10 Most Shocking And Strange Facts About Famous Horror Movies

Freddy Krueger, undead killer and dream demon of the Nightmare on Elm street series was formed as an amalgamation of various troubling elements from the mind of director Wes Craven. The name was taken directly from one of Craven's school mates who'd bullied him for several years, while Freddy's hat, dirty clothes and menacing demeanour were based on a hobo he'd seen through his bedroom window one night when he was ten years old.

But the biggest inspiration for the concept itself, Freddy's ability to murder a victim through their dreams, came from a genuine medical phenomenon. SUNDS, Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome, whereby a person in otherwise good health mysteriously dies in their sleep. Craven had read an article in the LA times documenting a spate of such deaths which took place through the late '70's and early '80's.

Unlike the movie, all of the victims were male Hmong refugees who'd survived the Cambodian killing fields and relocated to the United states. In each instance the men were either found dead in the morning or were observed during the night to be making "gurgling noises" before expiring.

In July 1980, Portland based Doctor Larry V. Lewman became concerned after examining two victims only a few days apart. In both cases, despite detailed autopsies and toxicology tests, no cause of death could be determined. The fact that both men were Hmong refugees from Laos presented a further link and after checking records Lewman discovered that there had been two additional inexplicable deaths of Laotian refugees in the previous nine months.

The Doctor started to contact medical officials in areas with significant Hmong populations and discovered a further 13 incidences. By 1981 the Center for Disease Control had identified a further 35. An initial theory leading to a federal investigation was that nerve gas used in the conflict might have been responsible, but this was very quickly debunked. If it was nerve gas, why did it affect only males? And why had it taken up to several years to take effect? And why only during sleep?

After years of study and various failed theories a general consensus was reached, attributing cause of death in these cases to heart attack, likely brought on by "night terrors".

Death by nightmare.