Having spent all my summers growing up not too far from Waukesha, WI, I can still remember hearing about the “Slenderman stabbing” and being so incredibly shocked that something so horrible could happen in such a small community.

Of course now we know that horrible things happen literally anywhere and everywhere.

Well written and paced, Hale writes in a way that’s easily accessible, even if the material itself is sometimes tough to get through by its nature. There’s a lot I had already known, but also quite a bit I didn’t and she does an excellent job showing all three sides. Demonstrating that while only one of the girls was an innocent, there were still three victims.

On the one hand, this book tries really hard to set the backdrop and create an understanding of the elements of 'the time', even though it wasn't really that long ago. What I found was skimmed over, or I didn't get into because it was too dry, was some of the less salacious mental health conversations around the perpetrators of this.
All in all, its a good place to start, but not a great place if you've already done the basic studies on killings like this. It's adequate, but not exemplary.

The Slenderman case really intrigued me from the moment I heard it. I believe that this book is about as detailed as you could get - the author seems to take the reader back to the days leading up to the attempted murder, the day of, and the years after with intense detail and narrative. I really enjoyed it, and appreciated her effort to present the facts with no or limited bias. Recommend!

Slenderman" is a novel by Kathleen Hale. In this book, Hale tells the story of a fictionalized version of the Slender Man urban legend. The Slender Man is a mythical creature often depicted as a tall, thin figure with a featureless face, wearing a black suit. The novel explores the origins of the Slender Man myth and its impact on a small town where a group of teenagers become obsessed with the legend. As they delve deeper into the mystery surrounding the Slender Man, they uncover dark secrets and face terrifying consequences. With its blend of horror, suspense, and psychological tension, "Slenderman" is a gripping read that will keep readers on the edge of their seats

Book Review

Title: Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls by Kathleen Hale

Genre: Non-Fiction, Crime

Rating: 5 Stars

This book seems to be an in-depth look into the Slenderman stabbing which was a case where Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier stabbed their friend Payton Isabella Leutner claiming that the creepy pasta creature, Slenderman was responsible for their actions. This is a case I remember being reported at the time and I was so intrigued to learn more of specifics about the case since it wasn’t reported widely in the UK.

The first portion of the book looks at the childhoods of all three girls and how it sets up everything that is going to happen later. Looking first at Morgan, her father had schizophrenia and she inherited this, showing signs at a young age but these were ignored. She was a lonely child until she befriended Bella, a likeable young girl as she believed what Morgan said about the voices and things she saw. As the girls grew older they were extremely close until Anissa comes into the picture. Anissa was a lot like Morgan in the fact she wasn’t liked by many and immediately disliked Bella and bullied her.

Anissa and Morgan had a lot of common interests and it was Anissa who introduced Morgan to creepypastas. This is significant as it provided Morgan with undeniable proof that she wasn’t insane and that her reality was normal but they ignored the fact that these stories were fictional. Bella tries to keep her friendship with Morgan but as she doesn’t like the new interests, it becomes strained very early on. Now, Anissa and Morgan are convinced that Slenderman is real and they have to become his proxies in order to prevent themselves from being killed and they decide that Bella will be their sacrifice. It must be noted that Morgan and Anissa both blame the other for the idea to kill Bella but it was Anissa who introduces these concepts to Morgan so personally I’d agree that more blame lies with her.

As we follow the timeline leading up to the stabbing we can see that both Morgan and Anissa are both mentally disturbed but with Morgan we know what it wrong with her even though every adult around her ignored the signs. By the time the date arrived, it also happened to be Morgan’s birthday, we see the girls aren’t nearly as prepared for the reality of the attack as they thought they were. They do follow through in stabbing Bella 19 times before walking ten miles out of town before they are caught by the police. Bella came extremely close to death but she was able to be saved which both Morgan and Anissa expressed relief at.

