Slenderman
Don't look back.
Back in the 16-1700s, people were still crazy about magic and witchcraft. People would be so inclined as to burn or lynch people if they deemed it necessary- if they thought they were practicing black magic or witch craft. It finally came to a point where people started realizing that witches and black magic might not be real, so they started to hang people just for the fun of it. The men that lynched people had to have an excuse to hang people, so they picked at every detail of everyone's life till they found something odd about them.
One man was fond children. He was not a father, but he wanted to be. He was a nice guy. He befriended the teachers and hung around the playground and the grade school, playing with the children. He pushed them on the swings, helped them on the monkey bars, and played hide and seek. He was very good at hide and seek. He was accused of molestation. He didn't do anything, but people saw it as a threat.
So naturally, the bad people of the town took him out of his house one night, covered his mouth, put him on a wagon, and took him into the woods. When they got there, they beat him half to death and put a white bag around his head and a noose around his neck. Before they hung him, they stretched him. The men tied ropes around his wrists and ankles. One man held his torso down, and four others walked in opposite directions- stretching him slowly until they couldn't do it any further. At that point, he passed out from the pain. He couldn't scream. The men hung him from a large tree. The men went home and slept better that night.
The next morning, the townspeople woke and saw that the man was missing. They knew it was the lynch mob. The men, feeling the need to show off, took some people to see where the man was hung. He was gone. All that was left was the rope. The townspeople thought the men were playing a joke and went about their day. But the men knew the truth. They knew he was gone.
One night, one of the men who had killed him was walking home from a few towns over. He had the feeling he was being followed and he became paranoid. As nightfall dragged on, he felt more and more scared. People on the streets started dousing the street lights and telling children to go inside. As he is a few miles from home, he looks back and sees a man standing under a streetlight. He walks a bit faster, and a minute later, he looks back again and the man is gone and the light is out. He reassures himself that the man is just doing his job- putting out the lights. He continues on as the lights go out behind him, progressing faster than he is walking. He realizes it may take him a while to get home, so he turns to ask the man to wait until he is home to finish dousing the lights. Instead of seeing the man by the light post, the man is in the middle of the road. At this point, he puts on his glasses and realizes how tall this man is. He keeps walking and the lights start to go out again, faster and faster. He turns around and yell at the man, and the man is closer. at this point, he doesn't need his glasses to see that this man is abnormally tall and skinny. He also saw that the man had no face. Nothing. All white.
He says to the man, "Hey! Can you please just wait till I get closer to home?" The man says nothing. "What? You don't talk?" No response.
He scoffs and turns back around and starts walking for home again, getting chills down his spine. Then all the lights go out in front of him. He pivots and before he has the chance to question anything, he gets a glimpse of the man in the middle of the road before the last light goes out.
He starts booking it, straight to his house. He is almost home when a light goes on right in front of him. And there he is. The man. He keeps running right past him and doesn't look back. Each time, a light goes on in front of him and there he is. When he reaches his home, he searches for the key. A light goes on and there he is, staring down at him with the absent eyes he has. He fumbles with the door, races up the stairs, and into his room. The next morning, his wife wakes up and realizes her husband never came home last night. All she found was his glasses.
The other men also realize their friend is missing. They ponder all day about what happened to him. They go out walking to pick up their children from school. The school bell lets out and some children find their parents, others go to the playground. When the men get to the school, they see their children on the playground. As they get closer, they feel that something wasn't right. They look at each other and then back at their children and see the man behind their children. They exchange looks and start running to their children, only to find that he is gone. They hustle their children along and head for home.
That night, the men meet again and come to a conclusion that they all saw something they didn't want to see. One man asks if it could be a ghost. The others shrug it off saying, "Nah, there's no way. I bet that guy is still hanging there. That empty rope was probably from an earlier time." So they all agree to go to the woods to feel at ease. On their way, they agree it was an illusion- big guy, big trees. They start questioning where they hung him. One man touches another and points to a tree. The same tree, the same rope, now being occupied by their friend. Hanging there, covered in blood, arms and legs gone. The remaining three men freak out and run to one of their houses. They agree that they should stay there a while and start boarding it up. They realize that the house is quiet. No wife or children asking why they were home so early, or why they were boarding the windows and locking the doors. The man of the house goes up stairs, checking every room. He opens his bedroom door to see his wife and children, dangling from a tree that had grown through the roof. He looks out the window, and sees the man.
