Have you ever walked the woods alone at night?
If you have then you're probably wondering why those branches were cracking behind you,
why you started panicking and why you felt like you're being watched
While it turns out that you might not been alone after all
Fueled by the endless creepy stories on the internet and people's encounters with him
The Slender Man has become one of those well-known and terrifying mythical creatures out there
Officially he is defined as a tall, thin mythical creature that is often seen wearing a black suit
He has a blank face with no features, no eyes, no nose, no mouth, no hair and no ears
He has the ability to stretch his arms to over twice their length
But can also shorten them when required and has been reported that he has tentacles protruding from his back
which he can use to snare victims from all angles
His figure has been seen lurking behind children
and is often caught on camera by those unaware of his presence
And although there seems to be no exact location as he's been spotted all over the world
He seems to most frequent woodland areas, blending into the background of trees with his stick like features
Stalking his victims before abducting them
It's unknown if he kills or just kidnaps them and takes them to an undisclosed location or dimension, as most victims are never seen again
It's thought that anyone who is lucky enough to escape the Slender Man will never get over the sight of him
They will be traumatized and left dealing with the psychological damage for the rest of their lives
Despite his recent exposure in the last years, Slender Man is nothing new.
The earliest known reference to him dates back to 9,000 BC
when he was featured in cave paintings in the northeast of Brazil
They show a strange elongated character leading a child by the hand
Later depictions of him were wood carvings by German woodcutter Hans Freckenberg
His carvings featured a multi-limbed character, thought to be a representation of an evil fairy type being who lived in the black forest
That would kill or snare any children who strayed into the forest without their parents permission
More recently the Slender man was brought to life again in June 2009
When two photographs were sent into the website "Something awful"
They were supposedly taken in the mid-80s and showed a group of children with a strange-looking figure lurking in the background
I will talk of the story later, but as well as those two photographs, something else terrible happened
It was called "The Henderson horse farm incident" and took place at a farm in Polk County, North Carolina
The Farm was owned and run by 41-year old Ted Henderson, his wife Judy and his six year old daughter Tracy
On the morning of June the 15th, 1953
Neighbors called local police complaining of hearing screams and the sounds of gunfire coming from the property.
A sheriff and two deputies arrived at the farm at 8:34 and found that horses in the barn had been torn apart
They entered the home and could see fresh blood on some of the rooms' floors
They continued searching the house and found Ted Henderson in the bedroom, barricaded behind furniture
Next to him was the body of his wife, killed by a single gunshot blast to the chest
One of the deputies said Ted didn't seem to realize they were in the room and ignored all questions
He was quickly charged with the murder, but due to his zombie state he was admitted to the Jenkins mental hospital in Sandy Plains
Ted remained in a state of shock for over three years, when on the third anniversary of the murder he said
"Skinny fella, suit, looking at me."
Ted said this suited man had taken his wife and child and claimed that Judy begged him to shoot her
He felt that he had saved her by doing so but was unable to stop the man from taking his daughter
Just a few hours after this interview, Ted committed suicide and was found dead in his room
The body of his daughter Tracy Henderson was never found
But this photograph was taken about a week before the incident and shows what appears to be a suited man
standing in front of the stables, which some claim is the Slender Man
Years later in the 1980s the story of the Stirling city disappearances was terrifying locals
It started in Sterling City, California
which was long a hot spot for Slender Man activity during the mid 1980s
Following the 1986 Stirling City library fire, a small number of photographs were recovered
Including one that had been taken only a week earlier on June the 1st 1986
On this date 14 children disappeared, followed less than two weeks later by the disappearance of the photographer Mary Thomas
It's claimed the figure in this photograph that was released in 2009 is responsible for the disappearances
Just five months later the body of one of the children
four year old Joseph Berman was found in the great swamp natural preserve in Kingston Falls, New Jersey, miles from where he was last seen
The Deputy told reporters that the body was still in early stages of decay
Indicating that the boy was alive for at least four months after his disappearance
It was also reported that the body was found in a state of bizarre contortion, and no cause of death was ever officially established
So next time you're in the woods or anywhere near the Slender Man's known location, don't forget to bring lots of company
Because if you don't it might already be waiting there for you...