue onward. Here I will collect my current thoughts as succinctly as possible.

My current belief is that Slender Men have an appreciable population. Otherwise the widespread terror they spread would not be possible. The alternatives are that they do not mate often, have a long life span, and/or reproduce asexually. Though the last is naturally absurd for a species of such physical size. These assumptions, however, are all based on the guess of humanlike travel speed, specifically on foot, which is likely incorrect.

The abilities of the species are obviously the biggest conundrum. They seem to have control over space-time to some degree. The keyword here is “seem”. It is more likely, though still rather unbelievable, that they have the ability to tap into the human mind and rearrange, put in a suspended state, and/or control thought itself. This may even extend to technology. I once called a tech savvy Slender Man ridiculous, but that may have been in error. Rudimentary skill, possibly taken from the minds of victims, could be used to stop and restart a camera, or a human may simply be commanded to do this. (For a scene in which I believe both mental and electronic control are at work, see everymanHYBRID, “Ashen Waste”, 6:00-30)

However, the biggest issue with mind control is the mechanism. Long-distance, “wireless” communication is flat out ridiculous. Emitted electromagnetic radiation could account for video equipment disruptions, or perhaps a strong electric field (a magnetic field would be obvious for hopefully equally obvious reasons, and said reasons’ absence rules it out). The human mind, however, has no method with which to accept EM radiation of any wavelength, except by proxy (the eyes, which simply do not work as “input devices” so much as passive receivers). It is more likely that a direct method is used. A fine wire covered in anesthetic could be slipped into the skin and towards the brain to affect control, unpleasant though the thought is. These, if in existence, are likely housed in the tentacles or arms. I should mention the constraint of “fine wire” was used as otherwise there would be a visible entry wound, and the appendage itself would be clearly visible. The anesthetic is to prevent the victim from noticing the attack, of course. As for potential evidence, I direct you to Marble Hornet, “Entry #22,” 6:19-21 where something is seen apparently going towards and into a person’s (Alex’s) head.

This isn’t quite everything I have compiled, but I feel it covers the important ideas that I have been able to come up with for now. If anyone can find any flaws in my reasoning here or elsewhere (and I’m sure there is at least one flaw), please alert me in the comments and I will consider the implications and rework my theories.

Strange Sounds

Last night, there were strange noises in my dorm room. It’s a somewhat old building and there are a lot of people, so normally I would have written it off as something like that. But being on the tenth floor on a Friday night, only one of those could have held (there’s rarely anyone but me here on the weekends).

None of the sounds made sense to me. I don’t even mean that they were strange or I couldn’t see the cause. They simply made no sense. Nothing in architecture, cooling, or even biology makes sounds like those. I have never heard anything like that even synthesized by man. I still can’t believe that those sounds even existed. I can’t believe I was even able to hear them.

I’m afraid. And I’m certain that I have been targeted. I had hoped it would take longer, or that the sounds wouldn’t be the first thing I had to deal with. I must admit that they unnerve me greatly and no description I have ever read prepared me for them. But I will not be cowed. My hopes and plans are dashed, for now. This just means I have to rethink the situation a bit.

Research

I just want to say that, when I began this blog, I thought I was alone, that I was the only one trying to figure out just what a Slender Man is, what it actually can do.

As I have  searched through the internet, I found that there are a great many blogs that seem to be doing the same thing as me. They want to figure out this very strange and dangerous creature. However, I have noticed two distinct things that set me apart, at least from those blogs I have found thus far (though again, these are limited by the logs I have found).

The first is that I began this work before being actually affected by a Slender Man. The reason why is obvious: most don’t truly believe in Slender Man until after first contact. I decided to begin before any contact was made because if it exists, the blog is useful to others. If it doesn’t, this is a harmless little project to keep myself occupied.

