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Hey weirdos, I'm Elena. I'm Ash. And this is Morbid.
Hello, everybody. It's still morbid. We're here.
It's still morbid after all these years.
We haven't changed it to like... Forbid.
Yeah. That's funny. That's a word. Forbid.
Forbid. I just said forbid. You're like, that's funny.
That's a word. Forbid. Actually, that would be a cool band name.
Forbid. forbid forbid uh well you know gosh forbid You go into the Ural Mountains in Russia.
Just end that right there. Yeah. The end.
Gosh forbid. Gosh. Because... Because I don't know if anyone's heard.
Hello, I'm here to tell you, but a few of you have tagged me in this and I was like, holy shit.
That eight tourists have gone missing in the exact same place that the diet love pass incident happened.
Another tiny avalanche has happened. tiny-ass avalanche has occurred.
Now, they were supposed to be back on Wednesday the 10th.
They were supposed to arrive wherever they were supposed to arrive, and they haven't, and no one's able to get in touch with them.
Now, Diet Love Pass was nine hikers, and people always said, don't go in groups of nine.
This is eight. So we're pretty close, but it's like, and I guess they were going up there in order to pay their respects to these fallen hyenas.
And then the government said, no, the fuck.
And then something was like, no, no, no, no.
It was Vladimir. I'm totally kidding. It's a little...
It's a little weird. I think it's weird.
I'm a little nervous we're going to have another diet love past incident. on our hands here i really hope not i hope these hikers come back very soon and i hope they're like super super sorry we decided to spend another night Yeah, we just got lunch and it went a little longer than expected.
I'm hoping for their sake and for their family's sake that they have a happy ending here, but...
I don't know. It's not looking good. They didn't show up yesterday and...
Nobody can get in touch with them. It's going to be one of those places, like the suicide forest, that people don't going to yeah okigahara it's gonna be yeah and it's it's almost like an everest situation where it's like yeah I don't know.
There's just bodies everywhere. It's crazy.
Oh, that freaks me out. It's real crazy.
And they could be like, yeah, it's just, yeah.
Yeah. It's scary. I just... I hope they're okay.
Maybe they got, like, sidetracked. Maybe they got turned around.
Maybe they had to camp out because... Weather, I don't know.
I was going to look into, like, what the weather was happening there, but that's kind of hard.
Yeah. Like I've tried to before, but, you know, I think we'll probably learn more in the next coming days.
So everybody keep their fingers crossed.
Yeah, stay tuned, everybody. That we do not have a diet love pass part two.
No thanks. I don't think any of us are ready for that.
We're still reeling from the first one and that was way long ago.
Yeah, they just tried to give us answers and we were like, mm-mm, no, next.
So I don't need another one of those in my life quite yet.
Not until we fully have figured out the first one.
Not right now, anyways. No, we're not ready.
Well, we're also going to be talking about something super duper spooky, just like Dial-Up Pass.
Again, this month, the Patreons get to pick.
The Patronuses. Patronus iPix, and you guys decided that you wanted to hear all about this really tall drink of water thing.
Named Slendy. Slendy. We're going to do the Slenderman. case.
Yes, this is a crazy one. And you know what?
Good job, Patronus. You're killing it. I know.
Honestly. No pun intended. You are killing it.
They picked great things for me and I was stoked.
We love you. What are you covering this week?
I forget. This week, the Patronuses have picked for moi.
Moi. You're very French today. I know. I don't know why.
I'm just feeling it. I'm like, duh. Oui, oui.
Oh, that was pretty. Thank you. They have picked for me, Willie Pickton. which I know tons of people have suggested.
I always knew I wanted to cover it. I just was waiting for the right time, and you know what the right time was?
When the Patronus has told me so you will never look at a pig the same way again you never will just get ready because i've already bought like three books So shit's going to get real.
It's probably going to be a multi-party or at least two.
It's a big, big case. So thank you, Patronuses, for your choices.
You've killed it. And really quickly, if you haven't bought tickets to our live show that we're gonna be doing tomorrow night, Oh yeah.
Head on over to Instagram. I believe the link is still in our bio to purchase tickets for the bleeding heart ball.
It's going to be a lot of fun. I'm excited.
It's going to be real spooky. We're going to, we have like a fun little kind of theme going.
Oh yeah. Me and my teeth are ready. Yeah. that's your that's your hinty hint all right well let's get into slendy let's do this You know the funniest thing about Slendy is that it all started in Gemini season.
Oh look at that. I know. June 10th, 2009 was the first time Slendy made his appearance on the interwebs.
Eric Knudson, I believe is how you say it.
He used the username Victor Surge on the website Something Awful.
Did you ever go on Something Awful? I don't think I ever went on Something Awful.
I didn't. Something Awful. What year was this again?
This was 2009. Yeah, I don't know. yeah it was like your heyday yeah I was like you know I never went your heyday of weirdness yeah you know Well, he he used the name Victor Surge and he posted a picture of this like. tall, thin, black figure lurking in the background of this scene with these kids playing on a playground.
That's horrifying. Yeah. Now, I guess he posted two pictures.
The first one that I saw... is there's a playground and there's like five or six kids in focus and then there's a couple in the background And they're just like standing around this like tall, dark, scary figure.
Oh, yeah. I remember that one. Yeah, we'll post it.
And then there's just a little kid like climbing up the ladder to the slide like cheesing.
Yeah. Now, Eric claimed the photos were taken or excuse me, they were found in the Sterling City Library blaze. and that they were taken the same day that 14 children just went up and missing.
