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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.
2014
Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA
3+ witnesses
The Slender Man stabbing showed the power of modern legends.
The Attack
May 31, 2014:
- Morgan Geyser (12)
- Anissa Weier (12)
- Lured friend to woods
- Stabbed 19 times
- Left for dead
The Victim
Payton Leutner:
- Friend of attackers
- Crawled to road
- Found by cyclist
- Survived miraculously
- Required extensive recovery
Slender Man
The entity:
- Created 2009
- Creepypasta fiction
- Faceless tall figure
- Internet phenomenon
- Not real
The Belief
Why they did it:
- Believed Slender Man real
- Thought he’d kill families
- Wanted to become “proxies”
- Internet obsession
- Mental illness factors
The Trial
Legal outcome:
- Tried as adults
- Both found guilty
- Mental institution sentences
- Geyser: 40 years
- Weier: 25 years
The Aftermath
Cultural impact:
- Documentary made
- Creepypasta scrutinized
- Internet safety debates
- Fiction vs reality
- Lasting tragedy