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The Slenderman Mysteries: An Internet Urban Legend Comes to Life
It’s the dead of night; you are fast asleep. Suddenly, you are wide awake but unable to move. Hunched over you in the shadows is an eight- or nine-foot-tall gaunt entity with spider-thin limbs, dressed in an old-style black suit, its pale face missing eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. You finally manage to cry out. The monstrous thing disappears as suddenly as it appeared.You just had a terrifying encounter with the Slenderman.Who—or what—is the Slenderman? His existence began on the Internet, but he didn’t stay online. The Slenderman may be a tulpa, a thought-form that can stride out of our darkest imaginations and into reality if enough people believe in it. In May 2014, two young Milwaukee girls almost killed a friend in the name of the Slenderman. Perhaps, like the vast Skynet system in the Terminator movies, the Internet is turning against us—and attacking us with digital equivalents of our own online nightmares.The Slenderman has come to life. For the first time, this book reveals the full and fear-filled saga.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 19, 2018
28 people are currently reading
206 people want to read
About the author
Nick Redfern
137 books224 followersNick Redfern is a British best-selling author, Ufologist and Cryptozoologist who has been an active advocate of official disclosure, and has worked to uncover thousands of pages of previously-classified Royal Air Force, Air Ministry and Ministry of Defence files on UFOs dating from the Second World War from the Public Record Office.
He has has appeared on a variety of television programmes in the UK and works on the lecture circuit, both in the UK and overseas, and has appeared in internationally syndicated shows discussing the UFO phenomenon. He is also a regular on the History Channel programs Monster Quest and UFO Hunters as well as National Geographic Channels's Paranormal and the SyFY channel's Proof Positive.
Redfern now lives in Texas and is currently working as a full-time author and journalist specializing in a wide range of unsolved mysteries, including Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, UFO sightings, government conspiracies, alien abductions and paranormal phenomena, and also works as a feature writer and contributing editor for Phenomena magazine and writes regularly for other magazines and websites.
In 2007 Universal Studios bought the rights to Redfern's book: "Three Men Seeking Monsters: Six Weeks in Pursuit of Werewolves, Lake Monster, Giant Cats, Ghostly Devil Dogs and Ape-Men" in the hopes of making a movie from it.
He has has appeared on a variety of television programmes in the UK and works on the lecture circuit, both in the UK and overseas, and has appeared in internationally syndicated shows discussing the UFO phenomenon. He is also a regular on the History Channel programs Monster Quest and UFO Hunters as well as National Geographic Channels's Paranormal and the SyFY channel's Proof Positive.
Redfern now lives in Texas and is currently working as a full-time author and journalist specializing in a wide range of unsolved mysteries, including Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, UFO sightings, government conspiracies, alien abductions and paranormal phenomena, and also works as a feature writer and contributing editor for Phenomena magazine and writes regularly for other magazines and websites.
In 2007 Universal Studios bought the rights to Redfern's book: "Three Men Seeking Monsters: Six Weeks in Pursuit of Werewolves, Lake Monster, Giant Cats, Ghostly Devil Dogs and Ape-Men" in the hopes of making a movie from it.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
February 19, 2018
Repetitive and out there, but interesting nevertheless.
Read
October 19, 2018I hadn’t done any cryptid books or paranormal in a while, and this book advertised itself as an exploration of how the Slenderman meme got started and developed. I was really interested in that, since I’ve been on the net for years and I do love knowing how peoples’ minds work.
I should have known better from a Redfern book.
This one is a lot more breathless than his usual, and that’s saying a lot. The font is big, which makes the book feel rushed - as if he was trying to get it out quickly for some reason. It’s repetitive, it’s badly written, and I honestly couldn’t get past chapter three. It’s unusual for me not to finish a book, especially on a topic that so interests me. But instead of talking about the development of the meme, Redfern’s thesis is that the Slenderman is a tulpa, or thought-form, that is getting stronger because of the attention paid to the growing mythos around him.
That would be annoying enough, but thought-forms are a thing I’ve experienced. It’s the rest of the thesis that bugs me almost to throwing the book - which I checked out in hard copy form instead of downloading. It’s not enough that Slenderman is a tulpa to Redfern. No, he goes on to say that the reason it’s even more powerful than most is that it’s a part of a sentient and living internet, and that it’s coming out to murder people and cause them to be murdered. He says that the people who see Slenderman in the middle of the night in their bedrooms are being hunted by it.
I would have understood this if Redfern wasn’t aware of sleep paralysis and the Old Hag phenomenon. But he goes on in a later chapter to mention his own experiences with the phenomenon! He never once addressed the possibility that the people seeing Slenderman are experiencing sleep paralysis. After that, and the mentioning of good old Aleister Crowley (for what reason? Slenderman didn’t start until 2009 and Redfern barely mentions Crowley’s own experiences with thought-forms!), he mentions Alan Moore of all people. But he talks about Moore seeing the comic character John Constantine instead of Promethea, the actual thought-form Moore was trying to activate!
Augh! So frustrated. This could have been OK, but it’s definitely not. Zero stars.
I should have known better from a Redfern book.
This one is a lot more breathless than his usual, and that’s saying a lot. The font is big, which makes the book feel rushed - as if he was trying to get it out quickly for some reason. It’s repetitive, it’s badly written, and I honestly couldn’t get past chapter three. It’s unusual for me not to finish a book, especially on a topic that so interests me. But instead of talking about the development of the meme, Redfern’s thesis is that the Slenderman is a tulpa, or thought-form, that is getting stronger because of the attention paid to the growing mythos around him.
That would be annoying enough, but thought-forms are a thing I’ve experienced. It’s the rest of the thesis that bugs me almost to throwing the book - which I checked out in hard copy form instead of downloading. It’s not enough that Slenderman is a tulpa to Redfern. No, he goes on to say that the reason it’s even more powerful than most is that it’s a part of a sentient and living internet, and that it’s coming out to murder people and cause them to be murdered. He says that the people who see Slenderman in the middle of the night in their bedrooms are being hunted by it.