Secondly, I have yet to find any blog firmly rooted in reality. Instead, they all believe that the creature is supernatural, that it is beyond the laws of our reality. I disagree vehemently. In fact, I discourage this sort of thought, even if it does have some supernatural origin. If you believe something about it, it is true. That is the general consensus among these people. If that is the case, believe it is of our world. Then it is limited by reality. Then it becomes fallible, it can be outrun, it can bleed, it can burn.

In short, then it can die.

Science has raised man to a plateau that is unreachable by other animals. It has given us untold strength which can only increase so long as the resources necessary for it exist. We have used it to overcome every obstacle that this universe has thrown at us, save death itself. We can use it to destroy this pathetic, faceless monstrosity as we did with the beasts that threatened to take us in the night so many millennia ago.

It has only as much control as we give it.

Knowledge

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the Slender Man is that it seems it only appears after knowledge of it is obtained, at least with cases where those who were not stalked as children are involved. Modern incidents have apparently skyrocketed with the recording, in video or writing, of interactions and subsequent posting on the internet. One would be hard pressed to find much mention prior to the information age. Otherwise, it was simply relegated to tall tales or stories to scare children, nothing anyone ever believed in.

However, the pattern is undeniable. A person finds out about it from someone else, or on the internet. Then they are stalked. This has happened as described in the logs Just Another Fool, Everyman HYBRID, Marble Hornets, Tribe Twelve, and countless others. One rarely sees the creature without having heard of it first.

This is something I cannot properly quantify, except as coincidence or that a Slender Man follows a target, finishes or abandons it, and then finds someone with connections to that person. Simple enough, one might think. Or it would have been some decades ago. The internet has complicated this. Some are stalked with no connection to other targets but photons from a computer screen.  This is most baffling. Again, simple coincidence could explain it neatly. Or even a larger-than-expected Slender Man population. But I simply do not think that is the most precise or reasonable explanation. I could joke that the species is tech savvy, but that is patently ludicrous.

I have to admit I am beginning to hit a road block. But I intend to overcome it.           

In fact, there is a very simple possible explanation (with more than enough precedent, I might add) that I will mention here as closing: sometimes people do not know they have had connections with a Slender Man.

Everyman HYBRID

This is perhaps the most in-depth, and sprawling, log of Slender Man activity. It covers two, by association, YouTube channels, a blog by a related party (Can You See The Words, now abandoned) and a Twitter account, at minimum. I haven’t delved much deeper, so there may be more. It covers the experiences, still ongoing, of a group of would-be personal trainers. They begin their encounters with a Slender Man by apparently angering it with parody, having had a friend dress up like it and stand in the background.

Shortly afterward, they encounter an actual Slender Man and experience the usual results. Video distortion, strange messages and apparent lapses in temporal/spatial continuity are all seen. This appears to go the usual way of paranoia, except for the member of the main trio named Vincent, who most vehemently insists it’s just someone messing with them, at least for a while.

Overall, nothing out of the ordinary for the creature occurs, though the lack of a definitive Agent is noted, but my own interpretation of the situation is that Evan could be heading in that direction. The only other notable difference is that actual violence is attempted against a Slender Man, something I cannot recall having seen or read in another log, though Strahm seems the type to try it, eventually. It does not, however, end well, whether one-on-one with a baseball bat, or trying to run over the creature. It is unfazed and the instigators are noticeably worse off for the attempt.

One thing does grab my attention, however. A second creature, commonly referred to as “the Rake,” appears in the log. It openly attacks, and with apparent intent to kill. It attacked Alex, the brother of the third of the trio, Jeff. It is pale, runs on all fours, gangly, and apparently has vicious claws at its disposal.

This second creature has never appeared before in tandem with a Slender Man, bares little similarity besides a pale complexion, and can likely be considered incidental rather than a connected entity. However, the apparent creation of a “disappearing crawlspace” which leads to more distant locations than is reasonable is strange to say the least. Therefore, a connection cannot be entirely ruled out.

