Fear Street Part 1: 1994 kicks off a Netflix trilogy of horror films based on the books by R.L. Stine, and sets up a story that will continue its journey into the past with Fear Street Part 2: 1978 and finally Fear Street Part 3: 1666. At the end of 1994 it seems like Deena and her friends have saved Sam from the undying wrath of Sarah Fier - until they realize that Sarah can't be gotten rid of so easily.

The Fear Street movie trilogy is set in the town of Shadyside, which has been plagued for centuries by tragedy and murder. The town's curse began in 1666, when a witch called Sarah Fier was lynched by the locals. Before her death, her hand was cut off and hidden somewhere in Shadyside so that she would always have control over the town and its people. Meanwhile, the nearby town of Sunnyvale was free from the curse and became just as wealthy and prosperous as Shadyside was cursed.

Related: Every Song In Fear Street Part 1: 1994

The story of the Fear Street trilogy begins with Shadyside's latest brutal string of murders, this time in a mall built on the site of Camp Nightwing, where another killing spree took place in 1978. In the wake of this latest tragedy, an angry outburst by Shadyside teen Deena causes the car where her ex-girlfriend Sam is a passenger to crash, landing Sam on the grave of Sarah Fier. After having her bones disturbed, Sarah sends a string of undead killers that she previously possessed to hunt down Sam - and there's a high price to pay for breaking the curse.

Sarah Fier's Death & Curse Explained

Fear Street Hanging Of Sarah Fear

The full story of Sarah Fier will be revealed in Fear Street Part 3: 1666, but in its opening credits sequence and through exposition later in the movie, 1994 lays out the basics of the local town legend. When witch trials were reaching their peak in the American Colonies, Sarah was hunted by the local townspeople and hanged as a witch. Her body was put in chains and left in the woods, and Sam accidentally made herself a target for the curse when she touched them. The local poem about Sarah Fier details exactly how the witch's influence persists, even centuries later:

"Before the witch's final breath,

She found a way to cheat her death

By cutting off her wicked hand,

She kept her grip upon our land

She reaches out from beyond the grave,

To make good men her wicked slaves

She'll take your blood, she'll take your head,

She'll follow you until you're dead"

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Approximately once in every decade, a Shadysider is possessed by Sarah Fier and goes on a brutal killing spree. It's possible that all of the massacres are triggered by the accidental disturbance of Sarah's grave in the woods, especially since her bones aren't exactly buried deep. The very first of the possessed killers was Cyrus Miller, a local pastor. In 1666, the same year that Sarah died, Miller murdered a number of children and cut out their eyes. Miller was presumably one of the locals responsible for executing Sarah Fier, which would make his possession her first act of revenge.

Though Deena and her friends initially believe that Sarah is angry at Sam for disturbing her grave, the car crash scene implies that Sarah may have actually wanted Sam to find her grave. While getting ready to throw the ice in the cooler at Peter's car, Deena experiences a nose bleed, which is a sign of Sarah Fier's influence. The distraction causes her to lose her grip on the cooler, which results in the car crash and Sam crawling across Sarah's bones and experiencing a vision of the witch. Newspaper cuttings of the Camp Nightwing massacre quote C. Berman as saying "I saw the witch," which further suggests that the curse always begins in the same way.

The Plan To Save Sam From The Killers

Fear Street 1994 Sam Dead in the water

Initially, Sarah Fier attempts to kill Sam rather than possess her. As the poem explains, she "makes good men her wicked slaves," and their service to her continues even after they're killed. Undead versions of the Skull Mask Killer, the Camp Nightwing axe murderer, and the homicidal Ruby Lane are all drawn to Sam by the scent of her blood, and anyone who gets her blood on them also becomes a target. Since the killers are given the simple goal of ending Sam's life, they can be tricked through a loophole in the poem: "She'll follow you until you're dead." In 1978, C. Berman was able to survive the Camp Nightwing massacre because her heartbeat and breathing briefly stopped before she was later resuscitated. What Cindy did by accident, Deena is able to reproduce on purpose by holding Sam's head under the water of the lobster tank until she's technically dead. Their purpose fulfilled, the killers return to the grave. But while this may have been enough to trick Sarah Fier's servants, it wasn't enough to trick Sarah herself.

Why Sam Becomes Possessed By Sarah Fier

Samantha Fraser possessed in Fear Street

The ending of Fear Street Part 1: 1994 reveals someone dressed in black robes (either Sarah Fier, or one of her servants) performing a ritual that causes Samantha's name to appear carved on the wall of a cave. Above it are the names of other killers who have been possessed by Sarah, including the recent Skull Mask Killer, Ryan Torres. It appears that someone disturbing Sarah's grave is what unleashes the undead killers, but this ritual is the means by which people are actually possessed. And since all the other murder sprees have ended with the killers dying and then becoming eternal servants of Sarah Fier, there's no roadmap for relieving Sam from her possession. One possible solution, though, would be to find and destroy the hand of Sarah Fier, which is the key to her control over the town.

Related: What To Expect From Fear Street Part 2

The Hand On Josh's Shoulder

Fear Street 1994 Josh Sarah Fier Hand

After Sam is apparently saved from Sarah Fier, Josh returns to the basement to check in with his AOL chatroom dedicated to spooky goings-on in Shadyside. There he's once again greeted by a regular user with the handle "Queenofairandarkness," who talks excitedly about the "tweakers" (Simon and Katie) who were supposedly responsible for the latest spate of deaths. After defending Simon and Katie, Josh sees his reflection in the computer screen and for a moment it looks like there's a disembodied hand gripping his shoulder.

As he turns around, it becomes clear that the hand actually belongs to Deena. However, the brief moment where it looks like the severed hand of Sarah Fier is surely no accident. This could simply be Fear Street's way of showing that Josh and Deena are still in Sarah's grasp, even after they thought they were free. However, it could also be a hint that the person Josh has been chatting with, Queenofairandarkness, is not another local conspiracy theorist but Sarah Fier herself, using modern technology to reach out and influence the kids of Shadyside.

How Fear Street 1994's Ending Sets Up The Sequels

Fear Street Part 2 1978 Camp Nightwing

The key link in Fear Street Part 1: 1994 to the upcoming sequel Fear Street Part 2: 1978 is C. Berman, the sole survivor of the Camp Nightwing massacre. It appears that Cindy had a similar experience to Sam - accidentally stumbling across Sarah Fier's grave and seeing the face of the witch. Like Sam, she was able to survive Sarah's chosen killer by temporarily dying and coming back to life, but Cindy's warning phone call to Deena at the end of 1994 reveals that her nightmare didn't end there.

Fear Street 1994 is followed by a trailer for 1978, with the adult Cindy (played by Community's Gillian Jacobs) telling Deena and Josh the story of her own teenage brush with the witch who cursed Shadyside. Just as 1994 was an homage to horror movies of the 1990s like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, Fear Street Part 2: 1978 will draw from classics of the decade like Friday the 13th and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Its story will lead Deena further back into the past and get her closer to the full story of Sarah Fier, which will finally be revealed in Fear Street Part 3: 1666. And hopefully, somewhere in that story, she'll find the secret to saving Sam.

More: Fear Street: Every Easter Egg & Reference In Part 1