Urban Legend: The Slenderman, Hatman, Tallman



He towers at six to seven feet with unusually thin limbs. His face, if you can call it that, is featureless and white, though some say that it can morph into whatever you fear the most. His arms, however, can stretch out to grab his victims and bend in unnatural ways with long, talon-like fingers used to scratch at the windows of children. Yes that’s right. While he haunts everyone who has the misfortune to see him, he prefers to devour those that are 16 and younger. He is also said to have multiple arms sometimes seen as long tentacles used to ensnare whomever catches his eye, or should I say, the void where his face should be.

Slender man is a silent stalker that likes to hide in plain sight and is usually spotted in wooded areas where he could blend in amongst the trees and dark corners of the forest. When he finds his victim of choice, he follows them home and upon being seen through the window, can use a form of hypnosis that compels you to walk right into his spindly arms. Usually glimpsed at a distance, once he’s close enough to get a good look at, that’s when he slinks into your home appearing in dark hallways or blank t.v. screens.

American legend says that he was once a man who was tortured viciously, first being beaten with a log, then impaled with a 2 foot stick and hung from a tree with his arms and legs pulled from their sockets. When captured, you will wake to find Slender man standing above you. He will ask one question and if you’re lucky and get it right, he breaks both your arms and legs. But if you are wrong, then he slowly sticks his fingers down your throat pulling out the heart. In circles on the internet Slender man is claimed to be the creation of a website called Somethingawful.com. Many say that this alone debunks the mysterious legend and closes the case on the creature’s fictitious existence. Well, not quite.

This legend is thought to have come from a German legend of a tall man used in cautionary tales for youth about the Black Forest and a tall man who eats people and livestock.

Interestingly, there is a commonly reported shadow person described as tall, thin, and wearing a hat, sometimes referred to as the "Hatman."  More often than not, he is described as exceedingly tall, thin, with a trench coat and top hat. He think he cannot be seen, but when he is, he rushed away and disappears.  It would seem rather ironic that Men in Black have been described in much the same way, as if they are silent watchers, evaluators, who come and go from our realm elusively and without any true identity.

No matter how you slice it, slenderman, hatman, tallman -- all make for amazing urban legends and lots of theories from spiritual to other dimensional to alien.

Whatever is causing this phenomena, I hope to chase it down in coming years.



Comments

  1. A bit more info on Slenderman: http://strangestate.blogspot.com/2012/08/slender-man-cancerous-canard.html

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  2. slenderman is completely different from hatman, which is a variant of shadow people, which do not harm, kill, or kidnap

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