Originally posted here on January 7, 2014 at 8:00 AM, but posted below, with the addition of my comments throughout the entry itself and the responses it received on site.
READING IN THE SHADOWS
A blog for the creepy side of all of us
By Stephanie Selby
Creepypasta Critique: Jeff the Killer Sucks
Stephanie Selby: Truly, a face not even a mother could love!
Okay, before all you Jeff fans throw me to the wolves, hear me out. Those who are unfamiliar with the story can read it here and get acquainted with this merciless fellow.
Ocean Elf: That was deleted, but laughably moved to this page. I suppose even crap comes in "classic" nowadays.
Stephanie Selby: Jeff the Killer is a psychotic young man who was maimed when neighborhood bullies attacked him and set him on fire. This triggered his psychosis, causing him to become a murderous lunatic and he now enjoys a life of murdering anyone and everyone he can get his hands on. Heās so ubiquitous with creepypasta, anyone who has ever spent their time reading such internet tales has at least heard of him. However, there is one significant problem with our pale-faced friend: his story sucks!
Ocean Elf: And how!
Stephanie Selby: The number of bizarre plot points is significant: Suburban kids pulling knives and guns like theyāre an intercity gang, the lack of involvement from intelligent adults and parents, poorly constructed motivations for revenge, not to mention the fire maiming Jeff in ways not possible in the real world. The dialogue and prose arenāt impressive either as events occur quickly with little reflection or emotional investment (Poor Jeff is depressed that his brother was arrested and sent to juvenile detentionā¦oh well, make him cheer up and go to a silly kids party anyway!).
Iām sure many have noticed that his appearance is similar to version of Christopher Nolanās version of the Joker. Come on, the guy cuts a smile into his face! Why so serious, Jeff? But I digress
This story makes the perfectionist part of me go a little bonkers because I want to fix the story somehow, like Iām an editor with a serious case of OCD.
Ocean Elf: Meh, I'm quite content to laugh at and mock the heck out of it, especially considering this freak has a swooning fandom in lev with him..
Stephanie Selby: Iāve heard a lot of people say that it doesnāt matter. That itās just a story made for entertainment and not to be taken seriously, and it should be enjoyed for what it is. I disagree on all of these points. I donāt care if itās a movie, TV show, book, or a short story on the internet; bad writing always gets to me. The plot holes, the lack of realism, bad dialogue: all of these issues take away my ability to immerse myself, to suspend my disbelief and enjoy the moment. All this story does is tick me off and wonder why Iām wasting my time when I could be reading something better. Forget getting creeped out or scared! There are many creepypastas that are much better than this.
All Iām saying is put effort into what you do. It really does make a difference.
Yes it is an internet story written by an amateur. Weāve all got to start somewhere when it comes to writing, and whoever wrote Jeff the Killer must be commended for their creativity. I certainly understand that it not something the author was getting paid for or anything, but why give success to such a lackluster story? Why couldnāt the original author do a little more editing before sharing it with all of us? The story just proves to me people are lazy and donāt care about the quality of what they do manage to produce.
So if the original story is so terrible, how has Jeff become such an iconic character in the creepypasta community? The answer, in my personal opinion, is that damned picture. Like many well known horror villains, Jeffās features are striking and frightening, yet instantly recognizable. This is a trait of many horror movie villains; Michael Meyers has his creepy William Shatner mask, Freddy Krugerā has a burned face of his own with a clawed hand and bold sweater, and Jason Voorhees has his hockey mask and machete. Most of these slasher flicks arenāt very good either, yet these characters have entered mainstream culture as well. Jeffās even has his own catchphrase going for him, and easy to reference. I really wouldnāt be surprised if Hollywood tries to rip the internet off and make a movie with him at some point.
Ocean elf: Ugh! Given what Hollywood has been doing lately, I wouldn't be surprised. They wouldn't consider making a movie of anything I would do to Jeff The Killer. It definitely wouldn't be pretty, but they wouldn't like the idea. After all, they wouldn't want to make the Jeff fangirls mad.
Stephanie Selby: I suppose my point is that even though the story that spawned Jeff is a bore, the character has redeeming qualities that manage to make him one of the most popular creepypasta characters on the internet. I donāt hate Jeff, I hate bad writing!
Ocean Elf: There's where we differ. I hate Jeff, more than bad writing. He has no redeeming qualities. He's just gotten popular. That doesn't take much when something just comes along at the right place and time, and gets noticed by a mass of certain people. Bad writing can be fixed. Jef cannot.
Stephanie Selby: So what do all of you readers think? Could the story be improved? Are you a fan of Jeff the Killer? Why do you think heās become so popular? Iād love to hear your thoughts!
Stephanie Selby: This entry was posted on January 7, 2014 at 8:00 AM and is filed under Children, Creepypasta, Family, Horror, Memes, Monsters with tags Bad, Bad writing, bullying, Creepy, Creepypasta, Fiction, Jeff, Jeff the Killer, Murder, Review, Writing.