I would have understood this if Redfern wasn’t aware of sleep paralysis and the Old Hag phenomenon. But he goes on in a later chapter to mention his own experiences with the phenomenon! He never once addressed the possibility that the people seeing Slenderman are experiencing sleep paralysis. After that, and the mentioning of good old Aleister Crowley (for what reason? Slenderman didn’t start until 2009 and Redfern barely mentions Crowley’s own experiences with thought-forms!), he mentions Alan Moore of all people. But he talks about Moore seeing the comic character John Constantine instead of Promethea, the actual thought-form Moore was trying to activate!
Augh! So frustrated. This could have been OK, but it’s definitely not. Zero stars.
August 5, 2018
I came for scary Slenderman stories, I got outlandish and fantastical speculation about how Slenderman is *actually* real. Waste of time, waste of money.
September 11, 2018
A weak book full of scare tactics, coincidence, supposition, and tons of pseudoscience. Non-fiction? Not in this lifetime.
July 20, 2021
I'd purchased this as a heavily discounted item from a remaindered book distributor and still felt disgruntled. I'd picked this up with the hope of reading some folklore about the Slenderman and perhaps a bit about some of the crimes committed by those deluded souls who felt they were in contact with this mythical creature, who was entirely invented on the internet back on the Something Awful forum years ago.
Unfortunately, a LOT of this volume is taken up with weird ramblings about Tulpas and thought forms and about tangentially related paranormal or urban myths, e.g., the Mothman, H.P. Lovecraft's creations having a basis in reality, the Mad Gasser of Mattoon and the "men in black." The Tulpa business was done a lot better in the 1970s by John Keel in THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES and probably because he spent the majority of his book actually discussing the alleged paranormal events in Point Pleasant in the mid-1960s. Now, the font in Redfern's book is large, so much so that I think its 260 pages of substantive text could be fitted into 170 pages of a book with more typical font. So, basically, an unconscionable amount of space is wasted with these digressions, which boil down to: everyone's thinking so much about the Slenderman may have manifested this being in our reality. Yes, that's it.
The best part of the book, which doesn't begin until around 100 pages in, is the description of the attempted murder of young Payton Leutner in Wisconsin in 2014 by two schoolmates who lured her into the woods because the assailants thought they could go live with the Slenderman afterwards. This reads fairly well and probably would've made a good "Fortean Times" article. Unfortunately, the remainder of the book never reaches this height again. I have read a book or two by Redfern in the past, but this is far from his best: it's a disjointed, rambling mess with remarkably little substantive information about the Slenderman. I cannot recommend this volume and feel my time spent reading it was mostly wasted. Imagine you're reading a novel, but the protagonist seldom makes an appearance, and you will have a good idea of what reading THE SLENDERMAN MYSTERIES is like.
Unfortunately, a LOT of this volume is taken up with weird ramblings about Tulpas and thought forms and about tangentially related paranormal or urban myths, e.g., the Mothman, H.P. Lovecraft's creations having a basis in reality, the Mad Gasser of Mattoon and the "men in black." The Tulpa business was done a lot better in the 1970s by John Keel in THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES and probably because he spent the majority of his book actually discussing the alleged paranormal events in Point Pleasant in the mid-1960s. Now, the font in Redfern's book is large, so much so that I think its 260 pages of substantive text could be fitted into 170 pages of a book with more typical font. So, basically, an unconscionable amount of space is wasted with these digressions, which boil down to: everyone's thinking so much about the Slenderman may have manifested this being in our reality. Yes, that's it.
The best part of the book, which doesn't begin until around 100 pages in, is the description of the attempted murder of young Payton Leutner in Wisconsin in 2014 by two schoolmates who lured her into the woods because the assailants thought they could go live with the Slenderman afterwards. This reads fairly well and probably would've made a good "Fortean Times" article. Unfortunately, the remainder of the book never reaches this height again. I have read a book or two by Redfern in the past, but this is far from his best: it's a disjointed, rambling mess with remarkably little substantive information about the Slenderman. I cannot recommend this volume and feel my time spent reading it was mostly wasted. Imagine you're reading a novel, but the protagonist seldom makes an appearance, and you will have a good idea of what reading THE SLENDERMAN MYSTERIES is like.
July 27, 2018
A veritable torrent of off-the-wall nutty conjecture with just enough fact to pose as reality. Also poorly edited, the author repeats the phrase "surely the most tragic Slenderman related death is" for multiple different cases. Claims that cosplay is related to Satanism. These actions were the work of the insane, nothing more-- most were proven sociopaths or diagnosed with some form of schizophrenia. Slenderman is nothing but a storied figure, and I'd hoped for facts related to the tragic cases, and less insane theorizing.
The author considers two theories: that the Slenderman is either a Tulpa (a thought-based projection) or is the internet itself come alive to attack us. He doesn't even consider the most obvious answer of all: that the Slenderman may have always existed, as indicated by Germanic legends of the "Tall Man" or plenty of other myths and legends from history. Now, I don't believe he actually exists, but that opinion would make far more sense (and be more fun to read!) than the laughable notion that the internet is trying to eat us. Obviously the internet's mortal form would be a LOLcat.
Disappointing.
The author considers two theories: that the Slenderman is either a Tulpa (a thought-based projection) or is the internet itself come alive to attack us. He doesn't even consider the most obvious answer of all: that the Slenderman may have always existed, as indicated by Germanic legends of the "Tall Man" or plenty of other myths and legends from history. Now, I don't believe he actually exists, but that opinion would make far more sense (and be more fun to read!) than the laughable notion that the internet is trying to eat us. Obviously the internet's mortal form would be a LOLcat.
Disappointing.
September 16, 2020
I think I hadn´t read such a bad book in years.
I never got interested, but when I saw it on the new books shelf at my local library I decided to give it a try. Big mistake!.
It started questioning the causes of the viral growth of the Slenderman phenomenon. It raised two possibilities: mass hysteria or that Slenderman became a real thing.
Mass hysteria is discarded from the beginning and the only possibility is that we fed the creature with our thoughts and it became real.
