The Mystic in the Dark

I’ve finished reading through The Mystic. And unfortunately, it seems Strahm is not well. He is fractured mentally from his experiences. He sees visions of a dead man when he drinks enough, and argues with the phantom.

And a surprising development occurred. I didn’t expect to read about Damien, author of Dreams in Darkness, to say the least.

I hadn’t expected it as I personally don’t believe that there was any actual Slender Man activity in that particular log. I viewed it as simply the ramblings of a mentally unstable man after the death of a close friend who happened to have viewed Marble Hornets before the traumatic event, which became incorporated into the delusions.

Strahm, however, believes that the log may have more truth in it than that. Of course, he also now seems to believe in a government conspiracy involving observation of any Slender Man-related events and potentially covering them up.

I cannot say that such a plan is impossible or outside of federal power, but I find it a bit unlikely. Though it does match up with some of the police and other authorities’ behavior regarding abductions, attacks, etc.

At any rate, Strahm seems to believe the cult described by Damien in Dreams in Darkness does indeed exist, and seems to be pursuing leads regarding the organization.

I cannot say that such a “religion” is outside the realm of possibility, however. In fact, considering the length of time this species (Slender Man) has been around, it would not be at all surprising that a religion would be constructed around it. After all, it does seem to have powers akin to a god at times.

However, considering Strahm’s current mental condition, the same of which could be said for Damien, may he rest in peace, I will take this with a rather large grain of salt. I will, however, be keeping an eye on developments, as I have been with other logs (forgive me, but I will only give updates regarding any log if a notable piece of information regarding Slender Men arises; considering recent events in Everyman HYBRID, that may be soon).

I will update again if anything happens.

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.

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.