The Horrifying Nightmare Syndrome
We’ve all had terrifying nightmares that seem so real that we can’t wake up. And when we do wake up we’re breathing heavy, sweating, and feeling a bit disoriented.
But it’s all a just a dream…… Or is it?
The real-life horror that inspired the iconic 80’s slasher film, A Nightmare on Elm Street started on the killing fields of Cambodia way before Freddy terrorized Elm Street. In early 1981, just a few years before the movie came out, 18 supposedly healthy Hmong refugees died in their sleep.
The days leading up to their deaths they were said to be desperately trying to stay awake. They were trying everything NOT to go to sleep because they said something terrifying was trying to get them in their dreams. They all eventually ended up going to sleep only never to wake up again.
News of all of this quickly spread and it became a cultural concern for the Hmong. Eventually the CDC got involved and what they found puzzled them. At the time there were only about 35,000 Hmong living in America. Hmong men were more likely to die of nightmares, than a car accident, disease, or homicide.
When Folklore Meets Reality
The Hmong believe in the a nightmare demon called Dab Tsog. It was a legend and wasn’t supposed to be really but could it be that they believed strongly enough that it existed that it actually became real enough to kill?
To make a long story short, medical researchers ended up dubbing the mysterious disorder “Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome.” They said that it’s a genetic disease that causes the bodies electrical signals to fire improperly leading to heart attacks.
However what happened to those 18 men was never explained because they were in fact healthy. Could the fear of something like this become real and actually kill a person? We all know everything is in the mind, so if we believe something strong enough, could it become real and kill us?
This is what inspired the Wes Craven, and thus Freddy Krueger was born. You may want to sleep with 1 eye open tonight, who knows Freddy could be right around the corner.
Check out this video we found by Ripley’s Believe It Or Not about the story and let us know your thoughts.
Video Source – Ripley’s Believe It Or Not
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