You guess correctly. Dark City is a film I've heard a lot about and never made time to see, and I had no idea that these lovely looking gentlemen were part of it, otherwise, yes, they very much would have made it on the list. In fact, if you don't mind, I'd like to go back and amend my list so these guys are on it, as it only further proves my point. With credit to you for bringing this to my attention, of course.
Makes me wonder how many other variants of this I'm just plain unaware of. I almost included some other figures like the Silence from Dr. Who, but I wanted to stick strictly to characters and figures that predate Slenderman. The Silence first appeared in 2011, and, even though the creative team claims they were only inspired by Edvard Munch's "The Scream"... let's just say I doubt it.
The boys over at RedLetterMedia think they may have invented Slenderman. They made a crappy movie featuring a bald man in a suit standing in the woods stalking a girl. Oh, and they’re Wisconsin based.
You mentioned John Michael Greer's *Monsters* in the previous post. You might be interested to know there's a new, revised edition as of 2021. One of those revisions is the addition of a chapter on tulpas - images charged with emotional and other energy by one or more folks, and if given enough, able to act in some ways in the world. He cites Slenderman as a likely modern example of the phenomenon.
Apropos of your last couple paragraphs, I think about the "The King's Pact Binds Them" rage comic (if that's still the right term for that style of meme?) pretty often, about once a week on average. Food for thought: if the internet had in fact become overrun (or perhaps infested) by literal demonic forces over the past decade, what sort of outcomes would we expect to see, and how does that differ from Current Year reality?
I know exactly what you're talking about. That's comic in particular favorite of my friend and I, and we reference it regularly, mostly as a joke, but it's kind of a half-truth disguised as one. I'm fairly sure it still counts as a rage comic, too, even though I'd say it was more (if not the start) of the whole "trollge" meme that lasted for a hot minute. While the idea of "demons in the internet" is hardly new, I don't think it's ever really looked at realistically, even when its considered as a serious possibility by (mostly) serious people. The only time I've ever encountered it in a way that's explored with the proper gravitas is a somewhat infamous and true account from the early-90's internet - basically the antediluvian age, by internet metrics - of a series of coordinated exorcisms performed on large internet modems (at the time, there weren't many, and they were mostly on college campuses) conducted simultaneously across various countries. The second and more pertinent to answering your question is a short story by Paul Kingsnorth called "The Basilisk", which is technically about fairies, but follows the same general concept. Trying to find a salient line from the story is almost impossible, so I can't recommend reading the whole thing in its entirety, but there is this:
"There is a reason they call it “the web,” Bridget; a reason they call it “the net.” It is a trap. We have built the means of our own enslavement, at their suggestion. Now we are all carrying a portal to the underworld in our back pockets and handbags, and we are entirely unguarded against whoever chooses to step through it."
It's a topic that I (obviously) am quite fascinated in and could go on more about, but quite frankly, it probably deserves its own article.
"In the Mouth of Madness" was one of my dad's favorite movies. I watched a couple of minutes of it as a kid, including the scene with the monsters breaking through, bugged the fuck out, and spent the next twenty years having sporadic nightmares of it.
I should probably just watch the whole thing now that I've got my shit somewhat together.
Also, a bit of synchronicity: Just today I deleted excess copies of "More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" out of the library I work at.
I certainly see the resemblance. Given that I seem to recall one or two stories about the Rake involving seeing the thing on a lonely and dark country road, I'd reckon you're dead on the money with that.
Take a look at this image depicting the Strangers from the 1998 film Dark City by Alex Proyas:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_60A8zsWp2jY/TT0h4YAXgVI/AAAAAAAAAk4/6jj9Ut8yA8s/s1600/dark_city_strangers.jpg
I’m guessing you haven’t seen this film, or you would have included it here. It is EXCELLENT. I give it my very highest recommendation.
You guess correctly. Dark City is a film I've heard a lot about and never made time to see, and I had no idea that these lovely looking gentlemen were part of it, otherwise, yes, they very much would have made it on the list. In fact, if you don't mind, I'd like to go back and amend my list so these guys are on it, as it only further proves my point. With credit to you for bringing this to my attention, of course.
Makes me wonder how many other variants of this I'm just plain unaware of. I almost included some other figures like the Silence from Dr. Who, but I wanted to stick strictly to characters and figures that predate Slenderman. The Silence first appeared in 2011, and, even though the creative team claims they were only inspired by Edvard Munch's "The Scream"... let's just say I doubt it.
Yeah of course!! Please do add it! Honored to be of help.
The boys over at RedLetterMedia think they may have invented Slenderman. They made a crappy movie featuring a bald man in a suit standing in the woods stalking a girl. Oh, and they’re Wisconsin based.
It's all coming together now... but now all I can imagine is Slenderman but with Rich Evans' laugh.
Eldritch horrors beyond imagination
You mentioned John Michael Greer's *Monsters* in the previous post. You might be interested to know there's a new, revised edition as of 2021. One of those revisions is the addition of a chapter on tulpas - images charged with emotional and other energy by one or more folks, and if given enough, able to act in some ways in the world. He cites Slenderman as a likely modern example of the phenomenon.
I actually had no idea, I'll need to get a copy of it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Thanks for the post.
Apropos of your last couple paragraphs, I think about the "The King's Pact Binds Them" rage comic (if that's still the right term for that style of meme?) pretty often, about once a week on average. Food for thought: if the internet had in fact become overrun (or perhaps infested) by literal demonic forces over the past decade, what sort of outcomes would we expect to see, and how does that differ from Current Year reality?
I know exactly what you're talking about. That's comic in particular favorite of my friend and I, and we reference it regularly, mostly as a joke, but it's kind of a half-truth disguised as one. I'm fairly sure it still counts as a rage comic, too, even though I'd say it was more (if not the start) of the whole "trollge" meme that lasted for a hot minute. While the idea of "demons in the internet" is hardly new, I don't think it's ever really looked at realistically, even when its considered as a serious possibility by (mostly) serious people. The only time I've ever encountered it in a way that's explored with the proper gravitas is a somewhat infamous and true account from the early-90's internet - basically the antediluvian age, by internet metrics - of a series of coordinated exorcisms performed on large internet modems (at the time, there weren't many, and they were mostly on college campuses) conducted simultaneously across various countries. The second and more pertinent to answering your question is a short story by Paul Kingsnorth called "The Basilisk", which is technically about fairies, but follows the same general concept. Trying to find a salient line from the story is almost impossible, so I can't recommend reading the whole thing in its entirety, but there is this:
"There is a reason they call it “the web,” Bridget; a reason they call it “the net.” It is a trap. We have built the means of our own enslavement, at their suggestion. Now we are all carrying a portal to the underworld in our back pockets and handbags, and we are entirely unguarded against whoever chooses to step through it."
It's a topic that I (obviously) am quite fascinated in and could go on more about, but quite frankly, it probably deserves its own article.
"In the Mouth of Madness" was one of my dad's favorite movies. I watched a couple of minutes of it as a kid, including the scene with the monsters breaking through, bugged the fuck out, and spent the next twenty years having sporadic nightmares of it.
I should probably just watch the whole thing now that I've got my shit somewhat together.
Also, a bit of synchronicity: Just today I deleted excess copies of "More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" out of the library I work at.
Also, that first Slenderman image and the accompanying text is genuinely, profoundly upsetting. It's masterful.
I certainly see the resemblance. Given that I seem to recall one or two stories about the Rake involving seeing the thing on a lonely and dark country road, I'd reckon you're dead on the money with that.