Slender Man, a demon for the computer age, has ensnared three little girls in a chilling tale of attempted murder.
Part Lurch, part Freddie Kruger, part creepy Internet meme, the ghoulish, faceless Web creation is the obsession of his young fans.
Two of those in Slender Man’s spell were Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, both 12, who were charged Monday with trying to stab a 12-year-old classmate to death in a sick attempt to play out the character’s storyline in real life.
The Waukesha, Wis., girls became enthralled by Slender Man after reading the entries related to him on a Web site called CreepyPasta.
Morgan’s father knew of his daughter’s fascination and posted a picture she had drawn of Slender Man in one of his several guises — with tentacle-like arms — on Instagram.
She and Anissa eventually became so detached that they believed he was real.
And, unlike most fans, who have added to the legend of Slender Man ever since he first appeared in an online Photoshop contest in 2009, they decided to take the next step, becoming one of his minions, known as “proxies.”
There was only one way to earn this rank — by killing someone to prove their loyalty.
Cops said Morgan was the first to propose murdering in the name of Slender Man, according to the Daily Mail. Anissa told police she was shocked at first by the idea, but went along because she loved Slender Man and believed he was real.
Waukesha Police Chief Russell Jack said the pre-teens worked on their murderous plot for “several months,” and eventually deiced to lure the victim to Morgan’s house by inviting her a birthday sleepover.
Morgan had been allowed to have two friends over for the Friday night slumber party, which started out normally, and even included a visit to a skate park before the attack.
The duo allegedly were so obsessed with the Slender Man that they packed a backpack and planned to hike after the murder to Nicolet National Forest in northern Wisconsin, where they believed Slender Man lived in a mansion.
Despite their bloody intentions, the girls got cold feet several times. But eventually, they allegedly attacked the victim in a park on Saturday morning. Anissa told cops Morgan did the stabbing as she watched, according to the Daily Mail.
“One suspect held the victim down while the other suspect stabbed her 19 times in the arms, legs and torso,” Jack said. “Many of the stab wounds struck major organs.”
The girl was so badly wounded she could not see and could barely breath.
After the stabbing she yelled at her friends, “I hate you. I trusted you,” cops said.
The would-be killers then left the butchered girl to die — but a passing bicyclist found her.
“Help me, I’ve been stabbed,” she told the man.
“The family is very horrified at what has happened,” attorney Donna Kuchler said.
Good Samaritan Greg Steinberg told a dispatcher that the girl was still conscious, tried to apply pressure to her wounds and stayed until the Fire Department arrived.
The victim was taken to a hospital, where she was in stable condition Tuesday. The alleged attackers were charged Monday as adults with attempted murder.
“The Waukesha Police Department is deeply saddened that this 12-year-old girl had to suffer through this horrific crime,” Chief Jack said. “Incredibly and thankfully, the victim survived this brutal assault.”
The Creepypasta site, where the vast majority of users know that Slender Man is just a fiction horror character, released a statement of sympathy for the victim’s family.
But they insisted neither they nor Slender Man were to blame.
“I may be so bold, I don’t believe that it’s the fault of Slender Man or horror writing in general that this happened,” the site said.