There Are No Easy Answers in <em>Beware the Slenderman</em>

One late spring day in 2014, three girls entered the woods in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Two walked out unharmed. A 911 call made not long after revealed the hazy outline of a vicious attack—one of the girls had been found by the side of the road covered in blood, having crawled there to get help. In the days and weeks that followed, details emerged that were no less disturbing: The three girls, all 12 years old, were best friends. The victim had been stabbed 19 times with a 5-inch blade and had barely survived. After being taken into police custody, the other two girls told interrogators what had happened: They had lured their friend into the woods to kill her so that they could appease someone called Slenderman.

Those who have spent any time on the internet since 2009 and who possess a passing of HBO’s new documentary, airing Monday. He’s tall and pale with long limbs and no face. He usually wears a suit. Depending on who’s doing the telling, he abducts children or is otherwise considered an evil spirit; sometimes he’s more of a guardian angel. Most importantly, the two girls at the center of the 2014 stabbing, Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser, believed he was real—real enough that they insisted the attack on their friend “had to be done.”