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Ocean Elf: 1. Yes, improved to add an ending where he finally gets killed off.
2. NO! I hate this character. I like to hate this character. IMO I have good reason to. There aren't enough people who do for the same reasons.
3. Fangirls freak easily over "scary" pictures, and they will crush on anything, including sadistic characters. For some, the more sadistic, the more attractive. *Cough*
I do hate Jeff, and the way fangirls crush on him and other sadistic monsters like him.
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Responses to āCreepypasta Critique: Jeff the Killer Sucksā
leocravenauthor Says:
January 12, 2014 at 10:14 AM
I agree; story is way overrated and absurdā¦but, as you pointed out. That pic is haunting and, in fairness, Jeffās catchphrase aināt bad.
Ocean Elf: That catchphrase is annoying as heck and makes no sense.
Stephanie Selby Says:
January 12, 2014 at 11:57 AM
Absolutely! Iāve always thought of writing a āremakeā of the story in order to give poor Jeff proper justice, but I worry I would look like I was stealing another personās ideas. Just look at modern horror remakes; hardly any creativity to be found.
Ocean Elf: "poor Jeff" my foot! Oh, I'd give him justice all right... rough justice!
Micky Says:
March 10, 2014 at 8:02 PM
Oh my Hamgod, you are so right. It really pi$$es me off that such an uninspired piece has become so viral these days. Iāve also contemplated rewritting the JTK story, but honestly itās not worth it. I totally agree with you, itās pretty obvious that only thing keeping Jeff the Killer above water are the fangirls. Flare the internet.
Ocean Elf: "above water" Don't encourage me. I've already annihilated a notorious cp villain with an ocean. Tempting as it is to do that to Jeff, I'd like to give him a different treatment. And yes, he's gone viral... Meme... Chain letter. I mangle memes. Driven to do this by sheer annoyance. It's better than screaming at everyone personally and losing a bunch of friends and potential friends. And, it's therapeutic.
Stephanie Selby Says:
April 18, 2014 at 10:30 AM
One of the things Iāve learned is you can never, ever really predict what will become popular. It doesnāt really matter if itās ābadā or āgoodā in any sense, but it does have to strike a chord with your audience.
Just look at the Twilight series: itās absolute nonsense but female audiences loved it because it took advantage of an under-catered niche. In Jeffās case, he caters to disenfranchised youth and bullying has been a hot topic in pop culture lately.
Ocean Elf: No, it just appeals to youth who are attracted to sadistic characters.
BM2011 Says:
September 17, 2014 at 8:54 PM
True trueā¦
J Says:
May 23, 2014 at 2:29 AM
i agree with you the story dose suck one thing i got a kick out of though was when one of the bad kids donāt remember the name who the writer describe to be the size of a house could jump over a fence with ease
Ocean Elf: That was Troy. But that's all in keeping with Randy and his flying skateboard, too. Unrealistic off the charts.
J Says:
May 23, 2014 at 2:30 AM
also i thinks this story came out before dark knight
BM2011 Says:
September 17, 2014 at 8:52 PM
Bch plz! The first Batman issue was in 1940. The āGlasgow smileā Jokerās first appearance was in the 1989 Batman film, played by Jack Nicholson (yes his mouth was carved into a smile, & the surgeon even explained why). Creepypasta started near 2007.
So there.
Besides I think both of them are a rip off of Kuchi-sake Onna (Slit-mouthed Woman) which is a Japanese folktale from the Heian period, which was from 794 to 1185 A.D. Even Jeffās āam I beautiful?ā Was ripped off from her.
Ocean Elf: Was there supposed to be some kind of point to this ramble. I might be more receptive to your POV if you hadn't started off with that annoying micro meme "Bch plz!".
Stephanie Selby Says:
September 17, 2014 at 10:24 PM
Dude, calm down. I was only trying to point out the similarities. Iām certainly no Batman expert, and Iām not familiar with all the Batman films. Iāve only seen one of the Nolan films and the one where Jim Carrey played the Riddler.
Not so sure about the connection to Kuchi-sake Onna, although I do see why you would think that. The similarities are there. However, I recall reading how the Jokerās character is based off of Conrad Veidt, an actor who played Gwynplaine in the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs. I recommend checking it out, or at the very least do an image search. Itās quite a sight!
MJTR Says:
June 22, 2014 at 9:08 AM
Jeff is just begging for a new origin story. I think the actual set up is pretty good. Bullied kid becomes a killer may be a common story thread, but thereās a good reason it endures like it does, itās like the cycle of abuse on a grander scale. But yes, the story itself and its ridiculous oddities hurt the hell out of it. I wish Creepypasta would still accept Jeff stories so that someone could revamp him in a similar but smarter way. Because there is a lot to like about Jeff, itās ironically one of the most important things about him thatās all wrong.
