"Beware the Slenderman.

• Author: Shackford, Scott
• Position: DOCUMENTARY - Television program review - Brief article

In a culture that frequently seeks scapegoats for shocking acts of violence--everything from rap music to video games to the Second Amendment-the HBO documentary Beware the Slenderman is notable for its calm analysis of how an internet-invented boogeyman led to a real-world stabbing.

Think of Slenderman as the Freddy Krueger of the new millennium. The tall, faceless, suited gentleman was first created in 2009 as part of an online photo editing contest. He quickly became a crowdsourced villain, a supernaturally creepy child snatcher who inspired stories, amateur videos, and video games.

In 2014, two 12-year-old girls in Wisconsin allegedly decided to kill a young friend to impress Slenderman. They failed, but not for lack of trying. The children lured their victim out into the woods and stabbed her 19 times.

Beware the Slenderman documents the...