What is the non-horror appeal of Slender Man?

In fandom, Slender Man is frequently depicted as a father figure to other creepypasta characters. One may argue that he has several dad-like qualities in his size, his attire, even perhaps in the element of fear.

At inception, Slender Man was associated with the disappearance of children. This is an aspect of the character that some creators gleefully fixated on while others completely avoided. The potential for horror as well as heartache is high, and works that focus on Slender Man harming children have tended to disturb me the most.

Over the years, however, I have also seen many people express the desire to be taken. Many Slender Man fanworks subvert the abduction trope and reframe him as an unlikely protector who removes the human characters from otherwise worse family and homelife situations.

Slender Man has many tools in his arsenal and makes for a powerful ally. Many stories, largely in fandom but also within the original wave of works, feature what I would fondly call a wolf girl fantasy in which the big dangerous animal (Slender Man) is recruited to the protagonist's side. The human characters in these stories may already feel somewhat feral themselves.

The potential for these tropes may stem from the vagueness of Slender Man's motivations as a horror character. We are rarely told what he wants or what he does with the victims after they disappear. This lack of clarity enhances the terror, leaving the fate of the characters up to the human imagination — a dangerous and twisted place. But it also leaves room for interpretation.

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