Who or What is the Smiling Man?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ก.พ. 2023
- Today we look into the long history of the one of the internet's most famous let's not meet stories. Who or what is the smiling man? Is he a ghost, an alien, or something far worse?
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Drugs. I’m a recovering addict, and the “meth smile” can be really uncanny and creepy. Add psychedelics to the mix and you get the bizarre dancing and acting possessed. It’s entirely possible the OG story is true and about a guy tweaking/candy flipping.
LoL yes Sir, i to am a recovering addict and know exactly what you mean, as in the early 1990' that was the Drug of Choice and some after being up for weeks not exaggerating would look so Wicked it was unreal.
True
Wish the best for you on your recovery, brother
@@beefysteve9548 : thank you, and klike wise been clean for 5 years from Opiutes, but Meth way longer, after awhile from using Meth found it wasn't my thang but i did use it for a long time, but it was really different back then not saying it was a good thing but today Drugs oh no there's to mush BS fleash eating drugs No TY. Harold TY again and GOD Bless Brother.
Unfortunately that entity is seen by those of us who dont use drugs and without mental illness.
I feel like the subreddit taking a relatively down-to-Earth and believable story and trying to create a cryptid and expand on it almost ruins the original story.
Glad the original author didn't really feed into it.
they ruined the backrooms too
@@arcticgalaxies9160 Yeah, its Ali-Express version of SCP now, with super cringy shit like almond water and whole civilizations living in the backrooms
That actually sounds like a good idea for a subreddit, taking down to earth stories and using them as inspiration for cryptid fiction.
Reminds me of the Cheery Man from Fallen London. He only looks for crazy people plagued by Nightmares and collects them in his hotel. He also is known by his cheerful demeanor and his bright brass buttons on his coat.
Yeah ikr. He looks Bri'ish af. :D
Check out sundowner syndrome for more lore
I may have missed it, but I didn't notice anything super natural about the original post. OP just encountered a weird guy who was acting really weird. The Smiling Man subreddit seems in bad faith to me. Like OP might have actually had an encounter they found genuinely terrifying, and all these weirdos on the internet made it into a contest to see who could make the scariest version of this guy. If the original smiling man was real, this is basically people minimizing Op's experience, like "here's how he could've been scarier".
I completely agree. I have this problem with so many different spooky internet stories and experienced. Terminally online people compulsively invent lore behind everything as that’s how they think the world works.
In reality, it was a mentally ill man stimming on meth. The fact that it happened in Seattle just confirms that (assuming it isn’t a larp which it probably is).
Lol based
@@spectrumace9564Right!? The reason (at least for me) the original story is so unnerving is because it could happen to any of us…on any night, anywhere. When they start adding more and more to the story it just waters it down.
@Spectrum Ace exactly. A story about a random nutjob who stalked you on the street is scary. But all of a sudden he's been doing this for six decades, he's traveled all over the continental US doing it, and he's from outer space? Why would I be scared of that, it's not even believable.
Honestly, sounds like the dude was rolling on molly and had a tab of acid.
A true classic. Glad it's held the fear factor
How's New Canaan?
hey i know u
well, we can't expect God to do all the work.
I relate to Joshua Graham. My favorite character along with Ulysses, who I also relate to.
As someone from seattle i can say i see ppl like this every day. OP saw a smiling guy on some form of hard drugs. I knew immediately where it was based on how he talked about the city and the behavior of the dude
Pretty much. When they said Seattle, I went "Ah" because it made everything click.
Why're they wearing old fashioned suit tho?
@@chomosuke0720 I like to dress decent off of bathsalts also
i’m also from Seattle, and yeah while this story is creepy, this may have just been an exaggerated encounter with someone tweaking. it’s kind of tragic.
I totally imagined Capitol Hill near Volunteer Park !! And if someone has mixed a large dose of Ambien with more than a few drinks, that could def cause a person to appear insane in the eyes & facial expression-
I feel like Keel has a tendency of taking a bunch of completely different encounters and hammering them all into the conspiracy narrative that sell his books.
