The protagonist, Regina Romero, is named after the late, great George A. Romero, director of the trailblazing horror classic Die Nacht der lebenden Toten (1968).
As a child, Writer-Director David J. Green was horrified of The Muppets, particularly Miss Piggy. Green was also terrified by the trailer for Penelope (2006), a little-seen romantic-comedy about a woman born with a pig snout. Unbeknownst to Green, the Christina Ricci-starring film was released in 2006, the year in which Slaughter at Camp Swinelake's story is set.
The antagonists, Franklin, Pat, and Amber Hiltzik, are named after Robert Hiltzik, writer-director of the cult classic slasher film Blutiger Sommer: Das Camp des Grauens (1983).
In the similarly themed family comedy Pfundskerle (1995), the protagonists stay in a cabin called the Chipmunk Bunk. In homage to this Ben Stiller-starring hidden gem, Regina and her little sister Beckie stay in the Pig-Munk Bunk.
The hockey team that Katie Freimann's Regina and Zelda Adams's Cass play for is called the Tromaville Cretins. This is a nod to Troma's Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986). The logo on the team jersey features an illustration of Spike, the villainous leader of the Cretins, portrayed by Robert Prichard. Prichard also plays antagonistic Camp Swinelake co-owner Franklin Hiltzik.