Slender

Chapter Thirty

Chapter thirty

 

        I learned a lot over the past few nights of reading the journal. I lost sleep a lot of the nights over it out of fear and out of fascination. I wasn’t scared of Slenderman anymore. I was scared of dying. But over the truth, I decided, it would be worth it. I learned that Slenderman was bigger than all of us. That it was bigger than people anticipated it to be. It had always been here. It, he, whatever it was, it had been here longer than anyone expected it to have been. It had been here before us. Before everything probably. I could see why the group had decided on the trans-dimensional being theory. It had been traced back to ancient Egypt at the earliest as it was portrayed in hieroglyphics of a tall abnormal figure escorting children. Slenderman had probably been here since the beginning of time hence why it resides in the fourth dimension. It was a timeless being.

        In sixteenth century woodcuts, there was a piece called Der Großmann that represented a tall figure with no face. Der Großmann according to inscriptions is a mythical creature that lives in the Black Forest and creeps out at night to spirit away bad children. Many chilling journal entries in Germany were found in the 1700’s. They read, “My child, My Lars… He is one. Taken from his bed. All that was left was a scrap of black clothing. Lars came running into my bedroom yesterday screaming at the top of his lungs “The tall man is outside!” he cried. When I asked him who he was talking about he said Der Grobmann. He said he went into one of the groves by our village and found one of our cows dead. Its carcass was hanging by a tree. I thought nothing of it at first…But now, my poor Lars is gone. We must find him and leave this place before we are killed. I am so sorry my son... I should have listened to you. May God forgive me”. A creator of different 16th century woodcuts, Hans Freckenberg disappeared in 1543. Most people were confused by his found artwork because it excluded his realistic usual style. Instead these pieces consisted of a skeletal figure consisting of multiple limbs. In one of the other woodcuts it showed the same figure stealing a child from a family. It was known as Der Ritter.

A German poem titled “Shlankwald” is translated to “Slim Forest” and describes a guardian in the forest who takes children and preys on the people who enter the forest. There is a painting made in 1510 entitled “the Three Ages of Women and Death”. It was x-rayed due to security reasons and a discovery was made that under an x-ray it had a different appearance than the original painting and showed a skeletal man with arm like tentacles sprouting from his back. Its creator, Hans Baldung Grien, died of unknown causes in 1545. Some other world history of the Slenderman was described in the following aliases: Fear Dubh (The Black Man) is a rare Scottish legend concerning a malevolent entity that haunts footpaths and forests at night. In ancient times it used to be connected to the Christian devil. It was used to scare small children and keep pesky children away from snooping in the woods without their family. The Clutchbone was a seven foot monster from the Northern England 1800’s tale. Exceptionally violent nature alleged disappearances, destruction by burning, and dismemberment of alleged victims. Violent events of this Clutchbone were often followed by sightings or light balls created in severe weather conditions making some believe he was from a world away. The Faceless One is a lullaby that dates back from 18th century Wales. It was used to scare kids into being obedient and staying out of the forests as children who often disappeared into the night were found the forest mutilated almost beyond recognition.

            One case I found to be the most interesting happened on December 12, in 1985.  36-year-old Michael Riemer, his 21-year-old girlfriend, Diana Robertson, and their 2-year-old daughter, Crystal left their home to check on Michael’s fur traps. Crystal, later that night, was found at a K-Mart miles away and when the police came and asked her where her parents were, all she said was “Mommy’s in the trees”.  In February Diana’s remains were found in the woods and had been strangled profusely and stabbed repeatedly with missing body parts. Many assumed her boyfriend had committed the murder when a note on his abandoned truck had read, “I love you Diana”, but how would he have gotten home? And in 2011 his remains were finally found when a storm had uncovered his skull. He had been buried near where Diana’s remains had been found. Now the case is back open.  Now aside from the Slender world events it seems that Rakes have also been documented and in one famous case a suicide note was written in 1964 and said,