The following are the original captions submitted by Victor Surge to the Something Awful "Create Paranormal Images" thread on June 10, 2009. These posts launched one of the most widespread pieces of internet folklore ever created.
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"We didn't want to go, we didn't want to kill them, but its persistent silence and outstretched arms horrified and comforted us at the same time…"
— 1983, photographer unknown, presumed dead.
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One of two recovered photographs from the Stirling City Library blaze. Notable for being taken the day after the fire that killed fourteen children. Photographer: Mary Thomas, missing since the initial investigation. Library Director: Jon Nicholson, missing since the initial investigation.
1986
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Background lore, same thread, second post:
The Slender Man is described across accounts that span continents and centuries, which is the first strange thing. He is always tall — unnaturally tall, taller than doorframes, taller than the ceilings of the rooms he is found in. He is always thin, with limbs that extend past proportion, arms that hang too low. He wears, in every account, a black suit.
He has no face. This is consistent.
He is most often seen near children, though he is also seen near those who seek him. The seeking appears to accelerate contact.
He appears in photographs only coincidentally — never the subject, always background. Figures who appear near him in photographs are invariably reported missing shortly afterward. This pattern has been noted independently in records from Germany (Der Großmann), Romania (The Tall Man), and a series of woodcut prints dated to the 14th century found in a church in Stirling, Scotland, depicting a thin faceless figure leading a procession of children into a forest.
He does not run. He does not need to. Those who see him report the same sensation: that no matter how far they walk, the distance between them does not increase.
The most recent accounts come from online communities dedicated to documenting encounters. The volume of these accounts has increased significantly in the past eighteen months. Researchers note that many of the accounts share precise details that were never made public.
We have no explanation for this.
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The Slender Man became one of the defining examples of collaborative internet mythology — a character that evolved through thousands of contributors across forums, video projects, games, and fan fiction. The original two captions by Victor Surge remain the canonical source.