# Slender Man

> Two edited forum photos grew into folklore across fan videos, games and film.

- Owner: Eric Knudsen ('Victor Surge'), original character creator
- Kind: Meme & format
- Sector: Culture (no sector)
- Seed date: 2009-06-10
- Milestone date: 2012-07-05
- Date basis: Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak.
- Spread Score: 43 (Notable, provisional), v1.3
- Mechanics: Response chain, Mystery & lore, Platform jump, Press loop, Controversy

## Summary

Eric Knudsen posted two edited photos on Something Awful. Fans expanded the character through YouTube fiction and games. Later adaptations reached cinemas, while crime coverage changed the fandom’s public image.

## Timeline

- 2009-06-08 — Gerogerigegege (Open web) — Gerogerigegege invited Something Awful users to make paranormal images and leak them onto other websites.
- 2009-06-10 — Eric Knudsen ('Victor Surge') (Open web) — Victor Surge posted two edited photographs and fictional captions naming the Slender Man.
- 2009-06-11 — Victor Surge (Open web) — Victor Surge added photographs and fabricated medical reports to the character's story.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/slender-man

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Slender Man.” Case HIS-01504. Spread Score v1.3: 43/100. Updated 2026-10-23. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01504