Freddy Kruger

Despite the fright that comes along with the mention of Freddy Kruger, the main antagonist in the Nightmare on Elm Street movie series, this psychopathic and serial killing horror movie character is a favourite and has a huge fan following.

Freddy, curiously enough, is quite charming and funny - in a twisted sort of way - so long as you're watching him via DVD, rather than dreaming about him!

Inside the storyline of Nightmare on Elm Street - down throughout the sequels of these popular movies, Freddy Kruger's name is hummed aloud several times too often in the town of Springwood.

Paying attention to the urban legend surrounding Freddy Kruger is what makes him powerful - quite literally! He uses peoples' belief in him to gain power within his undead persona and then Freddy lashes out to do untold damage. This means that talking about Freddy, whispering about Freddy, even thinking about Freddy Kruger makes him able to appear. When he does manifest and appear out of seemingly nowhere, his victims are helpless in slumber, their minds engaged in dreaming about Freddy - almost always despite their conscious efforts to forget about him!

Wes Craven created the Freddy Kruger character and the iconic undead madman-murderer is played by Robert Englund in the Nightmare on Elm Street films.

What a terrific twist on the concept of 'urban legend.' To put an urban legend inside a storyline and have the legend as the power behind a character or as the deciding factor of whether or not the character exists during a given moment.

The 'dream' vehicle by which the urban legend/character navigates is one of the most interesting fright-inducing factors in the extended storyline. Interesting because there seem to be endless possibilities in using the subconscious for so many purposes - utilizing supressed memories, thoughts supressed during normal waking hours, hopes and fears, reality and 'un-reality' - the list goes on. Fright-inducing because we've all had nightmares before and know the power of being stuck in fright between what is not real and what is real during the daytime.

"One, two, buckle my shoe" Freddy Style, featured in the films:

"One, two, Freddy's coming for you

three, four, better lock your door

five, six, grab your crucifix

seven, eight, gonna stay up late

nine, ten, never sleep again"

In one of the films "The Dream Child" the little girl sings it differently, with:

"seven, eight, gonna stay up late

nine, ten, Freddy's back again"

First Weakness: In the realm of reality

IF someone can manage to pull Freddy into the real world, he loses his ability to bend reality

If Freddy is pulled into reality, he is vulnerable and can be injured

Second Weakness: Fire!

Fire will slow Freddy down and make him panicky and confused for a little while

Third Weakness: Someone experienced in navigating while In the dream state

Someone who has learned the skills of lucid dreaming extremely well can thwart some of Freddy's manipulations in the dream state

Additionally:

Courage/bravery weakens Freddy, since he gains power through other peoples' fear of him. Exhibiting enough courage can pop Freddy temporarily out of a person's dreams

Holy water and crucifixes seems to make Freddy nervous and have been used in the films to release some of the souls that Freddy has consumed

When Freddy was popular enough to be in a TV Series, the television show suggested that Freddy has no power outside of Springwood. At least this was true initially...

...eventually, the storyline from the movies saw Freddy able to reach beyond Springwood - particularly in the movie where he battles Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th series/sequels. Freddy and Jason scrap on Jason's home turf, Camp Crystal Lake.

Within the mythology/legend of how Freddy Kruger got to be so evil and twisted is the idea of madness perpetuated by his father(s) - yes, plural - fathers: 100 madmen raped his mother, a holy nun, and in this insane and horrific way, Freddy was conceived by mother, Sister Mary Helena, and 100 violent madmen.

Conception:

During the Christmas season, 1937, Sister Mary Helena (Amanda Kruger before she had taken vows in the church) visited Westin Hills psychiatric hospital which housed the worst of the WORST individuals considered criminally insane in the late 1930s. Under bizarre and inexcusable circumstances (staff in a hurry to get home for the holidays were negligent about proper lock-down security at some point), Sister Mary Helena found herself trapped inside one of the psychiatric wards - in the infamous tower which housed the most criminally insane patients. Sister Mary Helena was locked inside the ward with 100 madmen for several days and suffered repeated beatings and rape in this time. When staff returned to the tower, only by a miracle was she still alive.

She was also pregnant.

Little Freddy was born November 29, 1938 but was placed into the care of the state when Sister Mary Helena gave the boy up for adoption.

