Watch the Chilling Trailer For HBO’s New Documentary, ‘Beware the Slenderman’

An internet myth led to a real-world crime.

A pair of young Wisconsin girls, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, attempted to stab a friend to death in 2014. They did it all for Slender Man. It was a bizarre crime that would have only been more horrific if the victim had died. One reason it was so strange: Slender Man was essentially a goof on subtly scary photos that went viral after being posted on the Something Awful web forum seven years ago. 

HBO has made a documentary, Beware the Slenderman, about the crime. The trailer is as terrifying as any horror blockbuster. It features moments from police interrogations of the 12-year-olds—who thought they were sacrificing their friend, even wandering the woods looking for Slender Man’s “mansion” after the crime—as well as intense images of the imaginary creature. 

In a statement issued by HBO, director Irene Taylor Brodsky said the documentary “does not revolve around guilt or innocence,” but focuses on “the court’s deliberation whether the girls should be tried as adults or children.”

HBO has a great history with true crime docs such as The Jinx, about homicidal billionaire Robert Durst, so this looks like it could be another big hit for the network and perhaps the genre. 

Beware the Slenderman creeps onto HBO subscriber TVs on January 23, 2017. 

h/t BuzzFeed