Eventually, the men of Everyman HYBRID meet (i.e. break out of an instituition) and join with the author (commonly known as Damsel) of Can You See the Words. She has been stalked by the creature in years prior and managed to survive. They were originally connected through a single person, Damsel’s friend and Jeff’s girlfriend Jessa, whose disappearance inadvertently facilitated the team up.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, no new information of merit with respect specifically to Slender Men is presented. I seem to have come to an impasse at the moment in what I can derive from existing logs, or at least those I have to date reviewed in full. Next, I will be posting my thoughts on the creature at the current time.

No Tutorial

I’m sorry, but I will not be doing an analysis of The Tutorial, as a much more intriguing resource has come to my attention. It is a log written by someone hunting Slender Man, or at least a person that uses similar motifs. In this day and age, people will imitate anything, I suppose. The blog is called Seeking Truth, written by a man named Ezekiel "Zeke" Strahm. He is a detective on the case of someone with… Slender Man like tendencies, to put it rather coarsely. Or, he was as of the point I have reached in his log.

I have only just begun to review and think through this blog, and it will take time due to courses and the fact that his entries are often even longer than mine. If it turns out Strahm is after the creature, this will likely end badly. If not, we may learn the limits to which humans can replicate the creature's abilities. Either way, we gain something. Though some of you reading this may already know the outcome, as this log is rather lengthy.

That is all for now. I will cover Everyman HYBRID in the next post.

Possible Sighting

I just got back to my dorm room from my part time job (I believe I’ve neglected to mention this, but I’m a college student), and I saw something that made me look twice. A tall man in a black suit. However, there are plenty of business students and professors who wear the same sort of thing every day, here. I won’t jump immediately to the conclusion that it was a Slender Man, especially since he was waiting at the bus stop. The lighting and distance were also such that any facial features or even the existence of hair couldn’t be confirmed or ruled out. I will, however, admit that I took a long detour after spotting him. Prudence is the best course of action when dealing with the unknown.

If such sightings become the norm, I’ll have to make the assumption that I’ve been targeted. Until then, I’ll just have to assume I’m jumping at shadows.

Just Another Fool

I’m going to try to make this the shortest entry yet. I’m jumping straight in.

Summary

This blog was written by a man named Logan, originally just as a typical blog, but after receiving a notebook from a deceased friend and military man, Matt, who had encountered a Slender Man. It was Matt’s belief that a Slender Man had wiped out his entire squad (I’m sorry if this is incorrect, but I’m not familiar with military terminology). The official story was that two children had set off a bomb which slung the three men who died into a tree. By Matt’s story, Slender Man targeted the children, the soldiers attacked it, and three were killed and ended up in said tree. Matt was institutionalized and died some time later.

The notebook found its way back to Logan, who had originally given it as a gift. It was filled with sketchy, heavily drawn pictures, sometimes with cryptic messages that spanned multiple pages using cuts made from pressing too hard while writing. This was the trigger that led to Logan’s own interactions with a Slender Man. He too was driven to begin sketching in the same notebook in a similar manner, even modifying the existing sketches.

Eventually Logan was apparently driven completely insane and abandoned the blog, though he apparently is still at large, though I haven’t had the chance to properly look into it yet.

Observations

This brings up the subject of drawings. Slender Man victims often are compelled to draw the figure of the creature and cryptic messages, often with references to seeing or being seen. This could be viewed as the artist slipping down the slope of insanity, or as a coping mechanism. It isn’t quite clear. However, it is fairly common among victims, though not absolutely so.

Other than the military action taken, there isn’t any particular item I can recall that was of significance.

Conclusion

Simply put, drawings of the creature are something victims may be driven to create. Why or how is not yet clear. That’s really all I could draw from this that hasn’t already come up in previous logs.

I plan to look into The Tutorial next. However, I may not as there are some other things I would like to recap beforehand. I will decide shortly whether or not it’s really important enough to ramble on about.