This is the kind of writing that calls "Research" any internet search, and also uses movies as references to confirm the hypothesis.
Even the outbreak of teen suicides is linked to slenderman with this analysis.
It is also repetitive on statements and poorly written.
My suggestion: Stay away from it.
I never got interested, but when I saw it on the new books shelf at my local library I decided to give it a try. Big mistake!.
It started questioning the causes of the viral growth of the Slenderman phenomenon. It raised two possibilities: mass hysteria or that Slenderman became a real thing.
Mass hysteria is discarded from the beginning and the only possibility is that we fed the creature with our thoughts and it became real.
This is the kind of writing that calls "Research" any internet search, and also uses movies as references to confirm the hypothesis.
Even the outbreak of teen suicides is linked to slenderman with this analysis.
It is also repetitive on statements and poorly written.
My suggestion: Stay away from it.
July 27, 2020
LOL this book is kinda bad, but it at least got me conversant on The Slenderman. I don't really recommend this unless you have run out of great horror fiction to read and you are in October and have pledged to read only horror during that month like I do.
January 28, 2020
Very interesting
May 29, 2018
In June 2009, two photo-shopped images of a “made up” entity dubbed “ the Slenderman” were uploaded to the Internet as part of a contest. The creator used as inspiration such well-known horror/paranormal tropes as the Men in Black (MIBs), the tentacled creatures of H.P. Lovecraft’s tales, and the Mothman—all of which have been a part of my life as a paranormal researcher, content creator, and experiencer for the past 10 years.
Within weeks, the Slenderman was jumping its frame as a made up monster and appearing in the woods, bedrooms, and computers of people all over the world, culminating in several high-profile murders and attacks in which Slenderman was professed to be the inspiration. By the time of these events, Slenderman was the subject of hundreds if not thousands of short stories and graphic images on the Internet, at horror websites such as 4chan and Creepypasta Wiki.
This phenomenon is complex, with many strands and theories to follow and parse to make sense of what is happening. Although other authors and journalists have tackled the subject the past nine years, Nick Redfern—author of over 40 books and a frequent guest on television and radio—does a masterful job of pulling together the data, situating it in centuries-old lore and paranormal case files, and interviewing a broad array of researchers and experiencers.
Having experienced both a Mothman-like interdimensional (also in 2009) near Point Pleasant, WV and spectral MIBs that match the description in many ways of Slenderman at a library in North Carolina where my wife and I spent 150+ hours the past two years doing investigations (our book on the subject will be published by Visionary Living this summer), I was in familiar territory as the chapters unfolded. There is no question that this tall, thin, faceless (or distorted-faced) entity dressed all in black exists, passing back and forth between dimensional planes—and over the centuries I believe that it has gone by dozens of names.
Redfern sets out early on to find possible explanations for why the Slenderman phenomenon spread on the Internet and crossed the plane into our reality so quickly (whatever “reality” might mean anymore in the face of increased evidence that we exist in some form of other-controlled Matrix). One explanation is that Slenderman is a tulpa, a term that has been distorted from its original Buddhist origins the same way that the Greek daimon become a demon and satan (an adversary) became the Satan, king of all demons. Another is that it has existed from time immemorial and Slenderman is the latest incarnation.
There are recorded instances of magical practitioners the likes of Dion Fortune and Aleister Crowley summoning or creating entities through rituals and their imaginations, as Redfern catalogs, pointing out that these tulpas grow more powerful, independent, and mischievous over time. This is not something you want to mess with.
Two points resonate for me here. First, as a content creator who often works in the horror genre, I know that H.P. Lovecraft experienced nightmares of entities called the “Night Gaunts” that fit the Slenderman archetype and Stephen King has written thousands of pages of stories where monsters move across the veil because of people’s fears and intentions—conscious and otherwise. It has long been whispered that Lovecraft did not so much create his monsters as describe those already existing beyond the threshold. In the kind of synchronicity that often arises when exploring the darkness beyond, I began reading a collection of Thomas Hardy’s supernatural stories while preparing this review and in the first (1881’s “What the Shepherd Saw”) was the following description of a spectre: “his dress being a dark suit … his figure of slender build.” Redfern also shares an anecdote of graphic novelist and ceremonial magician Alan Moore, who saw one of his creations—John Constantine—in our reality once.
The second point stems from my work as a paranormal investigator. It is clear—whether it be the Ouija “mama” personality or spirits (human and non-) that haunt buildings and landscapes—that there are opportunistic tricksters who will wear the visage and take the name of archetypal monsters to suit their own ends. There was a human spirit in the library we investigated that would appear as a sinister clown to my wife, because he knew they frightened her. We have also experienced Shadow People (another model for the Slenderman, especially when it comes to “night terrors”) and other dark entities that have taken the form of familiar archetypes in order to lure or frighten our investigative team in various places.
Another archetype that Redfern explores in detail is the Pied-Piper of Hamelin. This lurer of children is both inspired by and has inspired dozens of other monsters. I believe he is in part the inspiration for the evil Andre Linoge in King’s Storm of the Century. He certainly is for the clown in King’s It.
What is most problematic about Slenderman is that we are not talking about mere lore and legend here, nor is he/it merely a “craze” that comes and goes without real consequence. As mentioned earlier, he/it has been the inspiration for murderers and would-be murderers, some as young as 12 or 14 years old.
Space does not permit details—Redfern lays it all out better than I could here—but of the several cases involving Slenderman the most disturbing and well known is that of two 12-year-old girls who plotted, lured, and attacked one of their “best friends.” Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser are currently incarcerated in mental institutions for 25 and 40 years, respectively, after being tried for attempted murder in adult court in Wisconsin and being found not guilty by reason of insanity. Morgan stabbed their victim 19 times with a 5-inch kitchen knife. According to Beware the Slenderman, a heartbreaking 2017 HBO documentary I watched while reading this book, Morgan has schizophrenia like her father and had become increasingly divorced from reality following the attack.
I was honestly appalled at a sequence in the documentary where there was what could only be termed “fan art” of the two girls with knives, posing with the Slenderman. Dozens of images exist. These images feed the perhaps numerous entities manifesting as this insidious thing.
