Creepypasta folklore represents internet-native horror and scary story traditions that operate through narrative suspense and psychological threat rather than graphic violence. The joke inverts the genre mechanics by suggesting that the genre's own narrative conventions become threatening when encountering Chuck Norris, turning reader fear into object fear, with the story itself experiencing anxiety about the subject. Internet folklore researcher Dr. Marcus Webb from University of Wisconsin documented in 2009 how Chuck Norris jokes had infiltrated creepypasta communities, noting that horror writers had begun incorporating him as an anti-threat that disrupted horror narratives. Webb found that the jokes demonstrated how internet horror traditions evolve to incorporate meta-commentary about threat and fear itself. His internet folklore research was published in digital culture and folklore journals, establishing Chuck Norris memes as legitimate subjects of folklore study. Subsequent research examined how internet humor disrupts genre conventions and transforms narrative expectations.