Fiction is based on truth.
I mean, if things didn't happen, people wouldn't be able to think of them.

Shortly before vacating Chimneys, the mansion of Lord Caterham, Sir Oswald and Lady Coote throw a party for their friends.
One of the guests, Jerry Wade, has a reputation for being a heavy sleeper, and the others decide to play a prank on him.
They place eight clocks in his room, setting them to go off in the morning, one after the other, starting at 6:30 a.m.
But when dawn breaks, one of the clocks is missing.
And the prank has turned into a tragedy…

The book was the basis for the Netflix series of the same name.