As they give their initial interviews to the police both girls lay blame with the other unintentionally. Anissa claims it was Morgan’s idea but she did introduce her to the idea of Slenderman and if she hadn’t have done that then maybe the attack wouldn’t have happened at all, while Morgan claimed that a lot of the ideas came from Anissa and she was using it as a way to prove to herself that she wasn’t insane for what she was seeing and hearing. Both girls are taken into custody and processed but no one in the town has any idea how to handle a case of this nature especially one involving children. It is clear that both girls needed professional help for their issues but Anissa seems much more level headed than Morgan during the interview process and there might be something more going on as we move into part two of the book.

As the court case was beginning to gather some steam we see how badly both girls were treated by the judiciary system. Both Morgan and Anissa were going to tried as adults despite both being only 12 at the time of the attack and Anissa was bullied often in the prison system until she used her more forceful nature to make friends. Meanwhile, Morgan’s psychiatric issues got worse to the point where she was more detached from reality than she was present in it. Eventually she was declared unfit to stand trial and was sent to a mental facility. Here she was treated only to be declared competent and didn’t receive any medication during the time even though she was in desperate need of it.

After a while she was declared competent and returned to the prison system without any medication even though anyone who saw or visited her could see how badly her mental health was declining. There was also a lot of false claims being spread by the media but incorrectly referring to the event as the Slenderman Murder making people believe that they have killed Bella which wasn’t true as she was now spending time outside hospital and returning to school. Other media source also refused to acknowledge that Morgan and Anissa were the same age as Bella at the time of the attack further damaging their image in the court of public opinion which was putting pressure on the legal system.

The court cases for both girls was harrowing but both end up being committed to a mental facility. As time passed both girls in their own ways came to terms with what they had done and even Bella had come to terms with what they had done to her. Eventually Anissa was granted a conditional release because she had no underlying mental health condition unlike Morgan. Morgan was interesting as she still struggles with her schizophrenia but doesn’t want to apply for a conditional release at all.

The book comes to an end with Anissa being granted her conditional release in 2021, while Morgan cuts off contact with her family due to her new feelings on how they ignored the signs on her mental illness as a child even though her father had the same illness. She also managed to forgive Anissa for her role in her own illness and doesn’t seem to have any intention of leaving the facility. Having been sentenced to 40 years and her desire to stay confined, it makes me feel sorry for Morgan as by the time she will be released she will have no idea how to function in society and form normal, meaningful relationships. Overall, this was a heartbreaking read because when you understand the position and mental state of everyone involved, it was a ticking time bomb and Bella just happened to be in the firing line when it did. Both Anissa and Morgan should have received mental health support much earlier in life and those events could have been avoided altogether.

I struggled with how dry and boring this was, and maybe it’s because I’ve done a fair bit of reading about the case previously. I felt like it didn’t flow properly in its storytelling and was trying to justify the acts of the stabbing.

2.5 "sequentially detailed, naive, inconsistent" stars !!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Grove Atlantic. This was released August 2022. I am providing an honest review.

This is a sequential detailed narrative about the Slenderman stabbings where two 12 year old girls attempted murder on a classmate in small town Wisconsin. Tied into this is a shared delusion and an obsession with a fictional character named Slenderman. One of the girls has childhood schizophrenia and the other has moderate attachment issues. This is their story....

Well...let's cut to the chase

1. the sequential narrative is quite effective and interesting although lacks panache
2. the naive and liberal interpretations were at best annoying and at worst misleading

An average good read in the true crime category. Much to be improved on !

I thought I knew a lot about this case, but my first major assumption was wrong. Thus, Slenderman by Kathleen Hale was very eye opening. It documents the plight of a young woman who is undiagnosed schizophrenic, despite a family history of schizophrenia. The first half of the book documents her descent into madness and its contribution to her crime was fascinating. I found myself wanting to shake her "friend" for feeding into her delusions and really being the catalyst behind the crime. The second half of the book documents the legal process the girls face and the inadequacy of the criminal justice system to provide services to mentally ill criminals. It was a heartbreaking true crime story, and it really makes you question your black and white views on appropriate punishment, especially for juvenile offenders who commit "adult" crimes.

