"If you spend enough time on the internet, you'll eventually hear whispers of a figure of yore. A once looming presence in communities based around internet horror, independent filmmaking, video games, true crime, and even sketch comedy. And every once in a while, people still mention his name: Slender Man. My name is Alex Hera[,] and I will be your host in this investigation of the history of the Slenderverse."
— Alex Hera
Slenderverse: A Documentary Film Series is (as the title suggests) a three-part 2024 Documentary film series about The Slender Man Mythos. It was written and directed by Alex Hera and produced by Rain Dalton.
The series chronicles the history of the internet-based mythos: the Slender Man's creation on the Something Awful forums, his rise as a horror icon, and the complex, interconnected vlogging and blogging communities that formed around the character—as well as his fall to the status of a dangerous internet meme in the wake of horrifying real-world events. This history is presented through archival footage, interviews with various Slenderverse creators, and dramatized segments, alongside narration from Hera themself.
All three films were released on YouTube in June 2024. Part 1, Building the Slenderman
, was released on June 14. Part 2, Any Artistic Movement, was released on June 21. Part 3, The Rise and Fall of Slenderman, was released on June 28.
This series provides examples of:
- Bait-and-Switch: Near the end of Part 1, in-film Alex comes face to (lack of) face with the Slender Man in the woods. After a tense, quiet moment of confrontation, Alex yells, “Cut!”, “Slender Man” peels off his mask, and we pan back to reveal the camera, film crew, and various props seen throughout Part 1.
- The Cameo: In addition to regular appearances from various Slenderverse creators, Nick Nocturn, Trevor Henderson, Emmy Cicierega (the creator of the "Splendorman" parody), and Vinny/Shadovvurking (a.k.a. the creator of the Pasta Monster comics) show up.
- Content Warning: Building the Slenderman prefaces the "A Serious Conversation" segment, which briefly discusses TribeTwelve's exclusion from the documentary, with a warning that it contains reference to internet predators (urging viewers to skip ahead to the provided time stamp if they wish to avoid hearing about the subject). During the segment itself, Alex Hera also urges newcomers to the Slenderverse to proceed with caution before delving into the series and its history.
- Likewise, The Rise and Fall of Slenderman segment "Power Dynamics" (which discusses how various content creators have used their platform to take advantage of fans) contains a content warning throughout.
- Creator Cameo: Aside from providing the voiceover narration, Alex Hera appears on camera numerous times throughout the series, as both themself and the director of the in-universe Slender Man film.
- Deliberate VHS Quality: Invoked throughout the series as an homage to the Found Footage medium (in which many vlogs in the mythos are presented). "Building The Slenderman" opens with (among other things) the sound of a cassette tape loading and a grainy screen full of tracking lines, the interstitial screens and interview segments occasionally present tracking lines, and the poster for "The Rise and Fall of Slenderman" is even designed to resemble a Scotch T-120 VHS cassette sleeve.
- Friendly Rivalry: The friendly rivalry between the Slenderverse vloggers and the blogging community is discussed in passing. (The vlogging community arose first, and entertained the idea that the bloggers were attempting to copy their success with connectivity crossovers—even creating the hashtag #NoMoreBlogs at one point.) In reality, there was no real animosity, and some of the blogs even crossed over with various vlogs.
- Found Family: An Artistic Movement delves into the close friendships within the vlogging community, revealing that the casts of Everyman HYBRID, Dark Harvest, MLAnderson0, The Tulpa Theory, and Whispered Faith (among others) basically functioned as a big extended family during the hayday of the Mythos.
- Gone Horribly Right: Discussed in Part 3: the lore of Slender Man is set up in such a way that one could easily come to believe that he exists in the real world—with the formats of many of the vlogs and blogs adding to the illusion. This was part of the appeal of the mythos, and why it was so effective. Then, in 2014, two disturbed pre-teen girls became so convinced that the character was real that they attempted to stab a friend to death in order to appease the Slender Man.
- Hard Truth Aesop: The Rise and Fall of Slenderman drives home the abysmal state of mental healthcare in North America, vis a vis the 2014 Wisconsin stabbing incident. Serious mental health conditions frequently go undiagnosed, and even with a diagnosis, you cannot always rely on the healthcare system – or the justice system – to give mentally ill people the treatment and care that they need. Alex Hera notes that Morgan Geysernote was never screened for schizophrenia as a child (despite her father having the condition, and Morgan herself presenting all of the symptoms from a young age), and that even after receiving a diagnosis after her arrest, Geyser received zero treatment during the year she awaited trial.
