The Rise And Fall Of Slenderman

[@Izzzyzzz]

Forgot to add the timestamp on screen at around 26:00!! If you want to skip that content go to 28:50 :}

[@whatifieatedsoap]

Please wear that hat again

[@victorlannister5606]

@@whatifieatedsoap I agree love the hat!!!

[@TheRadical0ne]

This has been my special interest for 7 years!!! The history of slenderman, creepypasta and the slenderverse ARGs and all the level its engraved into online history (to the point where knowing who the hell slender is has become a weird right of passage of that "scary internet story video" phase). Hell, I have EverymanHYBRID videos on my channel, a custom Masked Man mask made by a cosplayer I know and managed to grab the box set for Marble Hornets DVDs. It's kinda weird but Slenderman kinda became a huge part of my life and there's even some things that weren't in the video that I really wish you included that was outside the creepypasta community and where the snowball effect really kicked off and surprisingly, only really got to die within the past few years with some controversy (post-2014). It's a weird special interest to have, and with the amount of controversy surrounding the slenderman its a little hard to find time to talk about why I have a shirt that says "Jeff is still dead" (Not creepypasta) but this really fed that gremlin in my head after all these years

[@lizdee3243]

(Psst, I think you misspoke at the end there - you said Skillshare sponsored the video.)

[@kay_is_dumb]

@@TheRadical0ne omg this is such a cool and interesting special interest !!!!!!!!

[@4thofEleven]

I find the whole "Slenderman and the other Creepypastas all hang out in a mansion and are friends" trope fascinating. With old horror, it took more than half a century to go from Dracula to The Munsters, but in internet time, we can do the same thing to our modern horror icons in barely a year!

[@DarkFaeCosplay]

I wouldn’t say friends more like coworkers or people who are roommates.

[@Devilcakes]

Yooooooothat trope was the shiz.

[@Duvelle_]

Man I remember seeing many gacha vids of that trope

[@boarfaceswinejaw4516]

@@DarkFaeCosplay "and they were Roomates!"

[@pink_sky_morning4842]

@@boarfaceswinejaw4516 “Oh my god they were roommates.”

[@noitibmar]

Back in the Marble Hornets days, I gave a 30 minute school presentation about SlenderMan for an English Writing class. It thoroughly terrified everyone in the class along with the teacher, But whilst it went really well I actually gave the presentation feeling horrendously ill and shortly after I had to go home and didn't show up to school for the next 3 days. From everyone else's perspective, I had told them all about this spooky internet legend that steals or kills children and then vanished with no trace. Easiest A of my school years x

[@amoureux6502]

This is absolutely legendary

[@NotAliveSoon]

R/Madlad

[@raffaelefrau9789]

You are a legend and I wish I was in your class then

[@K1ng_Squ1dZ]

Danm bro

[@TuberoseKisser]

I think the teacher was terrified mainly due to the fact that a student gave a 30 minute presentation about a fictional serial killer/kidnapper

[@Scootakip]

The little girl that survived 19 stabs is absolutely a badass. I can't even begin to imagine the horror she went through, but to persevere and survive is incredible

[@GreatBooker]

And WALKED TO THE ROAD! I can barely walk when I get fever body aches. She got stabbed NINETEEN TIMES. Absolute legendary survivor. I know she still struggles some mentally from the last report i saw at least and I wish her nothing but peace. I can’t even imagine.

[@jasonarmstrong5750]

To be fair such human resilience isn't unheard of, look up Roy Benavidez, the guy is proof that adrenaline is a life saver at times

[@lastbutnotleon]

Jesus they really went Julius Caesar on her ☠️ I didn’t realize they did it *19 times*, the poor girl. I hope she and her family have healed

[@iwakeupandboomimarat]

and also one of the stab wounds was found to be smth like 1 centimeter from her heart, its fucking incredible she survived

[@rubirose1565]

She's doing good now I've heard. Apparently she's going to college for medicine

[@AshChiCupcak]

As a parent, I don't understand those other parents trying to shut down the creepypasta community "to protect the kids". I grew up reading the scary stories to read in the dark series and R.L. Stine which were pretty dark looking back. They shaped my entire childhood in a way I imagine creepypastas have done for kids today. Let kids enjoy their innocent spooks before they gotta deal with the real ones.

[@philippak7726]

Goosebumps were direct campfire stories and came in a format they understood. Don't you remember how going on the internet was something that was going to brainwash you into a cult according to your parents? It's also a matter of those parents wanting to blame other things for their own neglect. You don't jump from horror story to stabbery in one go, they had to be consuming with no outlet for the thoughts for some time with no oversight. So of course it's not the parent who let their kid have unfiltered access to the internet, and was never a safe space to discuss complicated matters... it was the internet's fault for corrupting them

[@anthonysmith4222]

Those real spooks are nothing but trouble.

[@ematooney01]

YOURE A GOOD PARENT

[@valkyriedarquese]

uneducated parents can easily be swayed by moral panic and mass misinformation campaigns

[@KingOfGaymes]

Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark had just as disturbing, IF NOT MORE disturbing images in it than creepypastas. And those were in school libraries all over. Myself and others grew up with those books, or having more laid back parents letting us watch scary things. Kids have always been interested in the scary and creepy. That’s why kids love Halloween lol so I don’t understand wanting to take that away from kids to “protect them”, if anything it’s healthy for kids to get scared by things and be curious about creepy things. It helps prepare them for life and the future. As life can be scary. If you just protect children from everything they’ll never learn and grow up..

[@xotbirdox]

One thing I wanted to mention about the stabbing case: it was actually found that one of the perpetrators was literally hallucinating Slenderman IRL. She had undiagnosed schizophrenia, a disorder that her dad had been diagnosed with for years. I'm not defending her AT ALL bc plenty of people have mental illnesses and hallucinations and don't kill people, but it just adds a bit more context as to why she believed so hard that he was real. Because she literally thought she was seeing him. This is a great video btw!! Taught me stuff I didn't know abt Slenderman's history, even though I was like 15 at the height of the popularity and played The Eight Pages! That's what I love abt your vids; even if I'm knowledgeable on the topic, I'll still learn a thing or two from you! 😊

[@freakette555]

Yeah, I think it's important that people know that it wasn't just "these kids are so stupid and gullible," it was a case of untreated mental illness going very very poorly.

[@opo3628]

A person's mental health is taken seriously only *after* they do something bad. Isn't that the way it always goes?

[@raro344]

@@opo3628 it depends if the person is atractive. them it happen

[@bread3287]

Schizophrenia at such a young age?!?!?

[@passionate_possum_pal]

@@bread3287 ya lol, hallucinations can happen at any age

[@princeofalltoasters8813]

The funny thing is, the meme-ification of Slenderman and the watering down of his mythos to this easily digestible jumpscare bait with tons of low effort games, memes, and lore written by 10 year olds filling it with their OCs is EXACTLY what is happening to The Backrooms right now. History truly DOES repeat itself

[@TheDBPhantom]

from what little i know of both, the backrooms remind me a lot of spooky's house of jumpscares, which reminds me a lot of SCP stuff. tons of different unique monsters/levels with categorized ways to combat them.

[@pinchetii6555]

People adding hundreds of deeper levels that include all these op ass monsters makes me cringe

[@EvaHoshizora]

Thankfully you can't just force yourself to enter it, so there won't be kids killing each other to enter x'D

[@someguy9893]

Sirenhead too.

[@annawesometheflameingpikac3688]

It's interesting because backrooms got compared to SCP a lot early on, but it's proven to not have the staying power that SCP foundation has

[@MiMiDiction]

Slight correction: the Marble Hornets series wrapped up seamlessly. The even did a few retrospectives about the show immediately afterwards. It was during their next project that the three founders of that production company had a falling out and left that new series unfinished. Troy works solo on a new project now, and the others have largely stepped back from online content creation

[@autumneatspant86]

Why did they have a falling out?

[@rivetsquid8887]

@@autumneatspant86 the company structure basically let Troy take money out without anyone needing to know. During a time of high tension after adding someone new to the group, Troy admitted he'd stolen company money to buy a house and wanted to come clean and pay it back... but he had like, a really weird pays payscale change he wanted to do to make that happen that would have essentially had everyone docking their pay to pay back the company money he'd taken. It blew up rather publically online at the time, but a lot of those old posts have been deleted by now I'm sure.

[@olga1231]

@@rivetsquid8887 last i heard they seem to be in better terms again, idk if friends but not angry at least and that makes me happy

[@icequeensamwich9309]

@@olga1231 So Troy and I dm on instagram regularly, and Tim and I have been online friends for years, and to the best of my knowledge, they're not in contact.

[@Taff3ta_]

@@olga1231 Joseph, Tim and Brian are all still friends. Troy and Joseph I think are at least on talking terms?

[@cinntoast912]

I was a child during the main rise of Slenderman and was terrified of him as a child considering I lived right next to a woods. I didn’t know any of the lore around him and the somehow made him scarier to me. And despite all the memeing and terrible media around him as a character I can still say he’s actually quite scary, definitely compared to the other creepypastas he shared the stage with

[@presleydejean4638]

I came down here to comment my experience with slenderman and then I saw you already commented it for me haha. The only difference is I had seen Markiplier's lets play of the original slenderman game so I had SOME idea of what he was capable of.. needless to say I was terrified of hearing noises behind me while outside.

