Halloween is a time for scaring yourself silly. While there are a number of video games that will do just that, it’s “The Slender Man” that is causing the biggest stir on the Internet.
The Slender Man is a character born in urban mythology and who has a number of supposed beginnings. One such mythology about The Slender Man’s creation is that Victor Surge found this legend and made his own version of it. Another theory is that The Slender Man was created in an Internet forum.
The Slender Man is usually described as a supernatural creature appearing as a normal human. At 8 feet tall, faceless, with extending limbs and no face, dressed in a businessman’s suit with a red or black tie, this is not someone you’d want to bump into on a dark evening.
Rumours have circulated the Internet over the past few months of his existence, with a few images appearing online with The Slender Man in the background.
Naturally, with this horror figure appearing all over the web, a game was developed by Parsec Production to incorporate The Slender Man, called “Slender.” The game had a simple premise: You are walking through the woods, with a faint torch trying to find eight pieces of paper about The Slender Man, while being chased by the man himself.
The game has already created a stir all over YouTube with reactions popping up all over the web. One person who subjected himself to this game was third year Public Relations student, James Nichols, who said: “There were some rumours circulating in the pub about the game and I’d seen a few trending videos on YouTube with reactions and, naturally, I had to try it for myself.
“The sound scared me the most. I’ve got studio grade monitors, so even though it was minimal music it built up a palpable atmosphere. The Slender Man now looks an egg wearing stilts on his way through the forest to an FBI award ceremony. He wasn’t that scary.”
Third year student, Andrew Antill said: The piano sound in the background definitely scares me the most. I had seen people on it on YouTube and just had to try it out, it really scared me!”
Another student, Jess Mason said: “I heard about Slenderman through the Reddit network, but I only really found out what it was through friends that had either played it or were just spreading the word of how scary it was.
“I don’t really think there’s a particular bit that that scared me the most, more just the culmination of everything that’s going on. There’s something about that eerie, ominous tune throughout that is just completely terrifying, especially when paired with the ticking clock sounds that make you feel as if you’re part of the horrifying on screen experience.”
She continued: “The entire game, if you can call being left utterly defenceless and scared senseless a game, is just one giant death trap. I think that’s the worst bit. I genuinely felt trapped within the rooms with no hope whatsoever.”
With the success of the free online version of the game, there have been rumours of a more mainstream version of this horror game.
Nichols explained: “There was talk of a big games company making a console version, where players had to work together to collect creepy-looking teddy bears.
“There’s also a new game on Steam called ‘Anna’ that’s meant to play off the increase of people playing scary games, but the trailer looks so shockingly put together that I’m not interested.”
Slender can be downloaded and played for free from its official website.