What Is Slender Man? A Look At The Character Blamed In Stabbing

Over the weekend, two 12-year-old girls in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha allegedly stabbed their friend, another 12-year-old, nearly to death during a game of hide-and-seek in a park.

One of the girls is said to have told a detective that they had planned the attack for months, and that they wanted to kill their friend to please "Slender Man."

But Slender Man doesn't exist. He's a creepy urban legend, born and bred on Internet forums. The girls reportedly told investigators that they read about Slender Man on the horror website creepypasta.wikia.com.

Shira Chess, a professor of mass media at the University of Georgia and a scholar of the Slender Man, discusses the myth with Here & Now's Robin Young.