According to Asturian legends, a creature called Pesadiellu haunts people in their sleep. It will stand atop you, pressing down on your chest to cause suffocation and nightmares. As soon as you wake, it will vanish.
Things were already on the decline obviously when it happened but the Scott Pilgrim movie releasing was 9/11 for alt subcultures. Genuinely overnight every alt space was infested in guys with khaki shorts and zelda shirts looking for 'their' Ramona Flowers. It was the death blow.