First trailer for Slender Man arrives to terrify us all

The trailer for a film adaptation of viral horror phenomenon 'Slender Man' has dropped and it's terrifying.

Depicting the search for a missing child interspersed with disturbing imagery, the trailer is thankfully light on plot spoilers but builds to a horrifying climax in which Slender Man appears to possess several children.

During a particularly vivid sequence, one character chillingly whispers: "He gets in your head - like a virus." 

Directed by Sylvain White, who helmed 2007's Stomp the Yard, the film stars Javier Botet as the titular Slender Man.

Usually depicted as grotesquely proportioned, faceless and suit-clad, the Slender Man first appeared as a character on internet horror forums in 2009 and developed a cult online following, inspiring several games and comics. 

The character has even had frightening real world effects when in 2014, two Wisconsin girls attempted to murder their classmate as a sacrifice to the fictional monster.

The film is produced by Sony and is set to slither into our cinemas on May 18.