One of the most frightening modern ghost stories, the Slender Man is a known work of fiction…except to those who believe in him… which may be nobody…or not. In this episode, Matt discusses the line between fiction vs folklore and the difficulty in telling people’s real beliefs from stories told for fun.
This episode was written by Matthew Armstrong with music by Matthew Armstrong and production assistance from Kaylia Metcalfe.
The transcript for this episode can be found here.
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Show Notes and Sources
Monster Talk episode on Slender Man and Tulpas
Associated Press, 2017. The jury in the Slender Man case finds Anissa Weier was mentally ill, will not go to prison. Hosted on WISN.com, access 7/25/22 at https://www.wisn.com/article/anissa-weier-slender-closing-arguments-deliberations-1505483615/12251621#
Blank, Trevor and Lynne McNeill (editors), 2018. Slender Man is Coming, Creepypasta and Contemporary Legends on the Internet. Utah State University Press, Louisville, Colorado.
Blank, Trevor and Lynne McNeil, 2018. Fear has No Face: Creepypasta as Digital Legendry. In Slender Man is Coming, Creepypasta and Contemporary Legends on the Internet, edited by Trevor Blank and Lynne McNeill. Utah State University Press, Louisville, Colorado.
Brodsky, Irene Taylor (director), 2016. Beware the Slender Man. Produced for HBO, available on HBO Max on July 15, 2022.
Grimm, Beca. 2015. Did “Walking Sam” Cause 103 Suicide Attempts? Hosted on Bustle.com, accessed 7/20/22 at https://www.bustle.com/articles/80864-walking-sam-a-urban-legend-like-slender-man-might-be-inciting-multiple-teen-suicides-in-a
Koven, Mikel J. 2018. The Emperor’s New Lore; or, Who Believes in the Big Bad Slender Man. In Slender Man is Coming, Creepypasta and Contemporary Legends on the Internet, edited by Trevor Blank and Lynne McNeill. Utah State University Press, Louisville, Colorado.
Laycock, Joseph, 2014. ‘Slender Man’ Murder Attempt Wasn’t Media or Madness. Religion Dispatches, June 24, 2014. Accessed online 7/20/22 at https://religiondispatches.org/slender-man-murder-attempt-wasnt-media-or-madness/
Laycock, Joseph P. 2015. Dangerous Games – What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds. University of California Press, Oakland, CA.
Mickles, Natasha and Joseph Laycock, 2015. Tracking the Tulpa: Exploring the “Tibetan” Origins of a Contemporary Paranormal Idea. Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions Vol. 19, No. 1 (Aug., 2015), pp. 87-97.
Romano, Aja, 2015 (updated 2021). Is an urban legend encouraging South Dakota Sioux teens to take their own lives? Hosted on Dailydot.com, accessed 7/20/22 at https://www.dailydot.com/irl/walking-sam-myth-lakota-pine-ridge-suicides/.
Tucker, Elizabeth, 2018. Slender Man is Coming to Get Your Little Brother or Sister: Teenagers Pranks Posted on Youtube. In Slender Man is Coming, Creepypasta and Contemporary Legends on the Internet, edited by Trevor Blank and Lynne McNeill. Utah State University Press, Louisville, Colorado.
WISN, 2017. ‘Madness of two’ syndrome may be a possible defense theory in the Slender Man case. Hosted on WISN.com, accessed 7/25/22 at https://www.wisn.com/article/madness-of-two-syndrome-may-be-possible-defense-theory-in-slender-man-case/11388293
KMMA Media 