In 2009, a strange figure appeared on the internet. He was impossibly tall, dressed in a black suit, and had no face.

That figure became known as Slenderman.

What started as a fictional character created for an internet Photoshop contest quickly grew into something much bigger. Creepypasta stories, YouTube series like Marble Hornets, video games, fan theories, and thousands of new stories turned Slenderman into one of the most recognizable fictional monsters of the internet age.

But in 2014, the story took a horrifying turn when two 12-year-old girls in Wisconsin attacked their classmate, believing they needed to become Slenderman's proxies.

In this episode of Front Porch Mysteries, we go back to the beginning of Slenderman, talk about how the mythology grew across the early internet, and explore the tragic Wisconsin case that forced people to ask where the line between fiction and reality can disappear.

It's a story about internet folklore, childhood, influence, mental illness, and what can happen when something created as fiction becomes real to someone who believes it.

Pull up a chair and stay awhile.

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Welcome to the Front Porch Mysteries Podcast, the podcast where we explore the strange, the unexplained, and the downright chilling. Every week, Alex and Ashley dive into cryptids, conspiracies, true crime, paranormal legends, and the folklore that keeps porch lights burning late into the night.

Whether you’re a skeptic, a believer, or somewhere in between, there’s always room for one more on the porch.

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Pull up a chair and stay awhile.