5 Horrifying True Stories That Inspired Yellowjackets' Cannibalism And Cult Dynamics

The chilling, dual-timeline narrative of Showtime's *Yellowjackets* has captivated audiences since its debut, leading to the inevitable and persistent question: Is this harrowing story of survival, cannibalism, and a nascent wilderness cult actually based on a true story? The short answer, as of December 15, 2025, is no—the series is a work of fiction. However, the show's creators, Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, have been very open about drawing direct and terrifying inspiration from not just one, but a confluence of real-life historical events and classic literary works. These inspirations provide the deep, dark well of topical authority that makes the fictional tale of the stranded New Jersey high school soccer team feel so brutally real. The show's premise—a plane crash strands a group of young people in the remote wilderness, forcing them to resort to extreme measures—is a deliberate echo of several documented tragedies. The genius of *Yellowjackets* lies in its ability to fuse the historical horror of true survival stories with a unique exploration of female group dynamics, trauma, and the supernatural. The result is a commentary on human nature that is far more complex and unsettling than a simple retelling of a historical event.

The Real-Life Disasters That Fueled the Yellowjackets' Cannibalism

The most shocking and memorable element of the *Yellowjackets* wilderness storyline is the descent into ritualistic cannibalism, a theme that is directly lifted from two of history’s most infamous survival stories. The show’s creators meticulously studied the psychological and ethical dilemmas faced by real survivors to ground the fictional horror of the Antler Queen and her followers.

1. The Andes Flight Disaster: The True Story of *Alive* and *Society of the Snow*

The single most significant historical inspiration for the *Yellowjackets* plane crash is the 1972 Andes Flight Disaster, officially known as Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571. This event is the definitive blueprint for the show's initial premise. * The Event: On October 13, 1972, a plane carrying the Uruguayan Old Christians Club rugby team, along with their friends and family, crashed into the remote, snow-covered Andes Mountains. * The Parallel: Like the Yellowjackets, the survivors were a cohesive group (a rugby team vs. a soccer team) and were stranded in an impossibly cold, high-altitude environment with no immediate rescue in sight. * The Core Horror: After weeks of starvation and facing temperatures that plummeted at night, the 16 remaining survivors made the excruciating decision to consume the bodies of their deceased friends and teammates to stay alive. This act of anthropophagy, or survival cannibalism, is the direct, chilling inspiration for the wilderness feast scenes in *Yellowjackets*. * The Aftermath: The real survivors were stranded for a shocking 72 days before two of their members, Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa, trekked for 10 days to find help. Their story of faith, resilience, and ethical torment was famously documented in the 1993 film *Alive* and, more recently, the critically acclaimed 2023 Netflix film *Society of the Snow*. The creators of *Yellowjackets* used the psychological pressure of this true story to explore how a group of teenage girls would handle the same impossible choice.

2. The Donner Party: A Second Historical Precedent for Wilderness Cannibalism

While the Andes crash provides the immediate context of a plane disaster, the creators also cited the infamous Donner Party, which occurred over a century earlier, as a key influence. This historical tragedy adds a layer of depth and historical weight to the show’s themes of desperation and the breakdown of civilization. * The Event: In 1846–1847, a group of American pioneers traveling by wagon train from the Midwest to California became stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains during a brutal winter. * The Parallel: The Donner Party, like the Yellowjackets, was trapped in a seemingly endless wilderness for months, with no food and no hope of rescue until spring. They, too, resorted to cannibalism to survive the harsh winter conditions. * The Context: The Donner Party story is a classic American tale of frontier horror, and its inclusion as an inspiration for *Yellowjackets* reinforces the idea that the girls' actions are not a unique, sensationalized event, but a dark, recurring pattern in human history when faced with ultimate survival. This inspiration helps to broaden the show's topical authority beyond a single plane crash.

Flipping the Script: The *Lord of the Flies* and the Exploration of Female Rage

Beyond the historical survival stories, the most unique and modern inspiration for *Yellowjackets* comes from a piece of fiction: William Golding’s 1954 novel, *Lord of the Flies*. This is where the show truly differentiates itself and establishes its central thesis on gender and group dynamics.

3. The Mocked Female *Lord of the Flies* Remake

Co-creator Ashley Lyle revealed that the initial idea for *Yellowjackets* was sparked by an article announcing an all-male production company was planning an all-girls remake of *Lord of the Flies*. The online reaction to this news was largely dismissive, with many commenting that a story about girls would be boring because girls "would just talk it out" and not descend into savagery. * The Creative Counterpoint: Lyle and Nickerson saw this as a challenge and a missed opportunity to explore a different, equally brutal kind of savagery. They wanted to create a show that countered the common narrative that female groups are inherently less prone to violence or chaos than male groups. * Female Group Dynamics: The resulting series explores "female rage" and the unique, often more subtle and psychological, ways that teenage girls can establish a hierarchy, exert power, and turn on one another. The social and emotional violence—the ostracization of Jackie, the cult-like devotion to Lottie, and the complex relationships between Shauna, Taissa, Misty, and Natalie—is a direct exploration of the creators' desire to write a *Lord of the Flies* for a new generation.

The Fictional Entities and LSI Keywords That Define the Series

While the core premise is rooted in real history, the drama is driven by its fictional elements, which have become powerful cultural entities in their own right. Understanding these entities is key to appreciating the show's topical authority. * The Yellowjackets: The name of the New Jersey high school soccer team, whose plane crashes en route to the national championships in Seattle. * The Antler Queen: The mysterious, cult-like figure who emerges in the wilderness timeline, believed by many to be Lottie Matthews, the character who begins to exhibit prophetic or shamanistic tendencies. * The Symbol: The strange, cryptic symbol carved into the trees in the wilderness, which signifies a boundary, a warning, or perhaps a supernatural entity that the girls believe is watching them. The mystery of the symbol’s origin is a major LSI keyword for the show. * Doomcoming: The name the girls give to their wilderness prom, a desperate attempt to cling to normalcy that quickly devolves into a drunken, chaotic hunt, culminating in the death of Jackie. * The Adult Survivors: The show’s dual timeline is anchored by the adult versions of the main characters—Shauna Shipman, Taissa Turner, Misty Quigley, and Natalie Scatorccio—who are all grappling with the physical and psychological trauma of their 19 months in the Canadian wilderness. In conclusion, *Yellowjackets* is not a documentary or a direct adaptation of a single true story. Instead, it is a brilliantly constructed fictional thriller that uses the most horrifying true survival stories—the Andes crash and the Donner Party—as historical scaffolding. By combining these real-life disasters with a gender-flipped take on *Lord of the Flies*, creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson have crafted a unique, deeply unsettling narrative that explores the darkest corners of human nature, female friendship, and the trauma of the wilderness. The show’s power lies in its ability to make the unthinkable feel terrifyingly plausible.