'American Horror Story: 1984': Is ax-wielding villain Mr. Jingles inspired by Christopher Wilder aka the real-life Beauty Queen Killer?
The coming week will see Ryan Murphy's highly celebrated brainchild 'American Horror Story' debut its ninth season, titled 'American Horror Story: 1984'. And as the name suggests, one of the biggest tropes of the genre that boomed in the 80s, aka slasher horror will be the focus of this season.
Bringing in all the spice and fear will be a psychotic serial killer who goes by the name of Mr. Jingles, who has managed to escape from a psychiatric facility, and is going about murdering young kids camping at a lakeside venue. But however inspired by fiction like 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', or 'Cabin in the Woods' this installment might seem, Reddit fans have brought new evidence into light that shows the serial killer isn't all that far from reality.
Five months ago, when the trailer for '1984' was yet to arrive, Reddit user anaislavalliere had shared on the multi blogging platform the possibility of Mr. Jingles being inspired by the real-life 'Beauty Queen Killer' who haunted the United States in exactly the year 1984, and was killed as he was been taken captive. Real name Christopher Bernard Wilder, the Australian man went on a six-week cross-country crime spree in the United States of America in early 1984, when he abducted and raped at least 12 women, murdering a total of at least eight of them.
Wilder aka the Beauty Queen Killer's murders began all the way on February 26, 1984, when he took his first victim in Florida. His next victims were spread out across Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nevada, and California, with attempted abductions in the Washington State and New York. Wilder was also believed to have raped two very young girls, aged 10 and 12, in Florida, in 1983. He was even considered a suspect in the unsolved 1965 murder of two teenage girls in Sydney, Australia, where he had lived from his birth until 1965.
As one of the first confirmed serial killers, whose murders was used to provide insight into the way a serial killer's mind works, Wilder was known as the Beauty Queen Killer because all of his victims were reportedly very attractive women. And so far, of the many teasers released of AHS season 9 aka '1984', Mr. Jingles, our psych-ward escaped, ax-wielding masked murderer seems to be going after just the women on the show.
Christopher Wilder is the Sydney surfer who became the most wanted man in America as the "Beauty Queen Killer." Now, hear the fresh insight into the case & how it could be linked to one of Australia's most infamous unsolved murders. #Studio10 https://t.co/GFgDoOIZtd
— Studio 10 (@Studio10au) August 19, 2019
Think preppy, gorgeous, high school seniors, or maybe college-going blondes who are all about having a fun weekend at the camp, dancing around campfires and skinny dipping - that's Mr. Jingles' type, not all that far the Beauty Queen Killer's criterion.
Of course, all of this is mere speculation right now, and with Sarah Paulson teasing that she might 'pop up' in the upcoming ninth season sometime, we do have a lot of dots to be connected. But one can't shake off the feeling that maybe, Mr. Jingles is inspired by Wilder? It has been extensively reported how Wilder could have been expectedly deranged from the electroshock therapy he underwent as a result of his involvement in a gang-rape, and in '1984', we see Mr. Jingles going on his murder-spree, killing young attractive women, after escaping from a psychiatric facility. This will surely get you thinking.
'American Horror Story: 1984' premieres on September 18, at 9 pm only on FX.