Slender: The Eight Pages, more commonly known as Slender, is an indie horror game based on the popular urban legend of Slender Man, the supernatural being who steals children.
Click a title to learn more about each topic.
Story & Themes
In the urban legend, Slender Man is a tall, faceless entity who kidnaps children. In Slender: The Eight Pages you are an unnamed character in a forest in the middle of the night. You have to find eight pages that are stuck to the trunks of the trees.
The player has only a flashlight to illuminate the way, but the flashlight runs out of batteries if you leave it on. Players have to turn the flashlight on and off as they search through the forest. This, of course, offers lots of opportunities for jump scares as Slender Man could be right in front of you when you turn the flashlight back on. Players can run from Slender, but as they gather more pages his harassment becomes more frequent, and it becomes harder and harder to escape.
At the end of the game, if the player collects all eight pages, Slender Man takes them anyway. However, a credits sequence will be unlocked.
When Slender appears, if you don’t run away he will draw closer until his face fills the screen, and is gradually overwhelmed with static.
There is not much more to the game than jump scares, but Slender is a notable contribution to the Slender Man mythos, which has been a popular Internet meme for years. Teens will probably be aware of who Slender Man is and might be interested in the game—-though the gameplay does not lend itself to replayability. Younger children will probably find this game too frightening.
Save Points
The game is meant to be played in one sitting, and cannot be saved. Progress will be lost if you quit.
Heads Up!
Scary Imagery When Slender Man finds the player, you see his blank white face and the screen is filled with static. The notes that you find in the forest contain drawings of Slender with warnings like “don’t look or it takes you.”
Conversation Starters
The game has minimal story, but the interesting thing about it is how it’s part of a crowdsourced urban legend.
- Where did you first hear about Slender Man?
- What do you think makes the Slender myth so popular?
- The game is very simple—what makes it fun?
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