A birthday sleepover. Three best friends. A game of hide and seek in the woods. By the time it was over, one girl was crawling toward a road with nineteen stab wounds, and the other two were walking toward something they swore was real. That was 2014. Eleven years later, one of them cut off her ankle monitor and ran.

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🖤 SOURCES & FURTHER READING

Here is everything used to research this episode.

🔗 WEB SOURCES

ABC News - Slender Man Stabbing Survivor's Parents: 'She's Meant to Do Something Special'

ABC News - 'Slender Man' Interrogation Tapes Reveal Shocking New Details About Alleged Stabbing Plot

ABC News - Mothers of teens who pleaded guilty in 'Slender Man' stabbing case say there were no warning signs of violence

ABC News - 'Slender Man' teen to be released, survivor's family wishes she served longer sentence

ABC News - Slender Man Stabbing Timeline: Out of the Woods

ABC News - Slender Man stabbing victim speaks publicly for first time: 'Without the whole situation, I wouldn't be who I am'

Newsweek - The Girls Who Tried to Kill for Slender Man

Newsweek - How Slenderman, the Internet's Horror Star, Crawled out of Creepypasta

New York Magazine via Harvard Center for Law, Brain & Behavior - Slender Man Is Watching

NBC News - 911 Call Released in Waukesha 'Slender Man' Stabbings

NBC News - 'Slender Man' Victim's Family Thankful for Special Day

NBC News - The 'Slender Man' stabber made a close new friend — then ran away so they could be together

CNN - What we know about Morgan Geyser's 24-hours on the run more than a decade after the 'Slender Man' stabbing took place

Courthouse News Service - Slender Man stabber loses conditional release after escape

WBAY/AP - Conditional release of Morgan Geyser upheld by judge

WTMJ - Conditional release plan moves forward for accused "Slenderman" stabber Morgan Geyser

WTMJ - Conditional release finally approved for Slenderman stabber Morgan Geyser

TMJ4 News - Judge approves conditional release plan for woman convicted in Slender Man stabbing

TMJ4 News - Morgan Geyser arrested in Illinois after cutting off ankle bracelet, fleeing group home

TMJ4 News - Slender Man trial: Jury finds Anissa Weier mentally ill, won't face prison

FOX6 Milwaukee - Slenderman stabbing case: Court learns what private investigator found in Morgan Geyser's bedroom

FOX6 Milwaukee - Slender Man stabbing: Morgan Geyser escapes, group home neighbors react

ABC7 Chicago - Morgan Geyser 911 calls detail Slender Man attacker's escape from Madison group home

ABC7 Chicago - Where is Morgan Geyser now? Wisconsin judge sends suspect in Slender Man stabbing back to mental health institution

ABC7 Chicago - Morgan Geyser waives extradition after escape from Wisconsin group home

WKOW - DOC places three staff on leave during investigation into Morgan Geyser's escape from group home

WMTV - Despite escape, state finds no supervision violations at Morgan Geyser's group home

CBS 58 - The Latest: Jury finds Anissa Weier not criminally responsible for stabbing classmate due to mental illness

CBS News Minnesota/AP - Wisconsin Judge Orders Release Of Anissa Weier In Slender Man Stabbing

Court TV - Judge approves conditional release plan for Morgan Geyser

Patch.com - Slenderman Trial: Anissa Weier Sentence Is 25 Years

Inverse - Mr. CreepyPasta Explains the Problem with 'Slenderman'

Biography.com - Slender Man Attacker Morgan Geyser Is Back in Custody After Sparking a Brief Manhunt

A&E - The Slender-Man Inspired Attempted Murder of a Sixth Grader

Heavy - Payton Leutner's Injuries in the Slender Man Stabbing

Heavy - Morgan Geyser's Parents: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Crime + Investigation UK - The Slender Man stabbing: Attempted murder inspired by an urban legend

All That's Interesting - Who Is Payton Leutner, The Girl Who Nearly Died In The Infamous Slender Man Stabbing?

Jezebel - There's More Than One Boogeyman in the Slender Man Doc

Inside Edition - Slender Man Fan Who Tried to Kill Friend at 12 Gets Release Hearing

Good Morning America - Cyclist Recalls Finding Slender Man Stabbing Victim

LegalClarity - Anissa and Morgan Case: Charges, Mental Health, and Release

📚 BOOKS

Slenderman: A Tragic Story of Online Obsession and Mental Illness - Kathleen Hale, 2022

Folklore, Horror Stories, and the Slender Man: The Development of an Internet Mythology - Shira Chess and Eric Newsom, 2014

Slender Man Is Coming: Creepypasta and Contemporary Legends on the Internet - edited by Trevor J. Blank and Lynne S. McNeill, 2018

🎬 DOCUMENTARY & FURTHER LISTENING

Beware the Slenderman - HBO, 2016, directed by Irene Taylor Brodsky

20/20: Out of the Woods - ABC News, September 2014, with David Muir

20/20: 'Out of the Woods' - ABC News, October 2019, Payton Leutner's first interview, with David Muir

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