This is so hard to read, these girls need(ed) serious help. How nonchalant they were about everything just made you so mad back then and even now. I remember the story when it happen and it was good to read more in depth about it.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher, in return for an honest review. This review is based entirely on my own thoughts and feelings.

Overall Rating: 4*
Writing : 4*
Information : 4*
Uniqueness : 4*

On 31st May 2014 (yes I realise the coincidence of finishing and reviewing this book today) a heinous crime of attempted murder by two twelve year old girls on their best friend occurred.

This book details the crime in a fantastically clear and chronological sequence of events that draws you in to this unbelievable story.
The writing style is clear, with extensive detailed footnotes for extra reading.
Although the book details the interviews with the girls, I implore you to watch them on YouTube, it will really chill you!

Pretty tragic for all involved.. My opinion on treating junveniles as adults is.. they need to be old enough to hold a license, drink and do others things allowed by the law .. other wise they are still children.. even when you turn 18 you don't wake up all adulty!! You are just now allowed to do Adult things.. Then when you bring mental illness into a situation, how are you cuplable ? I know it's hard to say , Iv'e never been in this situation but wow , this was a good and hard read , well researched..

I couldn't finish this book. I tried many times. It just wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be. It didn't go the way I thought and I couldn't get into it.

This book was incredibly well written.

It highlighted the case and didn’t take any sides. I feel like the author really did go into it non-biased. It talks about how the mental health system failed people previously as well as the failure of it during the diagnosis.

I remember a little bit of this case from back when it first hit headlines but reading it much more in depth was crazy to me. All of the things happening that were missed in the girls life.

If you like true crime. You’ll like this book!

Wow, where to even begin. I cannot imagine going through what any of those girls or families went through. Mental Health is nothing to play with and I really think that with the proper care that this situation would never accrued but unfortunately most of the time it does go untreated. I love how it gave the backstory and didn't just dive right into the story. The attention to detail was amazing and the writing style was great as well.

I thought this was a good book to read if you are interested in true crime. The Slenderman case has always been one that interests me so I really enjoyed learning a few new things about the case.

The book was written in a way that was easy to understand and I feel like the author did a good job being respectful to the victim and her family.

This story was CRAZY. The author did a great job delving into all the back ground knowledge of the girls and their families.

I heard a lot about this case as it was unfolding in the media. I lived only a few hours away and it was a big story for the area. I appreciate all of the effort and research that the author did for this book. The reporting of the events leading up to the stabbing and focus on mental health issues was very enlightening and informative. I could tell immediately that the author is a news reporter. The book read like a news article instead of a story. It made the book very informative, which I appreciate, but it was dry and hard to get through sometimes.

On May 31, 2014, Payton (Bella) Lerner was violently attacked and nearly stabbed to death in a wooded public park in Waukesha, Wisconsin, by two girls that were supposed to be her best friends- Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier. All of the girls were just 12 years old.

Hale chronicles Morgan and Anissa's obsession into mental illness, and in depth background of the girls' families. She does her best to give insight into the crime, which is incredibly difficult considering the subject matter, the ages of the perpetrators, and the gruesomeness of the crime. She does an excellent job and I came out with more understanding of how this horrible crime happened.

Thank you to Kathleen Hale, the publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced review copy of this book.

This book was a really enjoyable true crime read for the summer. As a Midwesterner myself who is quite familiar with Wisconsin, I remember being absolutely baffled by this case when it first happened. Further, the information on the perpetrators’ mental health added another layer that really made me think. I appreciated the author’s ability to look at this horrific situation “in the grey area”… most often, these tragedies aren’t black and white. Thank you so much for the advanced copy. My thoughts continue to go out to the survivor and all who love her. And, especially after reading this book, my thoughts go out to the perpetrators and their loved ones as well. This book made me think harder about punishment, culpability, and complexities involved with perpetrators… they have parents, too.

