Have you ever walked in the woods alone at night? If you have then you are probably wondering why those branches are cracking behind you, why you started panicking and why you felt like you are being watched. Well, it turns out, you might not be alone after all! Fueled by endless creepy stories on the internet and people’s encounters with him The Slender Man has become one of the most well known and terrifying mythical creatures out there.

Officially, he is described as a tall and thin mythical creature often seen wearing a black suit. He has a blank face with no features, no eyes, no nose, no mouth, no hair and no ears. He has the ability to stretch his arms to twice their length and can also shorten them when required. It has been reported that he has tentacles protruding from his back which he can use to snare victims from all angles.

His figure has been seen lurking behind children and is often caught on camera by those unaware of his presence. And although there seems to be no exact location, he seems to be spotted all over the world. He is most frequently spotted in the woods blending into the background of trees with his stick like features stalking people before abducting them. Its unknown whether he kills or just kidnaps them to an undisclosed location or dimension and most of his victims are never seen again. It is thought that anyone who is lucky enough to escape the slender man will never get over the sight of him and will be traumatized and left dealing with the psychological damage for the rest of their lives.

Despite the recent exposure in the last few years, Slender Man is nothing new. The earliest known reference to him dates back to 9000BC when he was featured in cave painting in North East of Brazil. They show a strange elongated character leading a child by hand. Later depictions of him were wood carvings by a German woodcutter. His carvings featured a multi-limb character thought to be a representation of an evil fairy type being who lived in the dark forest who would kill or snare children who strayed into the forest without their parent’s permission.

More recently The Slender Man was brought to light again in June 2009 when two photographs emerged online. They were supposedly taken in the mid 80s and shows a group of children with a strange figure in the background. Following the 1986 Stirling city Library fire a small number of photographs were recovered including the one taken only a week earlier on June 1st 1986. On this date fourteen children disappeared followed less than two weeks later by the disappearance of the photographer Mary Thomas. It is claimed that the figure in this photograph that was released in 2009 is responsible for the disappearances. Five months later, the body of a four year old was found in a swamp in a natural preserve in New Jersey, miles from where he was seen. The deputy told the reporters that the body was in early stages of decay indicating that the boy was alive for at least four months after his disappearance. It was found that the body was in a state of bizarre contortion and no cause of death was officially established.

There was another strange incident that occurred. It is called the Henderson incident and took place at the took place in a farm at Polk County in North Carolina.The farm was owned and run by 41 year old Ted Henderson, his wife Judy and his 6 year old daughter Tracy. On the morning of June 15th 1953, neighbors called local police complaining of hearing screams and sounds of gun fire coming from the farm house. A sheriff and two deputies arrived at the farm and found that horses in the barn had been torn apart. They entered the home and could find fresh blood on the floors. They continued searching the house and found Ted Henderson in the bedroom barricaded behind the furniture. Next to him was his wife Judy who had a single gun shot blast in her chest. Ted was quickly charged with the murder. But due to his zombie like state, he was admitted in a mental hospital and was there for three years. On the third anniversary of the murder, he said “skinny fellow, suit, looking at me.” Ted said that this man had taken his wife and child and claimed that Judy begged him to shoot her. He felt that he had saved her by doing so but was unable to stop the man from taking his daughter. Just a few hours after this interview, Ted committed suicide and was found dead in his room. The body of his daughter Tracy Henderson was never found.

This photo was taken a week before the incident and it shows what appears to be a suited man standing in front of the stables which some claim to be the Slender Man.

There is an upcoming supernatural American horror film based on The Slender Man directed by Sylvain White and written by David Birke. The trailer for this movie was released on January 3rd of 2018.

So next time you are in the woods, don’t forget to bring a lot of company because if you don’t, it might already be there waiting for you.!

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