The Slender Man has been reported all over the world as the Fear Dubh (or, The Dark Man) in Scotland, the Dutch Takkenmann (Branch Man), and the German legend of Der Großmann or Der Grosse Mann (the Tall Man). Many people report the being as being pale, with a height of between 7 and 9 feet tall, which wears a black suit.

The Slender Man was created on June 10, 2009 on a thread in the Something Awful Internet forum. The thread was a photoshop contest in which users were challenged to edit everyday photographs to appear paranormal. A forum poster with the user name “Victor Surge” contributed two black and white images of groups of children, to which he added a tall, thin spectral figure wearing a black suit.Although previous entries had consisted solely of photographs, Surge supplemented his submission with snatches of text — supposedly from witnesses — describing the abductions of the groups of children, and giving the character the name “The Slender Man”