The cue comes from the 1980 slasher film Friday the 13th, created by composer Harry Manfredini for Jason Voorhees and his mother Pamela. Manfredini took the words kill and mommy from Pamela's line Kill her, Mommy, shortened them to ki and ma, and recorded the whisper with echo and reverb. The sound became the franchise's signature warning that Jason is near, even when he is not on screen. It has since spread through trailers, games, parodies and meme edits as instant shorthand for a stalker approaching.