DARK WEB: AN ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO CREEPYPASTA — PART 27: JANE THE KILLER RE-REVISITED – AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH PASTASTALKER64

PLEASE NOTE, THIS FEATURE FIRST APPEARED OVER AT UK HORROR SCENE HERE.

ALL SUBSEQUENT CHAPTERS WILL APPEAR THERE FIRST.

Last week’s Dark Web feature saw me return to the polarising Creepypasta creation of MrAngryDog (MAD), Jane the Killer AKA Jane Richardson.

Loved and loathed in equal measure by Pasta aficionados, Jane is among the most well-known Creepypasta icons and has garnered a lot of attention from the fanbase since MAD’s first post to DeviantArt back in 2012, a post that has since come to be known as Jane’s Letter. However, there’s still some debate as to WHICH Jane is these fans’ favourite.

You see, Jane Richardson is not the only Jane the Killer out there.

Shortly after Jane’s Letter hit the internet, another web user, PastaStalker64, posted her own story to the web, this one titled Jane the Killer: The Real Story.

You can read it over at the Jeff the Killer Wikia here.

Unlike MAD’s story, in which Jane is described simply as a relentless, remorseless enemy of Jeff with little explained motivation (until the author’s subsequent updates in which it is revealed that Ms Richardson was once a popular, normal girl in a happy relationship with her girlfriend Mary, Jeff slaughtered her family, prompting Jane to volunteer for a government experiment of a drug codenamed ‘Liquid Hate’ which gave Jane near superhuman strength and stamina, at the sacrifice or her mental stability), PastaStalker64’s Jane Arkensaw is revealed to have been a part of Jeff’s life since before that fateful day in which Jeff was left disfigured by bullies. The story weaves key plotpoints from the well-known Jeff origin tale into a fresh narrative about a seemingly normal and caring young girl.

However, soon Arkensaw’s proximity to the deranged Jeff sees her fall under his malevolent gaze. Jane is subjected to a terrifying ordeal, during which Jeff sets her alight, planning to burn her skin so she will become ‘beautiful, like him’. The story finishes after Jane wakes in hospital, having received a mask from Jeff as a part of their twisted ‘courtship’ — a mask which she dons before heading out into the night to hunt her nemesis under her new name: Jane Everlasting.

In my first Jane the Killer feature I admitted that of the two origin stories, I might actually prefer this one because it feels a more natural part of the Jeff the Killer mythos. Sure, there are definitely some clunky moments, but as a Creepypasta and (especially) as a spin-off, I think it’s actually a pretty successful attempt at storytelling. PastaStalker64 was just a teenager when she penned the story, and while some of her inexperience shines through at times, she shows tremendous potential as a fiction writer.

Despite this decent effort, some elements of the Creepypasta fan community were rather hard on PS64 for her story, especially those who felt she had plagiarised MrAngryDog. MAD himself was pretty put out and made contact with PastaStalker64. Luckily the pair were able to resolve the issue amicably, agreeing that both Jane Richardson and Jane Arkensaw would be different, separate entities operating within the larger Jeff the Killer Universe.

From here Jane has gone from strength to strength and, minor disagreements between pro-Richardson and pro-Arkensaw fans aside, PS64’s Everlasting has built a large following, at least if the number of examples of fanart on DeviantArt, YouTube and other sites are anything to go by.

The character is even a regular in stories by other authors, including numerous takes on Jeff vs Jane (some of which are actually pretty good).

But of course, whether you adore or abhor Jane Arkensaw AKA Everlasting, she could never have existed without that first story by PastaStalker64. For this, PS64 is well-deserving of praise.

I reached out to PastaStalker64 to ask if she’d be prepared to answer some questions about her role in the creation of one of Creepypasta’s most iconic characters, and she kindly agreed. The interview follows below.

HHoH: Hi and thanks so much for agreeing to answer my questions.

The most obvious first — what served as your inspiration for the story?

PASTASTALKER64: Well some of the inspiration came from the original Jane the Killer, or rather the chaotic information surrounding her. I found out about her when I was about 14 years old, and didn't really know how to traverse the Internet. So when I couldn't find anything concrete enough for my liking  I thought, "Why not write my own backstory and spare others this headache?" The rest of the inspiration came from my own source of constant rage, and feelings of vengeance against someone who bullied me as a child. Then I just built up my Jane based on those feelings. Actually ever since I wrote Jane's story my rage has ebbed considerably.

