The Slender Man was created on June 10, 2009 on a thread in the Internet forum Something Awful. The thread was a photoshop contest in which users were challenged to edit everyday photographs to appear paranormal. Forum poster Eric Knudsen, under the pseudonym “Victor Surge“, contributed two black and white images of groups of children, to which he added a tall, thin spectral figure wearing a black suit. Although previous entries had consisted solely of photographs, Surge supplemented his submission with snatches of text—supposedly from witnesses—describing the abductions of the groups of children, and giving the character the name “The Slender Man“.
The invented creature became sadly popular when on May 31, 2014, two 12-year-old girls in Waukesha, Wisconsin allegedly held down and stabbed a 12-year-old classmate 19 times. When questioned later by authorities, they reportedly claimed that they wished to commit a murder as a first step to becoming proxies for the Slender Man, having read about it online. They also state that they were afraid that Slender Man would kill their families if they did not commit the murder. The victim survived the attack. Both attackers have been diagnosed with mental illnesses but have also been charged as adults and are each facing up to 65 years in prison. One of the girls reportedly said Slender Man watches her, can read minds and could teleport. Experts testified in court she also said she conversed with Lord Voldemort and one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Some of these events are depicted in the documentary Beware the Slenderman, released by HBO Films in March 2016.
The feature film for The Slender Man is expected to start filming soon and might see the light somewhere in 2018. Sylvain White, responsible of the very interesting The Losers (2010), is set for direction. Still yet to confirm newer additions, the cast is formed by Joey King, Julia Goldani Telles, Jaz Sinclair, Kevin Chapman, Alex Fitzalan and Oscar Wahlberg.