Ocean Elf: I couldn't disagree more. Bullied. Way overused trope. Victim becomes killer. Way overused trope, and frankly, I'm sick of this trend of trying to make killers sympathetic. "Oh, he just hacked his parents to pieces and killed another girl's parents, kidnapped her, made her look at their mutilated corpses, then set her on fire while she was bound and couldn't get away. - But - he was BULLIED!" Screw that! Lots of people get bullied. Only a fraction turn into killers, and even people who had good childhoods can end up being rotten, by choice.
Stephanie Selby Says:
June 22, 2014 at 12:34 PM
Thanks so much for the thoughtful comment! Perhaps someday Iāll post my own version of Jeffās origins, because I do find his character strangely endearing despite his disturbed nature.
I imagine itās hard to approve of new Jeff stories because of his popularity. Itās very hard to control quality when thereās so many fans making their own tales, especially when most of them are young amateur writers. Fans also run the risk of beating the poor fellow into the ground like a dead horse.
Ocean Elf: Ugh! There it is again "poor fellow" and she thinks Twilight is nonsense? It is... But, if you're going to be sorry for Jeff, you might as well be a Twi-hard.
It's up to everyone to write whatever they please, but IMO the last thing the net needs is more JTK origin stories. Ugh, the stupidity!
Katie Says:
July 11, 2014 at 6:24 PM
Finally someone puts it into words!
Kemyon Pannell Says:
September 12, 2014 at 7:26 AM
Hello writer of this entry Im a student in a journalism class about to write a article on CreepyPastaās. It would be a pleasure if I could interview you via Email please contact me KemyonPannell.IrishEye@Gmail.com Thankyou.
BM2011 Says:
September 17, 2014 at 8:40 PM
Jeff became popular for the same reason Twilight & Justin Bieber became popularā¦. FANGIRLS.
Ocean Elf: Nailed it!
Stephanie Selby Says:
September 17, 2014 at 10:27 PM
A cynical point of view, but I canāt deny that itās definitely a factor.
Ocean Elf: Not cynical. It's a fact.
Nicola Marie Jackson Says:
October 9, 2014 at 7:49 AM
I like how the hospital make him leave in the clothes they he was almost burned alive in. Classy xx
Lachlan Says:
January 30, 2015 at 1:21 PM
Do you wanna know whatās sad though. I canāt even like the image, because the author stole the original unedited photo from an obese girl
Ocean Elf: HOAX!
That never happened.
Here's the real origin of the image, and the character.
Stephanie Selby Says:
January 30, 2015 at 6:30 PM
Wow, I didnāt know that. Where did you learn about the photoās origins? Iād like to know more. If it is true that would be terribly sad.
Ocean Elf: It is a sick story, but also untrue. See above link.
reptyrian Says:
April 28, 2015 at 6:15 PM
Lachlan is right about the photoās origin, but the author didnāt even edit the photo.
Ocean Elf: No, wrong. *Deletes rest of hoax perpetuation*
Real story here!
reptyrian: It became one of the original creepypastas and there were multiple stories on the origin of the photo. The most famous version that reads as if it were written by a 12 year old is basically just fan-fiction.
Why it got popular, idfk ĀÆ\_(ć)_/ĀÆ
Ocean Elf: Since the image of the Jeff mask, and the mask itself were around since 2008 and earlier, that would make sense for Jeff becoming one of the first creepy pastas. But the bullied girl story is a stupid hoax, and there simply is no way to understand why things become annoyingly popular, especially when they are crap.
Joey Says:
July 22, 2015 at 5:52 PM
Also there is no prior indication of insanity in this story, its just BOOM. Heās insane. Liu and Jane the killer are even more of an insult to my intelligence, liu has no reason to go mad and Jane as well. Still glad to see that Iām not the only one who hates Jeff the killer.
Ocean Elf: I'm fed up with the insane excuse too. It's used not only in killer stories, but an all-purpose excuse for just about anything a character is supposed to be special for. Character suddenly freaks out over nothing? Oh but he's insane. Character is nice to you one day and a total brat wench the next? But that's really okay and she should be given a lot of understanding because she's insane, or about to go insane. Oh please...!
Rebecca Dykshorn Says:
February 10, 2016 at 1:30 PM
I donāt get why on earth heās so freaking popular. You know who needs a lot more love? Dr. Smiley I look up fan fictions for him and basically nothing comes up. When I search up fan art for him, almost nothing comes up. People need to let go of Jeff and actually read some other creepypastas.
Ocean elf: *Facepalm* Urgh! No love for Dr. Smiley here! Doctor who cuts people up while they're still awake because he wants to smile, or give them smiles, or something stupid like that. Bleckh!
Jeff The Killer, Mangling Reboot
Over and out.
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