In 1998 the rate of deaths for teenagers had nearly tripled. Doctors spent months trying to figure out what was causing these teenagers to die. But after extensive research, there were two specific things that linked all of these teenagers together. The first was that they all died in their sleep, and usually were reported thrashing and screaming before they died. The second was that all of the teenagers had been playing a popular video game known as Scream.
Scream was a video game for the original Nintendo Gameboy targeted towards teenagers. The game was an RPG (Role Playing Game) in which the player would gather a group of friends and fight their way through a horrific Halloween night. The game starts with the player being stuck babysitting when a masked murdered comes in and tries to kill them. Afterwards the player would go out and either run into creepy monsters or gather friends to help them survive the night. The game had a very large world filled with unique areas, such as a lake where an a child had drowned decades prior or a Hell-like dimension inside of a puzzle box.
The game was wildly popular because it wasn't linear, and you could form your own path out of segments laced through out the game. Each segment was usually made up of an area filled with enemies, and at the end you would fight a supernatural serial killer. However, one of these segments was found to be fatal to all those who played it. This segment was called Nightmare on Elm Street, and the segment would be formed when the player would enter an abandoned house that used to be owned by an infamous child killer named Freddy.
Once inside the house, the player would find it impossible to escape. So they would have no other option but to sleep on one of the beds inside the run down house. After the player had slept inside the house, they would be able to escape the house. But strange things would happen after this, all NPC's (Non-Playable Characters) besides small children wearing school uniforms. Sometimes the player would see these children jumping rope or playing ball, and when they would talk to the children a similar tune to that of 1, 2, Buckle My Shoe. The playing children would also display this text when you talked to them:
"1, 2, Freddy's coming for you…
3, 4, Better lock your door…
5, 6, Grab your Crucifix…
7, 8, Gonna stay up late…
9, 10, Never sleep again…"
The player would run into enemies like clad gloves with razor blades on them (Which Freddy used to murder children with) and snakes with the face of Freddy. The player would find themselves unable to progress until they traveled back to the house. When the player would go back to try and sleep on one of the mattresses, Freddy would appear out of the mattress and battle the players. Although most players never went back to the house. That is the second thing that connected all of these teenagers together. All of the teenagers were still in the Nightmare on Elm Street sequence when they died.
Doctors have come up with a theory as to why all of this had occurred. The house, dubbed by many The Nightmare House, had a musical tone that was created to instill a sense of fear into those that listened to it. When playing the game, teenagers would report having headaches and feelings of nausea, while adults playing it didn't report either sensations. Upon further analysis there were several notes inside the track that fully grown ear drums wouldn't be able to detect. Because of these notes, the song was incredibly catchy, but terrifying in its own right.
The teenagers who entered the house would have the theme stuck in their heads from the time they heard it to their inevitable death. Doctors first presumed that the music would form brain hemorrhages that would kill the kids. But after several autopsies, none of the teens had brain hemorrhages, let alone any hemorrhages at all. To this day, no known cause as to why these children died in their sleep. But after discovering a diary left behind by one of the dead teenagers, Doctors say that the deaths were caused by nightmares that would literally stop the hearts of those who had them.
These are the last eleven diary entries written by Amanda Holbrook before her death:
August 16th, 1998
Dear Diary,
I can't wait until tomorrow. Me, Todd, Sam, and Jerry are going out to go buy Scream when the store opens. I love horror movies, and I also love games like Final Fantasy, and to think somebody made a game with both of those combined is just awesome.
August 17th, 1998
Dear Diary,
I had a lot of fun today with Todd, Jerry, and Sam. The four of us all were playing Scream over at Sam's house. So far, none of us have gotten very far into the game, but I'm just going to tell you where we've all gotten so far.
The game starts with you babysitting a couple kids on Halloween. And then this guy with a knife and white mask breaks into your house and fights you. After that you are free to go do anything you want. Me and Jerry both went to this lake, and you have to fight the zombies of all of the camp counselors that died at the camp. Apparently some kid drowned at the lake by the camp when the camp counselors weren't watching a decade ago. And when you go up to the end of the dock, he crawls out of the lake and you have to fight him. The fight was hard, but I was able to beat him. Jerry was still trying to beat him when I left.
Sam went into one of the bathrooms, and when she looked into one of the mirrors a man named 'Candyman' came out and fought her. Then she went into a toy store, and all of the toys started coming to life and fought her. Todd found this Rubix Cube and when he picked it up he was brought into Hell, and he spent the entire time we were together in that area.
For now, I think I'll just go to bed.
