Night Country Was Inspired By A Real Morbid Mystery

The Alaskan setting “felt perfect for a noir” because it helped capture the bleak hopelessness of an unraveling murder mystery set in the ice while underlining the constant dangers of living in such an environment. The Dyatlov Pass incident, which helped flesh out some of the story beats surrounding the TSALAL researchers, is still considered an unsolved mystery, despite being the focus of countless research and tested theories. While speculations range from unprecedented natural disasters to supernatural reasons, the gruesome nature of the tragic deaths continues to haunt anyone who is made aware of it.

Ten hikers, all of them students, decided to set out on a winter trek on January 23, 1959. Their goal was to go through Russia’s Ural Mountains and trek onward, but when their sports club did not hear from them for weeks, a search party was sent out. Out of the 10, one student had previously turned back due to health issues, and the bodies of the remaining 9 were found over many weeks, each telling a bizarre and gruesome story that could not be explained at first glance.

Although the nitty-gritties of the Dyatlov Pass tragedy demand a closer, thorough look, the key focus of its mystery is the odd positioning of and injuries on the bodies that were found scattered within a set radius. The group’s tent was found flattened with their personal articles intact, although someone had frantically slashed the tent from the inside, as if in a desperate attempt to get out. Injuries found on the bodies included a bitten-out knuckle, odd fractures, and twisted bones, along with missing body parts like eyes or tongue, which were later found in the vicinity after all the bodies were recovered.