In 1984, Wes Craven launched the career of Freddy Krueger, the most terrifying movie monster ever, in the film A Nightmare on Elm Street. The reason he was so scary is that he invaded a victim’s dreams while they were sleeping, when they were most vulnerable and unable to fight back. But the people Krueger killed in their dreams were also dead in real life. A brilliant idea for a horror film, yet it was inspired by real life events.
In the late 1970s and the ’80s, a mysterious series of deaths occurred among young, healthy people in their sleep. All but one of the 117 documented victims were men, and the vast majority were Hmong refugees from Laos. They had no underlying illness, and their autopsies revealed no cause of death. The syndrome was named SUNDS for “sudden, unexpected, nocturnal death.” The victims had horrific experiences during the Vietnam War, but why did they suddenly die years later, in a land where they were safe? Read about SUNDS, what we’ve learned about it in the years since, and how the epidemic inspired Wes Craven to create Freddy Krueger, at Mental Floss.
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Source: neatorama