August 18th, 1998
Dear Diary,
At school today, Sam showed us all a new area she found. It's inside of this house filled with creepy music, and it looks like nobody lives there. She spent the entire lunch period trying to get out of the house, but when she slept in one of the beds, she was able to get out. That music though. I don't think I'll ever forget that music.
August 19th, 1998
Dear Diary,
I had a really weird dream last night about the area Sam showed us yesterday at lunch. It was filled with that creepy music. I think I want to try and go to that house that Sam was in and see what it's all about.
August 19th, 1998
Dear Diary,
It's me again, I just found the house that Sam was in yesterday and did what she did to get out. But now things are really weird. I don't have to fight black cats or zombies anymore. Now there are a bunch of claws fighting me instead. There are also a bunch of these little kids running around. Whenever I talk to them they play this other really creepy music. It was so scary it gave me goosebumps.
August 20th, 1998
Dear Diary,
Last night I had a really creepy dream. I was being chased by those claws from the game. And that music from the house was playing, and it kept getting louder and louder. One of the claws was just about to rip me apart before I woke up.
When I told Sam about it she told me that she had a dream just like that. Jerry and Todd told us that they had nightmares with that music playing in the background, but no claws or run down houses.
August 21st, 1998
Dear Diary,
Sam died last night. Her parents said that she heard her screaming and shaking around in her sleep, and then she just died. I can't believe this happened. The weird thing about this is I had another one of those dreams. I was standing outside the house when a light turned on in one of the room. Then I saw a guy with one of those claws grabbing a girl and then ripping her into shreds with the glove. I think that girl was Sam.
This is one of the more puzzling diary entries. For now we will just write this off as a coincidence.
August 22nd, 1998
Dear Diary,
I saw Jerry playing Scream today, and all of the townspeople were the little kids. I'm kind of scared. Maybe this game is cursed and me and Jerry are next. Thankfully Todd is still trapped inside Hell.
August 23rd, 1998
Dear Diary,
I don't understand this. Todd died too. But he never went into the house, me or Jerry shouldn't be the ones to die next. I'm really scared. I never want to watch another scary movie or play another game again.
This diary entry further proves the music theory. Todd never played the game, so the game isn't cursed, although that was obvious from the start.
August 24th, 1998
Dear Diary,
Jerry is dead too. I can't stand this anymore. I'm not sleeping anymore. I can't die if I don't sleep.
August 25th, 1998
Dear Diary,
Today is my second day without sleeping. I almost fell asleep in Algebra class today. Luckily my parents have an old coffee machine in garage that still works. I'm going to set it up right now and use that to keep me up through the night.
Despite Amanda's efforts, on the nigh of August 25th she fell asleep. So far, this is the only writing by one of these affected children that has been found. But there is bound to be more out there somewhere. Sadly, Amanda's diary entries only seem to raise more questions than give us answers.
On February 23rd, 1999 every copy of Scream on the market was taken down. They later replaced the game with new copies that did not contain the house on Elm Street. Freddy does make an appearance in the most recent game in the series Scream 4, which just recently came out on the Nintendo DS. Scream 4 involves the player teaming up with all of the bosses from the first game to battle new serial killers. When you first meet Freddy he apologizes for all of the deaths he caused and asks to join you to redeem himself. Many believe that this isn't talking about the fictional characters he killed in the original game, but instead the many teens that died because of the Nightmares he caused. None of the other serial killers that join you apologize for what they did, but instead volunteer to help you because the other serial killers are getting in their way.
Thank you to all of you who read the entire thing. Please tell me what you think about this kind of style of story telling. I've never tried doing something like this before, so this was basically an experiment. And also, this entire concept is based on the creepypasta about 'The Lavender Town Syndrome', which was about the first release of copies of Pokemon Green and Red in Japan having a slightly different Lavender town them that made children kill themselves. The story is obviously fake (although slightly true) but I don't know, something about it and Nightmare on Elm Street clicked with me.
This story is chock full of references, so if you didn't get some of them, I'll tell you what they were. First of all, the Nightmare on Elm Street sequence was obviously a reference to the Nightmare on Elm Street movie series. The name of the game is based on the horror movie series, Scream. The beginning area of the game is a reference to Halloween. The first area Jerry and Amanda enter is a reference to Friday the 13th. The first area Sam enters is a reference to Candyman, and the second is a slight reference to Child's Play. And Todd's area is a reference to Hellraiser. Amanda's last name is also a reference to Nancy Holbrook from the recent Nightmare on Elm Street remake.