HHoH: Which writers, horror or otherwise, do you consider yourself a fan of?

PS64: I don't really keep track of the authors I read. But the ones that immediately spring to mind are Scott Lynch and Stephen Jay Gould.

HHoH: Are you a Creepypasta fan? If so what is your favourite Creepypasta by an author other than yourself?

PS64: I'm not that much of a creepypasta fan anymore, but I still admire the way the authors blur the line between fact and fiction so easily. My favourite is Mr. Widemouth. The writing style is nice, and it's about a furby that tries to kill children, what's not to like?

HHoH: Some Jane fans are very passionate about the story. Are there any examples of fan art, such as films or readings, in particular that have impressed you?

PS64: My favourite reading definitely has to be by YouTuber AmneFar. She has the exact voice I imagined Jane would have and brings her to life perfectly. 

HHoH: I feel the character of Jane is wrongfully maligned by some segments of Creepypasta fandom. Have you read any of these negative comments? How do you feel about them? Have the fans been as vocal in their support as the dissenters?

PS64: I've read a few of the negative comments, and some of them are true. The writing is a little unclear at times, and some plot points are unneeded, I'll be the first to admit it.

But most of the negative comments actually seem to come from MrAngryDog's side of the fandom. It's mostly just "the original Jane was better" or something along those lines, which is more annoying to me than anything.

Fans have definitely been vocal in defence of this alternative version of Jane, and I doubt she would still exist if it wasn't for them. From outside the fandom it seems like things have calmed down and both sides of this fandom coexist peacefully.

HHoH: Mr AngryDog famously created the first version of Jane the Killer. He seemed a little upset at first over your version of Jane but it seems things were soon sorted out between you both and now you're friendly. How did that come to happen? Have you had much interaction with Mr AngryDog?

PS64: He actually contacted me a couple years after I wrote the story, probably expecting a fight of some kind. Instead I immediately apologized for plagiarizing his character, and we came to an agreement that both characters would exist separately as individual characters. We've only spoken the one time, but he seems to come across as a relatively level-headed individual.

HHoH: Do you have any other Creepypasta creations either in the pipeline or already out there that you'd like to share with our audience?

PS64: I only posted the one story, but I have tried creating other stories. None of them were up to my standards, or just seemed like knock-offs of stories that had better execution than mine, so I never finished or posted them.

HHoH: And finally will you ever return to the story of Jane? And what else can your fans look forward to from you in the days ahead?

PS64: I have tried writing a sequel at least five times, with three different narrators, different settings, and I didn't like a single one. I have a definite ending for Jane that I think fans would be satisfied with, but it's the middle I have trouble with and really getting inside character's heads (other than Jane). I might post a story sometime, but definitely not in the near future. I don't think fans should expect much from me otherwise.

HHoH: Thank you for speaking with us.

With Jeff as popular as ever, it seems that his nemesis, Jane, won’t be going anywhere either.

It’s great to talk to the creative minds behind some of our beloved genre’s biggest characters and stories, and for the next feature in this series I’ll be speaking with one of the creators of a creepypasta A-Lister.

You will know who He Is...

DARK WEB: AN ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO CREEPYPASTA — PART 26: JANE THE KILLER REVISITED – AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MR ANGRY DOG

In my last feature I returned to a Creepypasta story I’ve covered before here, the tale of the infamous Jeff the Killer. I was able to look at the tale with fresh eyes after managing to secure an interview with the creator of Jeff, Sesseur AKA KillerJeff.This week I return to another classic Creepypasta character — Jeff’s sworn arch-nemesis, the vengeful Jane the Killer.

Regular Dark Web readers may recall that I have mentioned Jane the Killer here before, and spoke up on what I felt was rather harsh criticism from the Creepypasta community.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story, the first appearance of Jane online came back in 2012 when DeviantArt user MrAngryDog posted an image and short story that has come to be known as Jane’s Letter. In it MrAngryDog tells of a twisted character who is hunting the psychotic Jeff to gain revenge for an untold wrong, so driven in her desire to punish him that she is even prepared to kill his prospective victims before he can to spite her adversary.
In time, MrAngryDog published further updates as to what made Jane the character she was, including references to a covert Government experiment that utilised a mysterious drug known only as Liquid Hate, which gave Jane tremendous abilities.

