Halloween is approaching, and thoughts turn to things scary
and spooky. . . and horror.
Those of us who grew up in the 1980s and were into horror
movies remember Freddy Krueger. The ghoulish star of the horror flick Nightmare
on Elm Street (1984), Freddy followed in the wake of slasher era flicks like
Friday the 13th (1980) and Halloween (1978). During
the late ‘70s and the ‘80s, these three movies produced numerous sequels which
thrived among horror loving young people.
I first became acquainted with Freddy at an informal
video-watching party among several members of my high school drama club, of which
I was a member. We clustered together around a couch, munching on popcorn, and
watching the first Nightmare on Elm Street.
I always thought that, behind the blood and gore aspects of the Freddy
movies, there was actually some psychological insight into all those dark
thoughts and fears that young people live with.
Freddy represented
the dark and scary stuff that lurked in all of our nightmares. Things that bother us. Things we run away
from. The kind of stuff that we all are
relieved to know doesn’t follow us into our waking lives. . . but in all of the
Nightmare on Elm Street movies, they did.
