The Matawan Man-Eater | The Inspiration for Jaws

There’s no denying that the movie Jaws definitely made some beach-goers scared to go into the water. However, the story that inspired Jaws was what really had people scared to have a day at the beach. The Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 were so unexpected, sudden, and violent that they stuck in the public’s mind even up to the point that the movie hit theaters. The “Matawan man-eater,” as the shark was called, took down at least three people before the killings finally stopped, and it forever changed the public’s view of sharks.