I love that. I always love those where it's like, yeah, like 62 kids just.
Went up and missing and no one heard about it.
Gonzo. Yeah, nuts. Yeah, I know. And then he went on to say that the library burned down a week after the photos were taken. and that the police took the photos in for evidence.
Sounds demonic. Talk about a twisted situation.
Talk about a twisted sister. I knew you were gonna say that.
Now people on the site had a field day with the idea of this creature.
They were posting their own photos and they were like toying with more and more ideas. as of his appearance.
Some were like, oh, he has huge tentacles growing from his back.
And others were like, they should be a little smaller because it's scary reader that way.
And then some people were like, you know, like he needs no face.
What should we give him a face? Why should he be wearing a suit?
I love the suit. The suit, really. Honestly, the creativity here.
Like, the creative process that was happening.
Like, let's make massive tentacles. No, smaller ones will be more terrifying.
Yes. Smaller ones will suffice. That's a beautiful creative process.
I love it. And I'm creating a monster. It's just like a melting pot of Cybermen.
This could have just been... what it was and it's sad that it that it got tainted the way it did yeah it definitely is Now, the one post on Something Awful turned into a huge thread of people either bringing new ideas, like I just said to the guy's appearance, posting pictures of him that were supposed to be from earlier periods in history, like even like before humans and stuff like that.
I love that. or talking about their stories and their experiences with this creature.
Now, the truth behind all of this is that the creation of Slender Man started with an online Photoshop contest.
Of course. That's why Eric posted it in the first place.
That's where most things start, I think.
It's just for a Photoshop contest. Slenderman is not real.
No. Even to my... to my like it scares me like he still scares me and I know he's not real yeah it's terrifying idea it's a terrifying image yeah everything about it it hits every nerve that you needed to hit for being terrifying no face no face done no face done wearing a suit tentacles somewhere and kills kids Yeah, like all those things you're like, nope, nope, nope, nope.
Yeah, it's just freaky. I don't like it.
I woke up at like 4.30 this morning and I was like...
Is he in the kitchen? It scares me, you know?
Is that internet creation in the kitchen?
I don't know. I don't know his life. Nobody does.
I don't know. Now, today there are multiple movies, countless YouTube clips about Slenderman.
But the original series was made by two college students named Troy Wagner and Joseph DeLage.
I believe is how you say it. Troy was a film student and he had read the Something Awful thread and found inspiration.
So he asked Joseph if he wanted to make a movie with him.
Now, the whole thing is shot with like a video camera, like nothing high tech or anything like that. it i feel like it has a very like blair witch project feel i love that which i that movie terrifies me to this day i still love that movie I love that movie, but the thought, yeah, I don't even want to talk about it.
It's just great. Now the whole plot line is that this guy is working on a film project, but all of a sudden he just up and quits the entire thing.
And then his friend tries to figure out what went down.
He's like going through the footage. And he realizes that Slenderman has been stalking his friend.
And that's why he neglected the project and just like totally left it.
That's a very valid excuse. Absolutely. Can't come in today.
I'm being stalked by Slender Man. I'm so sorry.
Now, when they finished their movie, they called it Marble Hornets.
I don't know why. Excuse me. Something to do with it.
I didn't watch it. all right they also so they posted it online i'm pretty sure you can still find it on youtube honestly slenderman terrifies me and that's why i didn't venture deeper yeah now it ended up being a huge hit just like Blair Witch Project and actually Roger Ebert tweeted about it What?
He was just like, here's this movie. Wow, that's shocking.
He didn't really say one thing or another about it.
And it's like a horror movie. But it got the people going.
Because Siskel and Eve, like all critics usually are like for horror movies.
So just like interesting. Yeah, we said that about It's the Little Things.
Yeah. It got really bad reviews, even though it was iconic.
Certainly was. Yeah. Now, well, imagine you think you're just like putting up a movie for fun and then Roger Ebert is like, hey, great flick.
No, I can't even fathom that. Those two guys literally just did that on their video. camera.
Yeah. Like this will be fun. Let's put it on YouTube.
And Ebert was like yes. Yeah. I'm in. I saw your movie.
Thumbs up. I love though that he was just like I saw this movie.
It said nothing. I saw it. I saw it. So over the years, Slender Man really made his way into all horror markets.
There's been video games there's way more online forums like creepypasta like wiki fandom all that stuff yeah and movies and it's just so crazy that that like all like All Slender Man was was just a post on like a weird website and then this happened.
And then it just became... what it became yeah he just started going into the homes of everyone across the world i do think he just hit all the right buttons Yeah, like it's rare to find a creature or like a monster that just like really resonates and really scares the shit out of people.
And he's just that monster. It's like...
Freddy or you know it's like any of those it's like you have to have a thing that really gets people going and I think it's like The faceless thing I think is huge.
Wearing a suit just as different and weird.
I think, I think honestly this thing. the faceless thing is what drives it home for me.
Yeah, because you can almost put anything to that.
Right. Exactly. And like all the articles that I was reading about, like, what makes Slender Man so scary?
Yeah. It's the ambiguity. Yeah, it's literally he can be whatever you don't want him to be.
Well, that's the thing. It's so funny that you said that because it's like...
The whole idea of like what you don't know, your brain will fill in for you.
And the human brain is the scariest thing in the world.
Yes. So you give it a blank canvas like that.
It's going to fill in the most horrible shit you can conjure in your own brain.
So it's like. He's different for everyone.
Yeah. He's everyone's worst nightmare because you can paint whatever you want onto that blank canvas.
