Imagine yourself lost in a small fenced-in area. You have no weapons and only a flashlight with a slowly dying battery. You wander about aimlessly looking for a way out when you spot a small piece of paper that says, “You can’t run.” Curious, you grab it and stuff it in your pocket only to be greeted by the sound of a faint heartbeat getting closer and closer. There is a faceless man hunting you down for treading where he slumbers, and he wants nothing short of your soul.

This is the plot of “Slender,” the scariest video game ever created. The premise of the game is to collect 8 pieces of paper before the “Slenderman” can find you. It sounds silly and juvenile. What’s the scariest part? It’s not the music. It’s not his elongated arms. It’s not even his face, which is terrifying.

It’s the static.

When Slenderman is near you, the screen begins to go fuzz, distorting the environment and blocking your view. It’s in this moment that you realize he can be anywhere. If you search for him, you’ll find him and you’ll wish you hadn’t.

The game, created by the gaming company AgentParsec, has received positive reviews, especially by IGN. IGN (Imagine Games Network) stated, “few horror games thrust you directly into the heart of fear.”

Senior Nathan Scripps shared my fears, stating, “This game is absolutely terrifying. I’ve watched tons of Youtube videos of people playing, but every time I thought ‘It can’t be that bad,’ and when I played it for the first time, I finally understood why everyone screamed.”

Here is the best part. The game is free. It’s released in the public domain so all you have to do is Google “slender download” and thrust yourself into the depths of terror. I did.

And I’m still shaking.

Adam McDonald, Co-Editor