The incident of the 2014 Slender Man-inspired stabbing in Waukesha, Wisconsin, is well-known thanks to wide news coverage and the HBO documentary on the subject, Beware the Slenderman. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident.

In 2014, a woman in Cincinnati was attacked by her 13-year-old daughter brandishing a knife and wearing a white mask. The woman, who was treated for knife wounds on her face, neck, and back, says her child was obsessed with Slender Man and was trying to assume the role of the monster.

Also in 2014 — a bad year for the Slender Man – a 14-year-old girl in Port Richey, Florida, set her house on fire. Afterward, with her mother and brother having escaped unharmed, the girl told police she had been inspired to use fire to kill her family by the story of the Slender Man and the popular manga Soul Eater, which is about a death god in training who must collect human souls.

And in 2015, a rash of teen suicides on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation was partially attributed to the influence of the Slender Man, who bears a resemblance to a traditional "suicide spirit" among a number of Native American tribes.

To any kids out there: please don't do any more crimes or suicides based on an internet ghost story.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

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