I was around when the Slenderman myth came to be on the internet. It almost feels like it was one of the very first internet myths that grew into its own tangible thing within the general public.

The “Marble Hornets” series of videos were simply genius and took the character from some online thing and shot it into the mainstream. Every time a new video released we’d learn more about Slenderman and the madness that it caused its victim.

Even knowing it was a fake creation, the videos were downright scary, playing off the whole Blair Witch/found-footage genre that was just breaking. Even to this day it’s a terrifying set of videos that will still scare the pants off of people today.

This new documentary from HBO isn’t quite about the origins, but about the horrific crime that took place in 2014 where two young girls stabbed their friend 19 times because the Slenderman told them to.

HBO has now released its first trailer “Beware the Slenderman” which dives into the crime and what inspired these girls to do something so gruesome. While the Slenderman isn’t real, the crime committed in his name is and that’s true horror.

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About Author

J. Luis

J. Luis is the current Editor-In-Chief here at GAMbIT. With a background in investigative journalism his work encompasses the pop-culture spectrum here, but he also works in the political spectrum for other organizations.

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