⸸ A/N: I am sure these sightings are fake, but everyone includes them. I will try to gather information on real sighting in the future.
Sightings
According to a report on the Metro U.K., residents of Cannock Chase have spotted a mysterious spirit over the last month. Locals have described the apparition as a 'lean, shadowy spirit' with 'blood red eyes'. His clothing is said to be Victorian in nature.
The sighting, along with others, prompted Lee Brickley to investigate. He is familiar with the Slenderman mythology, knowing that it has been a subject of folklore for centuries, under various names.
Brickley is attempting to figure out why Slenderman is frightening the residents of Cannock Chase, according to the Huffington Post. However, he has a unique theory that Slenderman is not actually visiting the town, but instead is a product of sleep paralysis. He is not discounting that paranormal activity might be at play, though.
"I am drawn towards the idea of sleep paralysis due to the fact that three of the sightings happened at night when the victims were in bed. However, that doesn't explain the sighting at Castle Ring. I think that could be a genuine paranormal encounter."
"Cannock Chase is considered by many to be a portal area. It could be that people see whatever they fear most, yet it is the same force or entity that scares them."
-Castle Ring (02/01/2015)
Date: 2nd January 2015 Location: Castle Ring Time: 02:00am
"While taking a midnight stroll around Castle Ring last Friday morning, I happened to notice a strange figure in the distance. It appeared to rise out of the trees and hover over the path around 100m in front of me. I don't know if you've ever heard the stories of Spring-Heeled Jack, but if you have, this thing seemed to look pretty similar to all those old artists impressions. It was very dark, but I could see it clearly because of the lights coming from Rugeley. It was also a pretty clear night. If I were to compare it to anything, I would say it looked like a stereotypical Victorian gentleman. Long black overcoat with a Homburg hat. Except, I know this was no flying human. I know that because it had blood red eyes that shone in the night sky. It also had a mouth full of teeth that seemed to look like razors. Whatever it was, it stopped hovering and descended back into the trees. Needless to say, I did not investigate any further."
-Slitting Mill (27/11/2014)
"I don't really know who else to turn to. The weirdest thing happened last night, and I just don't know what to make of it. At half past two in the morning while I was sleeping, I heard a bang that woke me from my dream. As my eyes opened, I saw a man floating over me. He was so close that I would have headbutted him if I moved an inch. I could see into his eyes. They were a fierce red colour that shook me to my very core. Although he didn't speak, I knew what he was thinking. It was as though he was talking to me telepathically. He definitely wanted to hurt me, but there was something stopping him. It was almost like he was someone gaining power from scaring me though. Maybe something bad will happen when he gets strong enough? For what it's worth, I'm not a nutcase, and I work for a local business of which you will be familiar. It just seemed the anger in his eyes grew stronger as I was feeling more scared. The ordeal ended when the man (who was completely dressed in black with a hat to match) floated higher and higher above my until he hit my ceiling and disappeared."
-Cannock Chase, U.K. (14/12/-)
"I was awoken yesterday morning just before 2am by an odd scratching noise in my bedroom. I instantly sat upright in bed in an attempt to discover whatever was causing the sound. To my astonishment, there was what seemed like a sphere-shaped shadow by the edge of my wardrobe. As I tried to get out of bed and investigate further, the shadow began to stretch towards the ceiling. It was at that point I found myself faced with the most disgusting and horrific creature imaginable. It was about 8 feet tall, and had a white face with razor sharp fangs. It almost looked like a vampire. I fell back into my bed and the creature started moving towards me. Its arms stretched out to almost twice their original length, and I felt claws scraping at my skin. I let out a scream in fear for my life, and the creature retreated back into the corner of my room. It then shrank back down into a ball and slowly faded away."
† Currently, there doesn't seem to be a known reason why some people who have encountered Slenderman have not been harmed or influenced by him. There are many ideas that could be presented as far as how to explain this. One idea is that he is very chaotic in his methods, or at least he seems to be, and it's possible one of his prime objectives after he has "targeted" or influenced someone could be to incite as much chaos and fear as possible. This could point to a possibility that he feeds from fear, or simply that he enjoys stirring it up inside people before abducting or killing them. This is not unlike the methods some serial killers use, to maximize the terror and fear in their victims.