Exactly. And he can hover above the tree line.
I don't want anything to do with that. I don't like that at all.
Honestly, I've said it 82 times at this point, but the sans face thing.
Yeah. It's the sans face for me. Whenever you're missing that, it's stressful.
I'm not here for that. Now, most people who are into or excuse me, most people are just into Slender Man for the entertainment value of it all, obviously, like, you know.
But then you have to think of the kids on the internet that are like, what the fuck?
Yeah. I forget, but when I was, I worked with this girl and she had kids And her kid called her like freaking out about this lady on YouTube that was like supposed to like jump into your YouTube channel and like say like scary things about you.
It happened recently. Oh, what was it like Momo?
Yes. Something I remember that. Yeah. But then it turned out just to be like this one video.
Yeah. And it was this thing that somebody just like made a doll.
Yeah. Or like this weird little mask or something.
She was terrifying though because I remember my friend showing me and I was like, if I was a child on the internet.
I'd be terrified. What? Well, it's similar to, like you said, Blair Witch, where we were... I think it was like, you know, my... age group and like maybe in like everybody older knows that when Blair Witch came out they marketed that like it was found footage of real hikers that disappeared and you were going to watch what happened.
Right. They marketed this shit as like, really happened and when you went to see it in the movies most of us thought because of the internet that it really fucking happened so it was terrifying it added such a different element oh yeah and it's like that these kids now are going on the internet they're seeing it it's being marketed as a real thing this is a real guy that's gonna come trekking through your woods You don't know fucking terrifying.
Do you remember those videos on YouTube that you would like be watching somebody driving down the street like your friend would send it to you on air?
And they would scream all of a sudden, like something would fly out of them.
Like some scary ass lady. It's like that shit.
Yeah. That's what we had. But then now, obviously, as time goes on, things just get worse.
Oh, yeah, for sure. kids have like momo yeah now like so like i said like there's a lot of kids out there that probably think he's real And that's exactly what the case was in Wisconsin for two teenage girls.
So Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weir were completely obsessed with Slender Man.
And they believed that they had to prove their allegiance to him before they were going to go live with him. in his mansion in this, like, national forest in Wisconsin.
That's so insane to me. To prove their allegiance, they would have to kill and it would have to be like a sacrifice killing.
Wow. Yeah. So Morgan Geyser and Peyton Leitner had been friends since the fourth grade.
When Peyton saw Morgan eating alone at lunch, she decided to pull up a chair and sit next to her.
And from that day on, they were pretty much inseparable.
They would have sleepovers. So sweet. They would go roller skating together.
They kind of bonded over their love of cats because they both loved cats.
Morgan even called Peyton by her nickname, Bella.
They would play like dress up together. They love to play pretend.
They like to act like they were characters in Harry Potter or like Star Trek, which Morgan really loved.
I love that. So it was all just like very like wholesome.
Yeah. Yeah, it was super wholesome. And people I mean, they became they were friends for like a long time, like until sixth grade, pretty much.
And it seems like they were kind of like the, not like the misfits, but like they were like a little bit like younger than everyone else, but they jived well with each other because of that.
Yeah, they kind of clung to each other. And it was really just like this cute friendship where, you know, like they were still like playing dress up and stuff.
But they're like and they're like unabashedly into this, you know, things that they're into.
Yeah. Like it's just like innocent and pure.
Yeah. So around sixth grade, Morgan met a new friend while she was waiting for the bus.
Now, this was Anissa. So together, Anissa and Morgan became obsessed with Slender Man after seeing the creepy pasta posts online.
I think Anissa was the first person to show Morgan.
OK, that makes sense. Slenderman. Now, Peyton didn't really want anything to do with Slenderman at all.
She was like, that's terrifying. I'm good. cool that you guys are so into that so like live your life and she was like trying to support her best friend's new friendship which when you put three girls hard it's not good yeah it's so hard yeah And so I think the Slender Man stuff, obviously, like I said, freaked her out and it brought Anissa and Morgan closer.
Yeah. So it left Peyton. a little bit on the outs.
That sucks. And Morgan and Anissa are like really like preyed on her because of it.
They would like send her links to the creepy pasta. they'd send her messages and be like, oh, Slenderman's going to get you in your sleep.
Oh my God. Just super nice, friendly things like that.
Yeah, so sweet. But, you know, you're in sixth grade.
That's just so shitty, though. It is very shitty.
Now, looking back, Morgan was showing signs that she definitely needed some help with her mental health.
Yeah. But obviously hindsight is always 20-20.
Of course. outbursts in class. She would save insects and throw them at kids during class.
Yeah, I think somebody should have addressed that.
Oh yeah, and then her mom was called once because Morgan brought a hammer to school.
Oh, my God. And she she actually got suspended for it for like a little bit.
Holy shit. Yeah. Now, Anissa was like a really good student and she had a way of kind of sticking up for the underdog.
It seemed like she was a little more... I think all three of them were a little bit immature for their grade, but Anissa was mature in a different way.
Like kind of like had like a big sister energy.
Oh, okay. Now... So, yeah, it's easy to see that she stood up for the underdog because Morgan was kind of the underdog.
Yeah. So anytime somebody would tease Morgan, she would like... basically like she'd punch them or like make them shut up now by the By the time they got into sixth grade, Peyton was becoming more social, making more friends,
And it seemed like the other two girls were becoming a little jealous of that.
And actually Morgan later said that Anissa would call Peyton a bitch like all the time.
Because it seems like they're just going two very different ways.
