It’s only been a few hours since the news broke, and I’m already receiving e-mails from friends and family blaming horror for these pre-teens horrific actions. Why me? I guess they don’t approve of Bloody Disgusting, or something?

Firstly, horror movies have nothing to do with the following story, and furthermore, this is the result of poor parenting and/or mental illness. Blaming the horror genre or some mythological creature is just an easy scapegoat.

With that said, many of you may be aware of the Slender Man memes. They’re incredible. They’re fun. They’re scary. And anyone who knows how to use a search engine will also learn that they were created by Eric Knudsen (“Victor Surge”) of the Something Awful forum back in 2009. Apparently, these two pre-teen girls believed the legend to be true and hoped to prove their worth by murdering one of their friends.

JSOnline shares this terrifying story about two 12-year-old girls plotting the murder over the course of a few months.

Morgan E. Geyser was allowed to have two friends over each year for her birthday. This year, she’d celebrate on May 30. That is the day she and Anissa E. Weier would try to kill their friend during a sleepover.

On Monday, the two Waukesha girls were charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court as adults with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, each facing up to 65 years in prison. Their victim, another 12-year-old from Waukesha, was stabbed 19 times by either Geyser or Weier or both, according to a criminal complaint. All three attend Horning Middle School in Waukesha.

…

Both suspects explained the stabbing to police referencing their dedication to Slender Man, the character they discovered on a website called Creepypasta Wiki, which is devoted to horror stories.

Weier told police that Slender Man is the “leader” of Creepypasta, and in the hierarchy of that world, one must kill to show dedication. Weier said that Geyser told her they should become “proxies” of Slender Man — a paranormal figure known for his ability to create tendrils from his fingers and back — and kill their friend to prove themselves worthy of him. Weier said she was surprised by Geyser’s suggestion, but also excited to prove skeptics wrong and show that Slender Man really did exist.

The suspects believed that “Slender,” as Weier called him, lived in a mansion in the Nicolet National Forest in northern Wisconsin. The plan was to kill the victim and walk to Slender’s mansion.

JSOnline carries the full break down of these girls’ evil intentions, and what happened to the victim who thankfully survived the attack. You can talk about it below and share your thoughts in regards to the influence of horror on children, too.