Slenderman

Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls

By: Kathleen Hale

Narrated by: Therese Plummer

The first full account of the Slenderman stabbing, a true-crime narrative of mental illness, the American judicial system, the trials of adolescence, and the power of the internet.

On May 31, 2014, in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha, Wisconsin, two 12-year-old girls attempted to stab their classmate to death. Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier’s violence was extreme, but what seemed even more frightening was that they committed their crime under the influence of a figure born by the internet: the so-called “Slenderman”. Yet the even more urgent aspect of the story, that the children involved suffered from undiagnosed mental illnesses, often went overlooked in coverage of the case.

Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls tells that full story for the first time in deeply researched detail, using court transcripts, police reports, individual reporting, and exclusive interviews. Morgan and Anissa were bound together by their shared love of geeky television shows and animals, and their discovery of the user-uploaded scary stories on the Creepypasta website could have been nothing more than a brief phase. But Morgan was suffering from early-onset childhood schizophrenia. She believed that she had seen Slenderman long before discovering him online and that the only way to stop him from killing her family was to bring him a sacrifice: Morgan’s best friend Payton “Bella” Leutner, whom Morgan and Anissa planned to stab to death on the night of Morgan’s 12th birthday party. Bella survived the attack but was deeply traumatized, while Morgan and Anissa were immediately sent to jail, and the severity of their crime meant that they would be prosecuted as adults. There, as Morgan continued to suffer from worsening mental illness after being denied antipsychotics, her life became more and more surreal.

Slenderman is both a thrilling true-crime story and a search for justice.

Recorded by arrangement with Grove Press, an imprint of Grove Atlantic, Inc.

©2022 Kathleen Hale (P)2022 Audible, Inc.

Excellent yet apologetic

I loved this! Excellent information on Morgan’s illness and experience. It did come across as apologetic with the entire emphasis on Morgan and little on the victim in this case. It’s understandable why the victim and her family would not want to participate, yet something on the experience of what it’s like to be brutally attacked and left for dead, by one’s best friend no less, would have rounded this out. Still excellent!

Sympathetic but sometimes indifferent

The writer does a fantastic job at diving into the complexities surrounding mental illness, especially in children. Sometimes, though, when it comes to the actual victim, it read as apathetic at best, callous at worst. Absolutely, there is tragedy all around in every girl involved and I am grateful Anissa and Morgan are having their stories be told. However, I think sometimes the author is very impassive in her short descriptions of Bella and her family. Compared to lengthy and passionate defense of the girls who committed the crime (who deserve defense, too, no doubt). There just should’ve been more attention paid to the girl who almost died.

amazing book and reader

I binged this in a day.
it's a really sad story all around from the crime to the incompetence of the courts, doctors and prison system. As always the media fueled public histaria has hurt and ended countless lives.

Great Storytelling!

I must have been living under a rock, because I had never heard about this real life true crime story. I am so glad I got to hear it for the first time through the words of Kathleen Hale, Highly recommend this book!

The WHOLE Story!

I loved this. FINALLY, an actual real account of everything that went into this terrible situation. 2 thumbs way up.

Excellent synthesis of a tragic story

This is a sensitive and compassionate rendering of a case where even the perpetrators are victims. The historical and legal context is important for understanding why this case is legally controversial (the social reasons are fairly obvious in my opinion—two girls tried to murder another girl). Hale presents uncomfortable moments and realities without dramatizing or romanticizing them, which I appreciate. She lets participant statements and actions speak for themselves and shows it’s possible to have sympathy for the cruelty of the Wisconsin legal system’s treatment of Morgan and Anissa without sacrificing compassion for Peyton/Bella or the parents of all three girls.

Disturbing

I couldn’t stop listening. This is one of the most horrific and tragic things I’ve ever heard. So many emotions hearing this play out. It’s remarkable and a miracle Bella is still alive. I cannot imagine the extreme trauma she has suffered. I know this is a divisive topic, but it’s so hard for me to not put so much blame on Morgan’s parents. The red flags they were getting, knowing Matt has schizophrenia and good and well knowing it’s genetic and doing nothing about it seems either completely incompetent or indifferent. Even though I don’t think it was out of ill will, their denial of the severity of this disease holds them grossly responsible. They didn’t advocate for her when it mattered the most. But I’m sure Angie lives with that every single day, which is also tragic. Morgan needed help, and the amount of time she spent in prison not getting proper treatment is shocking. I’m surprised Anissa is out… still don’t know if how I feel about that. She was obviously a very sick little girl herself. Just all around so disturbing and heartbreaking for all the families involved. This story will haunt me forever.

Side note, the narrator was incredible. Probably one of the best I’ve ever heard.

Engaging story

Loved how this was told all the up to the drop off at the end!

Great book.

Loved it and love the narrator. Have listened twice to the book to make sure I did not miss anything.

Emotional, complex, and gripping

This was such a surprising and compelling read from start to finish. There was so much incredible nuance and context and detail and humanity woven throughout the crime and case. Kathleen Hale has a unique ability to discover different angles and specifics to focus on -- things I imagine nobody else has seen when looking at the same picture. I found myself walking away with a deeper, more complex, and more empathetic understanding of the story and characters. Highly recommend!