Mr. Underwood adopted Frederick Charles.

Because his origins were well-known, Freddy was teased relentlessly as a child, further adding to the anger that was already genetically implanted in him by his father(s). While still young, Freddy began to harm small animals. The killing of small animals also turned into self-harm, so by the time Freddy grew into his late teen years, he was a pretty mixed up individual.

(awe)

But let's not forget he was also a very VIOLENT person before ever reaching the age of majority!

To add more to Freddy's motives for violence, his step-father, Mr. Underwood - a chronic and violent alcoholic - was very abusive to the young Frederick Charles. After Freddy had finally had his limit of the long-term abuse, he murdered Underwood with a razor, thus, had graduated from killing small animals - to killing a human being.

And his violence toward people had just begun!

Yes, it's TRUE

Freddy was a family man! He married a gal named Loretta.

Loretta and Freddy lived in Freddy's childhood abode at 1428 Elm Street. The couple were proud parents to a daughter, Kathryn.

For a time, the Kruger family lived in relative peace, bliss and apparent happiness. Freddy maintained a good job over at the local power plant and for a long time, little Kathryn Kruger's daddy showed no tell-tale signs of the murderous man he really was.

One day, Loretta found her way down to the Kruger basement and happened to discover a sealed wall down there. She snooped a little further and her curiosity ended up as her literal un-doing! What she found in the secret basement area was horrific and unbelievable:

• Torture devices and tools
• Newspaper clippings, mostly about the "Springwood Slasher"
• A home-fashioned, claw-glove

Unfortunately, Freddy caught Loretty snooping around...

Freddy strangled his wife to death right in front of little Kathryn's eyes! He told Kathryn that he had to do this to mommy for "snooping in Daddy's special work."

It was be a little while yet, though, until authorities caught up with Freddy.

While it seems that the demented killer in Freddy lay somewhat dormant (enough to allow him to appear relatively normal to outsiders) between the time he viciously killed his step-father and when he later strangled his wife, Loretta - after government/child services took his little daughter, Kathryn, away, Freddy seems to have snapped.

After Kathyrn is uprooted, little children start to go missing around Springwood. The media and authorities begin to say there is a stalker and murderer of children on the loose and give this elusive culprit the title of "The Springwood Slasher."

For a time, authorities are perplexed about the missing and murdered children and find no solid clues, no leads...

Freddy brings little children to the basement of the power plant where he works. There, he tortures and kills them - and goes for a long time undiscovered - until 1966. In that year, Freddy is finally arrested for the murders of at least 20 missing children.

Little Kathryn is placed in foster care while Daddy is in jail. She is also adopted out to a nice family.

Once Freddy is brought to trial, he is let loose on a technicality - a search warrant was not properly authorized. A drunken judge failed to sign search warrant papers correctly, and so Freddy was released from jail in 1968.

Although Freddy was a free man upon his release and all evidence in his case was deemed inadmissible by the courts, the parents of the slain children Freddy murdered had much different plans for Freddy than freedom at the time he was released.

The irate parents tracked Freddy down. They came upon him at his old place of employment, the local power plant - the place they thought he was most likely to go after being released from prison. They trapped Freddy in the basement - which was soaked with gasoline - and threw Molotov cocktails into the building.

The parents of the murdered children and like-minded neighbors had planned well enough and there was no way for Freddy Kruger to escape the fire.

It seemed the end had come for Frederick Charles Kruger.

Three evil Dream Demons come for Freddy as he is burning up in the fire set by the parents of his victims.

The work of the Dream Demons is to seek out the most deranged, evil soul walking among the living - and coax that one into an eternal and maniacal deal:

The person's soul, traded for the ability to turn dreams into reality - but the soul-selling evil mortal can only navigate within the dream state.

Frederick Charles Kruger, killer of children - accepts the Dream Demons' offer to "be forever," right as the flames from the horrendous blaze have almost entirely consumed him and taken his life.

Freddy's remains are collected, but instead of being interred into sacred ground in a cemetery, his charred remains get locked up inside the trunk of an old, red Cadillac. The car is at an out of the way location that people will likely never find on the site of Penny Brothers Auto Salvage.