- There are individuals in every creative community who will prey on others if given the opportunity, and there isn't always a surefire way to prevent it; even when "If you see something, say something" is in play, most transgressions take place behind closed doors, meaning it's often next to impossible to prove that a crime was even committed.
- Never Bareheaded: Evan Jennings sports the iconic ‘’Death Proof’’ baseball cap that he wore as HABIT throughout his appearances.
- The New '10s: The series focuses mainly on events occurring between 2010 and 2019; the Slenderverse had its genesis in 2010 (with the creation of the Slender Man character), peaked between 2011 and early 2014, and fell from popularity from mid-2014 through 2019.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Discussed at various points during the series in relation to fans of the Mythos (and Creepypasta in general).
- In Building the Slenderman, Evan Jennings admits, with some amusement, that he was blissfully unaware of the "monsterfucker" demographic when he created HABIT, and was taken aback when fans began sexualizing the character.
- In "The Rise and Fall of Slenderman", Shadowlurking, the creator of the "Pasta Monsters" comics, notes that if there's a monster on the internet, someone will want to kiss it.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: While many of the creatives behind the Slenderverse appear as themselves, Victor Surge (a.k.a. Eric Knudson), the original creator of the Slender Man, is voiced by actor Spencer Seigel-Laddy.
- Sequel Hook: Parts 1 and 2 both end with a teaser for the next phase of the documentary, with the narration alluding to forthcoming developments within the mythos (followed by a brief collection of clips from the next part of the documentary).
- Show Within a Show: The interview and archival segments of the films are interspersed with dramatized vignettes that mirror the history of the Mythos: a group of internet users, inspired by the SomethingAwful Forums, ‘’Marble Hornets’’, and the Slender Man blogs, attempt to create their own Slender Man stories; finally, a group of fans – including Alex Hera themself – come together to film a Slender Man tribute movie in the woods. True to the nature of the Mythos (and the real life incidents surrounding it), things go horribly wrong: several creators are forced to abandon their work after a young person is stabbed; other creators are put on pedestals, and are hinted to have taken advantage of their fans in some capacity; and the actor portraying the Slender Man in Hera's film seemingly falls under the sway of the genuine article, undergoes Sanity Slippage, and murders the cast and crew of the film — save for Hera (if that's what really happens). At the end of the film, Hera exits the woods and comes across the real Slender Man, giving him a hug of appreciation before walking off down a peaceful, tree-lined road.
- Society Is to Blame: Discussed in Part 3 with regards to the 2014 Waukesha stabbing case. While the interviewed creators express some measure of guilt for being part of the creative community that helped popularize the Slender Man, they all ultimately agree that the incident was the result of two extremely disturbed and unstable individuals who slipped through the cracks in the system, and never received the guidance and treatment they desperately needed (with Lee Esposito stating rather bluntly that the stabbing happened because a "team" of caregivers were sleeping on the job throughout the girls' lives).
- Trope Codifier: Nearly all of the tropes associated with the Mythos — from static, audio, and visual distortion announcing Slender Man's presence, to the character's teleportation powers, to the symptoms of "Slendersickness" (memory loss, Missing Time, Bad Black Barf, Sanity Slippage), to the use of masked antagonists, arc symbols, and binary code — originated from Marble Hornets.
- Unequal Pairing: The power dynamics between artists and fans are discussed at length in one segment of Part 3, in relation to various cases of inappropriate Fan-Creator interactions within the Slenderverse community. Lee Esposito and Evan Jennings both voice their thoughts on the matter, with Lee noting that there was never any accountability within the creative community (and Evan comparing it to the Punk Rock music scene).
- Un-person: Due to the 2020 sexual abuse allegations surrounding Adam Rosner,note he is completely absent from the series. While the allegations are addressed briefly in part 1 and part 3, Rosner himself is never mentioned by name, and his face is blurred out in every candid group photo and video.
- "Slender Man will live on through the art we create. He'll always be there. He'll always be watching. And that is, perhaps, the most beautiful thing about him."