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IrelandKallmekris follows the Smiling Man from Reddit into older folklore
Her most-watched new upload connects an internet horror story with accounts of grinning strangers from 1966.
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The Smiling Man Rabbit Hole...
Things we can learn from the video
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- 4:14Collins narrates the nighttime encounter with a dancing stranger, accompanied by dramatized footage.
- 9:51She traces the story to blue_tidal's 2012 Reddit post and the adaptations that followed.
- 12:10The short film adaptation raises a question: does showing the smile weaken what readers imagine?
- 16:31An older Grinning Man account rests on Keel's book; Collins notes the absence of independent records.
- 17:54Archival testimony introduces Woodrow Derenberger's account of encountering a being called Indrid Cold.
- 34:06Collins considers why a misplaced smile feels uncanny and how older folklore echoes through internet horror.
A smile is supposed to reassure you. Kris Collins spends much of "The Smiling Man Rabbit Hole..." exploring why one in the wrong place can do exactly the opposite.
The Kallmekris upload begins with a finger-tracking trick and a jump scare before settling into blue_tidal's story of a nighttime walker encountering a dancing, grinning stranger. Collins then follows its journey from a Reddit post into film adaptations and a wider mythology. It has reached roughly 692,000 views, the largest audience for either of her two new uploads this week.
Her observation about adapting the story is especially apt: showing the stranger's face takes something away from what readers imagine. From there, she moves into older accounts involving the Grinning Man and Indrid Cold, while making room for the limits of the evidence. Discussing one report preserved by author John Keel, she notes that skeptic Brian Dunning found no independent records of it. A connected mythology is not necessarily a corroborated history.
The comments have their own trail of memories: viewers recall reading the story before walking home in the dark, describe their lingering defenses against internet jump scares, and ask for a Mothman episode.
The newer "3 Survivors Who Escaped Murderers" is now drawing the channel's fastest daily viewing. Across the channel, the week brought about 5.4 million views, while subscribers held steady. MrBallen had a substantially larger viewing week; Bailey Sarian's was smaller. For Kallmekris, the newest activity shifts from an uncanny stranger's smile to stories of survival.
Published on Trari
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What viewers say
The Smiling Man actually really scared me. My friend used to read creepy pastas in our group at her house, which was just down the street from my house. Every night I had walked home from her house, I was terrified. I couldn't even look behind me because I was so afraid the Smiling Man was there.
@christab355See it on YouTube28:00 oh, I DEFINITELY wanna see you talk about Mothman! Not only because I like any content you make, but also Mothman is probably my favorite cryptid of all!
@ingridn0gSee it on YouTubeI ALWAYS look off the screen, at the edge when anyone says “look at this”; because of the first one that came to the internet in like 2001 (or at least the first popular one lol).
I have neverrrr gotten over it 😂😂@taylorjoshbenner7175See it on YouTube
3 more comments
Oh my gosh I’m binging old videos and then I see “1 min ago” I am THRILLED
@brendon_yaoiSee it on YouTubeI remember reading The Smiling Man around 3AM in 2014 because I couldn’t sleep, so I binged a bunch of let’s not meet stories that night before walking to my job in the dark (it was winter, I didn’t have a car, and I started at 5:45am). It’s a good thing I didn’t know where it took place because I was in Seattle.
@phanessam27See it on YouTubeSo ready to share the next 40 minutes of my shift with you 🥰 The Smiling Man sounds so spooky. Im excited to see what kind of chilling story we've got today!
@pastelpeepSee it on YouTube
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The videos drawing views on Kallmekris right now
- Channel
- Kallmekris
- Subscribers
- 13,100,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 5,399,677
- Videos published this week
- 2
- Video published
- October 24, 2026
- Video views so far
- 692,181
- Views on its first day
- 353,556
The numbers
Here is how Kallmekris's uploads and audience moved over the week.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which Reddit author does Collins credit for "The Smiling Man"?
Collins traces the internet story to blue_tidal's 2012 Reddit post.