:Creepypasta
{{Short description|Horror-related media shared around the Internet}}
{{Distinguish|Copypasta}}
{{pp-dispute|small=yes}}
File:Тонкий человек.jpg of Slender Man, one of the best-known creepypastas]]
A creepypasta is a horror-related legend which has been shared around the Internet.{{cite news|last1=Considine|first1=Austin|title=Bored at Work? Try Creepypasta, or Web Scares|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/fashion/14noticed.html|access-date=14 September 2015|work=The New York Times|date=12 November 2010}}{{cite journal|last1=Henriksen|first1=Line|title=Here be monsters: a choreomaniac's companion to the danse macabre|journal=Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory|date=17 Dec 2013|volume=23|issue=3|doi=10.1080/0740770X.2013.857082|pages=414–423|s2cid=191466919}} The term creepypasta has since become a catch-all term for any horror content posted onto the Internet.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailydot.com/culture/definitive-guide-creepypasta-slender-man/|title=The definitive guide to creepypasta—the Internet's urban legends|last=Romano|first=Aja|work=The Daily Dot|date=31 October 2012|access-date=1 September 2015}}
These entries are often brief, user-generated, paranormal stories that are intended to frighten readers. The subjects of creepypasta vary widely and can include topics such as ghosts, cryptids, murder, suicide, zombies, aliens, rituals to summon supernatural entities, haunted television shows, and video games. Creepypastas range in length from a single paragraph to extended multi-part series that can span multiple media types, some lasting for years.
In the mainstream media, creepypastas relating to the fictitious Slender Man character came to public attention after the 2014 "Slender Man stabbing", in which a 12-year-old girl was stabbed by two of her friends; the perpetrators claimed they "wanted to prove the Slender Man skeptics wrong".{{cite magazine|last1=Roy|first1=Jessica|title=Behind Creepypasta, the Internet Community That Allegedly Spread a Killer Meme|url=https://time.com/2818192/creepypasta-copypasta-slender-man/|access-date=17 October 2014|magazine=Time|date=3 June 2014}}{{cite news|last1=Dewey|first1=Caitlin|title=The complete, terrifying history of 'Slender Man', the Internet meme that compelled two 12-year-olds to stab their friend|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/06/03/the-complete-terrifying-history-of-slender-man-the-internet-meme-that-compelled-two-12-year-olds-to-stab-their-friend/|access-date=17 October 2014|agency=The Washington Post|date=6 June 2014}} After the murder attempt, some creepypasta website administrators made statements reminding readers of the "line between fiction and reality". This case is part of a pattern of people, especially children, developing misconceptions around the reality of creepypastas.
Other notable creepypasta stories include Jeff the Killer, Ted the Caver, and Smile Dog.{{cite web|last=Newitz|first=Annalee|date=August 5, 2013|title=Who is "Jeff the Killer"? And is his picture haunted by a real death?|url=http://io9.com/who-is-jeff-the-killer-and-is-his-picture-haunted-by-1016241494|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151219144150/http://io9.gizmodo.com/who-is-jeff-the-killer-and-is-his-picture-haunted-by-1016241494|archive-date=December 19, 2015|access-date=31 December 2013|website=Gizmodo|publisher=io9}}{{Cite news|url=https://mashable.com/article/creepypastas/|title=17 terrifying creepypastas guaranteed to keep you up at night|last1=Roncero-Menendez|first1=Sara|date=September 18, 2018|newspaper=Mashable|access-date=March 14, 2019|last2=Piedra|first2=Xavier}}
Definition
The word creepypasta first appeared on 4chan, an online imageboard, around 2007. It is a variant of the slang copypasta (from "copy and paste"), another 4chan term which refers to blocks of text which become viral by being copied widely around the internet.{{Sfn|Blank|McNeill|2018|p=6}}{{Sfn|Bimo|2023|p=82}} Creepypastas are a form of modern day folklore following many of the same narrative techniques such as first-person narrators and integrating true information.{{Cite journal |last=Manning |first=Paul |date=2024-09-01 |title=Before Creepypasta: Folklore, Newspapers, and the Weird Tale |url=https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/preternature/article-abstract/13/2/258/389182/Before-Creepypasta-Folklore-Newspapers-and-the?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural |language=en |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=258–288 |doi=10.5325/preternature.13.2.0258 |issn=2161-2196|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite book |last=Blank |first=T.J. |title=Slender man is coming : Creepypasta and contemporary legends on the internet |publisher=Utah State University Press |year=2018}} The integration of true pieces of information within the stories of creepypastas is part of what makes them appealing and somewhat believable, as it does with folklore. Where people spread folklores by word of mouth, creepypasta stories are spread through digital channels, making them easily accessible and creating a sense of community amongst those who participate in them.