Slenderman was a more impactful reading experience than I expected. I dabble in True Crime quite actively, but Kathleen Hale impressed me immensely with her very human approach to a crime that has been sensationalised to such an extent key details are often missed. While a difficult read, Slenderman is also a very insightful one. Thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There are certain true crime cases that come to define a cultural moment. The "Slenderman Murder" was one of those cases. While I don't remember it in the sense of 'I knew exactly where I was when...' I do remember looking into Slenderman after reading about it and wondering how something like this could happen. In 2014 I was 2 years into my BA degree and I spent a lot of my time reading and getting lost in fantasy worlds, so in some way I could understand. On the other hand the whole uproar about children having access to the Internet etc. felt overblown to me and so I swept a lot of it aside. Years later I read Kathleen Hale's Vice article and realised there was more to the case than I had imagined. Even then, however, I was still caught up in what the case "meant" for the moment, rather than what had actually happened, who was actually involved, and how things played out later. Now Hale is back with a full-book treatment on the case and her insight once again amazed me.

On May 31st, 2014, three girls headed into the park after a birthday sleepover. What happened in that park became the centre of a mediastorm to such an extent that many of the details of what really happened were lost. While two girls emerged from the park, planning to trek 300 miles to a national park to meet Slenderman, the third girl also crawled her way back to a public road, despite bleeding from 19 stab wounds. But this is not where the story starts. In Slenderman Kathleen Hale starts much earlier, showing us the way the friendship between the three girls developed and how they grew up. Bella, Morgan, and Anissa emerge not as carboard representations of victim and perpetrators, but as what they were, young girls. Hale, with deep empathy, sketches the way Morgan was lost to her schizophrenia from an early age, how Anissa grabbed onto any kind of recognition and connection that came her way to fill a void left by busy or absent parents, and how Bella strived to have her life be defined not by what happened but by the kindness that made her initially befriend Morgan. Hale also does not end with the murder, but rather tracks the girls' lives up until a year before the book's publication. I also appreciated that although it is named after the Creepypasta character that, in some way, led to the murder, Hale's book does not dwell on it over much. Slenderman and the mythos around him is explained, as is the fact he is pure fiction, but only as one of the elements of this case, not as the defining factor. In that way, Slenderman does set itself apart from a lot of other true crime writing. Hale isn't out for sensationalism, but rather for understanding.

It is hard to review this book without discussing in detail what Kathleen Hale manages to do throughout this book. Doing so would stretch this review into infinity, but a few things stood out to me. On the one hand she tells the story of all three girls independently, making sure to differentiate them clearly for the reader to avoid the way many media reports conflated them. On the other hand Hale manages to introduce a lot of background information without distracting from the girls and their experiences. She has done countless hours of interviews and poured through stacks of official documents in order to present a full picture of what exactly happened. She covers the parents' backgrounds, the legal system of Wisconsin, issues around psychiatric care, and more, all of which add to the depth of the book. I was amazed by some of the things I didn't know. For example, I thought this was a murder case. Imagine my relief, but also surprise, that Bella survived. How could that be a forgotten detail in so many reports?! And that they were going to try them as adults even though Morgan and Anissa were 12?

Hale admits that she had more access to Morgan than anyone else and it does show in the book. Not at all through any sense of bias, but more in the sense of eyesight. My heart hurt for Morgan as Hale described how disconnected from reality she became. My heart hurt equally for Bella, betrayed by the friend she had stuck by despite all the weird behaviour over the years. And my heart hurt for Anissa, lost without any real grounding, looking for connection desperately. It is weird to feel sorry for two people who tried to murder someone, but as Hale makes very clear throughout Slenderman, they were young children, hardly capable of what they set out to do. In treating them as the children they were Hale in no way argues their complete innocence, but she does make it very clear that so much more was going on here than initially meets the eye. Hale's writing is very clear and straightforward, simple in a way that belies the effort and research that went into the book. It doesn't lessen the horror of what she describes, but it does remind us that we are always talking about human beings in these cases.

Slenderman is a necessary read for any True Crime reader. Hale demonstrates the way in which we should be writing about some of these cases, especially high profile ones which come to be twisted in our perception.