Anonymous No.10116695 05/21/12(Mon)01:42
Hey kindly folks of /x/,
I'm working on a folklore project for a class I'm in and since I spend enough time reading horror and creepypasta I thought I'd ask if anyone feels like answering a few questions to do with these stories. Anyone feel like helping out?
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Anonymous No.10116761 05/21/12(Mon)01:54
>>10116695
Depends on if you're asking about actual folklore or interwebz folklorez!!11
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Anonymous No.10116784 05/21/12(Mon)01:59
pop your question and watch you'll get some sort of response at least.
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Anonymous No.10116796 05/21/12(Mon)02:01
Folklore in the sense of the broader scholarly discipline, as opposed to mythology and legends, which is how people usually think of it. I'm specifically interested in creepypasta and other short stories disseminated through message boards and forums, and was hoping to ask a few questions, particularly if anyone writes these kinds of things. Any chance you're interested?
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Anonymous No.10116810 05/21/12(Mon)02:05
Dear OP,
ASK THE FUCKING QUESTIONS.
-/x/
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Anonymous No.10116832 05/21/12(Mon)02:09
Awesome, thanks guys. I have a bunch of questions, so feel free to answer anything or everything you want.
- What's your relationship (if any) with creepypasta and this genre of texts? Would you consider yourself to be a "fan," or do you write them? Or do you just read them casually?
- If you enjoy reading / writing these texts, why? What specifically do you enjoy about these? What do you get out of these short stories that you wouldn't from traditional, published works (for example,) or horror films?
- If you write these stories, do you draw on any other traditions? For example, do things you've seen in movies ever have an influence, or traditional stories? Often, there seems to be a kind of HP Lovecraft flavor to the stories - I'm thinking of Zalgo and some other examples.
- Do you know anything about how these stories are shared? It seems like ED's collection of creepypasta, the "Creepypasta wiki," and most of the stuff on Reddit's r/creepy board is originally from /x/. How are these stories transmitted?
- What do you think makes a given work particularly effective, or not? What kinds of themes, storylines, etc make a story creepy?
If you feel like answering any or all of this, would you be so kind as to send me an email at MrBaggyPants@gmail.com, so I can keep track of who's answering? If you're interested there'll be a chance for you to take a look at my completed project and weigh in when it's done in a week or two. Thanks /x/!
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Anonymous No.10116845 05/21/12(Mon)02:12
- read 'em, tell 'em to my friends when we camp
- the shorter the better, imo
- i really like the medical journals, or shit like candle cove, which i think boils down to authenticity
- the more astoundingly fucked up, the better
- first person helps hire those mirror neurons, elicits a better reader reaction
once again this is just me and im sure someone will disagree
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Anonymous No.10116860 05/21/12(Mon)02:16
Just some other questions, as they pop into my mind...
- There are certain recurring characters that pop up continuously - like I mentioned before, Zalgo, and also the Slenderman, etc. Minecraft fans have Herobrine, and Ben in the haunted Majora's Mask cartridge is popular. Do these recurring characters or themes play a part in something larger, or are they just interesting enough that they get recycled?
- I often see people advertising a story as based on true events, and see a lot of stuff on these boards about astral projection, real-life ghost experiences, and so on. Do these real-life experiences influence these stories, or would you consider them entirely to be works of fiction?
- Do you read a lot of horror literature outside of /x/?
- Do you identify with 4chan or other web communities on a personal level?
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Anonymous No.10116880 05/21/12(Mon)02:20
- i think the reoccurring characters really get annoying, especially after the tards have their way
- i read a lot of bradbury, which has a great deal of paranormal element to it
- i used to be proud to say i was an /x/phile but now i've fallen off the way quite a bit... not worth wading through the bullshit to get to the great stuff.
- i usually just peruse around various creepypasta archives looking for "short-n-sweets"
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Anonymous No.10116884 05/21/12(Mon)02:20
>>10116860
true life stuff is the believable stuff, which is the good stuff
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Anonymous No.10116978 05/21/12(Mon)02:42
>>10116832
1. i read them casually, they can be pretty good. i try my hand at writing things sometimes, never happy with the end product.
2. mostly, i like the ideas in the stories. you can some bizarre, random, terrible, brilliant ideas in them.
3. the few times i've tried, i've drawn influence from dreams, random thoughts, and, only on small matters, things i've read or seen.
4. people see them, copy them, screencap them, put them other places they think people will appreciate them. i've sent some to friends.
5. originality. that doesn't guarantee it'll be great, but it'll go a fair way. i think it has to be reasonably well written, or laughably badly, for it to be remembered.
>>10116860
6. depends on what the story adds to that characters, backlog, you know, mythology.
7.it makes it interesting when someone advertises their story as real, i'll usually read it.
and wether or not the other things are really happening, they are definitely going to influence creepypastas, its inevitable.
8. yeah, stephen king, lovecraft, edgar allen poe, anything i can find really.
9. 4chan is an internet community, and it is fun here. i guess thats personal.