Unlike copypastas, creepypastas are all horror fiction and also encompass multimedia stories, with creators using videos, images, hyperlinks and GIFs alongside text.{{Sfn|Bimo|2023|p=82}} Before people knew the website best for its creepy folk-like stories on their website, creepypasta existed as short scary stories to send to your friends in text format.{{Cite news |last=Considine |first=Austin |date=2010-11-13 |title=Bored at Work? Try Creepypasta, or Web Scares |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/fashion/14noticed.html |access-date=2025-04-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} These messages consisted of a short form scary story or video that sometimes ended with a threatening message that something bad would happen to you or your family if you didn't forward the message to a certain number of people. These copy-and-paste chains of scary stories became common practice for people to send to friends or coworkers when they were bored and existed as the first form of creepypastas.
History
{{See also|List of creepypastas}}
According to Sara Bimo, "there is debate over what exactly counts as the 'first' creepypasta".{{Sfn|Bimo|2023|p=82}} Scholars and writers such as Time
The earliest creepypastas originate from 4chan, and the website's culture was influential in shaping the characteristics of the genre.{{Sfn|Bimo|2023|p=82}} Major dedicated creepypasta websites started to appear from the late 2000s: Creepypasta.com was created in 2008, while the Creepypasta Wiki and Reddit's r/nosleep were both created in 2010.{{Cite web|date=June 3, 2014|title='Slender Man' Cited in Stabbing Is a Ghoul for the Internet Age|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/slender-man-stabbing/slender-man-cited-stabbing-ghoul-internet-age-n121741|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140607040340/http://www.nbcnews.com/web/20140607040340/http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/slender-man-stabbing/slender-man-cited-stabbing-ghoul-internet-age-n121741|archive-date=June 7, 2014|access-date=June 24, 2017|website=NBC News}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.denofgeek.com/us/culture/creepypasta/249766/beware-the-creepypasta-scary-storytelling-in-the-internet-age|title=Beware the Creepypasta: Scary Storytelling in the Internet Age|last=Bojalad|first=Alec|date=22 January 2017|website=Den of Geek|access-date=24 June 2017}} According to Time magazine, the genre had its peak audience in 2010 when it was covered by The New York Times.
The definition of creepypasta has expanded over time to include most short horror fiction whose first publication is online.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/130057-what-is-creepypasta-heres-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-internets-spookiest-stories|title=What Is Creepypasta? Here's Everything You Need To Know About The Internet's Spookiest Stories|last=Peters|first=Lucia|date=25 December 2015|website=Bustle|access-date=24 June 2017}} Over time, authorship has become increasingly important: many creepypastas are written by named authors rather than by anonymous individuals.
Creepypasta entered the news cycle most prominently in 2014 with the infamous "Slender Man stabbing." Authorities charged one of the girls in the case, Morgan Geyser, and have held her in a psychiatric facility since her conviction. In 2025, a judge ruled that Geyser would not be up for consideration to leave the facility.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-06 |title=Judge says plans to release a woman in Slender Man case can go forward |url=https://apnews.com/article/morgan-geyser-release-slender-man-stabbing-dc1f2b12c9381236d3d385c80ecd4f0a |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=AP News |language=en}}
Cultural impact
File:Backrooms_model.jpg, derived from one of the images that inspired the creepypasta]]
Numerous short films, games, feature-length films and merchandise have been produced based on creepypastas, such as Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story, Slender Man and Beware the Slenderman. In 2023, a new film from production company A24 was announced based on "the backrooms," a source of lore in creepypasta based on a series of pictures. The filmmakers will directly base the film on a YouTube series doing an in-depth exploration of the backrooms.{{Cite web |last=Grobar |first=Matt |date=2023-02-06 |title='The Backrooms' Horror Film Based On Viral Shorts By 17-Year-Old Kane Parsons In Works At A24, Atomic Monster, Chernin & 21 Laps |url=https://deadline.com/2023/02/the-backrooms-a24-developing-feature-based-on-viral-horror-shorts-1235249413/ |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}
In addition to merchandise and film adaptations, numerous amounts of fan content and independent settings/mythos have been established from creepypastas, such as with the SCP Foundation, the Backrooms and The Mandela Catalogue, with the latter serving as an example of the creepypasta descendant subgenre, analog horror.