I remember in the earliest encounters The Grinning Man/Indrid Cold was a very tall, very muscular hairless man in a skintight chrome-green onesy with a plunging Vneck with huge lapels. He wasn't ugly, and his eyes and smile weren't menacing or evil, it just was like he was really excited about literally everything.
The "strange questions" also weren't threatening. They were things like "are cars an animal?" And "did you make these roads/skyscrapers? Or are they a natural phenomenon?"
Dude then signed off with a "please do not use nuclear weapons" and flew away in a bean-shaped pod.
Then Keel decided that that wouldn't sell books to paranoid conspiracy theorists.
Same goes for Mothman. Was just a big ol bird that yelled at people and Keel Play-Doh pressed it into a psychic invasion prophet.
I haven't finished reading his mothman book yet but he does seem to look specifically for connections where there are none. Still fun to read through though.
@@Sacrow Keel was an odd guy. I started to read the Eighth Tower, and I see a lot of sense in the idea that there are things occupying dimensions we don't have a way to perceive in any meaningful way and how that might offer an explanation for a lot of unexplained things, but he's so full of shit he can't resist going completely wild with it.
He is smiling, because he doesn't want to cry.
And you don't want to see the Smiling Man crying...
This creepypasta scared the absolute SHIIII out of me whenever I was a kid. Still gives me chills tbh.
From my own personal experience, some one acting strange in the middle of the night usually equals a lone wanderer walking off a high. Despite what people think it isn’t always obvious if someone is inebriated. They can also be a lot more aware so often travel in dark places in order to avoid interaction, police or otherwise. Despite being aware they are definitely not mentally sound. Encounters with such people can often be disturbing. Often moving in a strange way and making any sober person uneasy
That being said there is definitely encounters out there that push uneasy to the next level! Call it alien or supernatural, these experiences will leave a far deeper impact. This is the area these sort of creepy pastas sit in. Is it a mentally deranged man out to freak people out, or an out worldly person learning to human?
Sometimes, whatever happened, it just makes for great stories. Stories that continue to entertain and terrify even if it might be only partly true
I fuck around alot when I walk at night and there's always moments where I think, oh this could look really weird
Anyone who grew up in a city knows it’s mental illness lol. When I do nighttime dog walks in the woods by my house I need to be armed, I swear every few months there’s another whacked out homeless weirdo living there.
Chill. It's just Bri'ish Jerma :D
True. Not all tales are false
These are partly true? OMG I thought they were made-up.
One of if not the first creepypasta I ever knew about
Should it classify as a creepypasta? It was found on a reddit post, not the creepypasta wiki, I believe
A man who just wants people to notice his teeth care routine. He clearly gets good results.
When you take off your braces for the first time in years
I personally don’t consider the smiling man creepypasta and Indrid Cold (the grinning man) as the same. All the similarities between them are more or less just common tropes in horror, like the creepy smile, which is a common visual because it’s twisting something that should look happy and innocent into something creepy.
In most stories, the threat is either noticeably big, or noticeably small, so both being above 6 feet is likely just a coincidence.
I guess both wearing a suit is the only thing I can’t explain away, but it should be noted that Indrid Cold’s suit had some sort of chrome look, or some other distinct pattern/color, meanwhile, for the smiling man, it’s just a regular suit.
The actions of the smiling man also seems more like a lunatic, while the grinning man gives me more like “I’m just here to inspect” vibes. I guess it’s possible the creepypasta could’ve been inspired by the story of Indrid cold, but I just don’t think they’re intended to be the same entity
Mr. Nightmare's narration, Llama Arts's animation, and Michael Evans's 2AM short film turned this into a classic urban horror.
Cultured 💯
In Houston Tx there is a guy named Juan Carlos Restrepo who dances around on the side of the road in rollerblades and occasionally tight sparkly outfits around the Montrose/Allen Pkwy area. I haven't lived there for a few years so I don't know if he still does it or not.