The stakes are high when it comes to Slenderman, and the consequences of mucking about in his auric field, as it were, are real. Abundant energy—oftentimes the sharp, angry energy of lonely teenagers whose only socialization comes through the Internet—is offered daily to this untrustworthy archetype of sinister origins. As researchers and experiencers, it is our duty to keep improving our understanding of what is going on. The Internet will only get more powerful and ubiquitous as Virtual Reality takes further hold. How long before someone is literally “scared to death” by some version of this tall, thin, dark-suited entity?
Equally contributive to the deification of those who have done Slenderman’s bidding is the horror film about Slenderman due to be released in August 2018. Where do we draw the line as content creators? Where is our duty to not feed the beast with attention and the potent energy of fear, despite the lure of sure box office profits?
Redfern lays out the facts and dangers for us through thorough research, engaging prose, and a rich array of interviews. As he says in closing, “The trick to beating the Slenderman, and keeping him at bay, is not to think about him. The problem is, that’s not the easiest thing to do. Good luck, though…” (p. 267, emphasis in the original).
If you have a teenager (as I do) who spends a lot of time on websites such as Creepypasta Wiki and has a fascination with other dark and macabre Internet and YouTube channels, this book should be a priority read. I was brought to tears by the genuine surprise and sense of guilt and helplessness of Anissa and Morgan’s parents in the HBO documentary. A little insight goes a long, long way, because those things that lurk at the edge of the woods sometimes steal our children in ways that we know not.
Within weeks, the Slenderman was jumping its frame as a made up monster and appearing in the woods, bedrooms, and computers of people all over the world, culminating in several high-profile murders and attacks in which Slenderman was professed to be the inspiration. By the time of these events, Slenderman was the subject of hundreds if not thousands of short stories and graphic images on the Internet, at horror websites such as 4chan and Creepypasta Wiki.
This phenomenon is complex, with many strands and theories to follow and parse to make sense of what is happening. Although other authors and journalists have tackled the subject the past nine years, Nick Redfern—author of over 40 books and a frequent guest on television and radio—does a masterful job of pulling together the data, situating it in centuries-old lore and paranormal case files, and interviewing a broad array of researchers and experiencers.
Having experienced both a Mothman-like interdimensional (also in 2009) near Point Pleasant, WV and spectral MIBs that match the description in many ways of Slenderman at a library in North Carolina where my wife and I spent 150+ hours the past two years doing investigations (our book on the subject will be published by Visionary Living this summer), I was in familiar territory as the chapters unfolded. There is no question that this tall, thin, faceless (or distorted-faced) entity dressed all in black exists, passing back and forth between dimensional planes—and over the centuries I believe that it has gone by dozens of names.
Redfern sets out early on to find possible explanations for why the Slenderman phenomenon spread on the Internet and crossed the plane into our reality so quickly (whatever “reality” might mean anymore in the face of increased evidence that we exist in some form of other-controlled Matrix). One explanation is that Slenderman is a tulpa, a term that has been distorted from its original Buddhist origins the same way that the Greek daimon become a demon and satan (an adversary) became the Satan, king of all demons. Another is that it has existed from time immemorial and Slenderman is the latest incarnation.
There are recorded instances of magical practitioners the likes of Dion Fortune and Aleister Crowley summoning or creating entities through rituals and their imaginations, as Redfern catalogs, pointing out that these tulpas grow more powerful, independent, and mischievous over time. This is not something you want to mess with.
Two points resonate for me here. First, as a content creator who often works in the horror genre, I know that H.P. Lovecraft experienced nightmares of entities called the “Night Gaunts” that fit the Slenderman archetype and Stephen King has written thousands of pages of stories where monsters move across the veil because of people’s fears and intentions—conscious and otherwise. It has long been whispered that Lovecraft did not so much create his monsters as describe those already existing beyond the threshold. In the kind of synchronicity that often arises when exploring the darkness beyond, I began reading a collection of Thomas Hardy’s supernatural stories while preparing this review and in the first (1881’s “What the Shepherd Saw”) was the following description of a spectre: “his dress being a dark suit … his figure of slender build.” Redfern also shares an anecdote of graphic novelist and ceremonial magician Alan Moore, who saw one of his creations—John Constantine—in our reality once.
The second point stems from my work as a paranormal investigator. It is clear—whether it be the Ouija “mama” personality or spirits (human and non-) that haunt buildings and landscapes—that there are opportunistic tricksters who will wear the visage and take the name of archetypal monsters to suit their own ends. There was a human spirit in the library we investigated that would appear as a sinister clown to my wife, because he knew they frightened her. We have also experienced Shadow People (another model for the Slenderman, especially when it comes to “night terrors”) and other dark entities that have taken the form of familiar archetypes in order to lure or frighten our investigative team in various places.
Another archetype that Redfern explores in detail is the Pied-Piper of Hamelin. This lurer of children is both inspired by and has inspired dozens of other monsters. I believe he is in part the inspiration for the evil Andre Linoge in King’s Storm of the Century. He certainly is for the clown in King’s It.
What is most problematic about Slenderman is that we are not talking about mere lore and legend here, nor is he/it merely a “craze” that comes and goes without real consequence. As mentioned earlier, he/it has been the inspiration for murderers and would-be murderers, some as young as 12 or 14 years old.
Space does not permit details—Redfern lays it all out better than I could here—but of the several cases involving Slenderman the most disturbing and well known is that of two 12-year-old girls who plotted, lured, and attacked one of their “best friends.” Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser are currently incarcerated in mental institutions for 25 and 40 years, respectively, after being tried for attempted murder in adult court in Wisconsin and being found not guilty by reason of insanity. Morgan stabbed their victim 19 times with a 5-inch kitchen knife. According to Beware the Slenderman, a heartbreaking 2017 HBO documentary I watched while reading this book, Morgan has schizophrenia like her father and had become increasingly divorced from reality following the attack.
