The Creepypasta Fandom

[Meowthkip]

I don't really understand the appeal of the Jeff the Killer backstory. The picture is kinda creepy if you're not expecting it, but the actual story is just your standard slasher movie backstory with a flavour of teenage revenge fantasy. Horror is built on mystery, so the more elaborate the backstory, the less scary it becomes.

I remember finding this video on YouTube called Fantastic Hey Hey Hey which creeped the fuck out of me. Basically it's a short film of a home-built female android singing. But it just has this disturbing uncanny valley wrongness about it - the android's face has messed up proportions, it moves all wrong, the voice is electronic and sounds like nothing human, but not quite mechanical either. The camera work is random, probably intended to be whimsical but coming off like the work of someone mentally ill. The music is just strange. And there was no story behind this. No indication of who filmed it or built the android or anything like that.

But then people started coming up with fake backstories, usually along the lines of "omg did u kno the man who biult teh robot killed his wif & put hr gohst in the robot." Predictable horror movie crap. And then whoever made the original realised that people found his robot scary, and started doing more overtly horror-themed videos (like one where the android bites someone's finger off), which just weren't scary at all - not least because his special effects were crap and the robot can't actually walk.

What these people fail to realize is that by explaining these creepy videos and images with unnecessary back stories, they take away the creepy.

The ambiguity is creepy. Unexplained weird things are creepy. That's why good horror movies barely show the monster. It's why those old photos of people in Halloween masks are so unsettling.

And if we're talking about slasher movies, that ambiguity is also what made Michael Myers in the first Halloween movie so frightening: nobody knew why he was killing people, and the entire time he was wearing that white, expressionless mask, so you had no idea what he felt about murdering people. He was cold and robotic.

People need to git gud at horror.

 

[Segue]

I don't really understand the appeal of the Jeff the Killer backstory. The picture is kinda creepy if you're not expecting it, but the actual story is just your standard slasher movie backstory with a flavour of teenage revenge fantasy. Horror is built on mystery, so the more elaborate the backstory, the less scary it becomes.

I thought the popularity of Jeff revolved around who is he being ambiguous in the first place? Its not like he has any personality or memorable traits and all there is to him is just his "insane edgy teen with a knife" shtick. I thought he was popular because it was easy to project desirable traits onto him so he could be more sympathetic and Deviantart fangirls could turn him into their husbando.

 

[Olhelm]

I thought the popularity of Jeff revolved around who is he being ambiguous in the first place? Its not like he has any personality or memorable traits and all there is to him is just his "insane edgy teen with a knife" shtick. I thought he was popular because it was easy to project desirable traits onto him so he could be more sympathetic and Deviantart fangirls could turn him into their husbando.

It's a combination of those things. Because Jeff is so poorly developed, he is essentially a template for preteens to project their fetishes onto.

 

[hm yeah]

jeff was described as being a five-year-old's attempt at coming up with the next freddy kreuger.

i think that about sums the whole thing up.

 

[autism420]

Sorry if this has been covered, but what exactly is the difference between creepypasta and a short story? I honestly don't get it.

 

[Meowthkip]

Sorry if this has been covered, but what exactly is the difference between creepypasta and a short story? I honestly don't get it.

Creepypasta is scary copypasta. Copypasta is a copied and pasted post, usually unattributed, posted on message boards to get a response out of people. Examples are the "shit was SO CASH" copypasta and the Navy SEAL copypasta.

Creepypasta is the same thing, only it was unattributed urban legends and the equivalent of telling scary stories around a campfire, except you're doing it late at night on a message board. Unfortunately, it's morphed so people are no longer contributing anonymous pieces of eerie writing, but building up an entire mythos around these urban legends invented by the internet, and everybody wants credit.

And 12 year olds on DeviantArt got in on it and everything was ruined forever.

 

[Olhelm]

Sorry if this has been covered, but what exactly is the difference between creepypasta and a short story? I honestly don't get it.

A creepypasta is, in the literal sense, a horror story that is copy/pasted around the internet. A creepypasta is not always a short story, and a short story is not always a creepypasta.

 

[The Fair Lady]

The Youtuber SomeOrdinaryGamers likes to read shitty creepypastas from time to time.
[youtube]s0dSJVLpxfc[/youtube]

 

[DeckardBane]

I don't know if making up dialogue is disallowed in the Lolcow forums like it is in the Chris forums. Pardon me if it is.

Parent: *sees Jeff doodle in daughter's notebook* Oh, who is that a picture of, honey?
Daughter: It's Jeff, my boyfriend.
Parent: *amused by imaginary boyfriend/crush* And what does Jeff do?
Daughter: ...He murders people. He's Jeff the killer.
Parent: ...

The problem is, that sounds like something someone would write for a legit creepypasta. ...That, or a Jeff x reader fic, because the universe hates me.

 

[telegramsamo]

Why are there so many people who think creepypastas are nonfictional? Are the authors trying to pass their stories off as fact, or do these morons just come to that conclusion on their own?

 

[Red_Rager]

The problem is, that sounds like something someone would write for a legit creepypasta. ...That, or a Jeff x reader fic, because the universe hates me.

