Apparently Wes Craven wasn’t totally making things up when he introduced Freddie Kruger to the newly-terrified world. According to a new video, Wes Craven got his inspiration from a reported trend of healthy Southeast Asian immigrants unexpectedly dying in their sleep. While the connection to nightmares hasn’t been proven—it’s obviously pretty hard to ask a dead person about their experience—some researchers suggest that simply believing that nightmares can kill can turn night terrors deadly.
Nightmare on Elm St: Inspired by a True Story?