How Did Freddy Krueger Become the Feared Killer We Know and Love?
Happy Valentine’s Day, ghouls! Since no one says “I love you” quite like Freddy Krueger, and because you’re all fans of things dark and demonic, why don’t we use this blog submission to explain some of the backstories of the man of your dreams? After all, with so many elements of the ‘80s having been left where they belong, in the past, this Wes Craven killer has managed to slay his way into the prominence of the mainstream horror audience, and let’s face, into our hearts for quite some time. So, hold onto your hats (Freddy fedora hat), and your Freddy Krueger toys, because this relentless murderer has been through quite the wild ride!
He is the son of 100 maniacs
Freddy Krueger’s birth mom wasn’t revealed until the 1987 film, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, where Amanda Krueger (better known as Sister Mary Helena) found herself the victim of a horrifying mix-up. The nun worked at Hathaway House, an asylum for the criminally insane, and a few days before Christmas in 1941, she was locked inside the building alone for the holiday weekend. The high-security hospital was left unattended, so by the time she was found, she had already suffered at the hands of the inmates and was pregnant. Hence, the son of 100 maniacs.
He had a troublesome childhood
Now, if you were adopted out at birth and given to a deranged alcoholic, you might have considered your childhood to be somewhat of a nightmare in itself. So, understandably, Freddy was a psychologically disturbed kid, murdering the class hamster and often cutting himself with a razor blade. Needless to say, he underwent full-killer metamorphosis when he jammed that same razor blade into the eye socket of his abusive, adopted father.
He was a family man
Overcoming his horrible upbringing, Freddy started his young adult life marrying a woman named Loretta and starting a family. They had a daughter together named, Katherine. However, he could only tame his killer instincts for so long and soon began slaughtering the children of Springwood, Ohio, only to be referred to as the Springwood Slasher. Although he was able to hide his unquenchable bloodlust for a while, it became too much over time, especially after Loretta finds his cave of devilish macabre (a secret room in his family home where he kept weapons and newspaper clippings of his victims). Loretta was murdered, Freddy was arrested and Katherine was placed in foster care under a new identity.
He was tortured and burned
While Freddy deserved his fate for the onslaught of more than two dozen children, the townspeople of Springwood only took it into their own hands because of the horrible American penal system. Thanks to a misplaced signature and a drunken judge, Freddy was let back out on the streets only to be trapped in a building by a vigilante mob, with a gasoline-burning fire around him. Facing death, he was approached by Dream Demons and offered the opportunity to carry on his sadistic ways, indefinitely.
It’s been almost 40 years and still, your favorite keeper of the dream realm is being revamped, rebooted, and re-imagined into a variety of Freddy Krueger toys, costumes, deluxe krueger mask and collectibles.
What Nightmare on Elm Street memorabilia do you own? Drop a comment below to compare with other readers.