However, shortly after the publishing of Jane’s Letter, another author, PastaStalker64 wrote a story entitled Jane the Killer: The Truth, piggybacking on the success of Mr AngryDog’s own tale. You can read it at the Jeff the Killer wiki here.
This caused some confusion among fans of the character as the story of this Jane directed contradicted that of Mr Angry Dog. This confusion then led to conflict among the fandom, as different groups pledged their support to either Mr AD’s Jane Richardson or PS64’s Jane Arkensaw A.K.A. Everlasting. The rivalry between each camp became somewhat heated, while Creepypasta reader’s who took exception to either story would regularly vent frustrations on the wrong creator.

Furthermore, a particular hardcore group of Jeff fans also took exception to a character so opposed to their posterboy and proceeded to vent their own displeasure into an already pretty toxic situation.

In time Mr AngryDog had enough of PastaStalker64 using his original creation without his permission and contacted her over it. Unlike the vast majority of Internet communication, this was a conversation that was resolved in a surprisingly cordial manner — PS64 apologised to MrAD and the pair agreed that both characters could exist separately in the loose Jeff ‘canon’. You can read the whole exchange at Mr AngryDog’s Tumblr here.

However, even now Jane is a polarising character — drawing adoration from fans and pretty scathing scorn from opposition. As I’ve said before, I have tremendous respect for any artist who is brave enough to put their work out there, and while appreciation of art is certainly a subjective experience, all artists (especially those who blaze new trails) deserve to be commended for exposing themselves to the criticism of an audience.

Mr AngryDog created Jane, there can be no denial of this fact. Whether you love or loathe the character, Jane has inspired a strong emotional reaction among the Creepypasta community, and for that reason Jane and her creator deserve to be celebrated.
I wanted to give Mr AngryDog the opportunity to address his fans, his detractors and you, my readers, so I was delighted when he so generously agreed to discuss Jane with me.
Our interview follows:

UK HORROR SCENE: First, would you consider yourself a fan of Creepypasta?
MR ANGRYDOG: Yes and no. As far as being a fan of creepypastas themselves, I am a fan of Lost Episode and Ritual creepypastas (i.e. Rugrats Lost Episode "Chuckie's Mom", Midnight Man, etc.) On top of that, Theory pastas have always piqued my interest. 
Those dealing with such things as true stories, crime, science, and space have always been my favorites. I am a fan of those such pastas. 
I consider Eyeless Jack, The Rake, Sonic.exe, The Red-Eyed Spirit, Mr Widermouth, and The Uninvited Stranger legendary favorites because they are the cornerstones of Pastas.
As far as me not being a die-hard fan is concerned, that was the result of some fans being either unhinged, downright obnoxious, not differentiating fantasy from reality, Bad [Insert name of fandom here] Groups, the need to psychoanalyze everything right down to the very little detail, starting Kill [Insert name of author here] Clubs online, and sending death threats and threats of suicide to other users and creators old and new, myself included. I've been bombarded with so much hatred and death threats for over the last few years, it has just become laughable.
Back then, it would just take a toll on my mental and physical health, and that's what caused me to go through alcohol abuse during that time. I maybe an active voice in the community and know there are fans with big hearts out there, so there is a little glimmering light at the end of the tunnel.

UKHS: Why do you think Creepypasta resonates so much with the fandom?
MAD: I think the reason why Creepypasta resonates so much with the fandom is because of the fans that are absolutely passionate and cheerful about their favorite Pastas, that drawings and fanfics just started popping up over night. Those fans are having fun, enjoying themselves. 
While there are really passionate fans who have fun and enjoy their favorite pastas, there are some fans who fuck up the fandom, acting like they know everything, and treat a well-written story like it's the biggest atrocity ever created by mankind, while some who look at a very badly-written Pasta — loaded with errors and anachronisms out the ass, and treat it like it's a pulitzer prize winner. The passionate and cheerful fans are basically the life blood of the fandom. :)

UKHS: What is your favourite Creepypasta by an author other than yourself?
MAD: Well, I have no favorite in particular, but if I had a choice, I would say Laughing Jack by Snuff Bomb. I wasn't reading a story, I was reading cinematic visuals, basically.

