Credit: LuxAmber
The world has become an unsafe place. You do not know what is coming for you and where you will be in your next moment. When it comes to crimes influenced by the internet and horrifying tales that send chills down your spine, the mythical creature known as Slender Man has left a massive impact, especially on teens. We all know how we cannot trust the internet for true information always as it is filled with both real and fake details. But children and teens cannot differentiate between what is true and what is just a made-up story. Hence, most of the time, they end up getting influenced by information that is just a product of someone’s imagination, just like Slender Man.
Several internet stories and terrible real-life events that claim to be influenced by the presence of Slender Man has blown the minds of many. One of the most heartbreaking and horrific stories involved two girls stabbing their best friend about 19 times just to save themselves and their families from the wrath of Slender Man. The incident shocked many and raised concerns over the content that children and teens are consuming from the internet.
Reportedly, three girls, all of twelve years of age, went into the deep woods in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The two girls Geyser and Weier came out of the woods safely. However, the third girl became a victim of a vicious and breathtaking knife attack. She was later found on the roadside crying for help, counting every breath. All of this was claimed to be an attempt of pleasing a fictional character.
Anissa Weier was pleaded guilty for attempting homicide of second degree by using a 5-inch long deadly weapon. Whereas Morgan Geyser, the second girl, got a sentence of spending 40 years in a mental healthcare unit. As scary as it sounds, the details ahead unfold how two twelve-year-old girls were affected by made up stories of a fictional character. Here are all the details you need to know about this case.
Who Is Slender Man?
Slender Man is a name given to a character that was born on an internet forum under a thread where photoshop pranksters had to create paranormal photos or images of demons. A guy named Eric Knudsen with a handle Victor Surge shared two pictures displaying some children and a thin, tall, and faceless man in a black suit in the background. He added a creepy text, and that was just what these pictures required to become famous. People started to create stories about Slender Man. However, Victor did not think that his creation will become not only famous but also a threat to many sensitive minds.
Eric wanted to create something that confuses people as well as scare them. A creature whose intentions are unknown and makes people lose their minds.
An online fiction on a forum, Creepypasta, went viral. And several stories about Slender Man’s appearance surfaced in no time.
The internet monster is said to be a faceless, thin, and tall man in a suit who follows, stalks, and captures children. The concept itself is scary and can lead to paranoia, insomnia, and memory loss in people who get influenced.
Some people think that it is real, but the truth is that it is a mere product of the internet that has caused troubles by effecting the mind of people who appear to be weak in controlling their minds and keeping the stories about Slender Man affecting them psychologically.
Slender ManStabbing Case – Girl Attacked By Knife In The Woods
Despite the fact being popular that a man on an internet forum created Slender Man, people still believe that there are real-life incidents that were influenced by Slender Man. One of the most popular and horrifying cases is the case of Payton Leutner getting stabbed 19 times in the deep woods by her two best friends.
Reportedly, Geyser and Weier both lured Payton to the woods in Wisconsin, US, their home town. They were best friends and were twelve years old when this happened. Weier and Geyser stabbed Payton with a five-inch blade 19 times. Payton was left to die and was found on the roadside struggling for life. Thankfully, Payton survived the attack.
Upon investigation, Geyser and Weier told authorities that they did so to please Slender Man and to prove his existence. Both girls believed that Slender Man is a real figure and that they both wanted to prove their loyalty in order to become his followers. According to the girls, they stabbed their best friend, Payton, to protect themselves and their families from Slender Man’s anger. And the only way they knew was to kill someone to please him. They wanted to be safe and believed they would live with him afterward.
Payton Leutner survived the attack and made it to the roadside where she found a cyclist passing by. She had wounds all over her arms, chest, and abdomen. Whereas, the two attackers were captured escaping the woods after the attack. They were looking for Slender Man.
Who are Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier? – The Attack On Payton Leutner
The twelve-year-old girls were charged for attempting homicide after this horrific incident. The girls were best friends since fourth grade, and at the time of the attack, they were of the same age.
In August of 2017, Weier was reportedly pledged guilty an attempt of homicide. Weier was mentally ill, and thus she attempted to kill her best friend.
