About a week ago, the term “Slender Man” made its debut to the general population under some of the worst circumstances imaginable. Two twelve-year-old girls are accused of stabbing a classmate 19 times in order to prove themselves worthy to Slender Man—a horror-story trope created in an online community, which the girls said they believed was real. They even allegedly thought the character, who is supposed to kidnap children, lived in a mansion near the girls' home in Wisconsin. The two were caught by authorities as they made their trek to live with him after the attempted murder (the victim has just been released from the hospital, after coming “one millimeter away from certain death,” according to medical authorities).
A Bizarre Incident
The story is bizarre and disturbing on many levels. The three girls had a slumber party to celebrate one of the accused girl’s birthdays the night before the attack, and were all reportedly friends who did normal pre-teen activities with each other. And while fascination with horror stories and macabre content is typical of adolescent girls, their leap to assume the fictional character was real, living nearby, and wanted them to kill someone is difficult to comprehend. Even more so since the girls reportedly had been planning the attack for months, making it a chillingly premeditated decision.
Predictably, the lawyer representing one of the accused girls reported he would seek a mental evaluation. “There is very little doubt that there are mental health issues here,” he said.
Looking for Answers in the Past
Many of the details of this horrific event are still being worked out, and police are only releasing certain information to the public. So clearly speculation on the causes behind the girls’ actions can only go so far at this point. Still, the facts revealed thus far do have some striking resemblances to two high-profile past cases of conspiratorial murder: the Columbine shootings of 1999, and the Manson family murders of 1969.
Columbine Killers
Investigative reporter David Cullen and others have posited that murder partnerships like that of the Columbine shooters fit a certain profile: Eric Harris as the psychopath harboring an obsession with killing, and Dylan Klebold as the depressive, easily-led accomplice. Could a similar dynamic be present within the two-aggressor dynamic of the Slender Man attack?
Initial interviews with those who know the aggressors indicate one of the girls was “odd”—she seemed aloof and would draw “spooky figures.” The partner-in-crime, on the other hand, was described as completely ordinary-seeming. We don't yet know if the “spooky” girl could be psychopathic, and the “ordinary” girl depressive, but it would line up with past scenarios.
Manson Family Murders
While Columbine could shed light on the nature of the crime partnership, the followers of Charles Manson, who murdered at least seven people on behest of their deeply disturbed leader, reveal how outlandish beliefs can become internalized.
According to author Jeff Guinn, Manson mastered the art of manipulation, and was able to convince formerly normal (if damaged) young adults seeking enlightenment that conspiratorial world events were imminent, that magical thinking had real outcomes, and that there was a need to kill in order to kick off a new world order. Interviews with some former “family” members indicate they are now fully cognizant of their former delusions, but that they were caught up in a psychological frenzy (and hallucinogenic drugs) that allowed them to believe the crazy ideas.
We don’t know the specifics of the Slender Man girls’ preoccupation with the fictional character and the online communities that fostered him, but it wouldn’t be surprising to find parallels between the Manson phenomenon and the girls’ Slender Man delusion down the road.
For now, we can only speculate and feel deeply disturbed—while waiting for more details to emerge on the horrifying case.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
