“Ominous unknown killer is still at large.” That is how the story of Jeff the Killer begins. But how will the story end?
On August 14, 2008, newgrounds user, killerjeff posted an image in the forums, claiming the image was of himself. The image, now synonymous with Jeff the Killer is commonly believed to be a photoshopped image of Katy Robinson, a girl who was bullied to suicide by 4chan users for her weight in the Fall of 2008.
On September 12, killerjeff claimed the face in the image was the aftermath of an acid attack. Then on October 3, he uploaded a video on his YouTube channel, Sesseur (which has since been terminated due to numerous violations of YouTube’s community guidelines). This video is said to explain the story of Jeff the Killer and his brother Liu, however after viewing the video, it doesn’t really cover much of the story. You can still view the video, which has been reposted by YouTube user PhenomenonPoltergeist.
Since then, Jeff the Killer has taken on a life of his own, including a full background story dedicated to the origin of Jeff the Killer.
Jeff is described as a teenage boy, and at the time of his transformation, his skin is pure white with lips burnt to a deep shade of red. His brown hair has become a sooty/singed black, and his skin is tight and leathery. He is incredibly happy, but cannot smile as much as he wants because it makes his cheeks hurt, and so he cut a permanent smile into his cheeks, remniscent of the “glasgow smile.” Finally, his eyes; loving the ability to see himself at all times, Jeff has burnt off his eyelids, so his eyes can never close, even when he’s tired.
He didn’t start out that way though. His family had just moved to a new neighborhood, and Jeff and his brother Liu were about to start a new school, but some bullies showed up and ruined everything. His brother gets sent to juvenile detention, and Jeff is left home, enduring the guilt of knowing it should be him in juvenile lockup, and not his brother.
His mother, wanting to make a good impression still, pushes Jeff to attend the birthday part of a young neighbor boy. There, Jeff lets his guard down, and while he is a teenager, he decides to don a cowboy hat and play with a plastic pistol with the other kids. That is, until the bullies show up and hop the fence. The brawl goes through the house, and upstairs where ultimately Jeff is covered in bleach, alcohol, and then set on fire – which ends up giving him his white leathery skin, red lips, and black hair.
Jeff’s mind has snapped though, and while he becomes childlike in nature, he still has an angry teenager inside of him. So when his mom lies to him, he attacks. Jeff has gained a bloodlust, a desire to kill. Killing and fighting bring him joy, and he cannot help himself.
Jeff goes on a killing spree; here is one survivors account:
“I had a bad dream and I woke up in the middle of the night,” says the boy, “I saw that for some reason the window was open, even though I remember it being closed before I went to bed. I got up and shut it once more. Afterwards, I simply crawled under my covers and tried to get back to sleep. That’s when I had a strange feeling, like someone was watching me. I looked up, and nearly jumped out of my bed. There, in the little ray of light, illuminating from between my curtains, were a pair of two eyes. These weren’t regular eyes; they were dark, ominous eyes. They were bordered in black and… just plain out terrified me. That’s when I saw his mouth. A long, horrendous smile that made every hair on my body stand up. The figure stood there, watching me. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he said it. A simple phrase, but said in a way only a mad man could speak.
“He said, ‘Go To Sleep.’ I let out a scream, that’s what sent him at me. He pulled up a knife; aiming at my heart. He jumped on top of my bed. I fought him back; I kicked, I punched, I rolled around, trying to knock him off me. That’s when my dad busted in. The man threw the knife, it went into my dad’s shoulder. The man probably would’ve finished him off, if one of the neighbors hadn’t alerted the police.
“They drove into the parking lot, and ran towards the door. The man turned and ran down the hallway. I heard a smash, like glass breaking. As I came out of my room, I saw the window that was pointing towards the back of my house was broken. I looked out it to see him vanish into the distance. I can tell you one thing, I will never forget that face. Those cold, evil eyes, and that psychotic smile. They will never leave my head.”
Please, take a moment and read the full story here. You won’t regret it, when you hear that voice in your ear late at night, “Go To Sleep.”
Up Next: Laughing Jack