The Continued Growth of Slenderman

A horror movie based on the Slenderman web series, Marble Hornets, has been in the works for quite some time but has yet to see the light of day.  With all the attention on the disturbing figure over the past year (much of it the result of an attempted murder involving young girls) it was probably inevitable that more media outlets would jump on the subject.

Entertainment news site, Variety, has reported that Machinima, the Warner Bros. backed digital media company is partnering with horror writer Clive Barker for an upcoming live-action series based on the web series Creepy Pasta. 

Barker is best known for his creation of iconic horror stories such as Hellraiser and The Books of Blood.

The new series, titled “Clive Barker’s Creepy Pasta,” will bring horror fan fiction to live action and feature internet urban legends and memes such as the Slenderman and Ben Drowned from the site Creepy Pasta.

Countless news sites reporting this story are incorrectly listing Creepy Pasta as the origin point of the Slenderman mythos.  He actually had his genesis on “Something Awful” an internet based forum.

Since his creation, the figure has found his way into various forms of media, often, in a thinly veiled disguise, but the new series will portray the figure directly and derive it's story line from the internet tales.

Barker’s not the only writer currently being influenced by the Slenderman though.  The character, or rather, something very similar looks to be coming to Batman comics this fall.  Recent solicitations for upcoming issues reveals the introduction of a new villain, called “Mister Bloom.”  Cover images reveal a tall figure in a dark suit without human facial features.  Obviously we won’t know how similar the character is to the Slenderman until the stories hit the newsstands, but the physical resemblance is clearly present.

Slenderman, it appears, is not quite done spreading his horror.

Slenderman Paranoia

There's been a lot of attention drawn to Slenderman recently.  Is this a Internet meme or something more sinister?

I covered the history of this creature's genesis in my book Strange Intruders, but with recent criminal cases now making national news, there's more interest than ever, and with it, there are more questions than ever.

Ron Patton, publisher of Paranoia magazine has produced a special edition of the magazine featuring the Slenderman. 

Contributions from a wide range of writers are featured, and happy to have my own piece, "Tendrils of the Slenderman" included.

Check out the issue for some great reading on this weird topic, available at the Paranoia shop:

http://www.paranoiamagazine.com/shop/paranoia-59-fall-2014-pdf/