Due to its online prevalence, a portion of creepypastas has been archived by American Folklife Center and added to their digital culture web archive under their initiative to document the development of web culture.{{Cite web |title=About this Collection {{!}} Web Cultures Web Archive {{!}} Digital Collections {{!}} Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/web-cultures-web-archive/about-this-collection/ |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}{{Cite web |last=Saylor |first=Nicole |date=2014-09-26 |title=Creepypastas, Memes, Lolspeak & Boards: The Scope of a Digital Culture Web Archive {{!}} Folklife Today |url=https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2014/09/scoping-a-digital-culture-web-archive/ |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=The Library of Congress}} Some folklorist view creepypastas as the digital age manifestation of legend,{{Cite report |url=https://keep.lib.asu.edu/items/168623 |title=The Case for Creepypasta: Defining the Genre and Finding the Horror |last=Ramirez |first=Makayla |date=2022 |publisher=Arizona State University |language=en}} while others view the majority of creepypastas as anti-legends.{{Cite journal |last=Koven |first=Mikel J. |date=2015-12-31 |title=Slender Man: A Dissenting View |url=https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/cl/article/view/35106 |journal=Contemporary Legend |language=en |volume=5 |pages=105–111 |issn=0963-8334}} Anti-legends are similar to legends except that they seek to purposely subvert the legends of the era by challenging the audience's expectations of what constitutes a contemporary legend.{{Cite journal |last1=Jolles |first1=André |last2=Schwartz |first2=Peter J. |date=2013 |title=Legend: From "Einfache Formen" ("Simple Forms") |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23489318 |journal=PMLA |volume=128 |issue=3 |pages=728–743 |doi=10.1632/pmla.2013.128.3.728 |jstor=23489318 |s2cid=161186978 |issn=0030-8129|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last=Mould |first=Tom |date=2022-10-01 |title=Counter Memes and Anti-Legends in Online Welfare Discourse |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5406/15351882.135.538.03 |journal=Journal of American Folklore |volume=135 |issue=538 |pages=441–465 |doi=10.5406/15351882.135.538.03 |s2cid=252763522 |issn=0021-8715|url-access=subscription }}
In May 2015, Machinima, Inc. announced plans for a live-action web series curated by Clive Barker, titled Clive Barker's Creepy Pasta, focusing on Slender Man and Ben Drowned;{{cite news |last=Rife |first=Katie |date=5 May 2015 |title=Machinima announces web series from Clive Barker, Bruce Timm, RoboCop, and more |url=http://www.avclub.com/article/machinima-announces-web-series-clive-barker-bruce--218969 |access-date=14 September 2015 |newspaper=The A.V. Club}} although following the shutdown of Machinima, the series was never produced. Each season of the American television series Channel Zero from Syfy is based on a different creepypasta, taking inspiration from the stories themselves as well as the associated subreddit.{{Cite web |date=2024-09-30 |title=SYFY's Channel Zero: The Horror Anthology That Brought Creepypasta to Life |url=https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/remembering-syfy-channel-zero-and-bringing-creepypasta-to-life |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=SYFY |language=en-US}} Filmmaker John Farrelly was set to release a film titled The Sleep Experiment, based on the Russian Sleep Experiment, in 2020,{{Cite web |last=Lynch |first=Richard |date=February 22, 2019 |title=John Farrelly Set to Release Debut Feature Film The Sleep Experiment |url=https://www.ilovelimerick.ie/the-sleep-experiment/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215084537/https://www.ilovelimerick.ie/the-sleep-experiment/ |archive-date=December 15, 2019 |website=I Love Limerick |publisher=RichardKnows}} but the project never materialized.
Genres
=Lost episodes=
Some creepypastas exploit childhood nostalgia and distort it into something more horrific or unfamiliar. Creepypasta.com describes purported lost episodes of television shows as one of the most popular tropes.{{Cite web |last=Stoeber |first=Jenna |date=July 12, 2018 |title=Creepypasta and the psychology of negative nostalgia |url=https://www.polygon.com/videos/2018/7/12/17562402/fiendzone-negative-nostalgia-petscop-creepypasta |access-date=April 14, 2024 |website=Polygon}}{{Sfn|Bimo|2023|pp=86–87}} These episodes often focus on suicide or imply the viewer will suffer great harm. Some lost episode creepypastas focus on local public access shows rather than nationally syndicated shows. Notable examples of these include Squidward's Suicide, Suicidemouse.avi, and Dead Bart.{{Sfn|Grippo|2016|p=176}} A SpongeBob SquarePants episode, titled "SpongeBob in RandomLand", had to re-edit a scene that referred to the Squidward's Suicide creepypasta.{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/yep-spongebob-just-directly-referenced-a-classic-creep-1838314120|title=Yep, SpongeBob just directly referenced a classic creepypasta about Squidward killing himself|work=The A.V. Club|author=William Hughes|date=September 21, 2019|access-date=May 21, 2023}}{{Cite web |date=2022-03-01 |title=What is a Creepypasta? |url=https://www.talesbytravel.com/tays-blog/what-is-a-creepypasta |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=Tales by Travel |language=en-US}}
=Video games=
Video game creepypasta focuses on video games containing grotesque or violent content; this content may spill over into the real world and cause the player to harm themselves or others. Many video game creepypastas reveal the conflict to be caused by malevolent entities such as ghosts or artificial intelligence.Grippo, p. 176. Notable examples of these include Sonic.exe, Ben Drowned, Herobrine, and the Lavender Town Syndrome.