I was honestly appalled at a sequence in the documentary where there was what could only be termed “fan art” of the two girls with knives, posing with the Slenderman. Dozens of images exist. These images feed the perhaps numerous entities manifesting as this insidious thing.
The stakes are high when it comes to Slenderman, and the consequences of mucking about in his auric field, as it were, are real. Abundant energy—oftentimes the sharp, angry energy of lonely teenagers whose only socialization comes through the Internet—is offered daily to this untrustworthy archetype of sinister origins. As researchers and experiencers, it is our duty to keep improving our understanding of what is going on. The Internet will only get more powerful and ubiquitous as Virtual Reality takes further hold. How long before someone is literally “scared to death” by some version of this tall, thin, dark-suited entity?
Equally contributive to the deification of those who have done Slenderman’s bidding is the horror film about Slenderman due to be released in August 2018. Where do we draw the line as content creators? Where is our duty to not feed the beast with attention and the potent energy of fear, despite the lure of sure box office profits?
Redfern lays out the facts and dangers for us through thorough research, engaging prose, and a rich array of interviews. As he says in closing, “The trick to beating the Slenderman, and keeping him at bay, is not to think about him. The problem is, that’s not the easiest thing to do. Good luck, though…” (p. 267, emphasis in the original).
If you have a teenager (as I do) who spends a lot of time on websites such as Creepypasta Wiki and has a fascination with other dark and macabre Internet and YouTube channels, this book should be a priority read. I was brought to tears by the genuine surprise and sense of guilt and helplessness of Anissa and Morgan’s parents in the HBO documentary. A little insight goes a long, long way, because those things that lurk at the edge of the woods sometimes steal our children in ways that we know not.
December 3, 2019
The Slenderman (or "Slender Man") began its life in June 2009, a creepypasta (derived from “copypasta,” itself derived from “cut and paste”) internet meme created by artist Eric Knudsen, initially submitted to a Photoshop contest on the horror website Something Awful. The meme went viral, inspiring others to contribute their own Slender Man stories and photos. This broadening “fan fiction” soon branched out into computer games and a youtube webisode series entitled Marble Hornets, resulting in an increasingly ornate mythology. Knudsen had clearly tapped into a psychologically potent image – a faceless, tall, thin, dark-suited, tentacled entity, a modern day bogeyman that drew its influence from sources as diverse as H.P. Lovecraft, the Men in Black, the Shadow People, and the Mad Gasser of Matoon.
In 2014, two twelve year old girls, Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser, residents of Waukesha, Wisconsin, conspired to murder their best friend, Payton Lautner, as a bizarre sacrifice to the Slender Man. Weier and Geyser had read about him on the website Creepypasta, where it was said that he was most often seen in the woods around suburban populations, preying primarily upon children. Both girls had been experiencing visual hallucinations of the Slender Man, and Geyser claimed to have had telepathic communications with the creature. Their sacrifice of Lautner was intended to convince the Slender Man to spare Weier and Geyser and their families. The girls led Lautner into a nearby state forest, and Geyser proceeded to stab Lautner nineteen times with a five inch steak knife. Miraculously, Lautner survived. The crime garnered worldwide notoriety. Geyser and Weier later stood trial for attempted murder and were sentenced to forty and twenty-five years in criminal mental institutions, respectively.
The crime was tragic, yet rich with psychological, sociological, criminological, and folkloric complexity. In Nick Redfern's The Slenderman Mysteries, such intricacies are largely disregarded, and receive only a cursory examination. Redfern instead focuses on the less prosaic – yet far less disturbing – paranormal elements surrounding the Slender Man phenomenon, principally the notion that the Slender Man may have acquired a life of his own in a literal sense; i.e. that he is a tulpa, or a "thought-form" given autonomous physical embodiment by virtue of enough people coming to believe in his existence. As evidence of this, Redfern points to an episode of Coast to Coast AM that aired, quite coincidentally, on the late evening and early hours prior to the attack on Lautner. The theory, as near as I can make it, is that, because it reached a massive audience, this synchronous broadcast, by increasing belief in the Slender Man's evidence, "helped cause the event," which is a rather awkward – not to mention irresponsible – assertion at best, as the perpetrators had clearly planned the murder well in advance of the episode's airing. Redfern uses this notion of the Slender Man-as-tulpa as a springboard, from which he fancifully proposes, without much evidence to back it up, that the internet itself may have, à la Skynet or the Matrix, developed its own peculiar consciousness, of which the Slender Man is one manifestation; a fiction that has somehow become magically "entangled" with reality.
Still another theory, expounded upon at length by Redfern, is the belief that the Slender Man in fact existed prior to 2009, and that Knudsen merely tapped into something that was already there, which is a bit like proclaiming that Stephen King invented scary clowns. Knudsen wasn’t harnessing an objective entity, but rather reflecting our collective fear of the unknown. The Slender Man's facelessness suggests an indeterminate being, one that rests uneasily just beyond the realm of the comprehension; faces generally indicate whether one intends harm or not and if something is faceless, its intentions too remain disturbingly inscrutable. Similarly, his tentacles are suggestive of slithering snakes, or creatures of the deep. There's also the standby dark mansion, dark woods, and, especially, the familiar taker of children theme, a common folkloric trope that stretches back from Grimm's fairy tales to the very beginnings of storytelling; discussing the reasons for the potency of the Slender Man mythology, Redfern dutifully makes reference to the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
In the chapters where Redfern directs his attention to this reality – and there are too few, really – such as in his discussions of the Slender Man’s origins and influences, or its echoing of common folkloric themes, The Slenderman Mysteries substantially improves, yet even here Redfern’s research – comprised primarily of a handful of original interviews with other writers or experiencers – is cursory and wanting. The circumstances concerning the real world attempted murder committed by psychologically damaged twelve-year-olds and a number of other Slender Man-related events, introduced approximately one-third of the way through, remain more mystifying than Redfern's speculative, supernatural "mysteries." These incidences should be central to his book, yet, given the target audience, this precipitating event is almost begrudgingly raised and then quickly discarded. Redfern is at his best is when he quits the armchair – or internet – investigating, and rather fruitless speculations and contemplation of coincidences and conspiracies, and actually pauses to consider the more chilling real-world causes and implications of the phenomenon. As it stands, one finds only hints of a more incisive and fascinating and disturbing book within. -- Eric Hoffman, Fortean Times
In 2014, two twelve year old girls, Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser, residents of Waukesha, Wisconsin, conspired to murder their best friend, Payton Lautner, as a bizarre sacrifice to the Slender Man. Weier and Geyser had read about him on the website Creepypasta, where it was said that he was most often seen in the woods around suburban populations, preying primarily upon children. Both girls had been experiencing visual hallucinations of the Slender Man, and Geyser claimed to have had telepathic communications with the creature. Their sacrifice of Lautner was intended to convince the Slender Man to spare Weier and Geyser and their families. The girls led Lautner into a nearby state forest, and Geyser proceeded to stab Lautner nineteen times with a five inch steak knife. Miraculously, Lautner survived. The crime garnered worldwide notoriety. Geyser and Weier later stood trial for attempted murder and were sentenced to forty and twenty-five years in criminal mental institutions, respectively.
