Slender Man Stabbing
Two 12-year-old girls stabbed their friend 19 times to please Slender Man—an internet creation. They believed he would kill their families if they didn't. The victim survived. The attackers were tried as adults. Fiction became tragic reality.
On May 31, 2014, in the quiet suburban community of Waukesha, Wisconsin, two twelve-year-old girls lured their friend into the woods and stabbed her nineteen times. They left her for dead among the trees, believing they had completed a mission that would save their families and grant them entry to a mansion in the Nicolet National Forest—the home of a creature called Slender Man. The victim, also twelve, managed to crawl to a road where she was discovered by a passing cyclist. She survived, barely, with wounds that had come within a millimeter of her heart. The attackers were caught later that day, walking along a highway toward their supposed destination, toward a being they believed was watching them, waiting for them, requiring their sacrifice. Slender Man is not real. He is a fictional character created on an internet forum in 2009, a tall, faceless figure in a suit who appears in doctored photographs and collaborative horror fiction. But to Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, the two girls who would be tried as adults for attempted first-degree intentional homicide, Slender Man was as real as their parents, as their school, as the knife they used to stab their friend. The case shocked the nation and forced a reckoning with the power of internet fiction to influence young minds—and with the question of what happens when a story becomes so compelling that some people believe it into existence.
The fiction surrounding Slender Man began with the creation of the character on June 10, 2009, within the Something Awful internet forum. This genesis occurred within a thread titled “Create Paranormal Images,” initiated by Eric Knudsen, who posted under the pseudonym “Victor Surge.” He submitted two black-and-white photographs depicting groups of children with a tall, faceless figure in the background. These images were accompanied by cryptic captions suggesting the photos were from 1986 and that the children pictured had gone missing. Knudsen added layers to the narrative, fostering an atmosphere of mystery and dread. The character of Slender Man was initially conceived as a mysterious and unsettling presence.
Slender Man is defined by his physical characteristics: he is exceptionally tall and thin, consistently wearing a black suit with a white shirt. His face is completely blank, devoid of any discernible features. The mythos surrounding him has evolved over time, encompassing abilities such as teleportation, the capacity to cause madness, manipulation of technology, and the control of minds. A key element of the Slender Man mythology is the concept of “proxies”—individuals who serve as his agents. This creation stemmed from a rapid expansion of contributions to the online forum, with others adding stories, photographs, and videos, ultimately creating a rapidly expanding collaborative fiction. The mythos took on the form of “creepypasta”—copy-and-pasted horror stories shared online. The format encouraged collaborative storytelling, allowing anyone to contribute to the legend. These stories were presented as true accounts, recounted in first-person narratives of encounters, often imbued with evidence of a being that “really” existed, blurring the line between fiction and augmented reality (ARG). The most famous Slender Man media emerged as the YouTube series “The Marble Hornets,” beginning in 2009. This series, presented as found footage, documented encounters with “the Operator,” the figure presiding over the Slender Man mythology. The series ran for five years, attracting millions of views, and further blurred the lines between fiction and reality, a key element in the belief system of Morgan Geyser, who was an avid viewer.
Understanding the attackers—Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier—revealed the complexities of their situation. Morgan, at twelve years old, had been fascinated by Slender Man for years, having read the stories and watched the videos, and even contributing to the fiction herself. She came to believe Slender Man was real, claiming he watched her, communicated with her, and reported seeing him regularly in her house, in her yard, and at school. Her mental health was later diagnosed as schizophrenia, characterized by hallucinations and delusions, but it’s understood that the fiction provided a framework for her symptoms. The faceless figure she perceived might have been a hallucination, but she interpreted it through the mythology, giving it a tangible form. Anissa Weier, also twelve, was Morgan’s close friend, less mentally ill but highly suggestible, believing because Morgan believed and seeking to please her friend, she was persuaded of the danger Slender Man would inflict on their families unless they acted on his behalf. Their shared interest in dark fiction and supernatural horror, and “creepy things,” fueled an echo chamber where their beliefs reinforced each other until the idea of murder seemed not just reasonable, but necessary.
The girls’ plan centered around the belief that Slender Man was real and had a mansion in the Nicolet National Forest. They reasoned that if they proved themselves to him, by killing someone and becoming his “proxies,” they could live with him in his mansion and their families would be safe from his wrath. The specific target was Payton Leutner, Morgan’s friend who had trusted her and was vulnerable. The girls had been planning for months, and Payton had no knowledge of the impending danger. The initial plans involved a sleepover attack, but the plan shifted to a game of hide-and-seek in the woods, a method they believed would allow them to complete their mission away from witnesses. In the bathroom at the park before the attack, Morgan gave Anissa final instructions: “Go ballistic. Go crazy.” They were ready, armed with the knife and fueled by their belief in Slender Man.
On May 31, 2014, the attack unfolded. The girls lured Payton to a local park, Skateland, with its nearby wooded area, suggesting a game of hide-and-seek. Trusting them, Payton followed willingly into the trees. Morgan then attacked, stabbing Payton repeatedly—nineteen times in total—across her arms, legs, and torso, with the blade coming within a millimeter of her heart. The attack was frenzied and desperate, reflecting their belief that they had to kill her to appease Slender Man. After stopping, they mistakenly believed Payton was dying and left her in the woods, bleeding from nineteen wounds, intending to get help but failing to do so. They walked away toward their destination – Slender Man’s mansion. Payton, against all odds, managed to crawl to a road, where a cyclist discovered her, called for help, and survived.
Following the arrest, Morgan Geyser pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide, citing her mental illness and proclaiming she was not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. The court agreed, committing her to a mental institution for up to 40 years. Anissa Weier also pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of attempted second-degree intentional homicide and was found not guilty by reason of mental disease. The case raised critical legal questions about the culpability of children in such extreme circumstances, the impact of mental illness, and the responsibilities of internet content creators. Payton Leutner underwent extensive medical treatment and has since spoken publicly about her experience, advocating for awareness of internet safety and mental health.
The case, ultimately, forces us to confront uncomfortable questions about the relationship between fiction and reality, about what happens when a story becomes too compelling for some minds to distinguish from truth. Slender Man remains a product of collective imagination, a creation born from an internet forum, but his influence led to a tragic outcome, highlighting the potential dangers of immersive fiction and the need for vigilance, understanding, and support in the digital age.