[@charbway]

Same, I learned about Slenderman when I was like 13 and it was around week before I went to my parents' cottage for the summer, which is also surrounded by woods. It didn't help that I had to sleep in a tiny trailer by myself either lol

[@Jiggbopp]

Fr slender hit different when your backyard is basically the woods 🫥

[@TheCuteSpacePyro]

haha me too man! Everytime i went to my grandparents house i would sleep in this big room which had a window right next to my bed. It freaked me out since that window lead right to the woods which went straight up the mountains. I was scared that he was going to stand infront of the window and stuff haha

[@yogurt8150]

same here! i actually made up my own lore to be less anxious when around woods or just very lonely roads (doesnt help that my way to school and mostly anywhere fun was through woods) though my method of making him less scary was imagining a "tortured teen sad boy with a super sad backstory pretending to be an evil scary demon so ppl leave him alone :'((((" and any lore i learned after coming up with that i just retrofitted to work with mine lmao

[@BasiliskKingOfSerpents]

The fanart of Jeff the Killer kissing Slenderman is everything, I’m losing it. What a masterpiece. I hope that artist is doing great now, wherever they are

[@abi_thatsit2379]

It should really be next to the Mona lisa

[@runge3722]

Real

[@vein5]

i put slenderman making out with jeff the killer in a heart shaped locket and gave it to my gf when we first started dating cuz we're literally them, we've been together 2 years

[@tobyandahalf]

@@vein5that's great honestly

[@BasiliskKingOfSerpents]

@@vein5 Truly beautiful. May your relationship be blessed with the same timeless energy 🙏🙏🙏

[@Kytheguy]

I was just entering film school when Marble Hornets was at the peak of its popularity, and EVERYONE wanted to make their own found footage horror. Some of the projects my classmates and I made were pretty silly, but overall I think it's amazing that filmmaking is so accessible to everyone these days. You don't need expensive equipment to tell a good story. Creepypasta influenced a generation of creators, and I think that's pretty cool.

[@atanaZion]

First world country moment

[@creed8712]

If we want to look at it further the guy who made Candle Cove also made local 58 which brought out an age of analog horror

[@snookers341]

@@creed8712 WHAT how did I not know this

[@0kumurhuh]

@@atanaZion they just wanted to share something that happened that was relevant to them dude, dont be like that

[@doantranvan1844]

ok

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

Slenderman went from a Photoshop image to a creepypasta icon that spawned two games, a movies, and not to mention a crossover where he had a huge beef with Jeff The Killer. Boy! The 2010s Internet feels like a different dimension already. He maybe not as popular as he was back then, but at least Trevor Henderson creatures, especially Siren Head, lived up his legacy.

[@DefyReality-ll2cg]

Momo too

[@katharineball585]

​@whaaa t shuddup

[@kooberrie]

@@DefyReality-ll2cg Momo was a joke

[@EdenNeedsAYoutubeHandle]

As nostalgic as we get about Slender Man ARGs from back in the day, no one in their right mind is nostalgic for Jeff the Killer. That shit is awful lmao. The wave of teenagers writing self-insert wattpad fanfiction of him was the final nail in the coffin of creepypasta's reputation.

[@jirojhasuo2ndgrandcompany745]

@@EdenNeedsAKZbinHandle Jeff the Killer was the worst haha

[@camilaisalawliet]

As someone that's been in the creepypasta community for years, almost seven now jeez- it's kind of amazing how this fandom just REFUSES to die- It is still somehow incredibly popular, not as much as it was before as the idea of fandom itself seems to be dying, but it's still very prominent if you know where to look

[@GeneralPuppet]

where?

[@Reiiven]

Agreed!

[@camilaisalawliet]

@@GeneralPuppet definitely tiktok. but if you go to conventions you find a ton of them too, especially if you're cosplaying as one of the characters, you'll get crowds asking for photos it's insane

[@lapoint5764]

I literally write in the fandom so it’s kinda funny when I see videos talking about the fall of the fandom because it’s still alive and well! I even get new readers and followers everyday!

[@camilaisalawliet]

@@lapoint5764 Same!

[@redtilemile]

i lived in the town where the slenderman stabbing happened. it was so, so heartbreaking. i was in high school at the time, and it tainted the world around us. all my memories of playing 8 pages at sleepovers with my friends were replaced with absolute horror in my community. i felt responsible -- maybe if i'd indulged in and talked about this stupid game less, it wouldn't have happened. it was like overnight, no one was able to speak about slenderman anymore and he became as horrific as we'd all first remembered him as. to this day, i can't see anything about him without thinking of the poor girl. thank god she lived. i hope she's ok today.

[@michaeldavis7767]

She had a whole 20/20 episode. Poor girl slept with scissors under her bed, but she graduated in 2020 and wants to purse a career in the medical field, because by what happened to her.

[@A_Z_A_T_H_O_T_H]

🧢

[@ThatOneFur]

Do you know if the one other girl ever got treatment? I’m pretty sure she was at the height of her terrible mental illness (not saying that the other girl doesn’t deserve to get help but I think we forgot that the actual planner had a debilitating mental illness that was never treated) and I know how it feels to have terrible hallucinations. I feel bad for everyone in the party and I just hope EVERYONE got the help needed. Especially as a person myself who has mental illness that’s untreated (tho I’m much more stable then when I was medicated but I still don’t trust myself fully)

[@whomth]

I doubt you had any influence on what happened. The girls who did it are the only ones to blame.

[@danteshollowedgrounds]

@Hannah Smith Yeah hopefully they got the help they really needed cause that was just crazy.

[@charliebaker2361]

What bothers me about the backlash against reality vs fiction followingnthe stabbing is how quickly so many were to judge the girls stupid. I'm not going to use their names, but the girl essentially leading the charge between the two was diagnosed with schizophrenia and received treatment. Her family noticed some signs as she was growing up and were doing their best to both support her interests but also diagnose and treat her. She has a disorder that literally made it real. That's why this was the exception. Thought it might be partially because I had a friend who had a similar obsession turn reality. He was abused and severely mentally ill, latched onto the IP because what goes better than mental anguish than a popular horror character? He started seeing the figure when we went out on hikes, walked past the farmland out where we lived, etc. I and my other friend had to stop him regularly from just wandering out into the woods several times. Horror and dark concepts can be good for kids and help them develop healthy anxiety coping skills, age appropriate presentation of it anyways. After all, kids are far more resilient, resourceful, and clever than a lot of adults give them credit for. But the kids like my friend and that girl who were suffering and not diagnosed, not receiving treatment or help, are getting exposed to it before they can be diagnosed or before they present symptoms. It can have devastating consequences, as we can see in that case. It feels like a discussion that needs to be happening. Rather than infantilizing the kids and crying that kids horror will turn them into killers, we should focus more on awareness and mental health education, particularly in regards to presentation in children.

[@spacecowboi5466]

the condition is called folie a deux (shared psychosis) and it’s when one person who has schizophrenia/psychosis/delusions essentially “spreads” their delusion to another person close to them who doesn’t have schizophrenia/psychosis/delusions and it’s very rare. childhood schizophrenia is also very rare, so the whole situation was a one in a million type deal.

[@charliebaker2361]

@@spacecowboi5466 the other girl snapped out of it when the reality set in the night they'd planned to do it and tried to stall for time. There was definitely some folie a deux before that moment. I think by the time it happened, she was probably too afraid of the main girl and in too deep to do much. Last update I saw, the main girl is doing much better after receiving treatment

[@spacecowboi5466]

@@charliebaker2361 once they were separated, the girl without schizophrenia began to improve as is the case for folie a deux

[@charliebaker2361]

@Alice I don't like going off others comments, so feel free to take mine with a grain of salt but the information I do stick with in this case came directly from the main girls family. They were very vocal in a particular Hulu documentary about the case because they wanted to bring more awareness to that aspect. The upside is, she's doing much better after receiving treatment. Iirc, her dad was the main voice in humanizing her. It gave me some hope as a kid who was also mentally ill and fixated on creepypastas. Of course, I had graduated high school by the time that happened, but i can still heavily relate

[@nsjhdhdhdbhsudgvdydb7751]

theres not enough talk about trauma and child abuse when talking about mental health as childhood experiences/ unsafe environment are one of the main factors in determining mental health. i hope your friend is doing better, i also have cptsd (trying my best to recover atm) and went through a rough period in time a couple years ago where i was in a severe emotional flashback very paranoid that i needed to kill myself or else i might abuse my sibling. ended up being put on antipsychotics which semi-helped. (a better less intrusive treatment would have been having safe housing and more contact with therapists as i was still living with abusive parents at the time) but there is not enough funding in mental health in england and they just give you medication instead of helping with traumatic situations. (doing much better now after reading "complex ptsd from surving to thriving" and im friends with my siblings)

[@КапецьЯкийсь]

To be honest i think the Creepypasta fandom as a whole deserves a video on its own, back in the day there was so much wild stuff going on

[@katieosborne9858]

I believe that one of the girls involved in the stabbing incident was later diagnosed with schizophrenia, and found to be having audio and visual hallucinations of slenderman. this wasn't a case of "two girls get a little too into internet lore and decide to stab their friend for fun" but of two children whose perception of the world literally confirmed their belief in slenderman. it's somewhat understandable that they would believe that committing the crime they did was their only option (not that there is ever a way to justify a crime like this). i think as adults we hear about this story and go "oh children are ridiculous to believe in things like this, it's clearly fake" but as a child who grew up on the internet, i believed in creepypastas even without having a mental illness that confirmed it. so when considering that she saw slenderman in her everyday life, of course she would believe it was real. those girls needed serious help and it was just heartbreakingly unfortunate that no one knew until after something like that happened.

[@ImDudeRandom90]

iirc the girl who got out recently was sorta the ringleader of the stabbing, which makes her seem even more deplorable if she played into the schizophrenic girl's hallucinations

[@jasonanno3881]

Tbh that’s why parents should talk to their kids and not just let them look at whatever they want online without at least explaining shit.