Yeah, absolutely. Like a little more on the outside are the two of them and a little more like going towards the mainstream.
Yes, exactly. And, you know, it's like in fourth, like a lot changes between fourth grade and sixth grade.
And like you start a new school in sixth grade.
So, of course, she's meeting new people and like, you know.
And it is hard when like you're because I remember it happened to me when I was in like middle school, like my best friend at the time became like super popular.
And sometimes you just don't follow them to that path.
Like you wish you could, but you didn't.
Yeah, just sometimes it doesn't work out.
It's not easy. And I honestly like a lot of times I just don't think three is a great number for teenage girls.
Three is a tough number. It's a tough number.
One is always left out. Yeah, because I mean, I'm not saying this is the case for everybody.
My friend group, we used to be seven people and that worked.
But I think whenever it's three, like from my personal experience, I was always the one that was like, I'm feeling a little left out here.
Yeah, because I feel like the other two just somehow, two people always bond a little bit more.
It just like naturally happens. Or like have more in common.
Yeah. So that sucks. It does. Now, so they all they all still wanted to be friends and Morgan's birthday party was coming up and they were really excited.
Morgan had turned 12 on May 16th and then two weeks later on May 30th.
She was going to be having like a birthday party sleepover with both Anissa and Peyton.
OK, now it was a Friday night and Peyton's mom remembers like how stoked she was to go to the sleepover.
Now, the three girls went roller skating for like hours, and then they went back to Morgan's where they hung out until they fell asleep.
Now, Peyton remembered it was weird that Morgan didn't want to stay up all night because she always wanted to when they had sleepovers.
And this one, I mean, it was like her birthday, like she could do what she wanted.
Yeah, you would think that would be the time.
And she didn't. So that was kind of weird.
And then Anissa remembered later that Peyton like kicked her in the face by accident while she was sleeping.
And Anissa was like, yeah, so I kicked her back on purpose.
It's like, well, she was sleeping, dude.
Like, chill. Now, the next morning, they had donuts for breakfast.
And actually... Morgan and Anissa woke up first and went downstairs without Peyton.
And Peyton woke up after them and went down after.
Oh, that's already like, yeah, there's already some weird shit happening.
Exactly. That was always... Do you remember those sleepovers where you would wake up the next day after sleeping for like 45 minutes and you just were like just complete... just shit oh when I was when I was this age I would go home and like have to sleep all day me too yeah and my mom would be like jesus christ like you're not going to a sleepover for a long time because you're miserable when you come home.
Yeah. And it was true. So the next morning, like I said, they had donuts for breakfast.
They hung out. They played dress up. I guess they were playing with silly putty at one point, like throwing it at the ceiling.
Silly putty. Might be real mouthful. Probably putting it on newspaper.
No, I guess they were mixing it with like granola.
And then like stick it, like throwing it up to the ceiling.
All right, that's weird. I didn't know you could do that.
We used to just kind of stick it onto newspaper and you would like...
It would like transfer the newspaper onto it.
We used to just like hold the silly putty and like make it like drop into one hand and then lift that other hand up and drop it into the other. like you're supposed to do i thought you were gonna say something like we used to just go party Well, not when I was 12.
I'm like, I used to play with silly by there.
You'd be like, we would just go drink. Not yet.
Like in a year. So yeah, that's not what I was doing.
But finally, they got the idea to ask Morgan's mom if they could go to the park together.
Now, It's worth mentioning that any other time Morgan's mom would have been like, no way.
Like, nice try. You're 12. You're not going to a park by yourself.
Yeah. But it was her birthday. It was the middle of the day.
There's three of them. So she was like, OK, go ahead.
But like, come back by this time, whatever.
So they go, they head to the park. Now, when they got to the park, they went into the bathrooms. and got into this like really intense fight just like very quickly because Pretty much all of a sudden, Anissa hit Peyton's head into the wall, which was like concrete in the bathroom.
And then as Morgan was like holding her in place, So this was very clearly premeditated.
Yeah. Now is quick as that all happened, Morgan started panicking and just started like walking away, pacing and singing.
And so Anissa told Peyton to go outside and just checked on Morgan.
And she later said that she had to calm her down by petting her like a cat.
Wow. It's not like super clear why they stayed together, but they did decide to stay together and play hide and seek.
I think Peyton probably stayed because she's with the, like, where else is she going to She's probably like freaked out and it's like, I'm just going to go with this.
And like, once we're done with this, I'm going to go home.
Exactly. And I think, I mean, they're 12, like when you're 12.
Yeah, you're not thinking like, oh, no. Like, I'm in danger.
They're probably going to try to hurt me more.
Like, you don't think that. Yeah, you just think it's, like, a quick weird thing that happened.
Like, that is... real weird yeah I would have not been happy no and obviously she wasn't either so she was she was confused but you know I don't I think she was just like, I'll just hang out with you until it's time to go home.
Yeah. So after they like somewhat settled the really random argument... they decided to go play hide and seek.
So Peyton said that Anissa sent her into the woods and told her to cover herself with leaves to hide.
Huh. Mm-hmm. The town of Agde in France is famous for sun, sand, sea and sex.
But lately, life on the coast has taken a strange turn. the town's mayor, a respected pillar of the community, has been arrested for corruption.
His wife claims he's been bewitched by a beautiful clairvoyant.
Then there's the mysterious phone calls that local people have been getting.
I am the Archangel Michael. The whole town has been thrown into chaos.
Since the mayor is unable to carry out his duties, I would like to address you all.
