Blog Entry #1: What is Creepypasta?
(Image of Slenderman - Sourced from VENNGAGE)
So you might just be seeing this post and go “Wait, what?” and wonder what would be the point about this blog. Maybe you might be a classmate of mine doing another blog for your own project and wonder why I chose a topic that wasn’t from the assignment sheet. Or maybe you’re just a random bypasser on the worldwide view of Tumblr and question why I’m bringing up classmates or if I’m stuck back in 2007. To that, I have just the answer for you!
(Screenshot from the gameplay of the "Ben Drowned" Creepypasta)
Hi, my name is Marisa, and I’m making this Tumblr blog to become an expert on creepypasta horror movies! (Yes, really.) For this summer semester as part of a class project, I will be doing a series of blog posts throughout the month dedicated to the discussion and analysis of various creepypastas that have been adapted onto the big screen, and how the horror is (or in some cases, isn’t) implemented. But some of you may be asking the same thing - what exactly is creepypasta?
Well, to get a bit technical, a creepypasta is a form of media that is essentially the equivalent of a spooky campfire story if you were to plaster it on the internet. While its origins are a little murky, most agree that it started early on in the internet’s online forum culture: “The term ‘creepypasta’ appeared on the internet for the first time in 2007, and derives from the earlier term ‘copypasta’... which refers to viral digital content that is copy-pasted widely across the web” (Bimo). They can cover different time periods, use urban legends, or create new forms of media to terrify readers all the same. But one thing remains a constant phenomenon with this subgenre; The fact is that this is something that can be formatted for all horror audiences. From haunted video games to serial killers to supernatural phenomena, the best way for newcomers to get introduced to creepypasta was best explained by the Time article that brought the otherwise niche topic into the spotlight: “They’re basically short, shareable user-generated ghost stories that can focus on anything from the especially gruesome, like murder and suicide, to the creepy and otherworldly, like aliens and zombies” (Roy).
(Common image for creepypasta story "The Rake".)
Still not sure on how a creepypasta works, or wonder what makes it different from other horror stories? Well, as The Business Standard puts it, “creepypastas are written in such a way as if the author has experienced it in real life. Obviously, this trick is used to make the stories believable” (Khan). In short, having elements that bring a sense of reality to the tale is what usually draws the horror aspect of it all, whether it be the first-hand experience of an anonymous narrator or the story taking place in the modern day.
(Common image for creepypasta story "The Russian Sleep Experiment.")
But enough about creepypasta stories; What does all of this have to do with movies?
Despite the shrinking popularity of this horror subgenre, there have been some attempts to work on adapting these classic internet horror stories onto the big screen. For this project, I will be analyzing the following films/TV show to see what exactly makes it a “creepypasta film,” and whether or not it worked well with the media it chose to adapt:
Slender Man (2018) - Directed by Sylain White
The Midnight Game (2013) - Directed by A. D. Calvo
Channel Zero (Season One - 2016) - Directed by Craig William Macneill
(Common image associated with creepypasta story "Smile Dog.")
Works Cited
Bimo, Sara. “The Horror of Networked Existence: Affect, Connection, and Anxiety in Classic Creepypasta Narratives.” Global Perspectives on Digital Literature: A Critical Introduction for the Twenty-First Century, Routledge, 2023.
Khan, Rupak. “A Beginner’s Guide to Creepypasta.” The Business Standard, 9 Nov. 2020, www.tbsnews.net/splash/beginners-guide-creepypasta-155533.
Roy, Jessica. “Behind Creepypasta, the Internet Community That Allegedly Spread a Killer Meme.” Time, 3 June 2014, time.com/2818192/creepypasta-copypasta-slender-man/.
Santoro, Matthew, director. The 10 FREAKIEST CREEPYPASTAS Ever Told. YouTube, YouTube, 3 Aug. 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOnB2fWQz0w. Accessed 11 June 2023.
“What Is Creepypasta?” YouTube, YouTube, 21 Apr. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baxZ8UENkk0. Accessed 11 June 2023.
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