Soon after in September 2017, the charges on Weuer dropped and it was proved that she was mentally unwell at the time of the incident and hence she was declared not guilty.
At the end of 2017, in December, Weier was sent to the mental healthcare unit for about twenty-five years.
In October, the fifteen-year-old Geyser was found guilty for attempting first-degree murder. It was a part of some sort of agreement that involved Geyser being found guilty. But the judge later found out she was mentally unwell, and hence, she could not be held responsible for the attack.
In 2018, Geyser was sentenced to spend forty years in a psychiatric hospital.
However, Geyser was only twelve years old at the time of the attack, but the judge Michael Bohren made it clear that the attempt of murder cannot be ignored at any cost.
The doctors informed about the progress of Geyser and told that she is improving to several degrees.
Bohren called Geyser as a weak teenager who has a history of mental illness and is posing a threat to herself and people living around her.
Payton never came out in public regarding the attack. However, her family gave a statement in which they informed that Payton was recovering, but she is going to be haunted by this death experience forever.
Beware TheSlender Man – Documentary On Girl Stabbing Case
Soon after this case, a documentary was made ‘Beware of the Slender Man’. Irene Taylor Brodsky directed it. It featured the whole story and characters that were named as original people that were involved in the case. It showed how important is mental health and how bad it can turn out to be if you ignore it.
It explains how concerned and effected are the families of attackers and the real-life situations of both Geyser and Weier. The basic aim of this documentary was to show it to the general public how were the daily lives of the two girls prior to the attack and of course, what happened afterward.
As the story explains, Weier has always been an outcast, and she spent most of her time on the internet. That can explain how she found out about Slender Man and all those made up stories about him. The documentary also shows her internet search history that unfolded disturbing details. Additionally, she had been reading topics regarding psychopaths.
The other girl, Geyser, first appeared to be more demanding and prominent among the two. However, in the documentary director, Brodsky showed that she is a lively girl who believed in Santa Claus until she was eleven.
The mental health issues were made prominent in this film and explained that their family members were not aware of their situations.
The documentary is just a recreation of this terrible incident. But the fear and terror you will feel because you know it is based on a true event makes it just as horrible.
Many other movies and video games have been made on Slender Man. People seem to be interested in this fictional character, but it is true that it has created disturbance among teens who are too young to understand the difference between what can be true and what is not.
Here is a list of movies, documentaries, and games made about Slender Man:
- Slender: The Eight Pages
- Slender: The Arrival
- Beware the Slender Man
- Marble Hornets
- Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story
Response Of The Slender Man’s Creator and Administrators of Creepypasta Forum
The man who actually gave birth to Slender Man, Eric Knudsen, using the nickname Victor Surge and the administrator of the forum ‘Creepypasta’ offered their condolences to the families involved in this terrible incident.
No one saw it coming, especially not the forum’s admin and Slender Man’s creator. Who would have known that a couple of edited pictures will become this much popular and lead to such heartbreaking incidents?
A spokeswoman for Victor Surge, as known as, Eric Knudsen, and Creepypasta’s admin explained that they got too many messages and calls after the attack that a twelve-year-old girl was stabbed for the sake of pleasing Slender Man.
Moreover, the administrator of the Creepypasta forum, David Morales, explained that they made it clear on the website that all stories here are fictional and that they are not suitable for children under the age of thirteen. He said that we have no intentions to promote violence among children and teens, nor do we want them to believe is fictional monsters and their stories.
Also, the administrator did not allow anyone to post any new stories about Slender Man after the year 2012. It is also because they needed fresh content for their website as several writers and artists had already used this tall, thin, faceless man in their work. Hence there was a big need for something fresh and new in order to keep their forum live and interesting.
Fans Reactions To Slender Man Stabbing Case
A lot of fans came out to defend the stories, and a whole community spoke in favor of the stories.
Additionally, the vice president of the Horror Writers Association, Lisa Morton, said that this genre actually helps writers to discover their own fears and understand them.
The Slender Man stabbing case is surely an eye-opener for the world that even fiction can leave a lasting impact on the minds of children. And that, mental health is a deep-rooted reality that not many of us are willing to accept. The internet can be a dark place and parents should not leave their kids unattended.