Sweet Dreams...?

Through dreams, we can enter a fantasyland or even just alter reality as we know it. Much like films, dreams are safe. Even after a terrible nightmare, we wake up to the same ol’ world as when we went to sleep. In the film A Nightmare on Elm Street, Wes Craven introduced a figure that has incited insomnia among millions of viewers: Freddy Krueger.

To get a full appreciation for Krueger and his influence in pop culture, we need to take a look at the events surrounding his “existence.” His mother, a nun, was raped in an insane asylum, which resulted in her pregnancy with Freddy. Soon after his birth, Freddy was given up for adoption to a sinister man who would mistreat him until Freddy became a teenager and killed him. As an adult, Freddy married and had a daughter. A few years later, Freddy’s wife discovered that he was responsible for a string of twenty murders—all children. Freddy murdered his wife and was later arrested for murdering the twenty children. His daughter ended up in foster care and was eventually adopted.

To keep the story simple, Freddy wasn’t charged for the murders, which obviously infuriated the parents of the dead children. The parents decided to take it upon themselves to rid the world of the menacing Krueger, tracking him down in a boiler room and setting the place ablaze. Under realistic circumstances, he would have been burned to death...but as with most good storylines, things didn’t end as well as the parents expected. Three demons appeared and offered Freddy “eternal” life and the ability to turn dreams into reality. He (of course) accepted the offer. His remains were taken to a “junk yard” and locked in a red Cadillac.

Years later, in A Nightmare on Elm Street, Krueger returns to wreak revenge on the children of the parents who aided in his “murder.” He systematically enters their dreams and murders them. In the first film, the heroine (Nancy) brings Freddy into reality and turns her back on him, ridding him of his power (supposedly). Nancy walks into the sunlight, revealing that the previous occurrences must have just been an awful nightmare. In the end, however, we find that Freddy isn’t really dead—and it wasn’t really just a nightmare.

A Nightmare on Elm Street has staying power in the horror genre for quite a few reasons. Freddy himself is pretty darn terrifying-looking, especially to children. His charred, burned face would be a shock to run into in the broad daylight, much less in the murky darkness found in the movies he inhabits. Freddy is a perfect example of the fusion character Carroll talked about in his writings—he is a combination of life and death, and he gained the ability to “live” because of a deal he made with three demons. He defies science through his ability to inhabit and control dreams, and any physical harm he inflicts is brought back into reality when the person wakes up.

Although over fifteen years have passed since A Nightmare on Elm Street made its debut on the silver screen, the idea of a monster inhabiting dreams and turning them into reality is still threatening today. Dreams are a part of our psyche that can’t be explained or controlled sufficiently through modern science. To some, they are a prelude to actual events. To others, they reveal a part of ourselves we’ve hidden deep in our subconscious. To those who enjoy the horror genre, dreams offer the feared monster, Freddy, an eternal home. So...whatever you do...don't fall asleep!