You know what? I genuinely hope that he's still out there doing his thing down there in ol' Houston.
These situations just sound like people dealing with those who are on drugs. It still is scary. You don't know whether or not that person wants to kill you.
Dude I honestly don't know how I would have handled that situation. Well I know I wouldn't be walking the streets at night. I don't even know if I had a weapon I wouldn't have been able to use. The scariest part of the story to me was the dude sprinting back at him. I wonder if he stopped once the OP ran away.
@@GreenWolf2k It wouldn't surprise me if this man also had an interest in scaring people. That it was great for him. These are my two ideas. But anything can be used as a weapon. You just have to be creative.
I'm honestly so happy he got all that money. He really needed it, and I haven't checked up on his videos recently. I'm still happy for him
Hard to believe it’s been long enough to look back on creepy pastas with nostalgia
Fun fact they add him to f76
They added lore and facts for the smiling man. 😂
They do that with every cryptid, they just wanna give themselves answers
@@demo.jpg5397 it’s smarter to not give them answers, let them be mysterious not every mystery needs to be solved I swear.
Keel is hardly what I'd call credible, but man I loved The Mothman Prophecies so much, it's such a nutty read.
I remember trying to creep some people out with my friend. We went to a plaza late at night, right before the last few employees were heading out, and ducked down as far as we could and drove very slowly in a circle in the middle of the parking lot for like an hour until everyone was gone.
Dude looks like the Joker from the 89 Batman movie.
He is certainly spooky
This was on one of the Yogpods Halloween spack-taculars, definitely ingrained in my mind since listening to that all those years ago
Memories omg
I remember seeing this smiling man but never really knew where he came from
Smiling Man looks like the Joker from the 1989 Batman movie.
Funny cuz hes also said to be Indrid Cold that is Mothman which the name came as a satire to Batman 🤭🦇
Who is Smiling Man?
For the blind, He is the vision.
For the hungry, He is the chef.
For the thirsty, He is the water.
If Smiling Man thinks, I agree.
If Smiling Man speaks, I’m listening.
If Smiling Man has one fan, it is me.
If Smiling Man has no fans, I don’t exist.
He's got a huge mouth ngl :D
This made me have a memory of when I was a child of like 4 or 5. It happened during the day though like early evening at latest. It was kind of a suburb but more large town I guess. I swear that someone like this was standing in my room. And it was the same time I heard like a stone hit my door. I just remember crying out for my mother and saying someone threw a stone at my door. My mother was like no one was there and no one threw a stone at your door you must have just dreamed it. That face though the kind of Joker like face from Batman! That huge grin its unerving. This would have been in mid to late 80ès. I havenèt had dreams of dancing with this guy though thank god! Ive had other messed up dreams but none of dancing with this dude. Just really creeped out now though.
I had a similar experience, few years ago. In the ceiling of my room, there was a pale face of a woman, with wide eyes and a large round mouth (just imagine Kayako Saeki from the Grudge series, but without her long black hair). I run towards the lights after seeing it, and the face wasn't there anymore.
That one especially freaked me out because I had been living in Seattle for six years when it was posted and before I knew that’s where it was set, I felt like it was local lol no idea why. Never saw anyone like that because I didn’t go walking later than midnight.
AHHH let's go! Everyone wake up new Sacrow video dropped.
Fr
My turn to sleep.
Indrid is a curious, kind alien and The Smiling Man is mysterious and menacing...big difference! Indrid is the loveliest cryptid in my opinion💙
If I could choose any entity, I’d definitely have a conversation with Indrid.
This and your videos on Zalgo and Anansi's Goatman are the kind of videos I always search for, but of which I can't find enough. Your voice sounds like someone else... I always think of BlameItOnJorge. Idk why.
They do indeed sound very much alike. Down to the cadence and all!
