Episode 19: Freddy Krueger - The Backstory

HAPPY HALLOWEEN LISTENERS!! We have a spooky one for you this week to wrap up the Halloween season. We're diving into Freddy Krueger and Wes Craven's inspiration behind creating this horror movie classic.

Join us as we discuss the untimely nocturnal deaths of several refugees in the United States between 1978 and 1982 and how Wes Craven drew inspiration from these unexplained deaths to create our beloved Freddy on Elm Street. 

Sources:

Riley Presnell, “How In The Hell Is ‘Nightmare On Elm Street’ Based on a True Story,” Collider, October 15, 2023, https://collider.com/nightmare-on-elm-street-true-story/#:~:text=Freddy%20Krueger%20from%20A%20Nightmare,but%20faced%20nightmares%20and%20death.

Chen Z, Mu J, Chen X, Dong H. Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome in Central China (Hubei): A 16-Year Retrospective Study of Autopsy Cases. Medicine (Baltimore). 2016 Mar;95(9):e2882. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000002882. PMID: 26945374; PMCID: PMC4782858, https://www. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4782858/

Cox AM. Sleep paralysis and folklore. JRSM Open. 2015;6(7). doi:10.1177/2054270415598091https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2054270415598091

Star Lee, “Unexplained Death Inspired a Nightmare on Elm Street,” Hmong American Experience, October 31, 2022, https://hmongamerican.org/unexplained-deaths-inspired-a-nightmare-on-elm-street/

Sherry R. Adler, “ Refugee Stress and Folk Belief: Hmong Sudden Deaths,” 5 Elsevier Science Ltd, 1995, https://moodle.swarthmore.edu/pluginfile.php/80112/mod_resource/content/0/Adler-_Hmong_Sudden_Deaths.pdf