A piece of media that is regarded as part of the horror genre predominantly focuses on creating the feeling of fear and panic for the audience. Professor Thomas Fahy states that the horror genre promises the experience of “the anticipation of terror, the mixture of fear and exhilaration as events unfold and the opportunity to confront the unpredictable and dangerous” (Fahy, 2010). He compares consuming a piece of horror literature to a roller coaster when you get off unhurt; the feelings of anxiety, fear and relief are important parts that fill people with pleasure who enjoy the genre. Fahy states that horror does not only play with our desire to encounter danger and thrill in a safe context but also “wrestles with the complex nature of violence, suffering and morality”. Horror literature throughout history tends to share similar codes and conventions that are recognisable by the audience, the main theme being that of an otherworldly creature that interact with mortals in some way or another. This type of book or film is sometimes referred to as a subcategory of the horror genre called ‘Lovecraftian horror’. Vivian Ralickas defines Lovecraftian horror as “the fear and awe we feel when confronted by phenomena beyond our comprehension, whose scope extends beyond the narrow field of human affairs and boasts of cosmic significance” (Ralickas, 2008). An explanation of this is that the audience are fascinated with the idea of a creature or ‘monster’ that is beyond human comprehension and it allows their imagination to run wild with what this being’s origin is, what it is capable of and what it wants. The Lovecraftian horror genre in today’s society consists of many generic beings such as witches, vampires and ghosts that have been reprocessed in many forms of media.
Wheeler Winston Dixon stated that “before there were horror movies, there were written or spoken horror narratives…handed down from one generation to the next” (Dixon, 2010). He went on to discuss how horror tales have ancient origin dating all the way back to the beginning of narrative itself and it forms a large part of the body of folk literature. This indicates that the conventions of a horror tale have always been able to grasp an audience’s attention. In Western literature, however, horror literature only appeared in society in the 18th century due to Horace Walpole’s novel ‘Castle of Otranto’ in 1764 (Britannica.com, unknown). His books were considered to be the first gothic novel ever written in the English language and consisted of ghosts and ghoules that frightened society at the time but would now be regarded as a spoof of the horror genre we know today. In this essay I am going to discuss how horror and its associated monsters have developed and impacted society due to the evolution and advancement of digital media; taking a specific look at the Slender Man mythos.
Due to the technological developments that took place just after the 1970s with the introduction of DVD players, satellite and computers, this allowed a wider audience to experience horror films in the comfort of their own homes. Therefore, allowing them to watch either contemporary or classic titles at their leisure, making the demographic widen and give more of society the chance to get a taste of the horror culture if they had not previously had access to a movie theatre. Similarly, more recent developments in digital technology have now gave us the options to consume horror in more ways such as the introduction of audiobooks, social media platforms and online forums. However, as digital media was expanding and developing, so was the style of horror films. Paula Wells argues that “The history of the horror film is essentially a history of anxiety in the twentieth century. In the way that fairy tales, folktales and gothic romances articulated the fears of the ‘old’ world, the contemporary horror film has defined and illustrated the phobias of the ‘new’ world characterised by rationale of industrial, technological and economic determinism”. This indicates that the narratives for horror films are based on the anxiety and worst nightmare cases that would be relatable for the audience of that generation. An example of a contemporary horror film that’s premise mimics a current moral panic is ‘It Follows’ (2014) in which the demon is a symbol of sexually transmitted diseases as the curse is carried on to the next victim through sex with the current victim. The message to take away from this specific film is to stay safe or you could be faced with a life-threatening curse that takes over your life.
With the improvement in the way that we are consuming horror comes the development of producing horror. Due to the development in technology as a whole, the standard equipment needed to make a piece of horror media has become more easily accessible to the general public. In modern society, it is not difficult to have the means to create a piece of media, whether that be writing an online blog or on a forum or even filming and editing a feature length film and uploading it to a social media platform. An effect of this saturation of the horror culture means that old horror ‘classics’ are becoming less and less relevant in today’s society. Wheeler Winston Dixon believes that classic horror characters such as Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster no longer hold the attention of the audience like they did when the horror genre was still new and exciting (Dixon, 2010).