The crime was tragic, yet rich with psychological, sociological, criminological, and folkloric complexity. In Nick Redfern's The Slenderman Mysteries, such intricacies are largely disregarded, and receive only a cursory examination. Redfern instead focuses on the less prosaic – yet far less disturbing – paranormal elements surrounding the Slender Man phenomenon, principally the notion that the Slender Man may have acquired a life of his own in a literal sense; i.e. that he is a tulpa, or a "thought-form" given autonomous physical embodiment by virtue of enough people coming to believe in his existence. As evidence of this, Redfern points to an episode of Coast to Coast AM that aired, quite coincidentally, on the late evening and early hours prior to the attack on Lautner. The theory, as near as I can make it, is that, because it reached a massive audience, this synchronous broadcast, by increasing belief in the Slender Man's evidence, "helped cause the event," which is a rather awkward – not to mention irresponsible – assertion at best, as the perpetrators had clearly planned the murder well in advance of the episode's airing. Redfern uses this notion of the Slender Man-as-tulpa as a springboard, from which he fancifully proposes, without much evidence to back it up, that the internet itself may have, à la Skynet or the Matrix, developed its own peculiar consciousness, of which the Slender Man is one manifestation; a fiction that has somehow become magically "entangled" with reality.
Still another theory, expounded upon at length by Redfern, is the belief that the Slender Man in fact existed prior to 2009, and that Knudsen merely tapped into something that was already there, which is a bit like proclaiming that Stephen King invented scary clowns. Knudsen wasn’t harnessing an objective entity, but rather reflecting our collective fear of the unknown. The Slender Man's facelessness suggests an indeterminate being, one that rests uneasily just beyond the realm of the comprehension; faces generally indicate whether one intends harm or not and if something is faceless, its intentions too remain disturbingly inscrutable. Similarly, his tentacles are suggestive of slithering snakes, or creatures of the deep. There's also the standby dark mansion, dark woods, and, especially, the familiar taker of children theme, a common folkloric trope that stretches back from Grimm's fairy tales to the very beginnings of storytelling; discussing the reasons for the potency of the Slender Man mythology, Redfern dutifully makes reference to the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
In the chapters where Redfern directs his attention to this reality – and there are too few, really – such as in his discussions of the Slender Man’s origins and influences, or its echoing of common folkloric themes, The Slenderman Mysteries substantially improves, yet even here Redfern’s research – comprised primarily of a handful of original interviews with other writers or experiencers – is cursory and wanting. The circumstances concerning the real world attempted murder committed by psychologically damaged twelve-year-olds and a number of other Slender Man-related events, introduced approximately one-third of the way through, remain more mystifying than Redfern's speculative, supernatural "mysteries." These incidences should be central to his book, yet, given the target audience, this precipitating event is almost begrudgingly raised and then quickly discarded. Redfern is at his best is when he quits the armchair – or internet – investigating, and rather fruitless speculations and contemplation of coincidences and conspiracies, and actually pauses to consider the more chilling real-world causes and implications of the phenomenon. As it stands, one finds only hints of a more incisive and fascinating and disturbing book within. -- Eric Hoffman, Fortean Times
January 6, 2020
I thought this was going to be a collection of Slenderman "experiences" - kind of like a story book, if you will.
But, this book is a "history of" the Slenderman. It tells of it's origins (which were kind of cool considering that different cultures, races and ages describe the same entity over hundreds of years) and some of the experiences, but it's more of a textbook than a "story" to read.
I would love to have a collection of essays written by those who saw the Slenderman or those who were affected by Slenderman in some way. Neat story, and it's kind of like the Boogeyman in real life.
But, this book is a "history of" the Slenderman. It tells of it's origins (which were kind of cool considering that different cultures, races and ages describe the same entity over hundreds of years) and some of the experiences, but it's more of a textbook than a "story" to read.
I would love to have a collection of essays written by those who saw the Slenderman or those who were affected by Slenderman in some way. Neat story, and it's kind of like the Boogeyman in real life.
January 17, 2022
Awful.
March 30, 2022
Started off pretty interesting, but quickly became incredibly repetitive. I felt like I was listening to a high schooler trying to pad an essay with fluff to reach their word count.
October 4, 2023
I have tried finishing this book now about... I think this is the fourth time. Every single time I make it a little further, but I am done torturing myself. I am throwing in the towel on this hot mess. I really hate leaving a book unfinished, but I just can't keep doing this to myself. My latest read ended at 52%.
Things start off well enough. The author talks about thought-forms, or tulpas, and he had some interesting theories. Except for the author, it isn't theories. It is literal fact. He talks about sleep paralysis, and how it MUST be because of Slenderman. The author BARELY mentions the fact that people who suffer from sleep paralysis tend to have visual as well as physical symptoms. Instead of saying that some of these MIGHT be Slenderman, and might be something else, oh no. Anyone who sees a Slenderman like entity while suffering from sleep paralysis are being visited by the Slenderman. Usually when you make an argument, you should also touch on the opposite side, but the author doesn't do that AT ALL.
