According to Ann Rule, in an updated edition of her nonfiction bestseller "The Stranger Beside Me," the real Ted Bundy started to receive hundreds more love letters per day after Alptraum des Grauens (1986) first aired on NBC. Rule concluded that many of the women were actually writing to Mark Harmon, or imagining that Bundy looked and acted more like Harmon than Bundy did in reality.
The movie premiered on TV when Ted Bundy was still on death row, appealing his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Bundy refused to watch the movie.
In real life, Ted Bundy continued to claim he was innocent until shortly before his execution in 1989. Bundy provided details of the murders even as he was walked to the electric chair.
According to Mark Harmon, when he was first offered the part of Ted Bundy in Alptraum des Grauens (1986), he immediately considered catching the first flight to Florida to meet the real Bundy on death row. Director Marvin J. Chomsky strongly advised Harmon against it, and Harmon obliged.
Robert Hays was the first choice for the lead role. Hays rejected the role due to moral issues with the script, and out of respect for the victims' families.