[@mimikyurepaints2381]

its so unsettling to think that around the time that the stabbing happened i had a friend who also had schizophrenia and hallucinated slendy, luckily it was late enough into the creepypasta lore that it was the they all live in a mansion together iterations of the character

[@yannickgrignon2473]

They got a Not Guilty for reasons of mental illness result, that doesn't happen unless you're seriously ill. It was really just everyone's favourite scapegoat, the media, who inserted the narrative that it could have been just "The Internet" that caused it

[@wolfy297]

In an interview with the parents, it was reported that a teacher had noticed their interest and their alarming change in behavior due to it and reported it to mom. The mom did nothing about it

[@cheesebreadgo]

I was a member of the SA forums when this first came out, and I remember being absolutely creeped out by the Marble Hornets videos. I enjoyed that iteration of Slenderman, but I also didn't really mind all the game spinoffs and stuff. I think it's entertaining and cool how the internet embraced him, although I would have liked if the hollywood movie would have been actually good/used the proper lore. Great video!

[@mari_zz]

SA? D:

[@CeaselessWatchersSpecialBoy]

@@mari_zz I assume that it doesn’t refer to the common meaning of SA, and means something else? Hopefully??

[@CeaselessWatchersSpecialBoy]

@@mari_zz ok- so I assume it stands for “something awful”.

[@txlda]

@@mari_zz (something awful ((the website)))

[@mari_zz]

@@CeaselessWatchersSpecialBoy i see, too used to it being used for something else

[@halfasleepvampire7545]

At the time of the infamous stabbing, I was actually writing creepypastas pretty regularly (and had a tumblr roleplay blog for my own character). I had a couple of my stories narrated, even by MrCreepyPasta so I felt I was deep in the fandom. I remember my little eighth grade brain being furious at the accusations against the fandom.

[@someguy1894]

uh, story name?

[@regularshowman3208]

Okay I gotta know which ones he narrated.

[@SICADALIC]

Same!! I was actually brought in to speak with teachers because I was so into creepy pastas and they started acting like I was going to be the next one to start a stabbing. It didn’t help that I lived not even 30 minutes from the town it happened in.

[@maddieb.4282]

@@SICADALICat least they cared about your and others’ safety and noticed your interests lol, even if they were misguided

[@PinkFox983]

Actually, Marble Hornets had concluded roughly a year before the creators had a falling out. It’s was the spinoff Clearlake’s 44 that was cancelled and erased from the channel. I only say this so that people don’t get discouraged from watching MH thinking it doesn’t end properly, because it does. It’s an incredible series that deserves more love and I highly recommend it.

[@Flicker_thefo0x]

Yup, I just finshed it oh boy, did I enjoy it!

[@elskabee]

i started watching the spinoff when it came out and never knew why it got cancelled nor that it was also deleted, so good to know I guess. But seconding that MH is an excellent watch

[@Flicker_thefo0x]

Dude they just made a upload about a mini operator!

[@Void_Daddy]

@@Flicker_thefo0x I mean unless you have access to a re-upload of it I don't know about I don't think it's possible to 'finish' CL44. Much less the fact it never got finished in the first place.

[@Void_Daddy]

Oh yeah, I remember all that. God that was years ago. I was a very heavy participator in the THAC (their company's name) forums before it's closure. I've talked to Tim and crew-- heck I have Joseph and Tim added on steam. I remember when CL44 firsts tarted and episode by episode we cooked up theories. The 'masked stranger' of that series we had already coined the nickname 'Glitchy' for, and it was fun whilst it lasted.

[@ForestTheBulbasaur]

I remember being such a big fan of creepypastas, and honestly, I sorta am still.

[@lucialovecraft]

It’s holds a nostalgic charm for me

[@ForestTheBulbasaur]

@whaaa t Shut yo goofy ass bot-

[@yvettewantstoknowyourlocat4852]

Every year i always return to the fandom at least 3-4 times 👀

[@mikucarton01]

same LOL

[@Cutiecatisbored]

oh no! Not the dreaded.. BOTS!

[@lordbuttsworth9558]

On top of 'the child assailant had schizophrenia' she had hallucinations of a figure like slenderman before knowing he was a thing. Seeing media on the figure 'confirmed' it for her. It was just a perfect storm of tragedy, though I can't say what her accomplice was thinking.

[@iamsocoolz]

From what I gather accomplice was unfortunately gullible enough to be manipulated into going along with the delusion. It's why kids need adult monitoring (not necessarily interference) of their interests cause at the end of the day good parents know their kids well enough to know if something like Creepy pasta is going to be okay or a really bad influence for the kid in question.

[@Im_Iconic-Youre_Ironic]

​@@iamsocoolz I blame the parents the most bc it's literally their fing job to monitor their own crotch goblins and what they look at.

[@thepinkestpigglet7529]

​@@Im_Iconic-Youre_Ironic ew why would you call them that wtf

[@Im_Iconic-Youre_Ironic]

@thepinkestpigglet7529 Because that's what children are? They're small goblins and they come out of crotches. Ew why would you name yoursest pigglet (and spell it wrong) wtf

[@BobbinRobbin777]

@@Im_Iconic-Youre_Ironic >Unironically uses term "crotch goblins" >To describe _children._ Jesus Christ, touch grass.

[@cousinmajin]

I was in high school when the stabbing happened and I was frustrated with the media coverage of it because I was BIG into Slender/creepypastas at the time. I distinctly remember by mom watching some news reporter talking about how he was so shocked that his kids and all their friends knew who Slender was and how it's so scary that this could happen right under a parent's nose. And my mom just scoffed and turned to me and said "Slenderman? Of course I know who Slenderman is. That's that thing you play with your brother all the time. It's just a game." All that stupid moral panic could have been so easily avoided if people just talked to their kids about their interests. They were all so out of touch that they didn't realize Slenderman being a "big scary secret" was literally entirely their fault because if they asked about it before the incident then their kids would've lore dumped everything and they would realize it's not any more demonic than a campfire story.

[@mrlaz9011]

If this story proves anything, is that many parents shouldn't have kids.

[@guy-sl3kr]

Lmao so true about the lore dumping. Kids with internet access invariably become living breathing wikis for their favorite topics. When I was their age I was pretty much a Homestuck and Hetalia scholar and was 1 dialogue tree option away from ranting about it at all times.

[@spacecowboi5466]

the condition is called folie a deux (shared psychosis) and it’s when one person who has schizophrenia/psychosis/delusions essentially “spreads” their delusion to another person close to them who doesn’t have schizophrenia/psychosis/delusions and it’s very rare. childhood schizophrenia is also very rare, so the whole situation was a one in a million type deal.

[@alolisa113]

@@guy-sl3kr i know this thread is serious but "hetalia scholar" hit so hard your comment is gold thank you

[@nsjhdhdhdbhsudgvdydb7751]

@@spacecowboi5466 that condition doesnt happen without child neglect/abuse though. the other girl wouldve stopped being friends and enforced boundaries with the main girl if her parents were not neglectful. these behaviours are learnt and being exposed to violence or verbal abuse at home or just being fully emotionally neglected can definetly effect your actions as a kid and explains her reluctance to just walk away from the main girl.

[@reiphas]

I remember being into the creepypasta community, mostly on wattpad, so it was a pretty harmless fun, but I had a phase of being hyperfixated on it. I remember one time my mom called me to the TV room and she showed me a clip from the Wisconsin stabbing documentary and she told me "this is what happens when you get too much into internet", basically implying I'm going to be the next headline topic if I won't stop reading creepypastas. Ten years later it turned out I was so much into those things not because I was a violent criminal in the making, but because I was autistic.

[@bun4647]

I relate to this so much!

[@jasondaveries9716]

have you ever seen the jenny nicholson video about wattpad creepy pasta fanfic? i think youd like that haha

[@hauntedxstarzz]

I’m sorry but what she said sounds so funny 💀 “Now dear no more internet I don’t need you stabbin anyone” so casual abt it

[@reiphas]

@@hauntedxstarzz Legit, she was so nonchalant about it it was kinda sad that she though that way about me lol

[@lou9611]

i really don’t mean this as an offense, also english isnt my first language but could you explain how exactly your autism played into it? like, why does it explain this interest/ hyperfixation in creepypasta?

[@twilight3272]

It’s so frustrating what happened in the stabbing case aftermath. It took things going this far for people to recognize that children shouldn’t just be wandering around the internet, yet generally ignored the part mental illness played in this incident.

[@lemonmeat]

yep, and further demonized schizophrenia, made it harder for children who have childhood schizophrenia to be taken serious or get care, etc. it's saddening for both parties. people dont ask to get schizophrenia. (not justifying the actions obviously, just noting how sad and unfortunate both sides had it.. NOBODY deserved this..)

[@darkforestwarriors]

I think it's weird to jump right from Marble Hornets to Slender: The 8 Pages without touching on the absolutely MASSIVE slenderman blog/vlog scene exploding in between. There was a thriving community based on making series based on Slenderman. It was big enough that the Unfiction forums had to make an entire slenderverse board for trailheads (Sadly largely lost to time, as Unfiction was deleted). Tribe Twelve and Everyman Hybrid were big enough that they were usually grouped with Marble Hornets and called "The Big 3". Blog and Vlog series were known for their crossovers to the extent that following ONE series often entailed casual crossovers with dozens of other series. It was wild times!

