Horror Stories

The Slenderman Cometh

I once lived a normal life. I was a groundskeeper at a local cemetery. It wasn't the best job, but hey, it paid the bills. I lived alone in an apartment complex that stood about a mile from the cemetery in which I worked. I would spend my time writing short stories about my boring life and the days I spent at the cemetery. When I worked, it was usually during the afternoon into twilight hours. I never would've worked at night. That place is creepy as it is, thank you very much.

I stayed far away from it during the night. It was always the same routine: show up at the cemetery, gather my tools and go out to pick up trash and tidy up gravestones until it started to get dark, then go home and do whatever. Nothing special. This routine continued for a year and a half, ever since the day I got the job. Not once did I ever run into anything spooky, like you'd see in a cheesy horror movie. There were never any black cats or curses, and certainly no zombies crawling out of the ground to eat my brains. However, there was one day that would change my life forever. The day I saw him, or rather, it. The day I saw the Slender Man.

It started off like any other day. I walked to the cemetery, got my tools and headed out to pick up the trash. But something felt different that day. It was hard to explain, but I felt as though I was being watched. I would constantly look around nervously, only to find that there was nothing around. The only sounds I heard were birds chirping in the trees and the occasional car that passed by. So, I spent the entire day on edge, something in the back of my mind telling me that there was something else with me in that cemetery. At the end of my shift, as I headed back to put my tools away for the night, I noticed that the birds were gone, and there were no cars passing by anymore. Everything was eerily quiet. Just then, I saw what appeared to be a man standing about a hundred feet from me. From what I could see, he was abnormally tall, and wore a black suit jacket, with a white shirt and black tie. Because it was beginning to get dark, I couldn't see his face very well, so I couldn't tell if he was anyone familiar. I called out to him, but he didn't move. He just stood there like a statue. I began to walk towards him, accidentally dropping my tools along the way. I bent down to pick them up, and when I looked to where the man was, he was gone. There was no sign of him anywhere. I scratched my head and shook it off, thinking that I was just seeing things because I was overworked. I put my tools away and headed home, but I walked a little quicker than usual. I was still a little nervous, and questions filled my head. Who was that man? Why did he just stand there? How did he disappear so quickly? Was he real, or just a figment of my imagination? That night, I barely slept at all. It was my thoughts that caused my insomnia.

The next day at the cemetery, I was even more tense. I felt like if a leaf were to fall on my head, I'd scream in terror. Unfortunately for me, the more tense I got, the more distracted I got from my work. Soon enough, my boss Jeff came out to talk to me. Jeff was a good guy. He and my father went way back, and he was the one who gave me the job as groundskeeper in the first place. He and I were also good friends, and he knew that I wasn't acting myself that day.

"Steven, what's the matter?" he asked me. "You seem a little off today. Is something wrong?" I didn't want to sound like a crazy person, but I knew I could never lie to Jeff. So I told him the truth.

"I saw something yesterday, Jeff. There was a man in a suit that was just standing in the cemetery. He didn't do anything, and then he just disappeared out of nowhere. It kind of freaked me out." Jeff looked at me like I was crazy.

"Wait, what did you say this man looked like?" I was surprised that he actually somewhat believed my story.

"He was really tall with a nice suit on. It was too dark, so I couldn't see his face."

Jeff rubbed his head and sighed, "I don't believe it." I rolled my eyes, thinking that he was talking about my story. But then he continued, "I didn't think the legends were true. But what you've explained to me, Steven, verifies that maybe the Slender Man does exist."