Legal proceedings have been initiated. Join me, Anna Richardson, and journalist Leo Schick for The Mystic and the Mayor as we investigate a story of power, corruption, and magic.
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She remembered hearing Morgan counting like really quickly and then hearing the two girls talk while they looked for her, but she couldn't hear exactly what they were saying.
And then all of a sudden, Morgan was crouched over her holding a steak knife.
And right before she started stabbing Peyton, she said quote don't be afraid I'm only a little kitty cat oh What?
Don't be afraid. I'm only a little kitty cat.
I didn't know that. I didn't know that part.
I don't like that at all I hate it so much I hate that I know that now a So we'll get into it later.
But apparently she had this idea that like, she when she like went to live with Slender Man, the Slender Man, that was going to be like who she was like an evil kitty cat.
And that's what she was going to say to people before doing things like this.
I mean, that's scary as fuck. Yeah. Now, while Morgan was stabbing Peyton, Anissa was standing over the two of them just watching, apparently.
And what Peyton didn't know is that while she was hiding and she could hear them talking, they were actually arguing over who would be the one to stab her.
While she's hiding. Holy wow. While she's hiding.
Anissa kept handing the knife back to Morgan. that they had taken from Morgan's kitchen, by the way, and just telling her like, you need to take this and do it because I'm quote, too squeamish.
I'm too squeamish. And it's like, okay. Okay.
So right before Morgan started stabbing Anissa and said the kitty cat thing.
Anissa said to Morgan, quote, Kitty now, go ballistic.
Kitty Now Go Ballistic? Yes. Yes. Poor Peyton right now.
Must have been absolutely terrified. Like a carnival nightmare.
These are 12-year-old girls. So beyond anything you could ever conjure in your brain.
No, this is like PTSD for the rest of your life.
Can you now go ballistic? I'd be like, why are you talking like that?
This is awful. Their interviews are the skill and we'll get into it a little bit, so we'll just be prepared.
So after stabbing Peyton 19 times... In her arms, chest, legs, like everywhere.
Peyton tried to stand, but she couldn't see because she probably lost like so much blood and just was so... Yeah.
I mean, disoriented and just complete. So she couldn't see or walk really well.
And Anissa took her hand and told her to lie down because she would lose blood slower. that way and she was like me and Morgan are gonna go get help we'll be back So Peyton was like, yeah, no.
Yeah. Luckily Peyton doesn't remember all the details of the stabbing.
Thank goodness. Because her body obviously went into shock.
But she does remember the girls telling her that they were going to go get help.
And she remembers being like, yeah, I knew that they weren't going to get help.
Thank goodness she was that clear of thought.
Oh, that clear of thought. And then this little badass of a 12 year old girl. after being stabbed 19 times, crawled through the woods until she hit like the road and And luckily ran into this guy, Greg Steinberg, who was just out riding his bike.
And he's like, she stumbles across him and they meet and he's like, are you like, what?
You are out riding your bike and you run into a 12-year-old girl who crawls out of the woods bleeding from 19 stab wounds.
Mm-hmm. And I saw a picture in one article of her shirt that she was wearing that day and it was soaked with blood.
Like, I mean... stabbed 19 times horrifying yeah now he was the one to call 9-1-1 who luckily came right away And Peyton was with it enough to tell the officers who arrived on the scene who had stabbed her.
Wow. Morgan Geyser. Now with that, she was rushed away to the hospital to have emergency surgery.
And now the hunt was on to find Morgan. A 12-year-old.
The hunt was on to find a 12-year-old. It's so hard to comprehend this case.
Oh, I remember the first time I heard this case.
I actually have to say, I think I heard it on that.
And that's why we drink for the first time.
And I was like. What, Christine? What are you saying to me?
What, Christine? It's beyond any kind of comprehension.
No, absolutely. 12 seems like a baby. I don't even remember being 12, to be honest with you.
Like when we were just talking about Silly Putty and you were like, I thought you were going to say this.
I was like, I don't even remember 12. You're like, what was I doing at 12?
I have no idea. But Morgan and Nyssa were found sitting in the grass near Interstate 94.
They had cleaned up in a Walmart and they told the investigators that their plan was to walk to Slender Man's mansion.
Wow. So they were like fully committed to this.
Oh, yeah. Like we did our job. Now we're going to the mansion.
Now it would have been more than a four hour drive from where they were and they were going to walk.
Yeah. Yeah. Now the entire attack and the Slender Man aspect was bizarre, but things were only going to get more bleak.
It was very clear during Morgan's interviews with the investigators that she had absolutely zero remorse for what she did. absolutely zero remorse.
At 12. No, she told the investigators that they had no idea how hard it was to keep this plan a secret because there were plans for this.
In fact, there were three separate plans on how to kill Peyton That like took or got into motion over the last six months.
My what? So they had been planning this for six months. months.
That's a pretty good case for premeditation.
And as San Morgan made up, code words so that they could talk about the murder in public and then they would like email and write notes about it.
Now, the first plan was to kill Peyton during the sleepover while she was sleeping.
That's like sophisticated, the code word shit.
Oh, yeah. Wow. This was bananas. They were going to kill her during the sleepover just in Morgan's house.
Oh yeah, that's where the sophistication is not there.
Yeah, that's where it dips off a little bit.
Well, not even that. They were too, quote, sleepy and tired from the roller rink.
Yeah. So they didn't kill her during the sleepover because they were too sleepy and tired.
It's a good calf workout. Yep, now remember the altercation in the bathroom from two minutes ago?
