The Slender Man meme and the horrifying events it inspired will be told in a new HBO documentary.
IT STARTED as an informal online competition to create spooky paranormal pictures in Photoshop but ultimately spawned one of the most shocking stories in recent memory.
In 2009, Eric Knudsen who frequented the Something Awful internet forum and blog participated in the innocuous challenge and created a haunting image that would become known as the Slenderman.
Soon the image of the unusually tall, skinny man with pale white skin and a featureless face took on a viral life of its own. The character became an internet meme with countless pictures, videos and stories circulating online typically involving Slenderman stalking, abducting or traumatising victims, mainly children.
In 2014, when two then 12-year-old girls in a sleepy Wisconsin town stabbed their friend 19 times and left her for dead in the woods, they claimed they carried out the heinous act to appease the fictional character.
It’s a nightmarish story that will be told in depth as a new HBO documentary called Beware The Slenderman airs this week in the US.
Trailer: Beware the Slenderman1:28
In 2014, two 12-year-old girls in stabbed their friend 19 times and left her for dead in the woods, claiming they carried out the heinous act to appease fictional character Slenderman. Courtesy: HBODocs
Emmy-winner and Academy Award nominee Irene Taylor Brodsky is behind the project which follows Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser for 18 months, beginning with their arrests in May of 2014 for the attempted murder of their friend Payton Leutner.
Despite being stabbed 19 times, Payton remarkably survived the attack with the knife barely missing vital organs. She was found by a cyclist as she crawled out of the woods where her friends had left her to bleed to death.
A central task of the filmmakers was to examine the power and influence internet phenomenon such as the Slenderman meme can have on those who primarily conduct their lives online. It is a deep dive into the dark corners of the internet and how fragile minds can get lost in there.
Following the attack the girls told police that the mythical white-faced man had told them to do it. Police say the girls had plotted for months to carry out the attack to impress the Slenderman.
“We never thought she could possibly believe it was real,” says Morgan Geyser’s mother, Angie, in the HBO documentary.
The girls told police Slenderman was protective and predatory and they wanted to murder their friend to appease him. They thought they would be able to run away to the Slenderman’s supposed mansion if they carried out the murder.
The father of Morgan Geyser, who suffers from the same schizophrenia disorder that his daughter has been diagnosed with, told filmmakers of the struggle he faces in dealing with the mental illness.
“Even though you know the devil isn’t in the back seat, the devil is in the back seat,” he said in a particularly chilling moment of the film.
Payton Leutner’s parents who have previously said her emotional recovery will take a lifetime did not participate in the documentary.
Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, 12 at the time they allegedly stabbed their friend 19 times. They will be tried as adults a court has ruled. Picture: Waukesha County Police DepartmentSource:Supplied
Slenderman imagery proliferates the internet.Source:Supplied
The documentary which has previously aired at some select film festivals reveals new details about what exactly happened on the day of the murder.
On the fateful Saturday morning, the girls feasted on strawberries and doughnuts following a birthday sleepover with their intended victim. They then went to a nearby park before venturing into the woods where Anissa told Morgan: “Kitty now — go ballistic, go crazy!”
A judge in the case has ruled that the girls will be tried separately, as adults.
The shocking story captivated the public and the tale of the murder-inspiring internet meme is also set to become a Hollywood movie.
It’s not known when Tinsel Town’s take on the Slenderman phenomenon will hit cinemas but last year it was reported that the script will be written by David Birke (who wrote 13 Sins), and Mythology’s Bradley Fischer, William Sherak, and Zodiac scribe James Vanderbilt are on board to produce the movie.
But in the meantime, plenty of people online have expressed their excitement about the documentary being broadly released.
“The HBO doc on the Slenderman murder plot comes out tonight, and I have never been more excited. This is my Super Bowl,” wrote one Twitter user.
“You need to watch this documentary ... if you have children and an internet connection,” journalist Fiona McCann posted on social media.
Beware the Slenderman will premier on HBO in the US this week.Source:Supplied
