WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Fear Street Part 1: 1994 and Fear Street Part 2: 1978, now streaming on Netflix.

Even though the Fear Street trilogy is based on the works of R. L. Stine, the films also use other horror works and tropes to flesh out the characters. In Fear Street Part 2: 1978, Christine "Ziggy" Berman's identification with Carrie by Stephen King emphasizes her isolation and hopelessness. However, Carrie is not the only Stephen King novel to influence the trilogy. A younger Nick Goode states that his favorite Stephen King novel is 'Salem’s Lot. Although this might just be a small character detail, 'Salem’s Lot may actually provide insight into the Goode family and their role in Shadyside’s curse.

In the Fear Street trilogy, the town of Shadyside is plagued with killers instead of vampires. In Fear Street Part 1: 1994, a group of teens tries to evade the undead Shadyside Killers after Sam accidentally bleeds on the bones of Sarah Fier, a woman executed for witchcraft in 1666. After they seemingly break the curse, a figure in a dark hood seems to awaken the curse again, leading Sam to become possessed and doomed to become a Shadyside killer herself. Sam's girlfriend Deena and Deena's brother Josh seek out C. Berman, another survivor who saw Sarah Fier. In Fear Street Part 2: 1978, C. Berman, a grown up Ziggy, tells the story of the 1978 Camp Nightwing massacre, which gives the siblings the information they need to potentially end the curse.

Throughout both movies, Sheriff Nick Goode seems to be trying his best to stop the carnage. However, Nick's love of 'Salem's Lot might imply that his family's role in the curse is far more sinister. In 'Salem's Lot, a writer, Ben Mears, returns to the town of Jerusalem’s Lot to try to write a novel. However, an ancient vampire, Kurt Barlow, arrives and begins to turn the residents of the town into vampires. While Ben and some other town members, including a child named Mark Petrie, try to fight against the curse, they are unable to save most of the townspeople. Ben and Mark do slay Barlow, but they have to flee the town to escape the rest of the vampires. The novel ends with the duo returning to 'Salem's Lot to try to finish what they started. Later Stephen King books imply that they are successful, but the actual novel ending is ambiguous, leaving the fate of Ben, Mark and the town unknown.

Vampire attacks in Salem's Lot

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Although it might seem like Nick identifies with Ben Mears in his seemingly hopeless struggle to stop the spread of the curse, the Goode family might actually have more in common with Richard Strayker, Barlow’s human familiar who aids the vampire in his carnage. Strayker serves as Barlow's "face" in the town and performs all of the necessary, non vampiric actions like procuring property and walking outside in daylight. Strayker hopes that he will eventually be made immortal for his service, but he is killed before he can truly reap the rewards.

The curse in Shadyside seems to have a similar human ally in the form of the hooded figure seen at the end of the first film. Will Goode, Nick's brother and Sunnyvale's mayor, seems like the more likely candidate to be the curse's human agent. However, Nick also seems to be playing both sides of the conflict, all while trying to appear to be a sympathetic ally to the residents of Shadyside.

In Fear Street Part 2: 1978, Nick alludes to the burden of his family legacy. He confides in Ziggy, stating, "Before he died, my dad loaded me up with all this, you know, 'You're my legacy. The future of the family depends on you' shit. You know, he just dropped this huge burden in my lap and... I dunno, what if I don't want that? What if that's not who I want to be?" Though this legacy may just be the role of sheriff in a town overrun with killers, it might also be that the Goode family actually are the human agents of the writhing flesh mass below Camp Nightwing and later the Shadyside Mall.

Nick Goode in Fear Street Part 2 1978

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After the Camp Nightwing massacre, Nick seems to have made his choice and becomes fully entrenched in his family's legacy. At the memorial after the mall massacre, Nick gives a speech that seems to be intended to comfort, but it also subtly discourages anyone from asking questions about why this is happening. He states, "It's easy in times like this to drown in questions of why. [...] But I know too well there are no answers that will provide relief. There's no peace in the past." Both of the films thus far show that this statement is false; it is only through the past that Deena and Josh will finally learn the root of the curse and how to save Sam and Shadyside once and for all.

Thus, Nick's preference for 'Salem's Lot may be foreshadowing his family's role in the curse. If this theory is correct, Fear Street Part 3: 1666 may reveal that the Goode family, not Sarah Fier, made the deal with Satan, and their descendants continue the dark work of that deal to uphold Sunnyvale’s prosperity at the expense of Shadyside. Thus, the true villain of the trilogy may not be the witch, but the leaders of Sunnyvale.

Directed and co-written by Leigh Janiak, the Fear Street trilogy stars Sadie Sink, Kiana Madeira, Olivia Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr., Darrell Britt-Gibson, Ashley Zukerman, Fred Hechinger, Julia Rehwald, Jeremy Ford and Gillian Jacobs. Part One: 1994 and Part Two: 1978 are available now on Netflix, followed by Part Three: 1666 on July 16.

KEEP READING: Fear Street Theory: Sarah Fier Is Not the ONLY Curse on Shadyside