[@xxclownloverxx6216]

Agreed it’s weird to see how little mention izzzy makes of marble hornets and the other slenderverse series especially considering how much of Slenderman lore they created and canonized

[@MiMiDiction]

Same; Marble Hornets was the catalyst, but there were so many awesome stories that followed and it's weird not to mention at least the big three. EMH especially was super formative for all the different crossovers. Though I can respect not wanting to talk about tribetwelve specifically, what with the recent allegations

[@gastlyyy]

i JUST got into all of these series at the begging of the year and i’m ashamed

[@milli5968]

@@MiMiDiction omg what now

[@Izzzyzzz]

Ohh this is very true! To be honest I had 0 exposure to those series growing up and mainly just watched MH so I didn’t realise how large an impact they also had- so these are really great points!!

[@emoadrian]

As someone who lived 30 minutes away from the Slenderman stabbings I appreciate you being so respectful of the story. it freaked a lot of us Wisconsinites out and especially my mother who had a child close to the age as the girls affected. also the pronunciation of Waukesha is walk-key-shaw for anyone wondering. yes Wisconsin has hard to pronounce cities it's because they're mostly Ojibwe and other indigenous languages

[@softwaifu]

It's unfortunate that the native languages of the land are considered "hard to pronounce". Thanks for teaching me the pronunciation!

[@atanaZion]

Afraid the girls might have done the same for their kid? Looool

[@Periwinkleaccount]

@@atanaZion come on, they didn’t now why she did that, so to them, she could do it to anyone else, and you laugh at them? Wether you’re trolling or not, that’s just disrespectful or stupid and ignorant.

[@redtilemile]

huh, I was from waukesha and we pronounced it waw-kuh-shaw! i've never heard "walk-key-shaw" 👀

[@decafcaffeine1014]

@@redtilemile Wisconsinite here, you’re absolutely right. Me and my friends say “Walk-e-shaw” or “Wacky-shaw” as a joke mostly.

[@765craven4]

I remember being in junior high when the stabbings happened, having been somewhat deep in the Slenderman fandom at the time being shocked. I always imagined the girls who committed the stabbing just using it as an excuse, but learning that one or both of them were schizophrenic later on put the whole thing into a new perspective, making the whole thing that much more tragic.

[@jbugc]

i absolutely love how this is titled like a youtube drama scandal video about a canceled celebrity

[@abbyejones]

"why Slenderman is problematic and you shouldn't support him: a thread"

[@zenostagefour]

​@@abbyejones (1/100000) he nasty

[@novameowww]

i mean he basically was

[@PixiePrincess501]

I remember during my first ComiCon years ago, there was a guy dressed up in a Slenderman cosplay. (Actually, later it turned out, four guys in identical costumes were hiding and popping out of random spots to add a flair of supernatural to the cosplay!) I remember my brother had a really well done Millennium Puzzle pendant that everyone loved. One of the Slendermen walked up to us, and gave my brother a thumbs up, pointing at the pendant, then turned to me and held his hand out, like a gentleman meeting a princess for the first time. Even tho he had no face, he was such a nice guy! 😂 Ah, good times! =^w^=

[@Wolfbarr01]

nice wattpad fanfic

[@KingOfGaymes]

I heard someone say “Millennium Puzzle “ 👀

[@jJuso]

@@Wolfbarr01 life is just a big fanfic tbh

[@TheSlipperyNUwUdle]

Some people really think nothing ever happens. Lol I was at a con once and a guy in a really beaten up Ash Ketchum costume looked both ways and walked up to me (I was dressed in a low budget Misty cosplay) and handed me a scrap of paper that said to never abandon Ash. It also said something about time travel, but it’s been at least six or seven years and I didn’t save the note. lol cons are weird. People that go to cons are weird. 😂

[@jJuso]

@@TheSlipperyNUwUdle honestly i wish i could go to a con lol, they're so chaotic 💀

[@yournewlodger3582]

For those on the internet after The Slenderman Stabbing, do you remember it being misreported that the victim had died? I was unaware that she actually did survive until this video. A very good thing that she did survive, but I wonder if the assumption that she didn't might have fueled the fire when the moral panic around Slenderman and creepypasta started up.

[@kooph0ria]

I was thinking the exact same thing! I could've sworn she died and was surprised to hear she actually didn't

[@adamjoy7119]

Slenderman got popular right as I was moving out of my parents’ house and living on my own; and as a young adult with unchecked anxiety issues, I really found solace in deciding that the “looming demonic boogeyman” was just that ol’ rascal Slendy. To this day, he’s still my go-to “comfort cryptid” for when my brain decides to fixate on horror content while I’m trying to go to sleep. 💖

[@katep4656]

This is actually quite wholesome I like it

[@mae.glitter]

that’s honestly a great idea! as a young adult who still gets spooked by creepypastas and sometimes sleeps with a light on (probably a mix of my anxiety disorder and very persistent childishness lmao), thinking of them as silly little guys is actually a fantastic idea. definitely going to use that!

[@davidhong1934]

I instinctively thought of the "Nosferatu" scene from SpongeBob

[@raffaelefrau9789]

So it's basically what ddlc Monila was for me when I started playing horrors at 12

[@WolfmanHowlz]

That's entirely fair, and actually a great idea! I love that Slenderman is a comfort cryptid for me as well so *fistbump*

[@Live_Laugh_Loathe]

Ahh the sweet scent of childhood, also a reminder that I attempted to summon Slenderman with my friends in fourth grade while we were on a school trip. Thank you Izzzy for another wave of nostalgia:)

[@uggachugga760]

haha i used to put slender notes around my middle school and have my friends look for them. fun times

[@dancelikean1diot]

me and my friends attempted to summon bill cipher in 4th class but I was the only one left at the end who wanted to do it 😭

[@dancelikean1diot]

@****PUTIN' that so true wish I could talk like that

[@lamibonxd]

@@dancelikean1diot LMFAOOO BILL CIPHER omg

[@lamibonxd]

in 3rd grade my friends and i would “taunt” slender man by yelling at him in the forest behind our school😭😭

[@mikomiakari3949]

I lived in the area where Marble Hornets was filmed. I can't remember exactly how my ex and I started watching it, but we got pretty into the series. It was actually completed before the drama came out. I have dvds signed by the guys. We hated the movie because it had nothing to do with MH. One character sort of had a cameo and that was it. I credit MH with getting me into horror particularly through watching other ARG horror series on KZbin.

[@kirbyandstargaming8886]

who was the character that had a cameo in it? i refuse to watch the movie lol

[@mikomiakari3949]

@@kirbyandstargaming8886 There's a missing person poster for Alex at a gas station. It's just in the background. If I remember right. Might have been Jay but pretty sure it was Alex. Only seen this once and never watching it again, so I feel you.

[@melasnexperience]

I was into the "creepypasta reading" channels when the stabbing happened. They immediately arranged a fundraising stream for the victim's family to raise money for medical bills, because they wanted to show everyone that being attached to the genre didn't make people monsters. But that was definitely the tipping point where the genre went from being a new creative movement to something cringey in most people's eyes.

[@chthonicstar]

i have noticed that any creepypastas written after the stabbing seem to be… i don’t wanna say bad but they definitely were more tame. which i can understand but the horror lover in me used to go to creepypastas for my daily dose of scares as conventional horror was boring. so i do miss what creepypastas used to be but i understand why they became what they are now.

[@fauxclaws]

yah I remember that livestream, I even made art for it. It feels so long ago, despite what happened I miss the community of the fandom. We all came together to help as much as we could. "creativity not reality" was the fundraisers slogan, it was a good message.

[@TimeBucks]

It's interesting to see this

[@Kumartrader6055]

Nice 👍👍👍

[@kamalthakur0074]

Nice

[@somnathpal1656]

Hi

[@muneermirza4301]

Nice 👌👌

[@Zowednessday]

Thanks time bucks

[@knives.3733]

I think Trevor Henderson is a great example of that familiar, twisted analog-horror aesthetic done right and re-imagined. I really loved a couple of the games based off of Siren-head. Especially because personally I find the siren sound it makes VERY disconcerning.

[@jello4835]

I think if a kid (or anyone really) tries to sacrificially murder someone to a fictional character, then you can rest assured that they have something deeply wrong with them. If they hadn't been allowed access to creepypastas, they would have just done something violent for some other reason.

[@nnycross6577]

Completely agree. Horror content isn’t dangerous to the average person. It can, however, be concerning for those with pre-existing issues.

[@frogdrug8282]

Someone in the comments mentioned the girl that committed the crime was later found to have schizophrenia. So yes she did act on mental illness and sadly it was caught to late.

[@Devnul]

I was a Slender Man creator from the earliest days of 2010 (some might know me as Chris from Dark Harvest.) I absolutely loved this video! Izzzyzzz is one of my favorite creators on this platform and I totally understand why the Slenderverse aspect was glossed over. There's just too much stuff to cover! And without exposure to the web series, it can be pretty niche. But truly, the Slenderverse community was absolutely wild back in the day. Dozens of web series and ARGs all crossing over with one another and developing their own lore for the character, an intricate web of timelines and alternate canon. It was a very tight community with a lot of collaboration and some of the most creative folks I've ever met, many of whom I am still close friends with to this day. I honestly feel like you could do a deep dive into the Slenderverse community some day, I cannot truly express what a great fit it would be for this channel (complete with its own Tumblr sexyman, if you know you know) and has an unbelievable amount of drama. Recently the community essentially imploded and more-or-less sizzled out when one of the biggest creators was rightly accused of some heinous criminal behavior just a couple years ago and one of the big three series was prematurely cancelled. Might be worth checking out!

