ORIGIN: Internet (CreepyPastas)
Although the urban legend of the smiling man is a tale that has gone viral primarily through internet horror forums and creepypasta communities, it is more often associated with scary night time encounters in urban areas across the United States.
The legend gained much popularity after a 2012 Reddit post titled "Let's Not Meet."
It was then that a man commented his own experience that left readers feeling creeped out.
According to the tale, The Smiling Man is a tall and very thin figure with an over exaggerated, large grin stretching across his face, so much that it looks almost lopsided.
He is said to always wear a suit and having a strange, jerky way of moving, almost as if he is dancing.
It is said that you can only have an encounter with him late at night when the streets are empty.
Victims often retell having seen him from a far distance first, watching while he moves toward them in a playful manner, with his wide grin like looking smile never leaving his face.
Most times the victims realise too late that The Smiling Man is not simply a man person but something far more worse.
He follows his targets without ever stopping, and sometimes even starts mimicking their movements.
If you try to run, he will just keep reappearing around corners or down dark alleys.
So far The Smiling Man's motives and or intentions has remained unclear.
And no one has ever told of what happens when he catches his victims.
… Perhaps because they don't live to see another day.