Belief as real
Due to the narrative techniques of creepypasta stories and their popularity amongst children, these stories are sometimes mistaken as true stories by their readers, especially younger ones. The ease of access of these stories and their mix of fantasy and reality appeals to children, and the common themes of uncertainty and ambiguity in the narratives can cause confusion in the reader.{{Cite journal |last1=Faheem |first1=Amara |last2=Iqbal |first2=Misbah |last3=Bilal |first3=Saleha |date=2023 |title=Digital Gothic Examining the Impact of Creepypasta on Adolescent Digital Reading Trends in Contemporary Society |url=https://hamdardeducus.com/index.php/he/article/view/33 |journal=Hamdard Educus |language=en |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=1–16 |issn=2958-6909}}
One misunderstood creepypasta led to the "Slender Man stabbing" in Wisconsin in 2014, where two 12-year-old girls, one of whom had been experiencing auditory hallucinations as a result of schizophrenia, tried to kill another girl in order to appease Slender Man and prove that the character was real.{{Cite web |date=2015-11-23 |title=Indiana girl accused in "Creepypasta" stabbing case; how it's different from the "Slenderman" case |url=https://www.fox6now.com/news/indiana-girl-accused-in-creepypasta-stabbing-case-how-its-different-from-the-slenderman-case |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=FOX 6 Now Milwaukee |language=en-US}} After the attack, the official creepypasta website put out a statement in response to the media attention, expressing sympathy for the incident that occurred, and clarifying that its stories are fictional.{{Cite web |date=2014-06-03 |title=Creepypasta responds: "We are a literature site, not a crazy satanic cult" |url=https://www.fox6now.com/news/creepypasta-responds-we-are-a-literature-site-not-a-crazy-satanic-cult |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=FOX 6 Now Milwaukee |language=en-US}}
In Indiana in 2015, a 12-year-old girl fatally stabbed her stepmother, believing that a clown character from the Creepypasta website had directed her to do so. The girl was found to have been experiencing dissociative identity disorder for some months prior to the attack.{{cite news |title=Indiana girl, 12, said "clown" told her to kill stepmom - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/indiana-girl-12-said-clown-told-her-to-kill-stepmom/ |access-date=27 April 2025 |work=www.cbsnews.com |date=20 November 2015}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
=Bibliography=
- {{Cite journal |last=Balanzategui |first=Jessica |date=2019 |title=Creepypasta, 'Candle Cove', and the digital gothic |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1470412919841018 |journal=Journal of Visual Culture |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=187–208 |doi=10.1177/1470412919841018 |issn=1470-4129|url-access=subscription }}
- {{Cite book |last=Bimo |first=Sara |title=Global Perspectives on Digital Literature: A Critical Introduction for the Twenty-First Century |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2023 |isbn=9781000875270 |editor-last=Ghosal |editor-first=Torsa |page=1902 |language=en |chapter=The Horror of Networked Existence: Affect, Connection and Anxiety in Classic Creepypasta Narratives |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aEa8EAAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA1905}}
- {{Cite book |last1=Blank |first1=Trevor J. |title=Slender Man Is Coming: Creepypasta and Contemporary Legends on the Internet |last2=McNeill |first2=Lynne S. |date=2018 |publisher=Utah State University Press |isbn=9781607327806 |pages=3–23 |chapter=Introduction: Fear Has No Face: Creepypasta as Digital Legendry}}
- {{cite book |last=Grippo |first=Marisa C.|editor-first1= June|editor-last1= Pulliam |display-editors=etal|title=Ghosts in Popular Culture and Legend |publisher=ABC-CLIO, LLC|date=26 September 2016 |pages=174–176 |chapter=Internet Ghosts |isbn= 9781440834905}}
- {{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Tosha R. |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-33136-8_58 |title=The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Gothic |date=2020 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-33135-1 |editor-last=Bloom |editor-first=Clive |place= |pages=985–1003 |language=en |chapter=Horror Memes and Digital Culture |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-33136-8_58 |s2cid=226618766}}
{{Urban legends}}
{{4chan}}
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