The author also really didn't touch on any theory very much. The author more or less stated the theory, gave MAYBE a sentence or two in explanation, and then rushed on to the next. For example, he keeps bringing up chaos magic, and from the way the author explained, or well FAILED to really explain chaos magic, believes everyone should already know exactly what it means. That right there is BAD writing. REALLY bad writing.
Want to know another bad writing thing? DO NOT CITE YOUR OWN WORKS!!! I mean, really?! That's ridiculous. You might as well just not cite ANYTHING than cite your own works. It's one thing if you're citing an interview, it's quite another to actually cite one of your own books. That's pure laziness. The author couldn't bother to find somewhere else that stated the same thing? Highly doubtful.
Another thing is the author tries to link Slenderman with so many different movie monsters, myths, and stories that I couldn't help but continue to roll my eyes. Just because it LOOKS like a duck, doesn't mean it's a Slenderman duck. The author even tries to tell what the creator of the original two photos of Slenderman used as inspiration. And it wasn't just what the actual creator stated. The author claimed that the Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth had to be inspiration. Even if the creator didn't say that.
If you want a bunch of supposition, "truth", and "facts", then this is the book for you. If you want a scholarly look at the Slenderman phenomena, DO NOT LOOK HERE. There is nothing scholarly here.
Things start off well enough. The author talks about thought-forms, or tulpas, and he had some interesting theories. Except for the author, it isn't theories. It is literal fact. He talks about sleep paralysis, and how it MUST be because of Slenderman. The author BARELY mentions the fact that people who suffer from sleep paralysis tend to have visual as well as physical symptoms. Instead of saying that some of these MIGHT be Slenderman, and might be something else, oh no. Anyone who sees a Slenderman like entity while suffering from sleep paralysis are being visited by the Slenderman. Usually when you make an argument, you should also touch on the opposite side, but the author doesn't do that AT ALL.
The author also really didn't touch on any theory very much. The author more or less stated the theory, gave MAYBE a sentence or two in explanation, and then rushed on to the next. For example, he keeps bringing up chaos magic, and from the way the author explained, or well FAILED to really explain chaos magic, believes everyone should already know exactly what it means. That right there is BAD writing. REALLY bad writing.
Want to know another bad writing thing? DO NOT CITE YOUR OWN WORKS!!! I mean, really?! That's ridiculous. You might as well just not cite ANYTHING than cite your own works. It's one thing if you're citing an interview, it's quite another to actually cite one of your own books. That's pure laziness. The author couldn't bother to find somewhere else that stated the same thing? Highly doubtful.
Another thing is the author tries to link Slenderman with so many different movie monsters, myths, and stories that I couldn't help but continue to roll my eyes. Just because it LOOKS like a duck, doesn't mean it's a Slenderman duck. The author even tries to tell what the creator of the original two photos of Slenderman used as inspiration. And it wasn't just what the actual creator stated. The author claimed that the Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth had to be inspiration. Even if the creator didn't say that.
If you want a bunch of supposition, "truth", and "facts", then this is the book for you. If you want a scholarly look at the Slenderman phenomena, DO NOT LOOK HERE. There is nothing scholarly here.
September 17, 2019
3.5 stars for purely entertainment reasons.
The thing about conspiracies is that they're often a string of coincidences, conjectures, and incidences which may or may not be connected at all - and there's a lot of that going on here. Though I tried to keep an open mind and I really do enjoy a good Urban Legend, I found some of the author's conclusions just a tad out there. One thing the author is clear on and I agree, Slenderman is a product of the internet, a critter created on and spread by electronic means. How very modern.
On the other hand, when the UL in question went from a fairly innocent bit of scary fun to at least one attempted murder of one 12 year old by two other 12 year olds who took Slenderman way more seriously than I suspect Mr. Knudson, the originator, ever intended, you gotta wonder. (One of the girls got sentenced to 40 years in a psychiatric institution - so there was some real world nastiness going on here. The youngster who was attacked survived, thankfully.)
The first time anyone heard of this creature was on a website Something Awful dedicated to photo manipulation and alternative type stories back in 2009. However, Mr. Redfern brings up some interesting ideas and possible antecedents for Slenderman from German and First American folklore to popular culture and straight up imagination. The originator, Michael Knudson, admits to being influenced by writers like Steven King* and H.P. Lovecraft.
*Though it's never brought up in the book, my brain kept throwing up Pennywise in his true form from It - which predates Slenderman by nearly 25 years but the inspiration is pretty obvious.
The thing about conspiracies is that they're often a string of coincidences, conjectures, and incidences which may or may not be connected at all - and there's a lot of that going on here. Though I tried to keep an open mind and I really do enjoy a good Urban Legend, I found some of the author's conclusions just a tad out there. One thing the author is clear on and I agree, Slenderman is a product of the internet, a critter created on and spread by electronic means. How very modern.
On the other hand, when the UL in question went from a fairly innocent bit of scary fun to at least one attempted murder of one 12 year old by two other 12 year olds who took Slenderman way more seriously than I suspect Mr. Knudson, the originator, ever intended, you gotta wonder. (One of the girls got sentenced to 40 years in a psychiatric institution - so there was some real world nastiness going on here. The youngster who was attacked survived, thankfully.)
The first time anyone heard of this creature was on a website Something Awful dedicated to photo manipulation and alternative type stories back in 2009. However, Mr. Redfern brings up some interesting ideas and possible antecedents for Slenderman from German and First American folklore to popular culture and straight up imagination. The originator, Michael Knudson, admits to being influenced by writers like Steven King* and H.P. Lovecraft.
*Though it's never brought up in the book, my brain kept throwing up Pennywise in his true form from It - which predates Slenderman by nearly 25 years but the inspiration is pretty obvious.
April 2, 2019
An interesting book overall. The author briefly describes Slenderman’s creation as a fictional character and his rapid rise in popularity, then spends the rest of the book describing reported real-life encounters and possibilities for how this could be. The book also briefly touches on a few mysterious entities that are Slenderman-like to a greater or lesser degree, such as MIBs, the Mad Gasser of Mattoon, and several creature from folklore.