Some say they all went crazy, never leaving each others side. Others say they went their separate ways. All stories agree that each year, one by one, all the men and their families died the same way, by being hung. After all the men and their families were dead, children started going missing. After all, they are so easy to catch. So tiny, so helpless, so innocent. Just like him.
One man was fond children. He was not a father, but he wanted to be. He was a nice guy. He befriended the teachers and hung around the playground and the grade school, playing with the children. He pushed them on the swings, helped them on the monkey bars, and played hide and seek. He was very good at hide and seek. He was accused of molestation. He didn't do anything, but people saw it as a threat.
So naturally, the bad people of the town took him out of his house one night, covered his mouth, put him on a wagon, and took him into the woods. When they got there, they beat him half to death and put a white bag around his head and a noose around his neck. Before they hung him, they stretched him. The men tied ropes around his wrists and ankles. One man held his torso down, and four others walked in opposite directions- stretching him slowly until they couldn't do it any further. At that point, he passed out from the pain. He couldn't scream. The men hung him from a large tree. The men went home and slept better that night.
The next morning, the townspeople woke and saw that the man was missing. They knew it was the lynch mob. The men, feeling the need to show off, took some people to see where the man was hung. He was gone. All that was left was the rope. The townspeople thought the men were playing a joke and went about their day. But the men knew the truth. They knew he was gone.
One night, one of the men who had killed him was walking home from a few towns over. He had the feeling he was being followed and he became paranoid. As nightfall dragged on, he felt more and more scared. People on the streets started dousing the street lights and telling children to go inside. As he is a few miles from home, he looks back and sees a man standing under a streetlight. He walks a bit faster, and a minute later, he looks back again and the man is gone and the light is out. He reassures himself that the man is just doing his job- putting out the lights. He continues on as the lights go out behind him, progressing faster than he is walking. He realizes it may take him a while to get home, so he turns to ask the man to wait until he is home to finish dousing the lights. Instead of seeing the man by the light post, the man is in the middle of the road. At this point, he puts on his glasses and realizes how tall this man is. He keeps walking and the lights start to go out again, faster and faster. He turns around and yell at the man, and the man is closer. at this point, he doesn't need his glasses to see that this man is abnormally tall and skinny. He also saw that the man had no face. Nothing. All white.
He says to the man, "Hey! Can you please just wait till I get closer to home?" The man says nothing. "What? You don't talk?" No response.
He scoffs and turns back around and starts walking for home again, getting chills down his spine. Then all the lights go out in front of him. He pivots and before he has the chance to question anything, he gets a glimpse of the man in the middle of the road before the last light goes out.
He starts booking it, straight to his house. He is almost home when a light goes on right in front of him. And there he is. The man. He keeps running right past him and doesn't look back. Each time, a light goes on in front of him and there he is. When he reaches his home, he searches for the key. A light goes on and there he is, staring down at him with the absent eyes he has. He fumbles with the door, races up the stairs, and into his room. The next morning, his wife wakes up and realizes her husband never came home last night. All she found was his glasses.
The other men also realize their friend is missing. They ponder all day about what happened to him. They go out walking to pick up their children from school. The school bell lets out and some children find their parents, others go to the playground. When the men get to the school, they see their children on the playground. As they get closer, they feel that something wasn't right. They look at each other and then back at their children and see the man behind their children. They exchange looks and start running to their children, only to find that he is gone. They hustle their children along and head for home.
That night, the men meet again and come to a conclusion that they all saw something they didn't want to see. One man asks if it could be a ghost. The others shrug it off saying, "Nah, there's no way. I bet that guy is still hanging there. That empty rope was probably from an earlier time." So they all agree to go to the woods to feel at ease. On their way, they agree it was an illusion- big guy, big trees. They start questioning where they hung him. One man touches another and points to a tree. The same tree, the same rope, now being occupied by their friend. Hanging there, covered in blood, arms and legs gone. The remaining three men freak out and run to one of their houses. They agree that they should stay there a while and start boarding it up. They realize that the house is quiet. No wife or children asking why they were home so early, or why they were boarding the windows and locking the doors. The man of the house goes up stairs, checking every room. He opens his bedroom door to see his wife and children, dangling from a tree that had grown through the roof. He looks out the window, and sees the man.
Some say they all went crazy, never leaving each others side. Others say they went their separate ways. All stories agree that each year, one by one, all the men and their families died the same way, by being hung. After all the men and their families were dead, children started going missing. After all, they are so easy to catch. So tiny, so helpless, so innocent. Just like him.