[@dii4741]

I was just thinking about why the Slenderverse stuff was glossed over and I realized "wait no I'm part of the niche, no wonder", and I'd love to see a deep dive on the Slenderverse from her as well. The Night Mind stuff is admittedly a bit outdated and not as entertaining to follow as it once was 4-6 years ago

[@orgumimi3424]

I would personally love to see this

[@Jeakkers]

Oh god the Slenderverse... I remember making my friends watch Whisperedfaith and Everymanhybrid in Highschool. Good times :]

[@kngxn7437]

Omg dark harvest creator :O I love the cult concept of ur arg

[@RainWelsh]

God, the Tumblr sexyman comment took me out at the knees, because now I’m assuming you mean HABIT (who I recall had a _lot_ of thirst directed his way back in the day). But my initial thought was that you were calling the Slenderman himself a Tumblr sexyman, which like. That was certainly a mental image. Edit: originally wrote this comment before I got to Izzyzz’ section on sexySlenderman. My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined.

[@BierBart12]

The time between me learning about and reading all kinds of Slenderman stories in 2010 and the addition of Endermen to Minecraft in 2011 feels so much longer than the last 8 years did.

[@voidify3]

During my edgy 12yo creepypasta phase, I came up with an idea that slenderman came from a dimension where all the people were faceless and had tentacles coming from their back and the one we know was just a random murderer who found a portal. I drew members of his species just walking around in normal clothes, children of the species, face polish commercials etc. I even came up with explanations for how they see and eat without visible eyes and mouth

[@hatkid9368]

I actually kinda like this idea

[@veve7349]

Precious

[@BEEMINSMEEMEN]

Is it ok if I draw something inspired by this?

[@voidify3]

@@BEEMINSMEEMEN oh absolutely go ahead!

[@shopokefrignugget2027]

I really want to see more of this, it sounds like this could be a real lore extender and still doesn't stray from the mystery that makes Slenderman himself creepy

[@bolladragon]

I was talking with my 60 year old mother who adores schlocky sci-fi about my favorite internet horror stories since she might enjoy a few, and was stunned to learn she was already very familiar with Slenderman. It’s been weeks and I’m still processing that.

[@Man-ej6uv]

holy shit

[@grungjy]

Cool mom, protect her by all costs

[@millennialboomer6780]

Your mother sounds pretty based

[@naturalistmind]

I used to be surprised that my grandmother parrots right wing internet memes since she only watches cooking shows and listens to awful right wing "news" radio but of course the memes made it to radio idealogues

[@FaunaturaleOG]

I was much the same when I found out my grandma is a massive Warhammer fan haha

[@MochaKimono]

The creators of Marble Hornets used to go to local conventions and hold screenings of the latest finished season whilst providing live director's commentary. Fun stuff, good times. It helped make it less scary to see the dudes playing assorted murder victims / murder attemptors casually chilling and making jokes about those scenes.

[@JordanPersegati]

Those were the days! I feel old now haha

[@kaiserkane5770]

oh my god i used to watch your videos religiously

[@camilaisalawliet]

Oh my god the legend himself! Hello Mr. Persegati! I've been watching your videos for AGes now! Thanks for making my middle school years that much more exciting . . . and creepy

[@someonewithglasses7221]

Omg, your art got me into drawing and body horror, still watch some of the old videos

[@kittykittybangbang9367]

I remember you

[@PhazerXP]

Pin this man's comment! (Lol)

[@Storm-crow13]

I’m surprised that the Endermen didn’t get a mention considering how they are officially stated to be inspired by Slenderman. Inspiring an iconic monster in one of the biggest video games of all times is quite the significant impact.

[@HyperbolicArachnid]

I've played Minecraft for practically my whole life and have known about the Slenderman franchises since the dinosaurs roamed the earth and somehow, only just now after reading this comment do I realize "Enderman" is literally just Slenderman without the S...

[@allseeer]

@Yonix Rubio another name for loan sharks

[@jenniferchaulam]

/ive been waiting for that too lol

[@opo3628]

@@HyperbolicArachnid - ...and the L. Or else it would've been the *"Lendermen"* ! 🤣

[@meowJACK]

@@HyperbolicArachnid aw, bud. You were so close. Good luck out there champ

[@sodyhere]

I was super into slenderman and creepy pasta during the “golden days” and the fall was one of the craziest things I’ve ever experienced it was almost over night. One day I had lots of interactions on posts and friends who I messaged daily and the next accounts were deleted or abandoned, less and less posts were made and within a week it was like a ghost town.

[@Beckbeckboi]

I grew up in the state where the stabbing unfortunately occurred and I was around the same age as the girls. I remember when it happened every school in the state really stomped out any talk off slender man and all the schools in my area had several talks about the “dangers of the internet.” Obviously it was incredibly sad and worrying for the girl and in the end I’m glad she’s physically okay

[@Beckbeckboi]

@Thomas Eastman agreed but they didn’t want to admit that

[@jonahsnyder5880]

I lived in NY and was like 8 years old when it happened and I remember some 5th grade kid got suspended because he told the kindergarteners that slender would get them.

[@iwakeupandboomimarat]

@thomaseastman5781 literally one of the girls had schizophrenia and was hallucinating slenderman, if ur at that age where clinicians dont want to diagnose people (especially girls) w schizophrenia but youre fucking hallucinating it must be hell (not justifying what she did obvs)

[@dullsunrise8820]

I remember loving creepypastas as a kid but also being simultaneously actively terrified of them. Slenderman was definitely up there as one of the ones I feared the most. The Slenderman Stabbing was definitely when everything came crashing down and honestly tainted that part of my childhood as a result. I’m at least glad the victim is doing a lot better now and can hopefully fully recover from that amount of trauma one day.

[@rickitycrikit]

The Rake had me terrified of the dark until I was 15.

[@bunni-teeth]

there was a huge part after the stabbing case with kids on the internet turning the victim into a creepypasta and drawing her covered in blood and stab wounds, as well. it made me so ANGRY. i was in a creepypasta group on deviantart and they were allowing these images to be uploaded to the group, basically glorifying her injuries and being generally unempathetic to her situation. i spent a good 2 weeks having to explain to literal CHILDREN how it was so wrong of them to be doing this and it wasn't helping the fandom OR the victim and her family, and how it was so offensive. i was constantly linking them to her gofundme page for her medical care, and they were convinced i created the page as a money scam. actual nightmare, 0/10. this is why i cant look at the creepypasta fandom anymore. they showed no empathy or sympathy for her and just wanted an excuse to make more content and ultimately made themselves look more like monsters.

[@lemonmeat]

oh my god you just unlocked a core memory. i remember that shit too!! its fucking infuriating. hope those sickos that did it grew up (if they were children hopefully), and realize how fucked up that is to do. (sadly ive seen adults and teens do this many times too.)

[@pussydestroyer-wm2tn]

I had this same experience but with ruruchan, it actually makes me so mad looking back and seeing how she was commercialized. I was in the jfashion community- and the way the menhera community worshiped this teenage girl was disgusting. I hope her family never has to read anymore of the insane shit people have said about her :(

[@kitnal4143]

I blame the fact they were kids. Children honestly really struggle with perminance and anything beyond their FOV. When a tragedy happens they are unable to realise it is *real* and not media. It doesnt make it acceptable but it does explain why their reaction was just: "oh this could add to the lore". Because in their mind this girl might as well not be real.

[@JKirkis9]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the enderman mob from Minecraft. It's easily the farthest reaching iteration of the creepypasta with how many players Minecraft had/has. It would make scary ass noises if you looked at it and it would teleport to you to attack if you looked away. It scared the crap out of me when I was younger.

[@MMinz26]

And then there was the Halloween texture pack that quite literally replaces Ender for Slender. I miss those days 😭

[@captaincaspian42]

There also was an event texture pack that could turn the Enders into Slenders! Also, Slender avatars in Roblox as well, there's been an uptick of extra tall faceless avatars used by using the skeleton/claw lower limbs to achieve the height, probably since 2018, 2019? The edgy avatar phase of younger gen z XD

[@weirdcakes304]

Sorry for the correction but endermen are more like me as they hate to make eye contact

[@en.v5965]

It broke my whole soul seeing the girls father come forward about his mental illness and how he was taking so much blame for not realizing his daughter was having the same issue with breaks in reality 😓 definitely an interesting case, and this was super interesting to watch! I didn't realize slender man had a sexy Tumblr man phase.. 😭✋ but why am I not shocked..

[@em6644]

It’s just heartbreaking 💔 I can’t imagine 😞 I hope he’s somehow recovered

[@lyokianhitchhiker]

Is the Tumblr SexyWOMAN a thing?

[@hedmeddig]

I remember being obsessed with slenderman as a child, when I was bored I'd draw like someone haunted by slenderman, and I remember playing every single game that came out. I even wrote a hilariously bad wattpad story, which I've gone back to several times since and rewritten, so he was pretty big thing for me.

[@hushhushkitten]

Words cannot describe how excited I am that you covered this! It may be nostalgia talking, but I still miss the golden age of Creepypasta 🥲

[@ha_des]

I miss it a lot :/

[@indiesunflowers]

same, I audibly gasped when I saw this! slenderman is my childhood!

[@Sedric-and-Charlie]

It's always amused me looking back how Marble Hornets specifically branded their skinny faceless man as "The Operator" rather than "The Slender Man" because they wanted to be able to work apart from rigid Slender Man lore, but then 90% of Slender Man lore ended up coming out of either directly copying what they were doing or second-guessing what was going on in the series

[@GloryHulle]

This is it - the last straw, the final nail in the coffin! I’ve been watching your older content for weeks now, and this latest video has finally done it: I have subscribed! You’re just too engaging and your content is just too fun to resist. I love how deep you dive when covering a topic, no matter what that topic might be, and this was a stellar example. In fact, I was able to use this very video to educate my older in-laws as to what the heck Slenderman is, so your content is educational as well as entertaining! So thank you so very much for this video and all the videos you’ve made so far. I’ve had a fantastic time wandering through your library and I can’t wait to see what you come up with in the future. Keep up the outstanding work! Also, I just adore the different looks you have in every video! Your makeup skills are phenomenal!!! Wish I had even a scrap of your talent, not to mention the flair to actually pull off the wild and wonderful looks you conjure up.💖

[@MiMi-zq2yh]

There's this boy that I share classes who's a big creepypasta fan, he's the tallest in my classes and loves talking about creepy pastas. He sees himself as a creepy dude who likes creepy things but he's completely harmless. He says he's going to dress up as Slenderman for Halloween and I love to see his costume.

