By The Slender Man stabbing in 2014 was disturbing to say the least. Two 12-year-old girls in Waukesha, Wisconsin stabbed another girl 19 times in order to appease the Slender Man, a fictional modern day bogeyman born on the internet and seen in various kinds of media (fan art, fan fiction, video games, viral videos, etc.). The victim barely survived.
Director Irene Taylor Brodsky (Hear and Now) has decided to explore the incident as well as Slender Man as a phenomenon in Beware the Slenderman, which debuts on HBO next year. You can check out the trailer for the film below.
I sense the police interviews with the two 12-year-old girls will be difficult to sit through. The voice of their victim also seems to be included in the trailer, and I can’t even imagine the terror of her experience. Curious how the story of this near-fatal stabbing will weave into the story of 21st century folklore and what it means to us as creators and consumers of it.
Beware the Slenderman premiered at SXSW earlier in the year and played at DOC NYC last night. (Wish I could’ve been there to see it.) You’ll be able to watch the documentary on HBO starting January 17, 2017.
What do you think about Slender Man as a meme and a modern day bogeyman? Did you have any stories about him? Did you ever think he was real? Share some thoughts in the comments. A poster for the film is just below.
