It started off as a joke. A website Something Awful announced a 'make your own mythical creature contest', asking participants to photoshop paranormal objects into innocent photographs. Thus was born the 'Slenderman', a pale, faceless, slender creature, portrayed standing amongst crowds of children. The creepypasta meme went viral online, spawning millions of impressions and a backstory that came to involve a lot of blood and gore. It became instant hits within internet forums like 4chan.
However, the meme entered the mainstream with a jolt when two US teens stabbed and attempted to murder their classmate in what they claimed was a sacrifice to Slenderman. It became ubiquitous, and its rising popularity even gave rise to games on various platforms like Android. The premise was simple: Wander through a dark, creepy surroundings but don't let the 'Slenderman' catch you.
Now, in a tribute to the most millennial bogeyman ever, director Sylvan White has dedicated a movie to the internet phenomenon, the trailer of which was released on Thursday. “In a small town in Massachusetts, four high school girls perform a ritual in an attempt to debunk the lore of Slenderman. When one of the girls goes mysteriously missing, they begin to suspect that she is, in fact, his latest victim,” reads the summary of the trailer, which is a visual smorgasboard of screams, maggots, missing girls and gives an overall impression of violence-porn.
The movie is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2018.
