[// Pregenerate link to episode ahead of time: - clicktotweet.com- sharelinkgenerator.com]: #
What's 6 foot tall, has no face, an is RIGHT BEHIND YOU?! We don't know, but we heard a story from a friend of a friend of ours... but that doesn't matter because this week, we're talking about fans of that unique online horror phenomenon, Creepypasta (and hopefully, we don't get too scared)!
Next week, we take on a definitely less creepy fandom (with special guests from the [Ontario Ghostbusters](http://ontarioghostbusters.ca)), Ghostbusters fans!
Share this week's episode:
## Episode outline
### Fandom Facts
**History and Origins:**
Creepypasta is a kind of online horror fiction that crosses over many different fandoms, and takes its name from the internet term "copypasta" (where something would be copy-pasted from website to website). Creepypasta comes in many different forms from lost episode myths (for example, the Simpsons "Dead Bart" episode) or urban legends like Slender Man or Polybius. Creepypasta likely dates back to the late 1990s and early 2000s with stories like _Ted the Caver_, and gained more popularity with communities like [creepypasta.com](http://creepypasta.com), the [Creepypasta wiki](http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/Creepypasta_Wiki), and reddit's [r/nosleep](https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/) ([Fanlore - Creepypasta](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Creepypasta)).
[// Links to SCP foundation; supposed to be a real organization talking about events and creatures]: #
**Search Data:**
Looking at the [Google Trends Data](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=creepypasta,%2Fm%2F0fq0d6m) for Creepypasta and Slenderman gives us an interesting quick history. There was almost no interest at all until June 2012 where interest in both terms started rising quickly (Slenderman in particular spiked to its most interest ever in August 2012; probably corresponding to the release of [Slender: The Eight Pages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slender:_The_Eight_Pages)). Interest has been a slow decline ever since.
Looking at the search data also gives us some idea of some of the most popular creepypastas. For example _Jeff the Killer_, _Pokemon_, _Slenderman_, and _Ben Drowned_ (a legend of Zelda creepypasta).
**Size of Fandom:**
This week is a really challenging one to estimate. Here is some of the data we have:
- _Slender: The Eight Pages_ has almost 15 000 votes on [softonic](https://slender.en.softonic.com/) and over 6 million downloads so far
- The Creepypasta wiki has [over 13 000 contributors](http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/Special:ListUsers)
- `r/nosleep` has over 12 million subscribers
Given that, we can probably estimate about **fans in the millions**, but it is tricky to narrow down creepypasta fans from general horror fans.
### The Verdict
**T could not nope fast enough. Nuke it from orbit.**
**Z is in. Still nopes hard... spine tingles, but loves them.**
**G is out. Hell no.**
### This week's spotlight
Could not find an active charity related to Creepypasta. That being said...
**[Ronald McDonald House](http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/Ronald_McDonald_House)**
A creepypasta _about_ a charity. An unfortunate result while trying to find a creepypasta related charity.
**[Narrators U-nighted Charity Drive](https://www.creepypasta.com/narrators-unighted-charity-drive-streaming-project/)**
Doesn't appear to be an active charity any more, but came about as a result of the murder of a young girl by her two friends over a disagreement about Slenderman.
**[Race Against Time 3.5: Secret of Mana Edition](http://raceagainsttime.io/stream)**
Our (now) semi-annual charity livestream! This time, we'll be attempting to beat _Secret of Mana: Remastered_ in less than 24 hours to raise money for the [Organization for Transformative Works](http://www.transformativeworks.org/) (Fanlore, Archive Of Our Own). Details are still coming together, but subscribe on Twitch in preparation! The event will be s...