That was the second plan because they were going to kill her in the bathroom.
Morgan noted that there was a drain there for the blood and Anissa told the investigators, quote, what I read on the computer, it's easier to kill people when they're either asleep or unconscious.
And it's easier if you don't look at them in their eyes.
Oh my god. Like she willingly told them that.
And it's just like the internet tells me this.
Like, what the fuck? Yeah, like, why does the internet say that?
And also, why are your parental controls?
Why are you two looking at this shit and no one knows about it?
Like, holy shit. Yep. So that's why they tried to hit Peyton's head into the wall.
They were trying to knock her out so that they could kill her in the bathroom.
But I think they just like didn't do it.
I mean, this is horrible, but they didn't do it hard enough.
So they had to resort to plan three. And now, obviously, they decided to do the hide and seek thing in the woods.
And Morgan later recalled that the plan was flawless. my god and she also said quote people who you trust become very gullible it was sort of sad People who you... Wow.
People who you trust. So they literally are like, she trusted us and that's sad for her.
Yeah. Because... wow that's some evil shit oh yeah that's some evil shit the entire thing is really scary Now, while Morgan was being interrogated, she couldn't remember who did the stabbing and she tried to act like it was Anissa who was like behind the whole plan.
But Anissa was super fucking calm during her interview.
And she explained all of the events that took place and the reasons behind them.
Basically, the whole story is they had to earn Slender Man's trust, and they thought that if they killed a friend, they would be safe.
And then in turn, they would be able to go live with him without being harmed and without their families being harmed.
So it's like if you don't earn his trust first by like... doing something like kill your best friend, then you try to go live with him and he's going to hurt you or your family.
And it's like, so tell me again why you want to be in Slender Man's mansion?
Yeah, it doesn't really make sense. I would say. naivete is definitely a theme surrounding this case.
And it's like for someone who's using such sophisticated like evil shit as like people who trust you, that's sad for them because they get very gullible. then you should also know that it's pretty fucking gullible to think something that would normally kill you and your family, but won't do it if you kill your friend,
It's probably not telling the truth either.
Oh, yeah. Like, maybe you should work through that trust thought you had a little further.
Oh, yeah. Now, later, I don't want to say it will make sense, but we'll see that there's definitely a lot of mental illness.
There's more to it. Now, like I said, naivete is definitely a theme surrounding the case.
Isn't it fun to say like that? That is naivete.
Thanks. And so, for example, because when Anissa heard that Peyton had survived the attack, like two hours into her interrogation, she was like, where is Peyton's body now? like asked where her body was and they were like oh hey guys uh btw Can you let me know where that is?
Yeah. No. But they were like, oh, she lived.
So she's at the hospital getting emergency surgery.
Oh, my God. Imagine, drop. Oh, so when they did, they said that Anissa perked up and was like,
Like, oh, we failed. So can we just forget this ever happened?
Like, you thought, like, since she's alive that you're... Wow.
What? Yeah. What? Just hearing that thought process, you can tell there's a lot of mental illness here.
It's just the fact that they're like, oh, so we can go back to school.
Right. Like it didn't work. Right. We didn't kill her.
Cool. Moving on. So scary. Now, the kids at school started hearing what had happened to Peyton.
And they wanted to paint whiskers on their face one day at school, like in support of Peyton, who loved cats and would paint whiskers on the back of their face. of her hand.
You know, I forgot. I, like, didn't even connect those two, that, like, she loves cats, and then these people, like, used, like, kitty...
Yeah, because they all they love they all loved cats.
I didn't even think of that. That's even worse.
Yeah, absolutely. Sorry. Well, and that's the thing.
So these kids at school wanted to do that for Peyton, but the adults were like, oh no, we know some of the details.
Like you can't do that. That's going to be traumatizing as fuck.
Yeah, exactly. Because little did they know Morgan was like acting like her own version of a fucking evil cat that day.
Oh, Oh my God, but that's so sweet that those kids wanted to do that.
I know. Now when Morgan's room was searched, they found over 50 pictures of Slender Man that she had drawn herself. with captions that were written in all capital letters saying things like, always watches, no eyes and never alone.
And you know what? It's like this kind of shit would not be that strange.
Like if he was she was drawing pictures of Slenderman and like.
Yeah, whatever. Writing spooky stories or making weird... Right.
It's like, that shit alone wouldn't be, like...
Yeah, whatever. It would more just be like, okay, well, that's your creative outlet.
That's fine. But, like, you add it into everything else, and it's like...
That's the thing. This girl is bringing like hammers to school and like throwing bugs at kids.
It's like, I don't know. And again, hindsight 2020.
Always. It's so easy to say it now, but it's like you look at it and you're like, that's a lot.
But it's so much easier to add up the red flags later.
And the other thing is, you know, Like, we don't know what was going on at home.
Maybe they were trying to get her some kind of treatment, and then this just happened.
Yeah, you have no idea. You don't know. And I can't imagine that happening.
How do you even reconcile that as a parent?
Well, as a parent, I can't fathom. No. Yeah.
Like, I feel bad for all the parents involved in this.
Oh, yeah, everybody. They're all victims.
I... I don't want to say I love when this happens, but I have a lot of respect for when this happens.
It seems like all the parents in this case were like, I am grieving for not only like the loss of my child, but like for what happened to the other child.
Yeah, like my, you know, they're all losing a little bit of their childhood.
Right, exactly. Nobody died, but pieces of all of them died.
Have been taken. Yeah. And, I mean, two of them, like, anyways, we'll get into it.
