Horror films based on true events

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Iconic villain Freddy Krueger kills teenagers through dreams. Director Wes Caven told Vulture that the idea for the horror film came from an article about Cambodian refugees where the son was experiencing terrible nightmares. "He told his parents that he was afraid to fall asleep because the thing that was hunting him would catch him, so he tried to stay awake for several days. When he finally fell asleep, his parents thought the crisis was over. Then they heard screams in the middle of the night. When they got to him, he was dead. He died in the middle of a nightmare. This was a young man who saw the horror that the elders denied. This became the central thread of More in Ulica brestov."

Dahmer (2002)

Jeremy Renner portrays the infamous serial killer in this chilling biopic that includes fictionalized versions of several of Dahmer's victims. Dahmer, also known as the 'Milwaukee Cannibal', took the lives of 17 boys and men.

Dead Ringers (1988)

In David Cronenberg's film, Jeremy Irons portrays twin gynecologists who screw things up with their patients and end up dying together. Cronenberg made the film based on the novel Twins by Barry Wood and Jack Geasland, which was inspired by the lives of real-life gynecologist twins who enjoyed "swapping to trick their patients" and who eventually "give themselves over to hard drugs and completely isolated themselves." .

Deliver Us From Evil (2014)

The film follows a cop and a priest who join forces to fight the supernatural. The film is based on self-proclaimed "demonologist" Ralph Sarchie's memoir, Beware the Night, in which he recounts supposedly true stories, such as finding himself "in the presence of one of the most dangerous devils" who possessed a woman.

Poltergeist (1982)

In Poltergeist, a family's home is occupied by ghosts who kidnap one of the daughters. The film was inspired by unexplained events such as loud popping noises and moving objects that happened to the Hermann family in 1958 New York.

Psycho (1960)

One of Alfred Hitchcock's key films features a woman who counterfeits her employer's money and then escapes to a mysterious hotel, where she is murdered by the man who runs the hotel (Norman Bates). The character of Norman is said to be based on Ed Gein from Wisconsin, who was convicted of one murder in the 1950s and was suspected of others. He also robbed graves and authorities found bowls made of human skulls and a lampshade made of human skin in his home.

Scream (1996)

A slasher classic from the 1990s, it uses black humor to tell the story of a group of teenagers and a mysterious killer known as Ghostface. But the real story is not funny at all. The film was inspired by the Gainesville Ripper (real name Danny Rolling), who murdered five teenagers with a knife in three days in Florida.

The Amityville Horror (1979)

A young couple buys a house in Amityville, New York, and it turns out that the house is haunted by a supernatural evil. In real life, the Lutz family moved to Amityville in 1975, a year after Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered 6 members of the family there. The Lutzes moved out of the house after 28 days, citing strange smells, sounds, gelatinous drops and other frightening phenomena.

The Conjuring (2013)

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farminga portray ghost hunters who help a family on a haunted 18th-century farm. Hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren also existed in reality, and the Perron family is the family they helped. Lorraine was a consultant on the film and insisted that most of the supernatural horrors actually happened, as did one of Andrea Perron's daughters, who is portrayed in the film. In USA Today, she recalled an angry ghost named Bathseheb: "Whoever this ghost was, she considered herself the master of the house and despised the competition that was my mother."

Annabelle (2014)

A creepy porcelain doll gets her chance in this spin-off from Evil Summoned. The spiritual Warrens claimed that there really was a Raggedy Ann doll that moved on its own and left scary messages that said, for example, "Help us." The woman who owned the doll contacted a media outlet who claimed the doll was owned by a seven-year-old girl, Annabelle, who died there.

Other horror movies said to be based on true events:

• The Disappointments Room (2016)
• The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
• The Exorcist (1979)
• The Girl Next Door (2007)
• The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)
• The Hills Have Eyes (1977 and 2006)
• The Possession (2012)
• The Rite (2011)
• The Sacrament (2013)
• The Shining (1980)
• The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
• The Strangers (2008)
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974 and 2003)
• The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976 and 2014)
• Veronica (2018)
• Winchester (2018)