‘Fear Street’ Trilogy: 3 Clues That Hinted at the Truth of the Shadyside Curse All Along
The Devil is in the details — literally. Netflix‘s Fear Street trilogy may have ended in a big twist, but director Leigh Janiak slipped the truth of the Shadyside Curse right under viewers’ noses on more than one occasion. Here are some of the clues many fans might notice while watching the Fear Street films a second time.
[Spoiler alert: The following story contains spoilers for Fear Street Part 3: 1666.]
Sarah Fier was not responsible for the curse after all
Before getting into the clues, here’s a quick recap of Fear Street‘s big reveal. In Fear Street Part 3: 1666, Deena (played by Kiana Madeira) traveled back to the year 1666 and took over the body of Sarah Fier before the alleged witch’s death. The first half of the film explored the true origin of the Shadyside Curse.
Sarah went down in history as an evil witch who cursed the town of Shadyside to make it a constant source of bloodshed. However, she was really just a young teen in love with her close friend, Hannah Miller (Olivia Scott Welch). When Pastor Cyrus Miller became the first Shadyside killer, the town needed someone to blame for the witchcraft. So they blamed Hannah and Sarah because of their relationship, which the townspeople saw as sinful.
Sarah did plan on turning to witchcraft to save herself and Hannah, but the twist was that someone else in town already struck a deal with the Devil: Solomon Goode (Ashley Zuckerman). Solomon, who framed Sarah for witchcraft, became the first in a long line of Goode men to make a sacrifice to the Devil.
In exchange for getting everything they want, the firstborn son in every generation of the Goode family had to sacrifice a Shadyside resident by letting the Devil possess the resident to go on killing sprees. In 1994, that Goode son was none other than Sherriff Nick Goode (Zuckerman).
The Sunnyvale mascot is a devil in ‘Fear Street: 1994’
All along, it was a Sunnyvale resident at the root of the curse. That news might not have arrived until Fear Street: 1666, but clues pointing to the true mastermind came as early as Fear Street Part 1: 1994.
One of the first clues could be seen in Sunnyvale High School’s mascot. During the memorial service at Sunnyvale’s football stadium, the mayor referred to the football team as the “Sunnyvale Devils.” Meanwhile, Shadyside High School’s mascot was a witch.
At first, Shadyside’s mascot might have seemed like a nod to the lore that has surrounded Shadyside for 300 years. As dark as it may have been, the story of Sarah Fier as a witch was part of Shadyside’s history, so Shadyside High may have chosen to honor that. However, Sunnyvale’s mascot hid the truth: they were the ones involved with the Devil.
Nick Goode said he ‘let a lot of people die’ in ‘Fear Street: 1978’
Nick Goode himself practically admitted to his involvement in the curse back in 1978. During the Camp Nightwing massacre in Fear Street Part 2: 1978, Nick hid from a possessed Tommy Slater (McCabe Slye) alongside Ziggy Berman (Sadie Sinks). He quietly said to her, “I know I’ve let a lot of people die tonight, but not you. I’m not letting you die.”
Ziggy assured Nick that the massacre was not his fault, but she later learned the truth as an adult. Looking back, Ziggy might have realized that Nick really was taking credit for the murders, perhaps out of guilt. However, at the time, it seemed like Nick just wanted to make sure she knew he would protect her from danger.
Sheriff Goode took ownership of the spray paint cans in ‘Fear Street: 1994’
As an adult and as the Sheriff of Sunnyvale, Nick again subtly admitted to his involvement in the curse. In Fear Street: 1994, Nick accused the Shadyside Mall janitor, Martin (Darrell Britt-Gibson), of vandalism in Shadyside. While in custody, Martin told Nick that the evidence, a box of spray paint cans, was not his.
“You’re right, Martin. These are actually my cans,” Nick replied.
At first, it seemed like he made a sarcastic joke about confiscating the evidence, but the cans really did belong to Nick. As discovered in Fear Street: 1666, Nick was the one who spray-painted the messages about Sarah’s curse all over town to remind residents of his lie.
As Janiak told Refinery29, these clues existed to drive home one major point: sometimes, people only see what others want them to see.
“The story that gets told is often the story told by the winner,” Janiak revealed. “What is the truth, and how does that get corrupted over time? Who do we scapegoat?”
