Slenderman. This is a tall, faceless figure, frighteningly thin in her black suit, who hunts and kidnaps children for her demonic pleasures. This is a completely fictional internet horror story created in 2009 on the website "Something Awful" in imitation of the characters of urban legends.
But sometimes fiction can become reality, at least for those who believe.
In 2014, on May 31, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weyer, two 12-year-old girls from Waukesha, Wisconsin, dragged a girl of the same age, with whom they often played together, into the woods and there they stabbed her 19 times. They did this in order to bring to life one of the horror stories about Slenderman.
The girls planned their business for several months and their victim only miraculously managed to survive. She got to the road and there people saw her and took her to the hospital. The girl was lucky that none of the knife stabs miraculously touched the carotid artery, although the girls stabbed her with rage, passing the knife to each other.
The girls were immediately taken into custody. During interrogations, they said that they became obsessed with Slenderman, having read Internet horror stories (creepypast). According to Anissa Weier, in order to prove his loyalty to Slender Man, a person must kill a child.
At the same time, both girls were well aware that this creature was completely fictional, but they really wanted to prove that it was real.
Promotional video:
Geyser and Weier began planning the murder of the girl in December. They thoroughly prepared for the case, prepared backpacks and clothes for the forest to which they wanted to escape after the murder.
On Saturday morning, when many children were playing in the park next to the forest, the girls waited for the moment when there were no other people next to the chosen victim, the girl Peyton Leuther. After that, the girls grabbed Peyton by the arms and pulled her further towards the forest.
When they made sure that no one would find them here, Geyser was the first to grab a knife and start beating their victim in the chest, neck and stomach, while Weier started shouting to her “Move! Go crazy! The girl tried to defend herself and cut her hands badly.
Then, according to one of the versions, Weier began to beat with a knife, and according to another, Geyser struck all 19 blows. Then, deciding that the victim was dead, both girls left. Bleeding, the cut-up girl managed to get to the road and there she was found by cyclists who called the police and an ambulance.
After long-term treatment, many scars remain on Peyton's body forever.
Pictured is Peyton Leuther at age 12 (left) and at age 15.
Blood-soaked clothing of the injured girl.
Later, during the investigation of the case, Geyser stated that Slenderman watched her in her sleep and communicated with her. Weier said that she was not going to repent at all and did not feel guilty.
Both underwent a psychiatric examination and prescribed courses of treatment, but even before the court years later, Geyser said that she continued to hear a strange voice in her sleep.
An interesting commentary on this case from Pastor Robin Swap of St Paul's United Church, Pennsylvania. Swap is also the author of a book about Slenderman called Slenderman: From fiction to fact.
In this book, Swap has collected several stories from real people who were sure that they really met Slender Man. The pastor wonders if it could be that some demonic force took the form of a fictional character?
Hearing about the incident with the girls from Wisconsin, he said that “If it was a real Slenderman or a demonic entity, why didn’t they come? Maybe the girls were subject to a change in consciousness after meeting something demonic and it made them behave that way, but I think it was actually a mental problem and they used Slenderman as a scapegoat."
Anissa Weier was tried first and in the fall of 2017 she received 25 years in a psychiatric clinic. In February 2018, Geyser was tried, she was given all 40 years in the clinic as an organizer. Hearing the sentence, the girl burst into tears, expecting something less harsh.