That article is nicely written. It's clearly from someone who has spent a lot of thought on the horror genre and the mediums it is delivered in, as they've at least made it through the front section of Supernatural Horror in Literature. It would probably be a better introduction if it included links or handy examples. I still think it's better than the
Know Your Meme entry.
I think the most interesting bits are how if it is successful, the author disappears. Also, how they then to fully reside in the digital age, and that many of them would be intolerable on the printed page (or in audio, such as with time/date stamps and headers).
While I like the evolutionary mutations in the form, I'm not a huge fan of the style. The campfire ghost story form doesn't chill me the way it did decades ago. However, it seems to be effective still on the young, as my niece loves scaring herself witless with slenderman and other similar stories.
I am interested in seeing the next mutation, where the creepypasta evolves into a fully realized story. I think we've seen some examples already on PseudoPod, such as the haunted video game ("
Kill Screen"), as well as Black Eyed Kids ("
Apathetic Flesh"), and the Slenderman.
« Last Edit: December 25, 2013, 03:53:30 PM by Fenrix »
All cat stories start with this statement: “My mother, who was the first cat, told me this...”
