Slenderman and Tulpas

Published: July 30, 2014, 8 a.m.

b'They say Slenderman was created for a contest on a website. But the thin, faceless character has gone viral appearing in numerous art, stories, videos and even games. Some claim that all that combined focus has turned him real \\u2014 a process known by ancient Tibetan Buddhists as forming a Tulpa. In this episode of MonsterTalk, Blake Smith interviews professor of religious studies Joe Laycock and doctoral student of Tibetan studies Natalia Mikels to discover the truth about Tulpas.\\nSince the creation of Slenderman the character has \\u201cgone viral\\u201d and spun off numerous art and fiction stories. And some fans of the Slenderman believe that he is real \\u2014 either existing already from time immemorial, or that he exists now, brought to life by the combined belief of millions of humans in the form of a living creature known as a Tulpa.\\n READ the episode notes \\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'