<P> The Slender Man soon went viral, spawning numerous works of fanart, cosplay, and online fiction known as "creepypasta"--scary stories told in short snatches of easily copyable text that spread from site to site . Divorced from its original creator, the Slender Man became the subject of myriad stories by multiple authors within an overarching mythos . </P> <P> Many aspects of the Slender Man mythos first appeared on the original Something Awful thread . One of the earliest additions was added by a forum user named "Thoreau - Up", who created a folklore story set in 16th - century Germany involving a character called Der Groẞman, which was implied to be an early reference to the Slender Man . The first video series involving the Slender Man evolved from a post on the Something Awful thread by user "ce gars". It tells of a fictional film school friend named Alex Kralie, who had stumbled upon something troubling while shooting his first feature - length project, Marble Hornets . The video series, published in found footage style on YouTube, forms an alternate reality game describing the filmers' fictional experiences with the Slender Man . The ARG also incorporates a Twitter feed and an alternate YouTube channel created by a user named "totheark". As of 2013, Marble Hornets had over 250,000 subscribers around the world and had received 55 million views . Other Slender Man - themed YouTube serials followed, including EverymanHYBRID and TribeTwelve . </P> <P> In 2012, the Slender Man was adapted into a video game titled Slender: The Eight Pages; within its first month of release, the game was downloaded over 2 million times . Several popular variants of the game followed, including Slenderman's Shadow and Slender Man for iOS, which became the second most - popular app download . The sequel to Slender: The Eight Pages, Slender: The Arrival, was released in 2013 . Several independent films about the Slender Man have been released or are in development, including Entity and The Slender Man, released free online after a $10,000 Kickstarter campaign . In 2013, it was announced that Marble Hornets would become a feature film . In 2015, the film adaptation, Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story, was released on VOD, where the character was portrayed by Doug Jones . In 2016, Sony Pictures subsidiary Screen Gems partnered with Mythology Entertainment to bring a Slender Man film into theatres, with the title character portrayed by Javier Botet . </P> <P> Because the Slender Man's fictional "mythology" has evolved without an official "canon" for reference, his appearance, motives, habits, and abilities are not fixed but change depending on the storyteller . He is most commonly described as very tall and thin with unnaturally long, tentacle - like arms (or merely tentacles), which he can extend to intimidate or capture prey . In most stories his face is white and featureless, but occasionally his face appears differently to anyone who sees it . He appears to be wearing a dark suit and tie . The Slender Man is often associated with the forest and / or abandoned locations and has the ability to teleport . Proximity to the Slender Man is often said to trigger a "Slender sickness"; a rapid onset of paranoia, nightmares and delusions accompanied by nosebleeds . </P>

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