The new HBO documentary “Beware the Slenderman” released its first trailer this week and it is most definitely creepy.

The documentary explores the rise in popularity of the monstrous creature known as Slenderman, a tall, thin apparition with ghost-white skin and no face who is said to abduct and kill children.

If you weren’t freaked out enough already, TheWrap has rounded up several facts to know about the online phenomenon you should know before the documentary premieres on HBO.

Also Read: 15 Scariest Horror Movies Streaming on Netflix, Amazon

Check out the list below.

-Meme Goes Viral

Eric Knudsen is credited with creating Slenderman back in 2009. Taking part in a Photoshop contest on the Something Awful message board, Knudsen submitted two photos of groups of children with Slenderman in the background wearing his trademark black suit. Other users quickly seized on the figure and began creating stories centered around him.

-creepypasta

Slenderman stories became incredibly popular online, with people posting fan fiction about the character in stories known as creepypastas. These were horror stories that often featured Slenderman being involved in all kinds of ghoulish acts meant to terrify readers.

-Powers and Abilities

There is no official list of powers attributed to the supernatural figure, but stories about him have given Slenderman a wide range of abilities. Typically, he is said to have very long arms or even tentacles that he uses to capture his victims. It has also been written that he can drive people insane or to kill simply by being close to them.

Also Read: 'American Horror Story' Will Feature a 'Murder House'/'Coven' Crossover Season, Ryan Murphy Says

-In the Media

Slenderman has moved beyond the internet into various other mediums. The character himself or one very similar has been featured as an antagonist in numerous supernatural television shows like the Canadian series “Lost Girl” and “Supernatural.” There has also been talk of Slenderman movies and TV shows, but these projects have yet to see fruition.

-Fantasy Becomes Reality

The world took notice of Slenderman in 2014, when two pre-teen girls from Waukesha, Wisconsin, attempted to stab one of their classmates to death in order to impress the fictional character. The victim survived and managed to crawl onto a bike path, where she was discovered by a passing cyclist. Both perpetrators are currently on trial.

“Beware the Slenderman” premieres Jan. 23 on HBO.

7 Eye-Popping 'Carrie' Facts as Classic Horror Film Turns 40 (Photos)

Brian De Palma's iconic horror film "Carrie" turns 40 this week. The film marked Sissy Spacek's breakout role, as she played a social outcast whose telekinetic powers wreak blood-curdling havoc on her high school prom. TheWrap has teamed up with IMDb to share some of the most eye-popping facts about the movie.
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Director Brian De Palma and George Lucas were casting the same type of actors for their respective projects — so they combined efforts. Essentially, everyone who read lines for "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope" also read for "Carrie." De Palma remembered that Amy Irving — eventually cast in "Carrie" — got very close to landing the role of Princess Leia instead of Carrie Fisher.
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William Katt (pictured, right) played Carrie's handsome and popular prom date. But he originally read for the part of Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars." Watch his audition here.
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As Sissy Spacek recounted in her 2012 memoir, she isolated herself from the rest of the "Carrie" cast, decorated her dressing room with religious iconography and studied Gustave Doré's illustrated Bible. Specifically, she looked closely at "the body language of people being stoned for their sins" and either started or ended every scene in one of those positions.
MGM
There were at least three notable offscreen romantic connections tied to "Carrie": Steven Spielberg would often visit the set because he heard about the the film's many attractive women -- one of whom was his future wife Amy Irving. (They divorced in 1989.) De Palma also plucked his future wife, Nancy Allen (pictured), from his bevy of young "Carrie" actresses. (The two divorced in 1983.) And Sissy Spacek was already married to Jack Fisk, who was the art director that designed the film's famous graveside jump scare at the end. (They're still married!)
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Before her iconic horror movie role, Sissy Spacek was set dresser in a prior De Palma movie, 1974's "Phantom of the Paradise." It was her husband Jack Fisk who encouraged her to audition for "Carrie."
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John Travolta had a supporting role in "Carrie" as one of the pranksters who conspires to pour pigs' blood on the bullied leading lady. It was his second-ever film part and just a year before he starred in his breakout movie role in "Saturday Night Fever."
MGM
The prom scene took days to film, in part, because the blood poured all over Sissy Spacek proved problematic. It dried under the hot lights, forcing filmmakers to hose down their lead actress to achieve the right consistency. Spacek would sleep in the fake blood, according to reports, to ensure the visual continuity of the movie remained intact.
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Go to IMDb's "Carrie" page for more trivia, quotes and goofs.
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“Star Wars” connections, real-life couples and messy behind-the-scenes blood

Brian De Palma's iconic horror film "Carrie" turns 40 this week. The film marked Sissy Spacek's breakout role, as she played a social outcast whose telekinetic powers wreak blood-curdling havoc on her high school prom. TheWrap has teamed up with IMDb to share some of the most eye-popping facts about the movie.

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