This is an interesting concept, though sad. Traditionally, the title comes from an anonymous tale originally published in 1595. It was later absorbed into Mother Goose and in 1932, Disney created a movie by the same name. If you’ll notice, it’s also pretty similar to the tale of Hansel and Gretel, with two innocent children going into the woods and being preyed upon or left to die. Clearly, this is rooted in some sort of cultural fear, given that it appears in both English and German folktales. Interestingly, it even made its way to North America, entering common language to mean innocents (not necessarily children) entering into unknown, dangerous situations (not necessarily a forest).

We can see this when we look at several murders that had this name attributed to them. This includes one case in Pennsylvania in 1934 and another in Vancouver, BC, in 1953. The murder in Stanely Park was never solved.

Source 1, Source 2, Source 3 | Original Tumblr Post