Is it wrong to like fictional evil characters when you know they were inspired by real monsters ?
I could spend hours discussing this topic. The true stories behind it all.
Where does the ethic stand in horror ? As so many fictional killers were inspired by real ones.
If you’ve seen Ryan Murphy‘s the Ed Gein story’s poor rendition of the events, you’ll already know that the Plainfield’s killer is the inspiration behind Psycho, Silence of the Lambs and the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
But it’s not the only instance.
Masking the truth with fiction
If you’ve felt sick to your stomach watching Mick Taylor kidnap and kill people in Wolf Creek, know that he was also inspired by two Australian killers.
Bradley Murdoch was arrested and died in prison after murdering a british backpacker in the outback, and Ivan Milat was arrested for kidnapping, torturing and killing at least 7 backpackers in Australia. He died in a hospital in 2019.
Milat collected the items of his victims, and offered them to his relatives.
Mick Taylor is, in essence, a combination of both.
John Jarratt, who played the psychopath, actually didn’t shower on set to dissociate and make the character even more awful.
Don’t take this for the truth about the actor though, having met him, he is a sweetheart.
And what about Ghostface ? Everyone know who he is, and what he did, right ?
Well, he was inspired by The Gainesville Ripper‘s killer.
Kevin Wiliamson wrote the screenplay for the original Scream after having watched a documentary about his crimes.
That even cost the crew a few problems while shooting, as many people protested.
You know how Jeffrey Dahmer had neighbours complain about him, the smells, the attitude, everything ?
Well the original Fright Night was inspired by a story similar to this one. Instead of putting the evil vampire in a far away castle out in Transylvania, the screenwriter decided to make it your next door neighbour.
This came after the story of the Hillside Stranglers came out.
What if your subburban home was next to serial killers, in vampire form.
We all know Jerry, but now you also know why he lived in a crowded city with easy access to people.
The Ryan Murphy glam treatment
I know I talk shit about Ryan Murphy whenver I get the chance because the man loves to destroy his own brilliant ideas and has less ethics than an Ice agent but I’ll have to give him a win. You know how American horror story changes stories every season… Well Hotel was mainly focused on serial killer H.H. Holmes.
For us true crime enthousiasts, it’s a household name.
The man was both insane and smart, a dangerous combination.
He was accused of between 2 and 200 deaths. No one truly knows for sure how many victims he killed, but he did confess to 27. After scamming people for money for years, he bought a hotel and transformed it into his own torture chamber and hunting grounds.
Doors led nowhere, windows didn’t open, hallways ended abruptly, stairs were useless… and there was a trap door in the floor for easy disposal, that led straight to the furnace.
Much like Evan Peter’s Mr March character.
Murphy also introduced Devil’s night in the hotel, where March met with Dahmer, Ramirez, Wuornos, and Gacy.
Even going as far at to mention that Charles Manson couldn’t join them.
And the hotel itself ? Hotel Cortez is mirroring the Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
A hotel where murders, suicides, torture and drugs have been rampant for decades.
It really housed Richard Ramirez for a while.
The Cecil Hotel deaths are such common knowledge that people also link them to the movie 1408.
From cold cases to Pop Culture icons
So many links to real life murders in the horror world has to make us ponder.
As trauma gets used for entertainment.
In the movies, most of the time, we follow a final girl… but in the real world ? It’s mostly cold cases.
Not all the victims are found.
The families are destroyed and the murderers either walk free after a few years or die of old age in prison.
And yet we wear printed shirts with fake monsters inspired by them, get them tattooed or watch those movies for comfort.
Our fake monsters are closer to real ones than we like to think.