In the small British mining town of Cannock, Staffordshire, residents began to complain of a ghost, partly similar in description to the famous Slender Man (Thin Man) from urban legends. About this newspaper Metro.
A tall (8 feet or 2.5 meters) and slender humanoid creature, like a shadow with bright red eyes, allegedly appeared to several residents. At the same time, it is noted that he was wearing clothes of the Victorian era (second half of the 19th century). The creature was observed by the townspeople both in the forest and at home.
Resident Pye Green recounts how she woke up at her home at night on December 14 last year to a strange scratching sound. She made out a strange spherical shadow by the wardrobe. The moment she got out of bed to come up and take a closer look, the shadow began to stretch up to the ceiling.
“At that moment, I realized that I was seeing the most terrible and disgusting creature that you can face. He had a white face with razor-sharp fangs."
Another resident told how he woke up at night, opened his eyes and saw a black man floating in space right above him. He was heading directly at the man and had red eyes, the color of which "shook to the core."
Suddenly the black man stopped the attack and began to climb up until he disappeared into the ceiling.
Investigator Lee Brickley took over the cases. He finds out why the character of the horror stories that children usually tell each other suddenly appeared in this place and so many people watched him in a short time.
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One of his theories is that all this may be connected with sleep paralysis and not have a supernatural background. Sleep paralysis is a borderline state between a sleeping and awake person. People at this moment can open their eyes and observe the environment, but their body is as if constrained, they cannot move due to the blockage of muscles by the brain. Sleep paralysis often occurs while sleeping on the back and a ghost above them, some people have seen when lying on the bed in this position.
However, Lee is surprised that the description of the appearance of the supposedly ghostly creature in all people is very similar.
Antique engraving depicting Der Großmann
Despite the fact that the Subtle Man is considered a completely fictional character (according to official data, he was created by a member of the Something Awful Internet forum in 2009), he has analogues in the folklore of the peoples of Europe.
Many noted his resemblance to a mythical character called in German Der Großmann (Tall Man), a fey-like creature reminiscent of the Boogeyman and, according to legend, who lived in the Black Forest.
The tall man was scared by disobedient children who ran away into the forest at night, and outwardly he looked very much like Slender Man, except that he had a face with two white spheres instead of eyes.