Ongoing

It should be noted that I will not be updating as often as the past few entries. It just so happened that I started this blog during a particularly open weekend, giving me excessive time to complete the posts. Today, I’ll be covering Tribe Twelve. Again, “spoilers” to follow.

Tribe Twelve:

Here we may have gotten a clue as to how Slender Man chooses its victims. They seem to need to have seen it before, whether they realize it or not. Significant amounts of time may have passed, but they are still marked.

I draw this conclusion from the fact that Noah, the uploader of the Tribe Twelve log, first encountered the creature (unbeknownst to him) two years prior to his own… experiences may be the best word to describe it. His cousin Milo had apparently been dealing with it for some time and become extremely paranoid. This became apparent from simply viewing the videos on the YouTube account and logical conclusions from the given and observed information (forgive me if this is too vague; I’m trying to shorten these entries to digestible chunks rather than having lengths akin to a scientific journal’s article).

During what would be Milo’s last visit with Noah, a Slender Man appeared to have followed him, manifesting in and around Noah’s home. This was all captured on camera, but Noah did not realize it as he did not watch the recording until after Milo’s death two years later. It can be inferred that the Slender Man was involved in Milo’s death, but it cannot be proven as there is no evidence given to fully support that conclusion.

It was not until after he viewed the footage that Noah began being affected, perhaps because the creature was “done” with Milo. Noah began hearing noises in his house at night and generally becoming unnerved by strange scenarios. He even received a package containing what could be a warning, a threat, or simply clues to interpret. Shortly thereafter, however, the encounters increased in severity. A phone, barley functional, which came in the previously mentioned package, began receiving strange, almost phantasmal calls, not long after which Noah destroyed the phone. Some data on the phone, audio and visual, were recovered before this, but have not been explicitly analyzed, though they were presented to the YouTube channel’s viewers.

However, not long after the phone was destroyed, Noah’s home was most certainly invaded by a Slender Man. This was caught on video, and gave us a clear view of something never so captured: the tentacles. These tentacles seem to be defense, offense, and/or transportation appendages. They are black in color, smooth, tubular except for the tapered ends, and shockingly prehensile (comparable to an octopuses’). The exact number is unknown, and their connection to the main body could not be seen (indeed the main body was not seen at all in the video in question, which makes this more than a little speculative, to be honest). Any strength or full length they might have could not be ascertained as the video cuts off shortly after the tentacles appear.

A thing to note is the obvious: where did the phone, package, etc. come from? The Slender Man likely hasn’t studied up on the intricacies of electronics and registering cellular phones, especially with the guerilla tactics companies sometimes use to get new contracts. It is later revealed that there is indeed someone working for the Slender Man, becoming known as the Observer. Subsequent entries show the agent has adeptness in video editing and something of an artistic flare. They are much more proficient than totheArk appears to be, for comparison.

But perhaps the most rattling incident was Noah’s stay at a friend’s house. Noah began vanishing in the night, twice in all. This location was very far from Noah’s own home, yet Slender Man activity persisted, and even became worse. After a day at his acquaintance’s residence, they moved to said friend’s father’s home. That night, Noah was literally and visibly dragged out of bed, and was later found standing in the dark, laughing, covered in blood, and holding a knife. He proceeded to become violent towards his friend (who had found him in this state while holding the camera he had been using to record himself sleeping), apparently assaulting her in some manner. Sometime after regaining his senses, Noah quickly leaves the house, amid loud thumping noise which had intermittently been occurring throughout the visit. As he climbs into his car, the chassis is audibly attacked by something, most likely a Slender Man. This aggression is rather notable, as I cannot immediately recall another log showcasing a Slender Man of such direct tendencies.