@@mr.onethirtyeight5088 rad - I'm not the only one to think so.
Bro is really going around like “doooccctttoorr freeeemmann”
He sure looks like the kind of guy that would warn you about "unforeseen consequences".
Honestly the fact that OP's story took place in Seattle sells it for me. It's very normal to see people on drugs acting strange up there and I've had quite a few encounters with people like that when I was at UW. I completely buy that some guy was smiling creepily and dancing down the street and freaking people out.
The funny thing is the newest season 12 on Fallout 76 added The Smiling man in the game as a crypted
I first saw this story posted in The Creepy Catalog…was instantly fascinated with the story…
Reddit, help! I am being menaced by a busker!
Why would you ever wish us a good night after that
Your content is so gooood, it's the best creepypasta channel I've found.
Bro the Joker escaped Arkham again
Turns out it was just Jack Nicholson researching his role as The Joker.
It's me. I had a good day. Next question.
Indrid could be the Arthur Fleck incarnation of the Jokers father
My first creepypasta was the rake. Good times.
I can relate very much to the smiling man, definitely something I could do in my free time
As with all things quote-unquote "paranormal", it's extremely difficult to quantify exactly what's going on with these experiences. I go around recommending John Michael Greer, in particular his book " Monsters " (now out in 3 editions), because he gives such good insight into what might be behind such experiences. it's not physical, it's not psychological, it's not physiological or just psychic, it's more of a blend of all these things coming together in a way we don't understand yet (however much some folks would like us to believe they've figured it all out 🙄 ahem), and it just shows us how much there is left to learn about our world (and possible others).
That short film adaptation is one of the most genuinely unsettling things I've ever seen on TH-cam.
i love how under the description of the smiling man there was a comment that said "thank you kindly" and after you put in some bioshock gameplay
I’ve lived in Iowa my whole life and never heard of this.
I'm just imagining someone seeing me on my way to a rave high on extacy shuffling with a grin in south downtown Seattle and they go write a giant popular creepy pasta about it lmfao
Finally, someone else talking about this topic.
Jerma but after he went feral
DUDE I SAW HIM IT WAS AROUND 3 AM WHEN I WOKE UP ALL OF A SUDDEN WHEN I HEARD MY BIG BROTHER SAY "Raevyn look outside" SO WHEN I LOOKED OUTSIDE I SAW A MAN ACROSS THE STREET HE HAD A SUITE THAT LOOKED LIKE FROM THE 1950s AND HE JUST STARED AT ME WITH A BIG SMILE AND CRAZY EYES THEN HE SLOWLY WALKED AWAY BUT IN A VERY GLITCH LIKE BUT WHILE HE WALKED HE KEPT LOOKING AT ME SO HIS HEAD WAS TWISTING AND WHEN I TURNED MY HEAD I REALIZED I WAS ALONE
The entire first story could be summarized as
🏃 🕺
I live in Iowa and have never heard a single Smiling Man story, but I'm also from a bigger city. Maybe I need to do some more research.
I was genuinely interested in the video solely by the title, then I saw it was about a post from Reddit. It just reminded me of a dream I used to have growing up.
The Smiling Friends did their job too well
Cold reminds me of the overarching villain from Stephen King Randall Flagg.
I kinda dislike how people made it paranormal when it was never that, it felt real and like it actually could have happened, I honestly prefer realism and mystery even if it's not actually real, I like cryptids because while they may not actually be real, they are mostly believable and interesting because of the mystery.
"Mr. Freeman..."
I had an encounter with the Grinning Man at 15 in 2009. It was only later that I learned of what he is called.
When I was a teenager I had a friend that would to crazy shit like this just to make us laugh. There was a neighborhood guy that would jog at night and one night my friend just dropped his pants and started chasing after the jogger making a strange squeeling sound. We were in fuckin stitches. He did it a couple of more timesover the course of about two months, but eventually the jogger attacked him and he stopped doing it.😂😂😂
I always smile... Am I the smiling man?
