Earlier in this week the nation was shocked to learn that two Wisconsin girls, both 12, stabbed one of their friends 19 times, in an effort to prove that Slenderman is real. The character of Slenderman, ( think an extra creepy Jack Skellington with no face and tentacles) has been a popular horror urban legend for the past five years. Created in 2009, the character has become a fixture on the website Creepypasta Wiki, and has even been adapted for video games like as in Minecraft’s Enderman character. Now the creator of the character and the Creepypasta wiki have both released statements about the incident.
A tragic event unfolded earlier this week two girls, with severely blurred lines between reality and fiction, stabbed one of there’s in hopes of meeting Slenderman. According to the police report one of the girls claimed:
"Many people do not believe Slenderman is real [and we] wanted to prove the skeptics wrong."
One of the many, many problems with this is that unlike most urban legends, Slenderman has a relatively clear and easily searchable source. Anyone with an internet connection and five minutes on their hands can learn that the character was created by Eric Knudsen in 2009. Going by the user name Victor Surge, Knudsen created Slender Man in the Something Awful forums. The character quickly became popular internet meme and a feature of the Creepypasta Wiki.
A rep for Slenderman creator Eric Knudsen released a statement on his behalf, stating:
"I am deeply saddened by the tragedy in Wisconsin and my heart goes out to the families of those affected by this terrible act."
Creepypasta admin David Morales spoke with ABC News via an email, stating.
"We are not teaching children to believe in a fictional monster, nor are we teaching them to be violent…. Overall, the community has deep condolences to the family of the victim and all those who were involved."
The fictional story website restricts anyone under the age of 13 from reading, however, internet rules are often (and easily) broken.
The Creepypasta website has also released a press statement, that reads in part:
“ALL WORKS PRESENTED ON THIS WIKI AND OTHER SITES (INCLUDING SLENDERMAN, JEFF THE KILLER, BEN, SONIC.EXE, ETC) ARE FICTIONAL STORIES AND CHARACTERS
Of course, only a small minority of people (mostly newcomers) on the wiki (and the Internet) truly believe what they read here. And for most people, they will not attempt replicate atrocities presented in some of the literature on the wiki. Something like this was bound to happen, considering the size of the Creepypasta community. All it takes is one person to do something insane and radical in the name of someone or something.
“This is an isolated incident, and does not represent or attribute the Creepypasta community as a whole. This wiki does not endorse or advocate for the killing, worship, and otherwise replication of rituals of fictional works. There is a line of between fiction and reality, and it is up to you to realise where the line is. We are a literature site, not a crazy satanic cult.”
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