[@donnadelrey]

someone’s got a crush

[@cerys113]

hes epic tell him i think hes cool

[@Kitarinki]

@@donnadelrey Fr lmao

[@kkekk07]

@@donnadelrey tell him he really fuckin cool

[@antyludek]

so how did it go

[@Grancop00]

It’s actually bizarre how every single video you release is about something I’m super interested in.

[@anniestars2329]

Fun fact: One year for Halloween, one of my teachers at my school dressed up as Slenderman, and he played the role perfectly He stood in front of his classroom with a white cloth thingy that covered his entire head and he would just stare at all the students as they walked by If you looked at him, he'd stare at you until you break eye contact Purposely appearing unsettling, creepy, and scary It didn't help that he was also really tall And the fact that this teacher was one of the fun goofy teachers made it creepier The next day, he acted like nothing happened too, further selling the intent of his costume In class he acted normally obviously, but during the passing periods was when he pulled the Slenderman act, and I feel like he did it so well and flawlessly, and really paid good homage to the original intent of the creation of Slenderman Just thought I'd share that since its something I'll never forget I was friends with some girls who glorified Slenderman, and I was never a fan of it but I never knew why until I saw an accurate representation of him through my teacher's costume and my own research I'm not ashamed to admit that I love Slenderman as his original concept, and not for the "Slendy" side the fandom gave him

[@madisonp5666]

I was super into creepypasta in middle school, I had an oc who was basically a self insert and I loved thinking up scenarios of her and the other creepypastas. Weirdly, I kind of wanted them to be real(the thoughts of a edgy preteen), and I don’t think I was alone in that thought. I remember finding weird wattpad and quotev books saying how to “summon” creepypastas, where you would have to collect items or chant some rhyme and one would appear. I ended up doing a few, but it’s crazy that some in the fandom would even want to meet them.

[@TheThingBehindYouCanSeeYou]

Omg same lol

[@ha_des]

no bc same

[@ha_des]

I already mentioned in this comment section how I'd paint the proxy symbol on abandoned buildings, every one of my notebooks, and my hands because I wanted to join and be a proxy so bad lmfao it's funny but actually not really, to think I was in such a bad place mentally that I was surrending my life to a kind of stupid thing

[@mari_zz]

@@ha_des you made me think about it in a different way, sadge. I was kinda the same and I just noticed I was in such a terrible space mentally that I'd dream about being kidnapped by some weird entity or turned into a servant. But ofc part of it still was me just being edgy or thinking I'm the main character and this killer thingy for some reason wouldn't kill me specifically and give me a better life or something lol

[@lambybunny7173]

I remember specifically Tails Doll summoning tutorial videos LOL I wonder if they still exist?

[@altynaytherussianspy]

The slenderman stabbing case is tragic, especially with how the media covered it. One of the perpetrators had been showing signs of early onset schizophrenia for years, but it never got treated. Leading up to the tragedy, both perpetrators weren’t doing a very good job of keeping their plans secret (with one girl allegedly bringing a sledgehammer or rubber mallet to school to protect herself from slenderman) but it was kind of just written off as kids being kids. The PD didn’t have much experience dealing with children or severe mental illness, and since the girls were tried as adults, they weren’t granted the mental health care and social workers they would have received as children (pretty sure their lawyers had to fight to get them evaluated). And then of course the media also won’t let the victim live her life. I’ve seen lots of people shame her for being private.

[@Hatsune-Miku_Fan]

So disrespectful...

[@altynaytherussianspy]

@@Hatsune-Miku_Fan ???

[@Hatsune-Miku_Fan]

@@altynaytherussianspy Oh! Towards the media.. they completely ignored the girls symptoms and just used her to scare kids away from the internet. That's what I called disrespectful ^^

[@spacecowboi5466]

the condition is called folie a deux (shared psychosis) and it’s when one person who has schizophrenia/psychosis/delusions essentially “spreads” their delusion to another person close to them who doesn’t have schizophrenia/psychosis/delusions and it’s very rare. childhood schizophrenia is also very rare, so the whole situation was a one in a million type deal.

[@spicyuh]

I've honestly never understood the whole "children tried as adults" thing. If they're children, surely they should be tried as children, no exceptions?

[@jadetea6112]

This was so well done, can you do a video about the rise of SPC? The website has always been confusing to me, but I enjoy the occasional horror collaborative stories. If it turns your channel into too much true-crime-esque/ horror themed, I understand. Great video, Izzy - we can definitely tell that a lot of effort went into getting the time details and seperating fact from fiction. :)

[@CourierSiix]

Spc

[@xXAcidBathXx]

Scp, not Spc. They secure, contain, protect, they don’t punch sharks.

[@RainWelsh]

@@xXAcidBathXx god bless the Shark Punching Centre, we’d be swarmed with sharks without them

[@lyokianhitchhiker]

The sad thing is that they’re 1 of the tamer Internet horror groups, since the closest thing to this sort of drama with them is personal issues of the writing team

[@Morbing_Time]

​@@lyokianhitchhikergod bless the writing standards team

[@gillian3525]

I remember the law and order SUV episode based on the slenderman stabbing being so crazy to me because it felt like a bunch of adults making something based on a internet thing they didn’t fully understand. It’s crazy that something that started out as creepy photoshop project ended up leading to something so tragic and crazy.

[@kittykittybangbang9367]

Law and Order did that!? What episode was it?

[@bladethewitch1442]

you need to link the episode please and thank you \>.

[@feliciaroseantonia]

Oh my god I remember that! For anyone wondering, the episode is called "Glasgowman's Wrath"; the name of the "Slenderman" counterpart being changed to the location in Scotland to not only obviously avoid copyright, but also probably as a reference to the whole "Violent Glaswegian" TV Trope. The fictional counterpart of the victim/survivor was instead depicted as the younger sister to one of the two attempted killers, and the writers made the strange decision to depict the in-universe creator of "Glasgowman" as a very, umm... well, as the Japanese would put it, a "Neet" (it's even implied at least one cop suspects him of being a child predator for a minute or two). The episode even featured a fictional animal sacrifice with a cat in the woods (not shown on screen as far as I can remember, but still mentioned briefly in dialogue). It's... fucking weird. I was really surprised when that episode aired and I think I might have actually seen it during its first airing, sometime during or possibly after I finished high school (Class of 2017).

[@gillian3525]

@@feliciaroseantonia Yes! It was really strange to watch while knowing about the true story that inspired it. Unfortunately it does briefly show a cat, but it’s not super graphic and I always like to remember that the animals playing those roles are just really good actors! I also think they made mentions of the Glasgowman and it’s creator in later episodes as well

[@Wolfie54545]

SUV- as in the type of car?!

[@matrixiekitty2127]

I remember seeing that one viral scene from Marble Hornets where we see the Operator outside the window and freaking out! I quickly learned he wasn’t real but he was still such a large part of my childhood, especially after the stabbing. To me that incident is the most chilling part of it all.

[@a.r.tivadar]

I remember being in middle school and religiously following this comic on deviantart about Jeff the Killer, Smile Dog and every other creepypasta. It was basically a sitcom, they all lived in the same nightmare neighbourhood, with wacky hijinks and also edgy spooky stuff. Slenderman was the tired father figure of the group. At one point Smile Dog got lost in the human world and had to disguise itself as a husky, and the other pasta got together for the rescue mission. It was glorious.

[@_jojosephine]

i was the same age as those girls too, and was absolutely obsessed with creepypasta at the time (ive been told by old classmates they still think of me when they see slenderman). after the news of the stabbing broke, to say my family was worried about me was an understatement. it was definitely a wake up call for me, but absolutely kept me interested in horror for the rest of my life. strange how one character formed a large part of my identity!

[@SICADALIC]

The same thing happened to me!! I was overly obsessed with creepy pasta and never shut up about it during those years I was also the same age as the girls and when the stabbing happened I remember my heart dropping hearing something I thought no one ever knew about or talked about on the news. My teachers the principal and my parents were brought in and I remember being talked to in such an awful way that it made me think I was the next one in line to commit such an awful act. I even lost a really close friend because her parents thought I would do something similar to their daughter. I’ll admit my internet access was never restricted and I was looking at things I really shouldn’t have for a 13yr old, after that incident I was heavily monitored by the school and parents. After many years creepypasta just left a nostalgic yet horrible and cringey memory in my head and I cringe talking about it in person

[@MmeCShadow]

"I know why they scream when they see me-- it's because I'm sexy." I'm kind of loving the idea that Slenderman thinks he's a smokin' hot lothario and is trying to put his eldritch moves on the people he stalks.

[@sam_meal]

I miss the golden age, I was one of those kids with unrestrained internet access and obviously got traumatized by certain stuff, but the creepypasta fandom was scary and fun all at once. It was a fandom I felt like I belonged with other people that had similar interests as me and enjoyed being scared in the scary side of the fandom and have a good laugh on the goofy side. That Era in the communities will forever be missed, it's sad how it all ended.

