In the wake of the news that two 12 year old girls from Wisconsin attempted to stab their classmate to death to placate "Slenderman," believing that the long limbed individual was real after reading too many online short stories, the people behind the Creeypasta wiki have released a statement denying the existence of any such individual.
"According to the story, the girls read about Slenderman here on this wiki, and of course the usual response lead to hostility and blaming towards the wiki by some "very concerned parents". Some calling for the censorship and shutdown of the wiki," begins the statement, highlighting the usual response to tragedy in contemporary society: trying to find someone to blame.
While the admins hope that a shutdown won't be forced upon them, they did take a moment to release one categoric statement about the content on the site:
"ALL WORKS PRESENTED ON THIS WIKI AND OTHER SITES (INCLUDING SLENDERMAN, JEFF THE KILLER, BEN, SONIC.EXE, ETC) ARE FICTIONAL STORIES AND CHARACTERS"
The statement also asks that no one attempt to recreate any of the actions contained in stories on the site, saying that it would not endorse the: "killing, worship, and otherwise replication of rituals of fictional works."
It also said that its condolences go out the families of the affected and that it had set up a charity fund in their name for those that want to contribute. If you want to throw them a few bucks, the donation page is here.
It seems amazing that we live in a time where collections of fiction require a notice stating that they are as such. If anything, it's a reminder that parents need to take special care with what their children look at online.
Image Source: Flickr