UKHS: Which writers, horror or otherwise, do you consider yourself a fan of?
MAD: I've always been a big fan of Michael Crichton, Clive Barker, Edgar Allan Poe, R.L. Stine (yes, R.L. Stine), and Anne Rice. Michael Crichton, especially, since his books always have to come with a soda and hot buttered popcorn while you read. They're THAT cinematic! :D

UKHS: In your own words, can you explain the story of Jane, her relationship to Jeff, Liquid Hate etc?
MAD: Jane Richardson started as your typical girl, the talk of the town who's got it all — a hot girlfriend, a job she enjoys, excellent friends, a loving family, and a great future. But in 2006, her world changed when both of her parents, Paula and Bruce Richardson were murdered by Jeffrey Woods Keaton (Jeff the Killer).
Her relationship to Jeff — hate/hate. She wanted him dead and in the grave for what he did!
As for Liquid Hate, here's how it came to be... The L.A.P.D were in pursuit of Jeff The Killer, but remained unsuccessful in their manhunt. They enlisted the aid of the FBI, who had Jeff on their most wanted list, they [the FBI] turned to the CIA. The CIA, searching for a way to create an anti-killer unit, needed a test subject. The Department of Justice became involved with the CIA in the creation of Liquid Hate, funded by the American Science Association.
The fundings for Liquid Hate were a total of $6.9 million dollars. Subjects will experience for the first minute and thirty seconds, violent episodes and homicidal tendencies, but will act and appear normal once the episodes cease.
Over twenty-five test subjects died because of the effects of the serum that was codenamed "Liquid Hate". There is an increase in strength, stamina, health, speed, and agility. Other results included increased alcohol, drug, and tobacco tolerance, running faster than a track athlete on steroids, taking on human appearances, accelerated healing, limb regeneration, and increased metabolism.
Jane Richardson is the one who survived.

UKHS: What served as your inspiration for the story?
MAD: Jane really began as an idea and a CGI avatar made on the chat program IMVU (Instant Messaging Virtual Universe), as SaucyJaney (that was my avatar's name). Saucy Janey was the female version of Saucy Jack, or the infamous Jack the Ripper. Saucy Janey began as Jane the Ripper, basically.
After reading the story of Jeff the Killer, and the other stories in the Jeff mythos, Jeff needed someone to kick his ass. Who? Jane.
After finding out that Jeff the Killer's picture may have actually been a touched up version of an overweight goth girl who took her life after being mercilessly bullied on 4Chan for her weight problem, I later made Jane the Killer — Jane Richardson, to eradicate Jeff, and to have people leave the memory of the deceased goth alone. So, in a way, Jane is the poor girl's avenging angel. :)

UKHS: What do you think the appeal of Jane and her story is?
MAD: The appeal of Jane Richardson and her story is, for one — she is very popular among the guys and girls, and is the most talked-about character ever. Ranging from fanfics, to other works of art, and even fan-made movies, people see Jane as a woman with potential, plenty of sex appeal, and a frequent favorite of cosplayers everywhere.
As far as her story goes, many claim the "Born of Science" story was better than Jeff the Killer's story. I also think this is mainly because of the cinematic style I put into creating it.

UKHS: The fans are very passionate about the story. Are there any examples of fan art, such as films or readings, in particular that have impressed you?
MAD: Yes, Jeff the Killer vs. Jane the Killer by YouTube user Movieunleashers is my favorite fan-made film. As far as art works are concerned, there are some that have caught my eye and made me go: "OMFG, THAT IS AWESOME!"
Some of the art works I've seen were pretty shoddy, but I didn't care. It was the uniqueness and style of the artist that I was captivated by. Every piece of art by the artist themselves, their own style is unique. That's what makes them unique. :)

UKHS: I feel the character of Jane is wrongfully maligned by some segments of Creepypasta fandom. Have you read any of these negative comments? How do you feel about them? Have the fans been as vocal in their support as the dissenters?
MAD: Read them? Yes, I have. Some of the negative comments are sometimes playful banter, some are humorous, and others are just downright abhorrent, obnoxious, and pretty damn horrid.
I've had a few ask me: "Are you the creator of Jane the Killer? If you are, go die in a hole."
I've had others make idle threats, and spew death threats — some have even gone so far as threatening to slit my throat, hoping that I go kill myself, suffer anal rape, you name it. Do I lose sleep at night because someone in the fandom threatens to kill me or hopes that I go and off myself? Hell no, I sleep like a fucking baby. It's all horseshit from those who fail to do research and suffer from severe jealousy that something I made has become quite popular and went viral, to be quite honest.
Those who have made false assumptions that I created Jane Arkensaw without failing to realize PastaStalker64 did, I usually have to correct them. Most of the time, I'm really nice about it.
For some who prefer to not listen and get their facts straight, then that really pisses me off, you know? So, all the comments and death threats I receive, it's a combination of comedy and tragedy. Why tragedy? Because those who waste their time typing out death threats are a tragedy, and the tears I cry from the tragedy are not tears of sadness, but tears of laughter because of how full of shit one is making said threats.
Yes, the fans have been vocal in their support as the dissenters and it is spreading like wildfire everyday! :D Their support for me is highly extolled and very much appreciated. <3 I LOVE YOU GUYS!