So the drawings of Slenderman were found in her, in her room.
And then there were also drawings of Slenderman found in her locker at school okay and then back at home again they also found mutilated dolls in her room which again i guess wouldn't be like that creepy That's a little creepy.
That one's a little alarming, I feel. But again.
And here's the thing, because it's not just like, I don't know, like I definitely like ripped the heads off of my Barbie dolls because I think everybody did.
Oh, wow. The head comes off. As soon as you learn the head pops off, it's like, it's open season at that point.
Yeah, exactly. It's like weird, but whatever.
Yeah. But so these these dolls weren't only like missing heads.
They also had like arms and legs missing and like hands missing.
Missing? Yeah, that's when it gets a little Edmund Kemper-y.
Sure, sure. That's when it gets there. And her computer showed hundreds of searches for, quote, how to get away with murdering someone.
Alright, there it is. End quote. This is sad.
What kind of insane am I? Oh, that's really sad.
That's sad. That's not even like scary because she's 12.
It's like. why didn't you, like, I wish you just talked to somebody.
That's terrifying and sad all at the same time.
Exactly. Exactly. now according to the new york times quote the police chief russell jack called the attack on the girl 12. a wake-up call for parents and urged them to closely monitor their children's use of the internet which he said can be, quote, full of dark and wicked things.
Yeah, no shit. It's like, yeah. Oh, my gosh.
Now, the question now was whether or not to try the girls as adults, because I don't know if I've said it enough times.
They're 12. 12. Now, if they were tried in juvenile court, they really wouldn't get that much time in prison and they would most likely just end up doing a lot of community service, which for this is really not a fair punishment.
No. And the judge felt as though they definitely posed a serious threat to society.
Absolutely. evidence to point to first degree intentional homicide.
And according to the Milwaukee Journal, quote, In Wisconsin, if a child is charged with that offense as young as 10, a case must start in adult court.
Yeah. So as young as 10. 10 years old. But it's like if you're 10 and you plan intentional homicide.
Well, that's. This had such premeditation to it.
Oh, absolutely. That has to be taken into consideration.
And they just like. flat out told them.
Yeah. Like at one point, I don't remember exactly what the question I think they said, like, Oh, they said, what did you feel when you were stabbing your best friend?
And she was like, I didn't feel anything.
It just felt like air. It was just like stab, stab, stabby stab.
And like said stab, stab, stabby, stab and motioned stabbing.
Like she was like, I don't give a single fuck.
Yeah, that's such a disconnect. Oh my goodness, yeah, absolutely.
And it's like a... It sounds evil when you're listening to it, but then when you actually look into it, you're like, This is such a mental disconnect.
Right. There's just nothing there. There is there's something bad. in there like there's something that's not a good person like that's just happened to have a mental illness this is a bad person With also happens to be very young and experiencing. extreme extreme mental illness it's really sad and we'll get into like how extreme it was and when it all started And I can't imagine having like, you know, her parents, I can't imagine.
No. How do you handle that? When you have kids, no one is immediately expecting to have to deal with something like that.
No, and it's like, I mean, her mom must have been like, they went roller skating together and then they had a sleepover and I bought donuts for them.
Like, how was I to ever expect that this was going to happen?
A very normal... birthday party for 12.
Yeah. And it seems like, like I said, like they were playing dress up.
They were playing like, Harry Potter. And, like, she liked Voldemort and stuff.
And, like, her parents were definitely, like, quote-unquote weirdos like us.
Yeah. They liked, like... macabre shit.
And they probably encouraged her to be who she is.
Be a little weirdo. I want my kids to be little weirdos.
Which is great. You should always encourage your child to be who they are. you're weird and you're into like weird stuff and your kid is into very normal, like, you know, Disney princesses or like, Like you.
Encourage it. Whatever they like. Or if they're into weird stuff. nourish that as well because it's like what you said like with the drawings if if she was just drawing Slender Man I'd be like oh like Um, that's definitely like that scares mommy, but like, cool.
You little weirdo. Like, hell yeah. Like you're.
Really talented. Yeah. And it seems like her parents did that.
Like, I believe her dad posted a picture and was like.
I think he called her Mogo, which is really cute.
Oh my God, I love it. He was like, only Mogo would draw Slenderman at dinner.
Oh, so I feel like- I feel like they were just trying to be good parents who like just, you know. supported their kids endeavors here.
Exactly. And at 12, I don't think you're thinking.
No. it could be something like this and to be honest with you i honestly got pissed off at some of the articles that i was reading about this and especially the ones where they were talking about her parents Because they made it a point to be like, and her dad sent her mom a birthday card with skulls on it. and it's like oh god it's like the Marilyn Manson thing like he's a bad person and But just because he's interested in macabre, weird shit, that has nothing to do with his... being a bad person it's just something to tack on to let's let's you know Again, like we were saying with the Marilyn Manson thing, it's like Brian Warner is a bad person.
It has nothing to do with him being like a shocker. rocker exactly and it's the same thing with this like yeah they're into weird shit like but like that doesn't make their child people Well, and that's the thing.
Like, it didn't make their child mentally ill.
You're either mentally ill or you're not.
Exactly. You know what I mean? Yeah, it's just frustrating.
Like we've said this in the when we mentioned it initially, that it's just frustrating when they like concentrate on that.
Right, because on the superfluous details of that really don't matter.
