Penguicon 2018

A pair of twelve-year-old girls stab a friend as a sacrifice to a meme. A man tries to liberate children that a ludicrous conspiracy theory tells him are held in a pizza parlor’s non-existent basement. El chupacabra appears in horror movies and challenges Marvel’s Fantastic Four in comic books.

Beware the Slenderman argues that, for better and worse, online lore is the new Brothers Grimm, and it’s clear that the processes that produce folklore and religion have not stopped. What are the roots, benefits, and dangers of urban and online lore? And how can the products of modern folklore enrich science fiction and fantasy?