I'm feeling inspired, is there a creepypasta about a teenage girl meeting Jeff (or someone like him) and than reality ensues? A girl who finds these bad boys (or entities) attractive only for it to lead to her death?

 

[Avocado]

Why are there so many people who think creepypastas are nonfictional? Are the authors trying to pass their stories off as fact, or do these morons just come to that conclusion on their own?

Creepypasta tend to be written in an anecdotal style, so it sounds like the narrator is describing something that actually happened to them. Obviously it goes without saying that the events are fictional, but crazy fan kids tend to either have problems separating reality from fantasy or just be consumed by wishful thinking.

 

[The Fair Lady]

I'm feeling inspired, is there a creepypasta about a teenage girl meeting Jeff (or someone like him) and than reality ensues? A girl who finds these bad boys (or entities) attractive only for it to lead to her death?

Funnily enough, I read one exactly like this years ago on a creepypasta forum, but it was so laughably bad. The girl was basically the author's self-insert. One of her lines was, and I quote, "I have a thing for serial killers."

 

[DrChristianTroy]

Creepypasta is scary copypasta. Copypasta is a copied and pasted post, usually unattributed, posted on message boards to get a response out of people. Examples are the "shit was SO CASH" copypasta and the Navy SEAL copypasta.

Creepypasta is the same thing, only it was unattributed urban legends and the equivalent of telling scary stories around a campfire, except you're doing it late at night on a message board. Unfortunately, it's morphed so people are no longer contributing anonymous pieces of eerie writing, but building up an entire mythos around these urban legends invented by the internet, and everybody wants credit.

And 12 year olds on DeviantArt got in on it and everything was ruined forever.

As a teen I got really into urban legends. Stories like the corpse in the hotel room and the killer in the backseat fascinated me. It also correlated with my fascination with film like the ghost kid in 3 Men and a Baby bit. Creepypasta being the modern version of it just depresses me.

 

[Arctic]

As a teen I got really into urban legends. Stories like the corpse in the hotel room and the killer in the backseat fascinated me. It also correlated with my fascination with film like the ghost kid in 3 Men and a Baby bit. Creepypasta being the modern version of it just depresses me.

Then again, not all ghost stories were good either It's just easier to spam your shitty story around the internet then to get your friends to spread it by word of mouth.

 

[DrChristianTroy]

Then again, not all ghost stories were good either It's just easier to spam your shitty story around the internet then to get your friends to spread it by word of mouth.

True but seemingly no Creepypasta is any good. It may just be me missing the good ones but the bad seem to outweigh the good a great deal. There was also the told by friends/no definitive author aspect. Whether listed or not there's a straight and rigid way creepypastas are told. Like Jeff the Killer will always be the same story copy and pasted. Nothing is added or deviates from the script. With traditional urban legends there was a base story but the person telling the story always had their own spin on things. Idk it made each telling unique.

I know this is superficial/old man complaining shit but thinking about it just got me nostalgic over the whole thing.

 

[Arctic]

True but seemingly no Creepypasta is any good. It may just be me missing the good ones but the bad seem to outweigh the good a great deal. There was also the told by friends/no definitive author aspect. Whether listed or not there's a straight and rigid way creepypastas are told. Like Jeff the Killer will always be the same story copy and pasted. Nothing is added or deviates from the script. With traditional urban legends there was a base story but the person telling the story always had their own spin on things. Idk it made each telling unique.

I know this is superficial/old man complaining shit but thinking about it just got me nostalgic over the whole thing.

Are you kidding? Different spins and sequels of Jeff and Slenderman got so common that the two were eventually banned from the wiki because of the generally low quality. And there are a couple of good ones out there, mostly the ones not featuring monsters. Check out Slimebeast if you're interested.

 

[Red_Rager]

Funnily enough, I read one exactly like this years ago on a creepypasta forum, but it was so laughably bad. The girl was basically the author's self-insert. One of her lines was, and I quote, "I have a thing for serial killers."

Sounds ripe for a sporking XD

 

[Mourning Dove]

Creepypasta story generator! http://www.springhole.net/writing_roleplaying_randomators/creepypastaplot.htm

"One night in an asylum haunted by an alien creature, an insane man becomes possessed and buys the heart of a government agent."

Wat.

 

[For The Internet]

Funnily enough, I read one exactly like this years ago on a creepypasta forum, but it was so laughably bad. The girl was basically the author's self-insert. One of her lines was, and I quote, "I have a thing for serial killers."

God, serial killer fangirls. I know the parents of victims of serial killers. Their lives are shattered by the crime. They are haunted by those details. Hell, I'm going into forensic science specifically because of knowing the victims' families and wanting to help other people in their position. Most serial killers are sociopaths who are incapable of love, empathy, understanding or selflessness. They aren't going to love you because you 'understand' them. If you understood them you'd understand they're sociopaths and sociopaths only care about furthering their own agenda. Sometimes they can mimic real emotions extremely convincingly - just look at Ted Bundy - but never mistake pretending to love you because it gives them an ego boost and prison perks with actual love.