Jeff the Killer displayed in a 'game over' interactive meme template with YES/NO response buttons and red glitch text at the top.

Jeff The Killer

2005Creepypasta character / internet screamer / image macroclassic

Published March 24, 2026

Also known as: Killer Jeff · Jeff the Killer Creepypasta · JTK

Jeff the Killer is one of the most recognized creepypasta characters on the internet, a fictional serial killer depicted as a pale, disfigured figure with a carved smile, lidless eyes, and the chilling catchphrase "Go to sleep." The character originated from a heavily edited photograph that first appeared on the Japanese message board pya.cc in 200512, with the story and name emerging through Newgrounds and YouTube between 2006 and 20085. The accompanying creepypasta, published in its most popular form in 2011, made Jeff the Killer a cornerstone of internet horror culture, spawning countless fan works, screamers, derivative characters, and one of the web's longest-running image origin mysteries2.

creepypasta memes horror memes catchphrase memes photoshop memes fan art memes

Overview

Jeff The Killer, a fictional horror character from the creepypasta genre, depicted as a noseless figure with bleached white skin, a wide grin carved into his cheeks, burned-off eyelids, and long black hair7. The character is almost always shown in a white hoodie, holding a knife, with the image designed to be as unsettling as possible through stark contrast and unnatural features1. The face itself, a heavily photoshopped image with an impossibly wide smile and hollow, dark-ringed eyes, became one of the most widely circulated scary images on the internet4.

What makes Jeff the Killer distinct from other creepypasta characters is the combination of a disturbing visual and a simple, repeatable story. The character's catchphrase, "Go to sleep," became shorthand for the entire Jeff the Killer mythos, used in screamers, memes, fan art, and countless retold versions of the story7. The image was one of the earliest creepypasta visuals to go viral alongside its narrative, making Jeff one of the few characters in the genre that people recognized on sight10.

Origin & Background

Platform
pya.cc (earliest known image), Newgrounds (character name), Creepypasta Wiki (viral story)
Key People
Sesseur / Jeff Case, GameFuelTV / Josh Jordan, Unknown
Date
2005 (image), 2008 (character name), 2011 (viral creepypasta)

The earliest known appearances of the Jeff the Killer image trace back to the Japanese website pya.cc. Two versions were uploaded there: the first, titled "White Powder," appeared on September 10, 2005, posted by user Mr. Mulholland, and a second version followed on November 16, 2005, posted by user Omega Bolt12. The first version featured a pale face with copy-pasted cartoonish eyes and a canine-like jaw overlay, while the second version more closely resembled the now-iconic Jeff image13. These images predated any story, character name, or creepypasta connection by several years9.

The image surfaced again in a Japanese YouTube video titled "NNN臨時放送" on August 2, 2007, part of a horror film project called "Victims of Tomorrow"9. The Jeff the Killer face appears at the 4:11 mark, followed by the Japanese text "おやすみなさい" (meaning "good night"), which may have inspired the later "Go to sleep" catchphrase10.

The connection between the image and the name "Jeff" began on Newgrounds. A user called "killerjeff" (created by Sesseur / Jeff Case on June 7, 2006) posted the image on August 14, 2008, claiming it was a self-portrait9. Sesseur had previously developed his own version of the character, describing a Bloody Mary-like ritual where participants would hide in a dark closet and chant "He's in here with me" to summon Jeff9. On October 3, 2008, Sesseur uploaded a YouTube video presenting a backstory in which Jeff accidentally spilled acid on his face while cleaning a bathtub5.

The version of the story that made Jeff the Killer famous, however, came from a different creator entirely. In August 2011, Creepypasta Wiki user "GameFuelTV" (Josh Jordan) published the now-iconic story written by his brother Travis5. This version introduced the familiar plot: a teenager named Jeff moves to a new town, gets attacked by bullies, is doused in bleach and alcohol and set on fire, then descends into madness, carving a permanent smile into his face and burning off his eyelids before murdering his family and becoming a serial killer5.

How It Spread

The GameFuelTV version of the story spread rapidly across creepypasta communities. The creepypasta spawned over 200 derivative works on the Creepypasta Wiki and over 3,700 results on Creepypasta.com4. YouTube channel MrCreepyPasta uploaded a reading of the story that gained over 4 million views4.

The image also found a second life as a screamer. On September 9, 2008, a site known as "anne.jpg" launched, featuring the Jeff the Killer face alongside a gunshot sound effect9. Over the next eight years, the site was visited more than 23 million times4. An Urban Dictionary entry for the screamer appeared on July 30, 20136.

On August 14, 2011, the image was posted to 4chan with the caption "Go to sleep," which became Jeff's signature catchphrase9. Interest in the character peaked on Google Trends in October 20147. That same year, on November 1, 2014, YouTube user Keyblade uploaded a Spanish-language rap battle between Jeff the Killer and Slender Man that went on to accumulate over 50 million views4.

Frequently Asked Questions