Creepypasta/Annotated Bibliography

Lars' Resources

 * Stewart, Susan. "The Epistemology of the Horror Story." Journal of American Folklore 35 (1982): 33-50.
 * Stewart's article postulates that "horror stories," whether expressed verbally, in written form, through cinema or even amusement park "house of horror" rides, operate on the basis of "manipulation of narrativity itself," gaining their narrative effect by manipulating and exaggerating sequentiality and the passage of time. Touching on a number of points that work to make an effective horror story - the stories' supposed truth and ability to play on the audience' expectations, and indeed the ways the stories' liminality reflects the situations in which they are told - the article outlines well the genre's conventions, and demonstrates how the phenomena transcends various media. As such, though the article was written well before the "internet age," it is perfectly applicable to "creepypasta" and other web-based horror stories.


 * Baym, Nancy K. "Interpreting Soap Operas and Creating Community: Inside a Computer-Mediated Fan Culture." Journal of Folklore Research 30 (1993): 143-176.
 * While the public often takes for granted the notion that the Internet is destroying communities and damaging interpersonal interaction, Baym's article examines the ways that communities have successfully adapted to the Internet and how they share folklore in that space. Examining a Usenet group dedicated to soap opera fandom, the author investigates folkloric interactions and particularly how they have been shaped by the internet - the ways in which the technology has influenced the folklore, with particular attention paid to collaborative creative writing efforts. Though Usenet's model has been rendered obsolete by newer message boards, the ways in which fan communities interact over the Internet seem largely unchanged.


 * Wilson, Michael. "Legend and Life: 'The Boyfriend's Death' and 'The Mad Axeman.'" Folklore, 109 (1998): 89-95.
 * Wilson's article describes the ways legend and reality interact and fuel each other. The article looks at the ways in which "art imitates life," and vice-versa, examining instances in which local media coverage of murders play up their mythic dimensions, as well as how urban legends developed following their examples. Wilson postulates that believability might be a crucial element to an urban legend's success, echoing Stewart's assertions that successful horror stories must follow certain patterns of sequentiality to be effective - they must conform to certain audience expectations. As creepypasta almost universally pretend to be "based on a true story," understanding why and how this should be important is a first step to understanding the genre.

Brian's Resources

 * Bennett, Charles H., Ming Li, and Bin Ma. "Chain Letters and Evolutionary Histories.” Scientific American. 2003. Web. 04 June 2012. 


 * This article discusses how Chain Letters can be used to describe a variety of things such as evolution. The article looks at thirty three different chain letters and the differences in the letters. The article shows how chain letters can be suitable for classroom teaching if they are used properly. It also shows how chain letters evolved over time. This is useful because we can see how different types of letters can communicate to people differently and that each person takes something different from each letter. It shows that communication can be reached at different levels.


 * Considine, Austin. "Bored at Work? Try Creepypasta, Or Web Scares." New York Times, 14 Nov. 2010: 6(L). Academic OneFile. Web. 30 May 2012.


 * The article by Austin Considine posted in The New York Times reveals that there is a video on Youtube called “The Scariest Picture on the Internet (Real)” that consists of a single still image of a painting with ominous music going in the background. The article mentions how the picture and the music are not the creepy parts, but the back story to the picture and music it what makes it scary. The article goes on to talk about whether this stuff is true or not, but says that we may never know. The article also discusses the beginning of creepypasta and where its name came from “copypasta."


 * Maxymuk, John. (2007) "Online communities", Bottom Line: Managing Library, Finances, The, Vol. 20 Iss: 1, pp.54 – 57


 * This article tries to examine how podcasts and text-drive online media can be effectively be used in libraries. The author discusses how podcasts can be an effective way for people to learn in the library but that they are very dry and can be difficult to listen to. He suggests trying to find ways to make podcasts more user friendly so people can learn from them and they can be an effective tool for learning. Blogs and wikis are also discussed in the article and how they can be used in libraries to help people learn. He discusses different wikis and how they are effective and different from school to school. This article helps us look at how we can use technology to teach better and have better technology to learn. These improvements have allowed us to create wikis for learning as well as wikis for other interests such as creepypasta. One of the weaknesses of this article is the age of the article. Even though it is only five years old, it is still outdated when it comes to technology.

Gus' Resources

 * Bell, David, and Barbara M. Kennedy. The Cybercultures Reader. London: Routledge, 2000.


 * This book is basically outlines the internet community and the new ways in which people share information. It also dives into memes and social networks. The main focus however is on how the new internet community has changed the way in which our generation gains and shares information. It outlines who, what, when, where and why the internet has gained so much influence and who is responsible for this explosion in the social media.


 * Stryker, Cole. Epic Win for Anonymous: How 4chan's Army Conquered the Web. New York: Overlook Duckworth, 2011.


 * This book is an overview of the creepypasta cite 4chan. It outlines how the website is used what is on the website who created the website and why it is the most “interesting place on the internet.” The book also covers the rules of 4chan, basically that there are non except that everything is anonymous. The author also talks about his personal involvement with the website as well.


 * Wasserman, Stanley, and Katherine Faust. Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.


 * This book much like The Cybercultures Reader focuses on the major influences of social networks. It also touches on the evolution of the social networks. And even though creepypasta cites are not technically social networks it is a way to connect on the internet. This book researches how people use these networks and why they have grown as well as how they will grow in the future. Students of the University of Illinois compiled this research and found that the social networks will only continue to grow with time.