Conclusion

A quick analysis would seem to reveal that a Slender Man will pursue a specific target until death. Shortly after, a connected person may be targeted, but this may be a coincidence. I will also claim that a second, controlled human Agent is used to contact the target, most likely to cause stress and reduce their mental capability. The exact desired end is, of course, not yet determined. However, the more violent nature of this stalking is something to be considered. This may be an indication of individuality among the species.

I feel this is still much longer than necessary, but I must admit it is shorter than it could have been. Any ways, next time I will be looking into Just Another Fool.

Noted

Please note that hereafter references to “the” Slender Man can be taken as a reference to what I believe is a species, rather than an individual.

In the Beginning…

After the wall of text of the Marble Hornets analysis, which hopefully will be the longest, considering it is perhaps the most informative that I have currently come across, with a few possible exceptions, I will now regress to and interpret the “origins” of Slender Man.

It seems to have first appeared, according to some, in Germany, at the earliest in feudal times, in a woodcut circa 1540 entitled “Der Ritter” (“The Knight”). In it, a skeletal knight in (apparent) chain mail with what seems to be a spear or lance of bone attached to itself killing a knight in plate armor (I haven’t done in depth research, but the plate armor seems to be possible for the period). This creature also has multiple legs and is roughly faceless. I say roughly as it still has some outlines/cavities of typical features (eyes, mouth, etc.) but does not have the features themselves. This may have simply been an artistic choice, or how it actually appeared.

If this thing is indeed a Slender Man, as so many have suggested, why is it so different? The multiple limbs add up to the tentacled depictions of the modern version match, but why the stark differences?

Simply put, for infiltration. Even assuming it can hide in plain sight, when it is seen, outside of a Renaissance Faire, the armor would immediately appear out of place. Perhaps more ghastly, but panic does not seem to be the prime objective of the creature. It could clearly accomplish that as it is, anyways. But if it wanted to blend in, it must adapt, or evolve as a species, or shape shift. At some point (probably the 20^th century by the style), Slender Man became a suited man and has remained so to this day.

What is interesting are the forms it has taken: the knight and the business man. They both have two significant but contrasting characteristics. They are successful, powerful, a higher class, at least in theory. They are something to be looked up to, not feared, unless you cross them. But they are feared nonetheless. Business men are sometimes thought of as crooks in suits, and the suit itself can conjure up the image of the corrupt official or attorney. In a similar fashion, knights were not always noble. They committed atrocities themselves in their day. Of course as with any time and profession, it was a mixed bag. But people seem to favor the negative view in their hearts.

However, this is not the only connection to Germany. There is a tale regarding a creature similar to Slender Man known as Der Großmann, or the “Tall Man” living in the Black Forest. He was thought to be, obviously, a tall man in form, a fairy of the forest, and took children, something common to the Slender Man stories. The tree association is also usually shared by Slender Man. However, further information is scarce and this post is long enough as it is, so I’ll wrap up quickly.

Conclusion

Slender Man may have originated in Germany, or at least was best recorded there. This may be the species’ homeland, so to speak, but it is impossible to know for certain. It has apparently spread and changed, now residing (apparently, by reports) primarily in the United States and most likely remains in Europe in some form. It has the ability, either in the individual or species, to adapt to better infiltrate human society in such a way that seems targeted to generating conflicting emotions or unease. To what exact end, I do not know.

That’s all for today. This is still too long, so I’ll continue to try to cut down on the length. Next time, I’ll be focusing on the Tribe Twelve video log.

The Hornets' Nest

As stated before, I will be going over the log known as Marble Hornets to establish a base from which to derive information. I suppose this should go without saying, but for those who still treat this as a game, spoilers follow.

Marble Hornets:

The entire ordeal started years ago when a group of college students started make a film called “Marble Hornets,” from which the events’ collective name come. They encountered the creature and were all apparently affected one way or another, such as loss of memory, paranoia, and possibly abduction as at least one crew member, Sarah, apparently hasn’t been seen by Jay, the video uploader, for some time and is rarely even mentioned. This log also set the precedent for Slender Man causing aberrations in film when it is nearby.

