True Fiction

You may be familiar with the story of Laura Palmer, the homecoming queen whose death kickstarted the iconic series Twin Peaks, but did you know that creators David Lynch and Mark Frost were inspired by a very real murder? In Sand Lake, New York lived a young woman named Hazel Drew, who died under mysterious circumstances. Her body washed ashore a lake and, to this day, her murder remains unsolved. Years later, Mark Frost heard the story and, in doing so, the seeds for Twin Peaks were sown in his mind. In the first episode of True Fiction, Kurt Indovina talks to David Bushman and Mark Givens, experts on the murder of Hazel Drew, and examines how a true crime story influenced one of the most beloved fictional murder mysteries of all time. For more about the Hazel Drew's case and the making of this episode, head here: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/watch-true-fiction-episode-1-the-murder-that-inspi/1100-6469990/

Freddy Krueger may be a work of fiction, but did you know that he was based on a very real nightmare? After suffering at the hands of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, as well as living through the aftermath of the Vietnam war, Hmong refugees fled south east asia for the safety of America. However, their horrifying experiences left a mark on them and their tragic history seemed to follow them to their new home. Shortly after arriving in America, Hmong refugees began dying in their sleep, with no clear cause. This led to the headlines that, eventually, would inspire Wes Craven to create A Nightmare on Elm Street. More specifically, to create Freddy Kruger, a murderous menace that invaded people’s sleep and killed them. In this episode of True Fiction, Kurt Indovina explore the Hmong death phenomenon and how it inspired an iconic horror movie franchise.

The Lord of the Rings may be a work of high fantasy, but did you know there was a devastating real event that tied our world to Middle-earth, the mythical land of Elves, Orcs, and Hobbits? By his own account, J. R. R. Tolkien didn’t create The Lord of the Rings to be an allegory for the First World War, but the beloved series can still be applied to his own experiences with it. World War 1 had an undeniable impact on Tolkien as a person, and in this episode of True Fiction, Kurt Indovina examines how.

Godzilla may seem like an impossible work of science fiction, but did you know that the origins of the monster are deeply rooted in our reality? Godzilla is a monster born from tragedy and the anti-war stance of its father, Japanese director Ishiro Honda. Honda served in World War 2, despite having a staunch anti-war stance. His true passion was creating stories for film, so when he returned from the war he embarked on a filmmaking career in earnest. Eventually, he’d land on Godzilla, and the impact of nuclear warfare on him and Japanese culture as a whole would guide him to create one of the most iconic and influential movies of all time. In this episode of True Fiction, Kurt Indovina charts Honda’s path to filmmaking and explores Honda’s influences, all of which led to creating Godzilla. Find out Godzilla’s real origins in this week’s True Fiction.