UKHS: You mention PastaStalker64, who famously created her own version of Jane the Killer after you created the original. It seems things were soon sorted out between you both and now you're friendly. How did that come to happen? Have you had much interaction with PastaStalker64?
MAD: Well, at first, I wanted to confront PastaStalker64 for allegedly plagiarizing Jane the Killer in the first place because I got so sick and tired of the confusion. Many who speculate that I made Jane Arkensaw and made false assumptions. I made Jane Richardson, not Jane Arkensaw. When I went to talk to PastaStalker64, I had no response for quite some time. After telling her that I was the original creator of Jane the Killer, she didn't expect me to be kind and pleasant in my greeting. But I was. :3
We both had a good talk, and she said she made Jane Arkensaw just for fun and because she was bored. She didn't intend for her version to become popular and have poor reviews. PastaStalker removed her story from the CP Wiki and that was that. But somehow, on the JTK Wiki, her copy still exists, and I'm surprised that nobody removed it...?
She liked my version of Jane the Killer very much, and after things got sorted out between us, we became sort of like, acquaintances. I haven't spoken to her much lately because of so much going on, but we're still on good terms and there is no animosity between us.

UKHS: Do you have any other Creepypasta creations either in the pipeline or already out there that you'd like to share with our audience? And do you intend to return to/expand upon Jane's story in the future?
MAD: Yes, I do, as a matter of fact: The Elysian Theater and The Doctor Is Out... TO GET YOU!
As for my intention to expand upon Jane's story, yes. That's already happening. Me and a friend of mine are working around the clock to expand upon the story even further, even including a backstory and stuff that was left out. Part one is already finished, but part two is now underway!

UKHS: Can you tell me a little more about your other projects?
MAD: The Elysian Theater focuses primarily on what happens when an aspiring celebrity never gets her dreams of being famous realized and takes her anger out on everyone by killing, and imprisoning herself in the theater where she is under the dellusion that she is still a star.
The Doctor Is Out... revolves around a woman who becomes too amorously infatuated with her doctor to the point of where she has to pay her medical bill with her life. Moral of that story is — stay out of doctors’ offices and hospitals if you are horny.

UKHS: And finally, where is the best place for my readers to check out your work, especially regarding the expanded Jane story?
MAD: Well, as far as the expanded Jane story is concerned, I will be more than happy to send it to their email boxes in PDF format. As far as other stories are concerned, they are in storage on my deviantART page. If they want to look at them, I will be honored to note it to them. :)

Mr AngryDog is clearly a passionate, creative man and it’s genuinely uplifting to see such an individual taking pride in his work and continuing to create new and exciting stories for the Creepypasta community.

Who knows, maybe his next work will contain the next Jane the Killer?

DARK WEB: AN ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO CREEPY CRAPPYPASTA — PART 16: JANE THE KILLER

THIS FEATURE FIRST APPEARED AT UK HORROR SCENE HERE. ALL SUBSEQUENT PARTS WILL BE PUBLISHED THERE FIRST. 

Crappypasta. No, that’s not a typo, it’s a real thing.

I think you can probably guess what it is, but just in case you can’t (or missed the earlier entries in this series, in which case I suggest you go back and doing some catching up! Go on, you’ve missed some great stories!) it’s a play on words. In much the same way that Creepypasta came from the online term Copypasta (referring to a block of text spread throughout the internet via users copying and pasting it to email/forums), Crappypasta refers to Creepypasta that is, well, Crap.

That’s not to say it’s without merit — even junk food hits the spot now and then and as a horror fan there are films that I adore that are so bad they’re good.

In fact, the runners of Creepypasta.com look at all submissions and those that are below the required standard, but show some glimmer of potential if worked on, honed and polished, find their way onto Crappypasta.com.