Smiling man never have sightings in Chicago lol.
He's the Joka babie
Around the height of this story I remember one Halloween a guy dressed as the smiling man. Sadly I had the misfortune of meeting this guy😂 he mistook me for his friend and started chasing me before he realized I wasn’t his friend once we got close to a bright building
I'm eating popcorn watching this
I remember the Grinning Man story from my Weird NJ book. Somehow I never made a connection when the Smiling Man story came out.
great deep dive
Yay new video.
Smiling man ain’t on disability, he got dis ability to get sturdy
Indrid Cold: *has had reported sightings since the 1960s*
Narrator: "It all started on the r/let'snotmeet subreddit in 2012..."
Bruh this is the face of an addiction demon that appears when you’ve reached nearly and unthinkable low.
It's the local Дядя Валера. Как пластику сделал, не улыбаться больше не мог.
He looks like all for one lol
Sacrow: The Smiling Man has been around longer than the majority of the people who watch this channel.
Me: Oh, so are we talking, like, early 2000's? Maybe even late 90's?
Sacrow: The year is 1966-
Me: Oh.
Thanks
I met indrid, late 90s, West Virginia. I blocked out the memory except the image of his face seared into my memory.
A man in a check/plaid shirt who smiled/grinned was a psychological phenomenon.
My mum told me about this, from her own experience, in about 1982....waaaaaay before I read The Mothman book. She'd seen him 20 years previously...as a young girl...which is what the Keel book describes. This was a phenomenon reported by young girls....mainly in the US.
I read The Mothman Prof book and was kind of nonplussed right up until he talks about this particular subject.,,,and that caught my attention, as it described exactly what I'd heard from my mum as a kid.
My family are from the UK. My mum never heard about this craze and has never read the book.
The UFO/UAP community is coming round to this idea put forward by Keel- that it is all a phenomenon of consciousness.
He grinned at her and then "just vanished" like smoke. Middle aged, dark hair. Broad daylight.
He looks like Jack Nicholson joker.
Bruh what is happening to the Smiling Man subreddit post though. It went from a scary but realistically creepy encounter with Smiling Man to UFO now ???😅
Another awesome video, hey does anyone know the City shown at 17:06 please?
This video gonna have 1M views
I've suffered from sleep paralysis since i hit puberty back in the 90s. A recurring dream I have is of the grinning man. The beady eyes the unnatural smile. When the internet became big and I started to hear that others experienced him it made me wonder why so many ppl from all over experience the same as mee
Honnestly that sounds more like a dream than reality
The sketches remind me of the sketches of judge from blood meridian
All my life i thought this entire story was real, i did not know it was a creepypasta until now, i'm really stunned
The description and some pictures of the smiling man reminds me of pictures of Randall Flagg especially in the comics his face very shadowy but his big smile is bright shiny glowing even lol same with man in black in dark tower but turns out both guys were the same guy lol
Now this is intriguing. According to Weird World this joker now haunts Cannock Chase (the English Midlands) same behaviour, same grin, and with a head that turns through 180 degrees. I grew up there - lived there for 40 years, and he's a new one on me. I've just posted a tongue in cheek comment on their site, asking if Hollywood has anything to do with it, and perhaps should have said 'social media' instead.
You should do a video on the dancing Serbian lady
I guy named Woodrow would see a alien on a highway.
So Janitor, So Senator, so long for a while
You're never fully dressed
Without a smile
lets not ignore the fact that the man what or whoever he is survived the great war likely outside of a vault
Ohh I remember the "creepypasta" fever
I saw a dark man in a flat brimmed hat with red eyes when I was a kid. Just staring up at me while I was sleeping on my bunk bed. I just found out over 20 years later that many people have seen him, this blew my mind as I've told myself all these years it was my imagination. Now I'm more inclined to think he was really there and not some night time illusion.
The smiling man makes me smile
(:
Its just my buddy Ron.
He is the greatest dancer!