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A Nightmare on Elm Street is Based on a True Story · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: The iconic figure of Freddy Krueger, known for his striped
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  sweater and glove adorned with knives, may have roots in
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  a true story. Indeed, the character portrayed by Robert England
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  in A Nightmare on Elm Street was not solely a
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  creation of Wes Craven's imagination. Rather, it drew inspiration from
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  real life events. Just when one might think the notion
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  of Freddy invading dreams and inflicting gruesome deaths could not
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  be more terrifying, it appears there was a genuine dream
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  killer causing distress during the nineteen eighties. A Nightmare on
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  Elm Street follows a group of teenagers from the Midwest
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  who find themselves ensnared in a shared nightmare. A man
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  named Freddy Krueger stalks them while they sleep. This grotesquely
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  disfigured figure murders individuals within their dreams, leading to their
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  demise in reality. The only means of evading Kruger's deadly
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  grasp is to remain awake at all costs. Otherwise the
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  chilling refrain one too Freddy's Coming for You, becomes a
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  grim reality. The franchise comprises eight films, including a crossover
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  titled Freddie Versus Jason, as well as a twenty ten
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  remake of the original film, which is best left forgotten.
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  The legacy of Freddy Krueger stands as one of the
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  most enduring in horror history, proving that such legacies are immortal.
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  So what led to the emergence of this sardonic and
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  malevolent child murderer? The Los Angeles Times deserves credit for
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  that the real life inspiration behind A Nightmare on Elm Street.
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  Craven's foray into horror scriptwriting is particularly noteworthy, as he
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  embarked on this journey without having viewed a single horror film.
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  In an oral history of A Nightmare on Elm Street
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  published by Vulture, Craven recounted that the concept for the
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  iconic dream killer emerged after he encountered an article in
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  the LA Times. This article detailed the harrowing experience of
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  a Cambodian family who fled to America to escape the
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  atrocities of the killing Fields. Upon their arrival in the
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  United States, the family appeared to be settling in well
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  until the young boy became overwhelmed by a fear of sleep,
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  convinced that slumber would lead to his demise at the
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  hands of an unseen pursuer. His determination to remain awake
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  for extended periods ultimately resulted in his tragic death during
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  a nightmare. This chilling narrative served as the foundation for
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  a nightmare on Elm Street. Craven also revealed to Sin
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  a Fantastic magazine that this was not the sole article
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  that inspired him. He had come across three additional reports
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  concerning unexplained fatality among individuals from Laos and Cambodia. Although
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  these articles did not establish a direct connection between the deaths,
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  they shared unsettling similarities. One particularly haunting case involved a
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  man who was discovered deceased in his sleep, with a
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  mister coffee maker found in his closet alongside unused sleeping pills.
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  This phenomenon of Southeast Asian refugees succumbing to sleep related
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  deaths is not unprecedented. In Laos, numerous young men were
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  reported to have died in their sleep due to a
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  mysterious condition that was later identified as sudden Unexplained Nocturnal
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  death syndrome SERNS. This syndrome predominantly affected young men aged
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  twenty to thirty from the Homong ethnic group who faced
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  persecution in Laos after their involvement with the CIA during
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  the Vietnam War. Between nineteen seventy eight and nineteen eighty one,
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  there were thirteen recorded nocturnal deaths among among men. The
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  la Times noted that an alarming ninety eight percent of
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  these fatalities occurred between the hours of ten pm and
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  eight a m. In nineteen eighty one alone, a total
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  of twenty six Schmong men lost their lives under similar circumstances.
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  While many victims were found deceased, those who received timely
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  medical attention were often discovered with their hearts beating at
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  an alarming rate. Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street
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  was turned down by many studios. Craven brought his concept
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  to Hollywood, where he faced significant rejection from numerous directors
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  and production companies, including Universal Studios. In an oral history
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  featured in Vulture regarding A Nightmare on Elm Street, Craven
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  reveals that he keeps the rejection letter from Universal displayed
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  on his wall. Many discouraged him from pursuing the film
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  due to its plot premise, cautioning that while nightmares are
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  a common experience, individuals typically awaken from them without encountering
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  a knife wielding assailant. However, Bob Say, who would later
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  become the producer of A Nightmare on Elm Street, had
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  a different perspective. After meeting with Craven, he expressed his
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  enthusiasm for the project. They established a budget of seven
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  hundred thousand dollars, primarily financed by a Yugoslavian individual who
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  wished for his girlfriend to appear in the film. The
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  choice of Freddy's red and green sweater was based on
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  a Scientific American article that indicated this color combination is
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  particularly challenging for the human eye to perceive. Craven intended
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  these colours to serve as Freddy's signature, ensuring immediate recognition
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  of the character.