Horror Memes and Digital Culture

Abstract

The internet has emerged as an important space for the creation and dissemination of gothic and horror media, particularly in the form of memes. Located at the intersection of digital culture and folklore, some horror memes remain relatively isolated within particular online communities, while others have attained greater attention in mainstream media. This chapter provides an overview of several exemplary memes (the Rake, Jeff the Killer, the SCP Foundation, Smile.jpg, the Russian Sleep Experiment, and Slender Man) and discusses how these memes reveal significant characteristics of digital culture and space.