HBO’s ‘Beware the Slenderman’ documentary is your next true crime fix
Girl was stabbed 19 times to 'show devotion to Slenderman'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A few weeks ago we picked out _beware the slenderman as one of the most intriguing documentaries premiering at SXSW, but ahead of its debut it seems to have been snapped up by HBO.
From The Jinx to Making a Murderer, true crime stories have fascinated of late, and this film looks set to immerse us in small town killings once more.
The Slenderman may be entirely fictional (a tall, suited monster invented on the Something Awful forums), but the attack it caused was very real.
In 2014, two 13-year-old girls were charged with stabbing their 12-year-old friend 19 times in the Waukesha, Wisconsin, woods, later claiming they did it “to show devotion to Slenderman” and “to prove he’s real, and so he wouldn’t kill their families”.
While they subsequently pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial, the documentary apparently focuses on the rise of internet lore, its implications and ‘how the digital age is saturating the imagination and actions of children’.
Here’s the official synopsis:
'Shot over 18 months with heartbreaking access to the families of the would-be murderers, the film plunges deep down the rabbit hole of their crime, a Boogeyman and our society’s most impressionable consumers of media. The entrance to the internet can quickly lead us to its dark basement, within just a matter of clicks. How much do we hold children responsible for what they find there?'
_beware the slenderman gets its SXSW premiere on 11 March, with an HBO air date yet to be announced.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments