The Smiling Man

Some of you may have heard of The Smiling Man. Some of you may have even encountered him yourself. Who is he though, and what does he want? That much, we may never know.

The Smiling Man was first brought to public light in 2012 by reddit user blue_tidal. The story went like this…

The author, a self-pronounced night person, would often take late night walks through the downtown area of the major US city they resided in. One particular night, between one and two in the morning, the author found themself walking near a police patrolled park some distance from their apartment. There was very little traffic, and the park was decidedly empty.

Turning down a side street, ready to head back to their apartment, they spotted someone at the far end of the street. A man was dancing, a sort of a waltz where the end of each box-step was completed with a forward stride. He was slowly gaining on the author.

The author stepped as close as they were able to the side of the road, to give the man plenty of space to get past. The author had assumed the man was drunk, but as he got closer, they realized he was quite graceful despite his tall and lanky body. He was wearing an old suit and as he got even closer, the author was finally able to make out his face. His eyes were open with a wild gape to them, his head tilted back just slightly as though he were looking off at the sky. Perhaps the most unnerving feature was his mouth. His mouth was upturned into a smile, painfully wide, almost cartoonish.

The author crossed the street, anxious to get away from the smiling man. They took their eyes off him just long enough to get across the street, but when they glanced back, they saw that the man had stopped dancing and was now standing with one foot in the street, perfectly parallel to them.

Although the man was now facing the author, his face was still looking skyward, the smile still creepishly wide. The author started walking again, watching the man as he went. The man didn’t move.

Once a half a block was between them, the author turned away for a moment, just to check on the sidewalk ahead. When they turned back, the smiling man was gone. A moment of relief was quickly snatched away, when they found that the smiling man had crossed the street and was now slightly crouched down, facing them once again. Having not looked away for more than ten seconds, it was clear this man was fast.

Frozen in shock, and a little fear, the author stood there and stared at the smiling man for some time, until he started moving again with exaggerated tip toed steps. He looked like a cartoon character sneaking up on someone, but moving extremely fast. And yet, the author stood there until the man was no more than a car length away. The smile was still on his face, his head still tilted toward the sky.

The author, wanting to scream out, managed to mutter, “What the fuu…?” and the smiling man just stood there, no reaction at all, still smiling his cartoonish smile. After what felt like forever, the smiling man turned and began to dance-walk away.

The author stood and watched, not wanting to turn their back on him again. When the smiling man was almost out of sight, they realized something. The smiling man was no longer moving away, and he was no longer dancing. No, he was running back toward the author, and fast.

The author took off running this time too, running until they were on a road with a little traffic. Running until the smiling man was nowhere to be found. They never saw him again, and to this day, do not know what he wanted.

Since this story was published, there have been few reports of the smiling man, but they all have a few things in common. The cartoonish smile; the dance-walking movement; the speed. Will we ever truly know who this man is, or what he wants?

Interested in reading the full story on reddit? Check it out here.

If you liked this story, we think you’ll like this one – Eyeless Jack