My last blog post "Spring - heeled Jack - a ghost of it's time", explored a thought that we may have a hand in creating the changes in our ghostly visitors as they have appeared to us throughout time.
Considering that our earliest visitations were mostly from people we knew and very much the classic chain dragging "WOOOO" moaning ghosties they then became slightly more elusive and unfamiliar and dressed in modern day clothes.
What happened?
Did we influence that change?
Were there just more ghosts?
Did the ghosts feel we would prefer to see them sans chains and white funeral garb?
Spring-heeled Jack was very indicative of the population's fear of a half demon half human presence that reflected the changes of the new world, filled with weird magical and frightening mechanical beasts that were taking over the work of humans in factories. These noisy monsters belched thick, putrid smoke into the skies, turning a clean nature reliant world into a horrific, hell like darkened, smelly, choking new epoch.
Jack was part monster and part human, mirroring this change in people too - who were becoming enslaved to machines turning them into empty soul-less beings, as they were at the command of menacing factory owners who did not care one hoot about their well being and chained to their workplaces.
So, let's now turn our attention to the SLENDER MAN.
"There is a figure that does not hide or lurk in the shadows, but stands tall and unseen in the light of day — visible only to its prey as it stalks them.
It appears as an extremely tall, thin humanoid in a formal suit with impossibly long limbs and no face to speak of. It's origins are as much a mystery as what — if anything — it wants.
It's presence is associated with paranoia, delusions, and even physical illness. Those who see it are often driven to scrawling strange messages and scribbling sketches of a dark, faceless figure — prior to their going utterly insane, or disappearing entirely.
The less you know the better, for knowing too much may make you the subject of its interest.
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos)
Considering that our earliest visitations were mostly from people we knew and very much the classic chain dragging "WOOOO" moaning ghosties they then became slightly more elusive and unfamiliar and dressed in modern day clothes.
What happened?
Did we influence that change?
Were there just more ghosts?
Did the ghosts feel we would prefer to see them sans chains and white funeral garb?
Spring-heeled Jack was very indicative of the population's fear of a half demon half human presence that reflected the changes of the new world, filled with weird magical and frightening mechanical beasts that were taking over the work of humans in factories. These noisy monsters belched thick, putrid smoke into the skies, turning a clean nature reliant world into a horrific, hell like darkened, smelly, choking new epoch.
Jack was part monster and part human, mirroring this change in people too - who were becoming enslaved to machines turning them into empty soul-less beings, as they were at the command of menacing factory owners who did not care one hoot about their well being and chained to their workplaces.
So, let's now turn our attention to the SLENDER MAN.
"There is a figure that does not hide or lurk in the shadows, but stands tall and unseen in the light of day — visible only to its prey as it stalks them.
It appears as an extremely tall, thin humanoid in a formal suit with impossibly long limbs and no face to speak of. It's origins are as much a mystery as what — if anything — it wants.
It's presence is associated with paranoia, delusions, and even physical illness. Those who see it are often driven to scrawling strange messages and scribbling sketches of a dark, faceless figure — prior to their going utterly insane, or disappearing entirely.
The less you know the better, for knowing too much may make you the subject of its interest.
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos)
The Slender Man (also known as Slenderman) is a fictional supernatural character that originated as a creepypasta Internet meme created by Something Awful forums user Eric Knudsen (also known as "Victor Surge") in 2009. It is depicted as a thin, unnaturally tall man with a featureless head and face, wearing a black suit.
Stories of the Slender Man commonly feature him stalking, abducting or traumatising people, particularly children.
The Slender Man is not confined to a single narrative, but appears in many disparate works of fiction, typically composed online.
Fiction relating to the Slender Man encompasses many media, including literature, art and video series such as Marble Hornets.
Outside of online fiction, the Slender Man has had impact on popular culture, having been referenced in the video game Minecraft and generated video games of his own, such as Slender: The Eight Pages and Slender: The Arrival.
Beginning in 2014, a minor moral panic occurred over the Slender Man after readers of his fiction were connected to several violent acts, particularly a near-fatal stabbing of a 12-year-old girl in Waukesha, Wisconsin. (wikipedia)
The Slenderman is based on a faceless man in a suit.
Maybe just maybe he is the mirroring of that nasty side of capitalism at the upper end - the faceless men in expensive suits that manipulate currency and politics for their political gain?
The Slender man is part of our modern day folklore and we manipulate his image and what he does as his story moves from one person to the next (as all good folklore stories do).
He morphs in shape and size and acts of terror - as this generation plays its video games the Slender man creates his own following and a narrative about his history has been created where one never existed before his creation.
And now people are seeing him outside of his video gaming box.
So even though most people know that the Slender man was created they suspend their belief when it comes to seeing his manifestation as an apparition in the real world.
The Slender man represents our modern day fears - his persona is that of a faceless man in the suit (possibly indicating someone in an authoritative position) People who have a encounter with him can manipulate him to whatever is their greatest fear.
The worst of all seems to be that the victims do not know what they have done to focus the wrath of this frightening entity and the more intriguing you make a figure the more people want to know about him/her.
With Slender man this is where your downfall comes as this entity gets into your head (as anything else that you fixate on) and some young minds can fixate very well!!
So we know he did not exist - but have we now created him in such a way that he does?
Does he reflect our modern times?
Is he truly a ghost like paranormal figure?
Or is he a true figment of our collective imaginations?
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