As I said, the book is interesting overall. However, it would’ve been nice to examine some of the presented topics more in depth and also some non-paranormal theories about the various aspects of the Slenderman phenomenon. Still, I’d say it’s worth a read.
As I said, the book is interesting overall. However, it would’ve been nice to examine some of the presented topics more in depth and also some non-paranormal theories about the various aspects of the Slenderman phenomenon. Still, I’d say it’s worth a read.
May 29, 2019
Complete & Exhaustive Coverage of the Phenomenon
This was another extensively researched book by author Nick Redfern. Considering that the subject was a fictional creation, a wide variety of similarities to other creatures and real world encounters that are frightening have happened. He explores a number of topics from other examples from history, encounters here and abroad and far more things than you would expect are covered here. Everything and nearly anything relating to the Slender man is here. I read this book using immersion reading while listening to the audiobook. Narrator Shaun Grindell does a great job describing all the strange details. A must for cryptid fans.
This was another extensively researched book by author Nick Redfern. Considering that the subject was a fictional creation, a wide variety of similarities to other creatures and real world encounters that are frightening have happened. He explores a number of topics from other examples from history, encounters here and abroad and far more things than you would expect are covered here. Everything and nearly anything relating to the Slender man is here. I read this book using immersion reading while listening to the audiobook. Narrator Shaun Grindell does a great job describing all the strange details. A must for cryptid fans.
July 11, 2023
I picked up this book at the Boston airport and just the cover had me hooked. I’ve loved slenderman since I was a emo little kid in 2012 his fictional lore and real life lore keep me on my toes. This book is organized in such a amazing manner. I’m never left confused or lost. While I think he handled the 2014 stabbing okay I wish he showed a little more feeling towards what happened to that poor girl whose two best friends just stabbed her. Over all this opened my eyes to a whole other world.
March 2, 2018
Pretty good overview and discussion of the phenomenon. A lot of Interesting food for thought especially on the notion of if you stare into the darkness, the darkness looks back at you. I can't help thinking that it's part of some grand ritual that's been going on for a long time to bring forth a frightening end game. ..but by who? ...or what?...sweet dreams goodreads land..
February 23, 2019
A fun read which comprises of facts, fictions, unrelated stories and a lot of faulty arguments. The author seems obsessed with the men in black which was a new and nonsensical concept for me.
This book, although fun , isn't very informative. An online search on the slender man provides much more facts and related fictions and tales than this book.
This book, although fun , isn't very informative. An online search on the slender man provides much more facts and related fictions and tales than this book.
March 17, 2018
This a good sober overview of the Slenderman.
Redfern is a great researcher who has set stitched together a sober examination of the Slenderman. If you think that it is safe to dismiss Slenderman, you probably need to read this!
Redfern is a great researcher who has set stitched together a sober examination of the Slenderman. If you think that it is safe to dismiss Slenderman, you probably need to read this!
May 3, 2020
As others have said it was repetitive and there were some underdeveloped threads/themes. (Eg id have loved to hear more about tulpas and the slender man/Wisconsin tie). But a good slenderman intro nonetheless.
July 2, 2018
Quite interesting story of the birth and evolution of the modern boogey man
March 11, 2020
I enjoyed the book. The book was well thought out and written in a manner that was easy to follow and understand. I will definitely read more books by this author.
August 20, 2021
A lot of speculation that is presented as fact. If you're willing to suspend disbelief though there are some interesting theories espoused by the author in this book.
February 3, 2024
A thought provoking opinion on the growing interest with slenderman.
July 9, 2025
I picked this up hoping for creepy Slenderman stories or at least an exploration of the myth’s origins, but it just wasn’t what I expected—or wanted. Instead of focusing on the cultural side of Slenderman or the internet lore that made him famous, the book leans heavily into conspiracy theories, trying to argue that Slenderman is actually real—a tulpa or thought-form manifesting in the real world.
It felt repetitive, rushed, and honestly a bit far-fetched for me. I’m a longtime creepypasta fan, so I wanted to enjoy this, but the wild speculation and lack of grounding just made it fall flat. It has some interesting moments here and there, but overall, I agree with a lot of other reviews: this one missed the mark.
It felt repetitive, rushed, and honestly a bit far-fetched for me. I’m a longtime creepypasta fan, so I wanted to enjoy this, but the wild speculation and lack of grounding just made it fall flat. It has some interesting moments here and there, but overall, I agree with a lot of other reviews: this one missed the mark.
January 30, 2025
This came up as recommended to me on Audible and as it was included in my subscription I thought I would give it a shot.
I know the bare bones of the Slenderman "legends". I knew they were made up on the internet and I knew there had been an attempted murder because of him, but beyond that I didn't know much else. I have read horror books based on the story but I haven't read the history of the Slenderman.
The book was interesting in places, but it was a little disjointed and rambling in others. It wasn't exactly what I was hoping it would be. There was no real horror or fear created by the way it was narrated, and it felt like the author wanted you to believe a very specific belief of the Slenderman. Although it was classed as non-fiction and the real life stuff mentioned was indeed non-fiction, some of what the author was pressing came across as quite fictitious, and I am a relatively open minded person.
I have some other works by the same author on my wish list but they will not be books I will be quick to get to now.
I know the bare bones of the Slenderman "legends". I knew they were made up on the internet and I knew there had been an attempted murder because of him, but beyond that I didn't know much else. I have read horror books based on the story but I haven't read the history of the Slenderman.
The book was interesting in places, but it was a little disjointed and rambling in others. It wasn't exactly what I was hoping it would be. There was no real horror or fear created by the way it was narrated, and it felt like the author wanted you to believe a very specific belief of the Slenderman. Although it was classed as non-fiction and the real life stuff mentioned was indeed non-fiction, some of what the author was pressing came across as quite fictitious, and I am a relatively open minded person.
I have some other works by the same author on my wish list but they will not be books I will be quick to get to now.
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