Never in a murder case are you like, oh, and the parents love to shop at J.Crew and get Frappuccinos. yes and it's like that's weird to some people right exactly like that's weird to other people so fuck it just doesn't matter Now, so the decision was made to try both girls as adults because it was just like what was legally precedented.
And they are a danger to society. Oh, absolutely.
That is without a doubt. Absolutely. Now, Morgan was diagnosed with early onset schizophrenia during her trial.
Okay. Many sources that I read pointed out that that's a very unlikely diagnosis for such a young girl.
I was going to say that is so young. So young, but her father, as it turns out, had also been hospitalized for that and had it.
He was hospitalized in his teens and it seems like he found out when he was younger. and was able i'm not i'm not sure if he was able to get like medicated or whatever but it seems like he was able to work through it yeah And then I think they just didn't realize that until this happened, that Morgan had it.
That's crazy. Now, Morgan ended up taking a plea deal so that her insanity defense wouldn't be challenged. and she pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
So she received 40 years in a state institution.
Wow. And Anissa also took a plea deal. She pleaded guilty to second degree intentional homicide.
And she was found not guilty by reason of a mental disease or defect.
And she was sentenced to 25 years in a state institution.
I didn't know what the sentences were. Yeah.
It's interesting. yeah but I mean 40 years is like a very long time that's a that's a A big chunk of life.
25 years, that's two. But when you're 12, if you think about it, she's going to be out when she's like your age.
Yeah, that's true. And you know what? I think it's good that they were sentenced to those places because that...
I don't see any point in sending them to prison because it's like, yeah, obviously prison is like the whole point is to reform.
But I think when you're this young, and you're having this mental illness, prison isn't going to do anything for you other than make it worse.
They need help. Absolutely. Now, according to Lisa Miller, who wrote the article Slender Man is Watching.
She wrote a really good article for New York Mag.
Anissa has good days and bad days. I guess she's like a model prisoner and she follows the rules.
She's done the seventh grade history curriculum twice.
Wow. So she's like super smart. Damn. But she also has like intense breakdowns from time to time.
And she's been placed on suicide watch and put in a straight jacket before.
So. She's definitely still struggling. There's a lot.
There's a lot there. And Morgan has been able to get a lot of the psychiatric help that she needed.
She was also diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder.
And her doctor testified in court that she had been suffering hallucinations since she was three years old.
What the fuck? three years old. Are you kidding me?
I guess she would see like vivid pictures pictures on like the walls and stuff and like obviously she had like imaginary friends and stuff like that.
Wow. But think about it when your kid is little and they have an imaginary friend.
You're not thinking that they're schizophrenic.
Almost everybody had an imaginary friend.
Exactly. You know, so. Naughty Martha. That's hilarious.
Yours was Naughty Martha and mine was Luke Skywalker.
Now... Both girls have made appeals. In fact, Morgan's appeal was brought to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2020 because her her lawyers basically were saying like it wasn't fair because she was a juvenile.
No, she's, constitution has changed she still needs not the constitution you know what i'm talking yeah i know what you mean No, in my opinion, she needs to serve that time.
Absolutely. And not even serve that time, yes, absolutely.
Also get help. It needs to be all of it.
Because no matter what, you need to get help, but you also need a consequence.
Absolutely. Because, I mean, poor Peyton has to live with... these memories and this trauma forever physical scars of this for the rest of her life they deserve to have punishment Yeah.
So her appeal, like I said, it was brought to Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2020.
But actually earlier this February, like last week, I want to say, the court announced that they will not hear the appeal.
Good. They don't want anything to do with it.
Now, Peyton is doing incredible. Yay. obvious reason she doesn't want to communicate with Anissa or Morgan.
Yeah, don't blame her. She said that if she did speak to Morgan, she would thank her.
And she told David Muir of ABC News quote, I would probably initially thank her.
I would say just because of what she did, I have the life I have now.
I really, really like it and I have a plan.
I didn't have a plan when I was 12 and I do now because of everything that I went through.
Wow. And yeah, and ABC News went on to report that Peyton's family was super proud of her and excited to see what her next chapter was in life.
My God. And now I believe she's like going to college and it's like she's probably she's probably right when she says like she probably looks at life not that you she was looking at it like frivolously at 12 you know but like you're not fully cognizant of what how fleeting life is no that will make you half doubt in a second.
Very aware. She slept with like a pair of broken scissors underneath her pillow for like years.
Oh, my God. And her family said there was family members that she...
Like couldn't get close to her. She had a hard time making friends.
I'm sure I wouldn't trust anyone. How do you trust someone after that?
No, but she worked through it and now is like, Like wanting to thank the girl that did this to her.
What a badass. Peyton, you're a badass. She's a badass.
Ugh. I just want to like high five her.
Yeah. So that was all in the name of Slender Man.
Wow. And now it's dark in here and it's spooky.
And I want it to be done. I'm... Just shook at that case.
Yeah, it is a... It's a rough case. It is... It is...
I mean, these are literal baby girls that are just... doing the most adult monstrous things to another, to somebody who trusts them.
I feel like I used to, I don't feel like I used to watch that show like Killer Kids all the time.
I can't watch that shit. Ever since you had kids, I can't because I'm so close to your kids.
Yeah. I like I'm like, oh, my God. Nope.
It freaks me out. Yeah. Yeah, it's like too much.
I can only imagine what happens when I have my kids because like you had yours and I'm already like tapped.
Oh, just wait. Jesus. Just you wait. It changes.
So thank you, Patronuses, for picking that one.
I know. And I'm excited for your Willie Pickton one.
Yeah. Once again, you guys, you guys nailed it.
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