Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls

In this searing account, Hale (Kathleen Hale Is a Crazy Stalker: Six Essays) goes beyond the headlines to reveal how and why two 12-year-old girls, who wanted to please a fictional internet bogeyman known as the Slenderman, nearly killed another 12-year-old girl in Waukesha, Wis., in 2014. Morgan Geyser was an odd child, but her parents and schoolteachers overlooked her burgeoning schizophrenia, Hale writes. After Morgan discovered the Slenderman horror stories online, she and classmate Anissa Weier became obsessed with joining him and plotted to kill classmate Bella Leutner. Five months later, Morgan stabbed Bella 19 times while Anissa urged her on. Bella survived, and the two girls were quickly caught and confessed. Hale argues that the adults in the children’s lives could have prevented this tragedy had they paid attention to the warning signs and the girls’ internet searches. Both Morgan and Anissa were tried as adults, found mentally deficient and sentenced to a psychiatric hospital. Anissa was released in 2021, but Morgan remains there, Hale notes, suicidal and still delusional about demons. As the first researcher into the case to draw extensively from transcripts of vital records, Hale has produced what stands as the most accurate account to date of this horrifying episode. This is a must for true crime fans. Agent: Betsy Lerner, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner. (Aug.)