Many authors started using creepypasta characters in their own stories, which resulted in the development of continuities encompassing numerous works.

The websites created a permanent archive of creepypasta, which profoundly impacted the genre. Major dedicated creepypasta websites started to emerge in the late 2000s to early 2010s: was created in 2008, while the Creepypasta Wiki and r/NoSleep (a Reddit forum, or subreddit) were both created in 2010. Many of the earliest creepypastas were created on the /x/ board of 4chan, which focused on the paranormal. Darcie Nadel, writing for TurboNews, argued that these early creepypastas had to be somewhat believable and realistic to be re-posted. Many early creepypastas consisted of rituals, personal anecdotes and urban legends such as Polybius and Bunny Man. The story, posted on Angelfire in 2001, was written in the first person from the perspective of Ted as he and several friends explored an increasingly frightening cave system. Aja Romano, writing for the Daily Dot, stated that Ted the Caver was arguably the earliest example of creepypasta. Jessica Roy, writing for Time, argued that creepypastas emerged in the 1990s when the text of chain emails was reposted on Internet forums and Usenet groups. Early creepypastas were usually written anonymously and routinely re-posted, making the history of the genre difficult to study.

The exact origins of creepypasta are unknown. Copypasta denotes viral, copied and pasted text the term was coined on 4chan around 2006. Ĭreepypasta is a portmanteau of the words creepy and copypasta the term was coined on the imageboard 4chan around 2007. Other notable creepypasta stories include ' Ben Drowned', 'Jeff the Killer', 'Ted the Caver' and 'Sonic.exe'. In the mainstream media, creepypastas relating to the fictitious Slender Man character came to public attention after the 2014 ' Slender Man stabbing', in which a 12-year-old girl was stabbed by two of her friends the perpetrators claimed they 'wanted to prove the Slender Man skeptics wrong.' After the murder attempt, some creepypasta website administrators made statements reminding readers of the 'line between fiction and reality'. Creepypastas range in length from a single paragraph to lengthy, multi-part series that can span multiple media types. The subject matter of creepypasta varies widely and can include topics such as ghosts, murder, zombies, and haunted television shows and video games. They include gruesome tales of murder, suicide, and otherworldly occurrences.

These Internet entries are often brief, user-generated, paranormal stories intended to scare readers. Creepypasta has since become a catch-all term for any horror content posted onto the internet.

Creepypastas are horror-related legends that have been shared around the Internet.

Sonic exe creepypasta wiki