Alex Kralie, the mastermind of the student film, was apparently plagued by the creature and began videotaping himself. Precisely why or when it began is never explained, but it eventually becomes evident that it was a good decision, at least if certain theories are to be believed. Slender Man is captured on film in many of Alex’s tapes, both directly and indirectly.

Jay himself is eventually given the tapes and Alex disappears. After reviewing the tapes, several things become apparent. Jay’s involvement in Marble Hornets had been erased from his mind, to an extent, though this was not discovered for some time. The Slender Man’s presence unnerved Jay, and he started looking into things, eventually trying to track down Alex himself. This leads to encounters with a masked individual commonly referred to as totheArk (sic), who had previously been “commenting” on the Marble Hornets videos.

It is usually theorized that this person is someone named Tim, who previously had worked on Marble Hornets as a cast member and showed early signs of behavioral irregularity (coldness in comfortable temperatures, a cough commonly associated with the creature, and consumption of unknown pills). The encounters with totheArk are usually strange if not outright dangerous, with video disturbances similar to Slender Man and unexplained disappearances.

To be blunt, things went downhill from there. Jay developed a cough similar to Tim’s, and several times tried to give up the quest. Various incidents prevented him from doing so, the last of which resulted in months of inactivity on all of his internet accounts. Things only became stranger when he returned. But I will not cover that portion of the log at this time, if ever.

Analysis:

It should be noted that this log introduced the Operator symbol, which is depicted as a circle crossed out with two lines in an "X" formation, sometimes represented in text as (X). However, beyond identifing a connection with the creature, no real use or meaning of merit can be obtained from the log regarding the symbol.

totheArk is the most interesting thing aside from the creature itself. He has connections with the creature, that much is clear. But to what extent is not. Some theorize he is under direct control of Slender Man, or that his actions are merely guided. Alternatively it is thought he may be fighting against the thing, in his own insane way. I fall into the former category of beliefs.

He actively tried to harm Jay, apparently kidnapped him, and hijacked his account. He also insists that Jay lead him “to the Ark”. What the “Ark” is has not been made clear. The most compelling argument I have found is that Ark is actually an acronym for Alex R. Kralie (though I have yet to find an “official” source confirming Alex’s middle initial). totheArk certainly has an interest in Alex, with some goal in mind relating to him. totheArk seems to want to use Jay to find Alex, if my interpretations are correct, as well as possibly using for some other purpose as well.

It has also been suggested that totheArk is not unique, that there are others like him, and Entry 26 seems to indicate as much, with four masks in total, only one of which is definitely totheArk’s. However, the video corruption is such that is impossible to tell if these are just film problems in all cases.

If Tim is totheArk, then he provides us with clues. Those who become like him may experience coldness, a cough, and take some sort of pills. This could provide a warning sign for those being stalked.

As for Slender Man itself, several things become apparent. Firstly the video distortion. It manifests in any number of ways, the most mundane of which is simple tearing. But the more severe it is, the stranger it gets. Clips and images are inserted, audio is lost, and entire sections simply vanish. In addition, it has become evident that it can “hide itself in plain sight.” That is, under certain unknown conditions, it is possible to look directly at it and not see it.

However, it has been often suggested that Slender Man has a sort of weakness to observation. And that being seen, even by a nonliving video camera, inhibits it. It is often seen standing stock still or moving slowly on video. But when it moves off screen, it seems to teleport. Some attribute this to Slender Man being a macroscopic manifestation of quantum physics (that which is observed is changed, specifically), or that it is a being from another dimension.

This is pseudoscientific trash.

The observation phenomenon of quantum physics is not just some quirk of reality. I simply cannot explain everything wrong with any assertion to the contrary. However, I suggest you read up on subjects such as the uncertainty principle, deBroglie wavelengths, and other basic physics subjects.