[@faerie5926]

Djdjjd same- I really miss it too, along with Amino. It's all kind of died down over the years :/

[@ginger_artz8412]

I’m surprised that you didn’t mention that entire era where Slenderman had brothers or something where they all had a different personality- I swear I remember constant fanart of a seductive Slenderman and a goofy look one that looked like a clown Good job with the video!! Took me a trip down memory lane

[@Shadowonwater]

I remember them being called Trenderman and Splenderman

[@owenkinder1076]

@@Shadowonwater splendorman was actually a character made by the inventor of everything on the internet and the one member if the band Lemon Demon, Neil Cicierega if you didn't know.

[@Shadowonwater]

@@owenkinder1076 I wouldn't be surprised tbh. I will say though, Lemon Demon isn't really a band. The only time Neil had a band was for the Live Only Not ep. But anyway, Neil inventing Splenderman? That tracks.

[@owenkinder1076]

@@Shadowonwater he made a sketch on his channel featuring the character and that video was taken and made the character into a full fledged thing. Just look it up and you'll find it.

[@tortillasconsal4441]

YES OMG Nobody on this comment seccion has mentioned them, and as odd as that small part of the fandom was (because there was this little known trend of Slender OCs) all the designs and weird characters that the people made of them were pretty interesting

[@Maple_Fangs]

Back in 2015-16 me and my friend were super into creepypasta stuff, especially slenderman. For me it was just a weird side interest but for my friend it was pretty much his main interest. Eventually he started to believe slender was real, to the point where he would talk about killing people and becoming his proxy (we got bullied a lot so he definitely had targets in mind and a motive). After a while it really scared me and I ended up having a breakdown, sobbing and begging him not to run away or hurt anyone because I was genuinely terrified he would do it and I'd lose my best friend. I heard about the slender stabbing a couple years after it happened, every time I hear about it I'm reminded of how I could have experienced something similar. I just hope that girl has fully recovered from such an awful experience

[@nicolasjamo]

It's weird seeing Creepypastas like Slenderman became so widely known to the point that it entered the public consciousness, dropped in notoriety, and then gets parodied. Lots of things started off as spooky stories that get passed along, evolving over time with each new teller adding things, but the weirdness to me is that this was something that was created on the internet not that long ago. Slenderman even got to the point where it got referenced in Family Guy.

[@nerizepansit1032]

And gravity falls too, somewhere hidden in an episode and a debut in their comic

[@nicolasjamo]

@@nerizepansit1032 Slenderman in Gravity Falls was an edit but I really wished it was real even if it was only an Easter egg. He was in My Little Pony for about 4 frames, I think someone got fired because of that.

[@nerizepansit1032]

@@nicolasjamo oh really? I didn't knew that

[@TheAmazingSpiderPunk]

as a former goon, hearing the origin of slenderman called "a relatively obscure forum post" made me feel so very, VERY old.

[@drewstern8295]

Yeah SA in the early-mid 2000s was quite a place to be. I guess Lowtax died? Shame how his life turned out.

[@elinquisidorperseverante6835]

@@drewstern8295 what were the Something Awful forums like? I wasn't Around during that era and would love to know More about it

[@TheHopperUK]

@@elinquisidorperseverante6835 It used to be a more unkind place. Trolls and bullies - but among them a lot of good folk and good talk. These days it's one of the better places on the internet, believe it or not.

[@FigmentForever]

Same but I don’t know how it can be classified as obscure. It is today, sure, but was one of the biggest forums for a solid decade 🤦🏼‍♀️

[@elinquisidorperseverante6835]

@@TheHopperUK Huh, it's interesting hearing someone tell me about the trolls and bullies that existed before. I usually orbit forums or games that are old and yeah, compared to other internet places, it's crude. Nice to know where that comes from, thanks for answering, I'll go check the current SA forums!

[@dannabautista7182]

Amazing video! I remember when the slenderman stabbings happened, we had a meeting in my classroom the next week about internet safety. I remember teachers questioning us about creepypasta and the entire classroom got extremely defensive and told the teachers they were just fictional horror stories and nothing more. It’s amazing how much creepypasta influenced my childhood, and the childhood of so many others. Kind of off topic, but It’s also surreal to me constantly getting the talk as a kid about distinguishing the internet, reality, and conspiracy theories, and now the same adults in my life can’t seem to do that.

[@shutuplily8653]

i lived in the same town (Waukesha, WI) that these girls were from/committed the crime… as a chronically online preteen who also had other friends involved in the creepypasta fandom this had me scared for years. kind of turned me of from online communities and gave me an immoderate fear of the internet! thank you for making this video, it honestly helped give me closure from that time in my life!

[@spacecowboi5466]

the condition is called folie a deux (shared psychosis) and it’s when one person who has schizophrenia/psychosis/delusions essentially “spreads” their delusion to another person close to them who doesn’t have schizophrenia/psychosis/delusions and it’s very rare. childhood schizophrenia is also very rare, so the whole situation was a one in a million type deal.

[@ewarrior9776]

@@spacecowboi5466 If you watch the documentary about the killing it clear both kids had serious mental issues. One was schizophrenic and the other had budding personality disorder. Their parents ignored the signs that their kids need serious help.

[@jennamarie4009]

Waukesha has to be cursed especially with the Waukesha Parade Massacre taking place there as well

[@Knadire]

It's certainly worth noting that the Slenderman movie was HEAVILY edited in the wake of all the controversy. If you watch the trailer there's a bunch of even stronger parallels to the stabbing in even poorer taste that were completely edited out of the final cut. The movie itself has a whole character that disappears halfway through and is never mentioned again, and that's why. SO glad you brought up that weird make out scene! I got a chance to watch it with friends not that long ago and we all found it absolutely hilarious. If you ever make other videos about other facets of Creepypasta, the wiki founder, ClericofMadness, is pretty cool about getting quizzed on wiki facts and is REALLY good at digging up obscure info. Really recommend hitting him up sometime!

[@sparrowwing5347]

The only real interaction I ever had with Slenderman was when I watched my grade school classmates play The Eight Pages, so I always thought he came from this game and was a legit copyrighted character made by a company. I had no idea he was created on an internet photoshop contest

[@kirolee9345]

I’m still a big marble hornets fan (the comic is still going!) and still in the slenderverse/creepypasta fandom. It’s uncanny to see videos like this despite the fandom being alive (but small). Thank you for covering what basically was my childhood and one of the fictional pieces of media I still hold close to my heart.

[@Shadowonwater]

Yeah! I think it's a shame that the comic hasn't gotten more attention, it's good! I really love the artwork

[@MCantDraw]

WAIT OH MY GOD WHERE CAN I FIND THE COMIC :DD????

[@MCantDraw]

@@Shadowonwater NOOOOOOO I DONT HAVE MONEY :(((( Oh well guess Ill get the comics as a christmas present whahsgaha. Thank you for the info ^^

[@catterhine]

This channel is so comfortable and safe and accessible. i dont feel judged or whatever watching you and i think thats amazing and im so glad you make the content you do in the most approachable manner possible. thank you for being you ❤️

[@amoureux6502]

I love Izzy's approach to classic "cringe" things, the genuine appreciation and nostalgia as opposed to "can you believe anyone ever liked this lmao"

[@babblgamgummi6029]

I didn't really like horror as a kid, but I remember seeing a found footage picture of a fucked up monkey in a cave and being absolutely terrified of it

[@mordo1191]

I didn't have internet access as a kid but I did get access in middle school, just around the end of the slenderman golden age. My friend got me into creepypasta and I was absolutely obsessed. I read so much fan fiction and spent most nights laying awake in bed out of fear, but also thinking of ways I could defeat Slenderman or Jeff the Killer or any other creepypasta I was into at the time. It was really stupid, but I do almost genuinely miss those days.

[@sucredoe]

almost cried while watching this because I remember being young and obsessed with creepypasta and to think how much time has passed by is insane

[@dezs.5202]

This was such a significant part of my life. I wrote a Creepypasta fanfiction between the ages of 11 and 13 that I’m still incredibly proud of, even though it was hot tween garbage that I never published. It was the longest story I had ever finished, and I wanna talk about it here lol. I was making a point to be different from the others. Not like other fan girls, you know. So, instead of having the main character self-insert oc be Slenderman’s daughter, I decided she was gonna be Eyeless Jack’s bastard child from a one night stand in college that he didn’t find out about until 18 years later. She hated him, it was a lot of drama. Then the love interest was technically Slenderman’s biological son, but Slenderman was a demon monster man, not a father figure, so Masky (Tim) ended up raising him and giving him his last name. Hoodie was dead, I was trying to stay faithful to Marble Hornets. The son had this weird thing where he had to wear a blindfold bc if his eyes were exposed he would go all crazy and overpowered and try to end the world or something. He walked around barefoot so that he could feel where he was going. He had curly hair and only wore capris. My man was a modern day hobbit. Anyways, it was a lot of relationship drama, and then Zalgo and every Creepypasta character I could find got involved. Hoodie was resurrected, the blindfold came off, Jeff the killer died bc the son impaled him against a skyscraper with his tendril. He killed Masky too bc I thought it was darker that way. Slenderman and Zalgo had a death battle and the whole world basically turned apocalyptic in five seconds. Then it all ended with the main girl character shooting the son in the head and killing him, which might have honestly been anti-climactic, but at the time I had just read Of Mice And Men and really liked a grim ending where one of the characters had to put the other down, but ran out of the creativity to work around the fact that some teenage human with a gun would manage to kill something that no horrible apocalyptic demon monster could. They were love interests too, so it was extra dramatic. The whole thing was over 100 chapters, and I tried to make it read like an actual book, so the chapters were around 3500 words each. I almost considered revising it just for fun. I didn’t post it bc I was too self-conscious and saw the type of backlash other authors got. Then the stabbing happened and I decided it would never see the light of day. Still, I like revisiting that part of my life.

