In this episode of Scream Queen Podcast, we’re dialing into the ultimate teen slasher of the '90s, Wes Craven’s Scream. With its razor-sharp meta-commentary, iconic Ghostface mask, and rule-breaking final girl, Scream didn’t just revive the slasher genre, it redefined it.

But behind the clever dialogue and bloody set pieces lies a real-world horror. We dive into one of the horrors references The Town That Dreaded Sundown. Inspired by Texarkana Moonlight Murders, a series of unsolved killings in 1946 that haunted a small town. That film’s influence echoed all the way into Scream’s meta-universe.

Guest:

Bethany Summersizzle from Aliens on Fire

https://www.instagram.com/aliens.on.fire?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

https://www.youtube.com/@aliens_on_fire

Resources:

• IMDB for movie facts and trivia
• Bloody Disgusting for horror news
• The Phantom Killer: Unlocking the Mystery of the Texarkana Serial Murders by James Presley. A deeply researched book from a relative of one of the original investigators.
• The FBI archives and reports on the case (freely available through FBI.gov).
• Texarkana Gazette archives, a local paper that covered the case in real time and still revisits it to this day.
• Unresolved Podcast, The Texarkana Moonlight Murders, a compelling narrative podcast episode.