As for the dimension-jumping version, it is possibly even more ludicrous. If you come from one universe to another, its physical laws do not change to suit you. Here is a programming analogue: if you try to use a Java compiler for Fortran code, the result isn’t functional. It’s just a meaningless mess. More specifically, if you try to apply the physics of our universe to something from another, you would get a result consistent with the physical laws of the universe in which that “something” currently exists within. Gravity, electromagnetism, the weak and strong nuclear forces, they all still apply. If the particles do not exist in our universe naturally, but have the appropriate properties (mass, charge, spin, etc.), they will act as expected according to our laws. There is no diplomatic immunity. If the particles cannot exist in our universe then they will cease to exist. Or rather, they will not have existed here at all.

But there is a much more reasonable explanation for the apparent incongruities in appearance and behavior. As frightening as this may sound at first, the more rational line of thinking is that there are more than one Slender Man. However, this is more of a boon than it seems. If there is more than one, there is likely a method of procreation.  And if there is procreation, there must be a reason to procreate. The most likely is death, unless it is as (crude as it is to say this) pleasurable as the human equivalent. The third is numbers insure a goal. But by far, avoidance of species death is exceedingly more reasonable, again considering established reality as a basis.

Conclusion:

I will make this quick; totheArk is dangerous and possibly “contagious” as an agent of Slender Man, while Slender Man itself may be less so than initially believed and part of a larger species.

That is it for my Marble Hornets analysis. I am sorry that it ended up much longer than I initially expected. Next time I will be writing about some of Slender Man’s possible origins and modern resurgence into public knowledge.

If you find any errors in either the facts of the log or the conclusions drawn, please leave a comment specifying the error and correction below. Also, alternative theories are encouraged.

This is about Slender Man.

I’m not going to waste my or your time beating around the bush or ignoring reality. This thing is real, and should be treated with caution. By most people. I will not use caution for reasons that I will explain shortly. I don’t intend to be cryptic or hold back any information or analysis on this creature.

Most of you likely know Slender Man as the subject and primary antagonist of numerous, sometimes interlinked, alternate reality games. But it is very real.

 It appears as a tall, thin man in a business suit, almost normal except for the lack of a face. Children are often asserted to be its main targets, but older people are not out of its range, for one reason or another. Occasionally it is attributed powers such as pyrokinesis, or at the least some means of starting fires. It also can apparently teleport, though rarely if ever when directly observed. Usually it is described as having tentacles, usually protruding from its sides or back, sometimes used for motion or combat, but they are not always immediately visible. Its primary motive is absolutely unknown and can only be guessed at from its (sometimes presumed) actions. Numerous deaths have been attributed to it, but few by anyone of certain sanity.

In short, it’s dangerous and no one should try to find or interact with it in any way, as it has no known weaknesses or in even a way to escape its clutches. If Slender Man wants you dead, you will die. But, for whatever reason, it lets many live. And that is arguably more frightening.

So I’m going to study this thing. I will take a look at some of the numerous accounts online, in blog and video form, and analyze what I can about the creature. This is potentially dangerous and I acknowledge that. There is nothing in my history that suggests that I may have previously encountered Slender Man, and for those my age not interacting with children, it seems that may act as some buffer to prevent me from being stalked, since it has been suggested that it terrifies those that escape it as kids.

You may wonder why I choose to put myself in such danger. Is this some humanitarian effort for the greater good, to aid those already embroiled in struggle with this silent gentleman? In a word, yes. This is an attempt to gather information for the greater good. I do this for the collective knowledge of the world, “for science” as the saying goes. If I come across something of merit, something important that may help those being chased now or may be in the future, I will not hesitate to make it public.

I will give fair warning, however. My writing style is a bit... dry. If you think this was a bit overstated, it will only get worse from here.

I will start by analyzing Marble Hornets, which seems to be the sort of go-to log, with a wealth of information and interpretations from its followers. I will see you then.