Slender Man was a boogyman birthed on the Internet. It was a crowd-sourced story, brought to life by wikis and youtube. But two 12-year-old girls took the fantasy too far by planning out the stabbing of another friend as a sacrifice to the mythical character. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about the harshness of adolescence, the power of storytelling and how sticky it must be under Jeffrey Toobin's desk.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

Brodsky, Irene Taylor, director. Beware the Slender Man. HBO.

Chess, S. Folklore, Horror Stories, and the Slender Man: the Development of an Internet Mythology. Palgrave Pivot, 2016.

Dewey, Caitlin. “The Complete History of 'Slender Man,' the Meme That Compelled Two Girls to Stab a Friend.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 28 Apr. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/06/03/the-complete-terrifying-history-of-slender-man-the-internet-meme-that-compelled-two-12-year-olds-to-stab-their-friend/.

“The H Man.” Wattpad. https://www.wattpad.com/564688055-creepy-urban-legends-the-h-man

Jones, Abigail. "The Girls Who Tried to Kill for Slender Man; It's extremely rare for young girls to attempt murder. These two 12-year-olds did so to prove their allegiance to Slender Man." Newsweek, vol. 163, no. 7, 22 Aug. 2014. Gale OneFile: Popular Magazines, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A378409011/PPPM?u=nysl_sc_flls&sid=PPPM&xid=69108617. Accessed 19 Oct. 2020.

Kuhagen, Christopher. “The State Supreme Court Could Review the Slender Man Stabbing Case after Geyser's Attorney Files an Appeal.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 14 Sept. 2020, www.jsonline.com/story/communities/waukesha/news/waukesha/2020/09/14/slender-man-stabbing-morgan-geyser-files-appeal-supreme-court/5792460002/

“The Latest: Father Says 'Slender Man' Movie Distasteful.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 3 Jan. 2018, www.usnews.com/news/best-states/wisconsin/articles/2018-01-03/the-latest-father-says-slender-man-movie-distasteful.

Mar, Alex. “Out Came the Girls: Adolescent Girlhood, the Occult, and the Slender Man Phenomenon.” VQR Online, 2017, www.vqronline.org/essays-articles/2017/10/out-came-girls.

Miller, Lisa. "Slender Man Is Watching; If 12-year-olds Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser knew that the internet character they worshipped was a fantasy, why did they want to kill their friend for him?" New York, vol. 48, no. 17, 24 Aug. 2015. Gale OneFile: Popular Magazines, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A426718120/PPPM?u=nysl_sc_flls&sid=PPPM&xid=b074d8bb. Accessed 19 Oct. 2020.

Moreno, Ivan. “Girl in Slender Man Stabbing Gets Maximum Mental Commitment.” Wisconsin Law Journal - WI Legal News & Resources, 2 Feb. 2018, wislawjournal.com/2018/02/01/wisconsin-girl-to-be-sentenced-for-slender-man-stabbing/.

Surge, Victor. “The Something Awful Forums: Create Paranormal Images.” Create Paranormal Images - The Something Awful Forums, web.archive.org/web/20120120074129/forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3150591&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=3.

Velocci, Carli. “The Failed Slender Man Movie Was a Nail in the Coffin of a Dying Fandom.” The Verge, The Verge, 30 Aug. 2018, www.theverge.com/2018/8/30/17793760/slender-man-movie-creepypasta-fandom-community-stabbing.

Vielmetti, Bruce. "Mother protests treatment of girl charged in Slender Man stabbing." USA Today, 23 June 2016, p. 05A. Gale OneFile: News, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A456044570/STND?u=nysl_sc_flls&sid=STND&xid=0772a8d7. Accessed 19 Oct. 2020.