Introduction

Abstract

The introductory chapter presents some of the key issues that are considered and discussed throughout the book. Following the events of a stabbing in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where two 12-year-old girls stabbed a third 12-year-old girl in the name of the Slender Man, a moral panic arose over the character, the potential malicious intent of those who contributed to his creation, and the dangers of Internet horror communities. But this panic ignored the benefits of a larger discussion about who the Slender Man is, who made him, and why his story has significance in different ways than news media were willing to pursue.