Notable examples of Crappypasta include the notorious story below, which was posted to 4chan’s /X/ board on 28 March 2008:

So ur with ur honey and yur making out wen the phone rigns. U anser it n the vioce is "wut r u doing wit my daughter?" U tell ur girl n she say "my dad is ded". THEN WHO WAS PHONE?

Yep, this is a story so deliciously dire that it birthed its own meme. Unsurprisingly, ‘THEN WHO WAS PHONE?’ has become as popular as ‘All Your Base Are Belong To Us’ with a certain kind of web user.

However, it’s not just a poor grasp on basic grammar that can see a story dismissed by discerning fans — no, arguably the biggest bugbear guaranteed to infuriate CP fans is somebody fanficcing or piggybacking on the success of another popular story to find an audience.

This week I look at a character (and stories) reviled by some and positively adored by others for precisely this reason — Jane the Killer.

I’ve already spoke at length about the success of the Jeff the Killer Creepypasta. A story fuelled by a nightmarish image of an inhuman grinning face, Jeff has gone on to become one of the most recognisable icons of Creepypasta lore. It’s a story so popular that it still spawns countless imitators, with scores of serial killer monsters now flooding the web, such as Eyeless Jack, Laughing Jack and Liars’s Jimmy.

However, there’s a marked difference between imitation and actively adding a new piece to the lore. As Creepypasta is largely an unregulated commodity, authors often adapt elements created by other writers to create their own spin on the tale. The growing legend of The Rake was very much a collaborative effort, while the stories that make up The Holders series can be credited to multiple authors.

Jane the Killer is one such attempt to add a new element to JtK legend.

With his ‘Go To Sleep’ catchphrase and a back story that varies from telling to telling but often involves a brother named Liu, a gang of vengeful bullies and terrible chemical burns, there’s already a fair amount to work with when telling Jeff’s tale. What the creators of Jane the Killer attempt to inject is a nemesis.

The first Jane the Killer story appeared online back in 2012. Originally titled Jane’s Letter, it has been credited as the work of AngryDogDesigns, a DeviantArt user. You can read his post here.

The story is short, sharp and serves solely to introduce readers to its new antihero. It depicts Jane as somebody with a deep, personal vendetta against Jeff. She is portrayed as somebody so unhinged by her hatred for the grinning, white-hoodie-wearing super psycho that she is prepared to kill people just to rob him of the pleasure.

It also comes with a striking image, a heavily doctored photo of a young woman with an almost featureless white face.

This image comes with a spin on Jeff’s ‘Go To Sleep’ catchphrase — instead it reads: ‘Don’t go to sleep. You won’t wake up’.

Shortly after the first appearance of this story, another entitled Jane the Killer: The Real Story was published by PastaStalker64. This was a lengthier, slightly better written effort, that claimed to be the true story of Jane as told by her.

You can read it at the Jeff the Killer wikia (yes, that really exists) here.

It elaborates on Jane’s background, revealing that she was a neighbour of Jeff and witnessed many of the events in his story, even playing a role in saving his life. However, she would go on to become of his victims, losing her friends and family along the way and being left deliberately disfigured by the maniac. Driven by hatred and an insatiable hunger for revenge, she has taken to hunting Jeff.

In some ways this is quite skilful storytelling. By threading the well-established events of JtK through the story the author (PastaStalker64) is able to connect with an existing audience. The writing itself leaves a little to be desired, but let’s not forget that the original Jeff the Killer stories weren’t exactly Tolstoy. In many technical ways, this is actually better than the Jeff origin tales.

Since then original Jane creator MrAngryDog has released his own ‘origin tale’ writing that Jane (now given the surname Richardson)’s seemingly superhuman abilities derive from a scientific experiment funded by the Government involving something known as Liquid Hate).

He was even kind enough to create a handy infographic to explain it.

Oh, and she’s also a lesbian with a girlfriend called Mary and a wide circle of friends.

Seriously.

There has emerged quite the rivalry between camps of Jane fans, those that prefer the original Jane Richardson born of science, and those that prefer PastaStalker64’s Jane Arkensaw AKA Everlasting, born of fire. This eventually led to a surprisingly civil exchange between the two authors in which PastaStalker64 apologised for any unintentional treading on of toes and admitted that the original Jane image and character was created by MrAngryDog. However, it was agreed between the authors that Jane Richardson and Jane Arkensaw would just be recognised as two separate entities in the JtK mythos and culminated in the writers becoming positively chummy. You can read the whole exchange at MrAngryDog’s Tumblr blog here.

Further subgroups of fans have penned their own stories, from the inevitable ‘shipper’ takes on the story that suggest romance between the two to those that detail the climactic showdown between the two. In one of these a rather implausible plot development occurs in which Jane disguises herself as a hooker to get close to Jeff, then they sleep together (because obviously that’s the first thing you’d do when you tricked your mortal enemy upon whom you’d sworn bloody vengeance to lower his guard in a location far from any witnesses). After eventually dispatching Jeff some time later, Jane’s body is found dead from blood loss, having died during childbirth. There is no sign of the infant, and more tellingly, smeared on the wall in Jane’s blood is the slogan: ‘Go To Sleep’. This has inspired a whole slew of Jeff/Jane the Killer’s Son/Daughter stories.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of these fall squarely into the Crappypasta category, and are widely reviled by a large contingent of the Creepypasta community.

However, there are also massive groups of fans (the majority of which appear to be teenage girls) who are extremely passionate and vocal in their support of their preferred Jane. A quick look at DeviantArt turns up page after page of Jane fanart, and there are also plenty of pictures on Tumblr. YouTube hosts a number of Jane the Killer videos, many of which set to the emo strains of an Evanescence track, obv.

They regularly clash with Jeff’s own fangirls, plenty of whom hate Jane as a character because she wants to kill their beloved Jeff.

To be honest, it’s all a bit Take That vs East 17 (I’ve a very strong suspicion I may have given my age away with that analogy!).

One of the major criticisms levelled at Jane is that she’s seen as something of a Mary Sue (especially the Liquid Hate, superpowered Richardson).

For those unfamiliar with the term, a Mary Sue (or Gary Stu, Marty Stu or Larry Stu for male characters) is a type of young character (especially prevalent in fanfiction) who is impossibly perfect and seen as an idealised author insert. The name comes from a character (the youngest Lieutenant in the fleet — only fifteen-and-a-half years old) in Paula Smith’s 1973 parody A Trekkie's Tale, which was published in her fanzine Menagerie #2. The story itself poked gentle fun at a lot of Star Trek fan fiction, but since then this term has come to carry heavy negative connotations. The worst of these is that a Mary Sue serves as a wish-fulfilment proxy for the author, a perfect example of what they want to be, which in turn makes the character unrealistic in their perfection and not developed enough to be interesting.

There have been several people who are outspoken about the damage the term Mary Sue has done to fanfiction. It seems now that as soon as anybody inserts a female character into an established mythos, that character is quickly dismissed as a Mary Sue. It implies a certain sexism in online fan communities ,and poses the question, if Jane were to have been a male character (Jake the Killer perhaps) would the backlash have been as strong? The characters of Masky, Hoody and Ticci Toby have been widely accepted into the Slenderman canon.

Of course a simple reason for this could be that they are allies of the popular original creation, rather than sworn enemies. Let’s not forget how popular these Creepypasta icons have become, and how fiercely protective their fans feel towards them.

Which brings us back to Crappypasta. Is it fair to dismiss a work purely because you don’t approve of the character’s motivations? Isn’t all art — including literature — subjective, and as such, beyond traditional criticism?

There are definitely some works that resonate better with an audience than others (as well as writing these features, I review horror films so I’m encouraged to rate or rank the work of others based on my conceptions of quality), but to discourage any artist who was brave enough to put their work out there by simply labelling it as ‘crappy’ is pretty harsh.

Jane the Killer is not my favourite Creepypasta creation, but there are elements in the stories of both Richardson and Arkensaw that I appreciate. What’s more, I think the character gives us a fascinating microcosm of internet fandom — a character written into an existing online mythos, since adopted into multiple personas by different groups of fans who feel ‘Their Jane’ is the best one, and sparking an almost equal amount of love and hate from the community for a wealth of reasons.

With so much invested emotion from people who feel passionately about the character, plus an ever expanding mythos and fresh developments and new directions for the story on an almost daily basis, Jane the Killer is actually a hugely successful icon, despite her naysayers.

With so much going on around this particular story, I think it’s safe to say that there’s no danger that onlookers will ‘go to sleep’.

If you haven’t already, do please check out and Like the Hickey’s House of Horrors Facebook page, which you can find here. It gives you a nice quick link to any new posts on this blog, plus regular news updates from around the web. I check the Internet so you don’t have to! Alternatively, follow me on twitter: The House @HickeysHorrors

Until next time, I hope you enjoyed your stay.