Chapter Two: The Origin and Evolution of Slender Man
Slender Man was first created by Eric Knudsen in a photoshop contest to make the best, scariest and convincing altered photograph on ‘Something Awful’ online forum in 2009. The now notorious figure was placed in the background of two black and white photographs that depicted children, one in the playground and the other near a wooded area. Attached was text from fictional witnesses of this monster that dated back to 1983 and 1986 and included information about the supposed sightings of the creature along with reports that the witnesses were now “presumed dead” (somethingawful.com, Eric Knudsen). Eric Knudsen later revealed that the main inspiration for Slender Man came from “That Insidious Beast” from Stephen King’s ‘The Mist’ as the monster has multiple molusk-like tentacles similar to Slender Man (Heavy.com, S.M. Walsh). This competition entry sparked an interest of other forum users which halted the original contest and shifted other users to add to the Slender Man legend. It encouraged multiple people to expand upon the character, adding their own fake sightings and stories. Slender Man soon became known as the mysterious creature that watches, stalks and terrifies his victims until they are drove to madness while other accounts suggested that he relentlessly tore his victims apart and hung their body parts from a tree for his next victim to find. The mythos of Slender Man quickly became viral.
In his book, ‘Slender Man is Coming: Creepypasta and Contemporary Legends on the Internet’; Folklorist and Professor Trevor Blank suggests that Slender Man is a perfect example of an ‘intentionally created legend that has hit all the right notes required to be believable’ (Blank, 2018). Blank explains that Knudsen’s initial postings of Slender Man had elements of realism and plausibility due to the (fake) photographic evidence and alleged witness accounts. Blank explains that the concept of Slender Man is also largely unexplained and there are a lot of missing details which jolts the consumers’ imagination causing them to ‘embrace and run with the new character’. In addition to other users posting similar narratives of slender man on the ‘Something Awful’ forum and other forum sites; many took advantage of other, video-based platforms like YouTube. Following the large hype and following around the Slender Man tale, this only continued when Joseph DeLage and Troy Wagner began their horror web-series called ‘Marble Hornets’ in the summer of 2009 which was largely inspired by Knudsen’s original Slender Man. The web-series entailed a young man who attempts to find out why his friend’s student project abruptly ended many years before. Throughout the series, he comes into contact with ‘The Operator’ which is the monster based on Slender Man. The web-series was a big success and currently has over 99 million views. In April 2015, a film adaptation of Marble Hornets was released on video on demand and in selected cinema, reviews largely negative. Slender Man had then begun its journey as a transmedia product as its mythos was carried from one platform to another allowing for sequels and adaptations.
Chapter Three: Is Slender Man folklore?
The academic discipline of folklore began to engage in the collection and investigation of legends. It is the study of tales told in everyday life, but their origin can date back to a few hundred years. A tale must have four main characteristics to be regarded as folklore (Firstmonday.org, 2017). Firstly, the tale must be variant and repetitive. People must perform the tale repeatedly so that it spreads to different audiences and allows them to become the new teller. The tale must also be a performance between storyteller and audience set within particular spaces. The tale must not be constructed by the teller but by the community and the interactions between teller and audience allowing the legend to develop and spread. A folklore also transmits traditions and morals from one generation to the next, transmitting critical cultural knowledge from one person to another. Bauman stated that folklore is a part of our every day lives in society “mixed up with a cultural and interpersonal context, not as something collecting dust in a bookshelf” (Bauman, 1986).
Although Slender Man’s origin can be identified as a piece of fictional work for a contest, several theorists believe that the Slender Man is the first form of digital folklore that we have been witness to. Shira Chess argues that the portrayal of Slender Man shares similar characteristics to traditional folklore unlike traditional monsters of the horror genre like vampires and werewolves (Chess, 2012). She goes on to describe how the fact that the development and mythos of Slender Man can be tracked and physically viewed online grants us an unusual insight into how a folklore is formed. Chess identifies three aspects of the Slender Man mythos that can be linked to the idea of folklore. The first aspect is collectivity; this is because Slender Man mythos was not just created by a single individual but from a collective group on the internet as the multiple photoshopped images and fictional accounts of the narrative is what makes Slender Man so well-known in society. The second aspect which allows us to compare Slender Man to traditional folklore is the variability as the descriptions of Slender Man’s appearance and the way he stalks and kills his victims are inconsistent with each alleged story. For example, the description of the monster from Eric Knudsen was described to have multiple tentacles however in adaptations, there seems to be no agreeance on the number as he has been depicted with a variation of 0-10 tentacles. The final aspect of folklore that Chess discusses is performance. In traditional folklore, the tale differs depending on the storyteller and how they want the audience to respond. Contributors to the Slender Man mythos have described different abilities that the monster possesses but each account describes the monster to have a different variety of skills. The most common ability is ‘Slender Walking’ which “allows him to appear and disappear at will, granting him his omnipresent-like movement, allowing him to teleport from one point to another virtually anywhere instantly” (theslenderman.fandom.com, unknown). Other abilities mentioned include camouflage, mind control and impersonating the voices of the victim’s loved ones to manipulate them
2019-4-23-1556020185