[@frosted_glaceon5513]

I remember the day the stabbing was on the news. I was thirteen and my mom yelled at me to come out of my room to hear the news story. It was chilling because I was actually deep into Slenderman lore myself. Creepypastas we're a big part of my early teenage years, maybe the reason I love horror movies so much as an adult. But good lord man.

[@SamaelLikeTheAngel]

I remember when the slenderman stabbing happened. I was pretty young and I had just entered my Creepypasta phase after my friend introduced me to it, we even had little characters and stuff. I showed my mom the drawing of my character and she freaked out. Saying how it was dangerous and telling me all about the stabbing. It fucked a lot of people up for a while, especially parents. And while I can see where some might have been coming from, at the same time it was really unlikely that a little kid interested in horror was going to murder their friends.

[@SparkleMuffin22]

I was banned from creepypasta as a kid because of the Slenderman stabbing. My parents thought I'd become some crazy slenderman cultist and kill everyone since no one knew the stabber who was mainly in charge of the duo had schizophrenia and was literally hallucinating him, which wouldn't happen with me since I don't have any hallucination-related mental illness.

[@lyokianhitchhiker]

Not only hallucinating him, but getting the veracity of her hallucinations "confirmed" by seeing the subject of her hallucinations in media

[@hushhushkitten]

Honestly I would also love a deep dive video over Marble Hornets, I love that series and would really like to see it getting a spotlight!

[@monikabeachy778]

Nightmind has great deep dives on it if you’re interested!❤

[@wishingrat]

me too! i was OBSESSED with it in from like 4th-6th grade... i had a huge crush on jay lol

[@hushhushkitten]

@@monikabeachy778 awesome, I’ll have to check it out!!

[@Taff3ta_]

I also recommend Sagan Hawkes retrospective video! Its more concise than the NightMind one but shares some neat insights while discussing the legacy and behind the scenes of the series.

[@monikabeachy778]

@@wishingrat I had a crush on Tim 😭

[@CaptainGibbons]

"Alarming proficiency at pasta-sculpting" has got to be a brand new sentence and one of my favorites now

[@RaineStormFlood]

I was big into a couple of the copycat Marble Hornets ARGs, namely TribeTwelve and EverymanHybrid, especially since the latter had an OC (HABIT) I found completely fascinating. It was really cool seeing all these random indie creators make really impressive-looking found footage and use camera and editing tricks that professional filmmakers use. I was already fully an adult at the time of the stabbing, and my frustration was pretty much on par with the Something Awful response. I still have a lot of affection for the character even though his heyday has passed.

[@yippeeflowers]

they really aren't copycats, they're separate args with related timelines 😂 they even have some collaborative episodes between them. it's all more like a largely overlapping arg project than "the og and a bunch of copycats"

[@eldrichnemo9312]

I'm another long-time Something Awful forums member who was present for the posting. Watching the internet embrace him and the urban legend grow in real time was an amazing thing, but what really cemented the viral phenomenon for me was during Halloween 2012 when the town I lived in put up kid's drawings in shop windows. Among the witches and skeletons and pumpkins there was a tall faceless man in a suit and tie drawn by "(kids name) - age 9."

[@mitkitty]

Quick correction: Marble Hornets didn't have any Proxies-that was something people came up with later, but while Masky wasnt in control of himself, he also wasnt working for the Operator-because Slendy didnt really seem to actually...do anything except spread its illness

[@muddlewait8844]

To me, the totheark videos are the artistic core of MH. I think of them as showing what it’s like inside the head of someone the Operator is influencing, and they effectively represent the contribution of Slender Man (the character) to the story. They’re the best thing in the series IMO, though the long buildup to them and the climax and denouement after them are necessary and well done.

[@YourCompassRose]

I wrote a spoofy slenderman horror story the other day for a halloween short story contest I was holding on stream. It was fun to revisit this character, and it was cool to see that you also posted some slender-related content. He's in the collective conscious now I guess!

[@GoldWright]

I always love seeing Izzzyzzz's internet history videos but this is the first one I can be like "oh I was here for this one!" . I was around for Marble Hornets at the end of Season 1 onwards and it was definitely baby's introduction to Horror for me. I remember lurking on a forum where they had a subforum of staying in character for Marble Hornets. Like you couldn't mention it was fake in any way. It really made it immersive. The Slender: Eight Pages guy also posted his game there before it got popular. I faintly remembered someone saying "please don't send this to Pewdiepie, he'll make Slenderman too popular and memey". Which, well, is exactly what happened lmao. I kinda fell off the entire thing when the MH crew fell apart but I have very fond memories of being spooked and sharing the videos with friends. Thank you for video!

[@avarand9601]

Those realistic slenderman photoshops freaked me out so much as a kid I’m so glad you’re covering this slenderman was my intro to creepy pastas and horror games

[@phyllotaxis]

Analogue horror is honestly one of the most effective genres IMO. Even as an adult, stuff like the Mandela Catalogue can still make me lose sleep.

[@Flargenyargen]

I was a huge fan of Marble Hornets and the other KZbin series from the time. I cosplayed him at a convention then two Halloween themed community get-togethers in my city back in 2011 through 2013. I made friends I still treasure to this day. I think there's still a video out there of me playing DDR in the costume. They were good times.

[@isabellindsay5695]

I use your videos to teach my husband about my childhood through internet history! Thanks for all the work you do

[@kaisemporium8549]

I do the same with my girl! I'm so forgetful and bad at explaining so Izzy's videos help me share important parts of my past with my wife without boring the hell out of her.

[@gabzividz3280]

That's so cute

[@pineapplealien2907]

I've been saying for like a year that a Slenderman revival starting off detached through irony and nostalgic curiosity before gradually getting more sincere is inevitable. You're not the first KZbinr to make a Slenderman video relatively recently, so I think it's safe to say we're in the first phase... Lord Apollo has punted me in the face with the dodgeball of prophecy, and now I am crying in the nurse's office.

[@malaksafa4074]

What a beautiful analogy.

[@jmckenzie962]

I'd unironically love to see some newfound appreciation for the slightly lesser known Slenderman ARGs like EverymanHYBRID and DarkHarvest00. EMH in particular is on a whole other level compared to almost every other piece of Slenderman-related media I've seen over the years.

[@thetuned6972]

@@jmckenzie962 EMH unironically is my favorite piece of horror medis ever

[@finjail]

This is so healing right now. I love your videos. They give me so much comfort it’s incredible. I love bingeing your videos over and over again fr thanks for the new content

[@eiengali3574]

I really appreciate someone explaining all of these internet history for me. I didn't have internet access at all while growing up and I missed so many things! We didn't have that much internet in my country in general so it's not like anyone could've told me. We only got bits and pieces months or even years later after they had been popular. I never really knew where Slenderman had come from, by the time I learned about it we were already in the bad years. I love this channel in general because you give me detailed context for things I wouldn't understand otherwise and I specially appreciate the way you take the time to explain things, even if you think it's something obvious that everyone knows, I usually don't know. Thank you so much, you're doing god's work here.

[@inacatt]

It's always a good day when Izzzyzzz posts! I was never a creepypasta girlie (honestly, I'm still not), but I can tell this is gonna be a great video

[@rainestorme25]

yeah same. my best friend was really into it when i was in middle school though, so I kinda have secondhand nostalgia haha

[@blobbyxl]

Cheers on the video! As an individual that followed the Slenderman phenomenon from Something Awful to Unfiction (anyone remember that board), you covered it really well as a historical topic. It spread from that sector of the internet, mutated, and burned out like most memes, with a major, tragic real world twist that buried it hard. Thank you for highlighting an important aspect of all of this - Slenderman felt like a part of the paradigm shift, maybe even the spearhead, that the internet underwent from the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s. I'll never forget the theorycrafting (some of my oldest videos on my channel were contemporary edits of early Marble Hornet entries) that was involved, as there were still some of those elaborate ARG tricks that don't really show up in the newer creepypastas (not often, to the extent of my knowledge).

[@HamazuraGOD]

I seriously miss the MH unfiction board 😭

[@HaouDeSoul]

Brings back memories

[@theodorehodbor5080]

I think it'd be really cool if sometime you did a deep dive on the SCP wiki at some point. Particularly like all the various different canons to the series that have developed due to it being a collaborative effort of like over a hundred people. Personally my favorite of them is the one where 90% of human history turned out to be like a massive constant battle royale between like 10+ different eldritch cults that are so embroiled with fighting each other that it becomes like this crab-in-a-bucket scenario where the world keeps going on normally despite it all.

[@humanname99]

the Magnus Archives is the same premise as the last sentence as well 😭

[@maximum7790]

@@humanname99 i was about to say, sounds like the magnus archives lol

[@theodorehodbor5080]

@Milkyway2099 Yes, the way the canon's written too also ties in with a lot of historical events. Like for example the Bronze Age Collapse didn't occur because of mysterious "Sea Peoples," it was actually because an ancient empire ran by matriarchal, druidic blood cultists with a 75% slavery rate suffered a horrible slave revolt led by disturbing fleshwarping cultists that destroyed their entire empire and the flesh-cultists had to then be fended off by mech-using Macedonians and Greeks, time-traveling Mongols, biomechanical Chinese, and a few other occult groups around at the time. This one's probably the most well known because it's the origin point of many Groups of Interest and SCPs however a similar theme pops up in a lot of other events like the Crusades, the Napoleonic Wars, and even WWI and WWII. It's all really interesting because in a lot of ways it's also kinda like occult alternate history.