TheA Nightmare on Elm Streetmovie franchise didn’t delve intoFreddy Kruegeras deeply as some audiences would think. From the beginning, the movies have been transparent about Freddy’s background as a child killer and even how he was killed. Later movies - namelyDream WarriorsandFreddy’s Dead- added more depth toFreddy’s twisted origin story, revealing his upbringing.
However,a forgotten Marvel comic-Freddy Krueger’s A Nightmare on Elm Street#1 by Steve Gerber, Rich Buckler, Tony DeZuniga, Alfredo Alcala, and Janice Chiang - delves deeper into the origin story of one Frederick Charles Krueger. The brief two-issue comic series finds a way to revealnew details about Freddy Kruegerthat the movies themselves never explored.
Granted, there are minor tweaks in this comic origin update that alter what audiences learn in the movies. Still, the new details are significant additions to the franchise, especially those detailing when Freddy learned to control his dreams in childhood.
The following plot summary includes mentions of sexual abuse and rape.
Marvel’sA Nightmare on Elm StreetComic Offers New Details of Freddy Krueger’s Origin
Expanding Details About His Birth
This 1989 chapter ofA Nightmare on Elm Streetcenters around Dr. Juliann Quinn, a New York resident who falls into the crosshairs of Freddy Krueger. As she returns to her hometown of Springwood, Ohio, where she takes on a new patient -a Dream-Stalker who opposes Freddy Krueger- the good doctor reads up onthe life of the Springwood Slasherby way of a letter on the plane ride home. The letter came from a nurse who knew Freddy’s mother: Sister Mary Helena, otherwise known as Amanda Krueger.
The letter recalls the birth of Freddy Krueger in the same way that it was first relayed to audiences inA Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors,now with new, graphic details about what transpired. Amanda Krueger was a nun who was accidentally locked inside the insane asylum of Our Lady of Sorrows Institution for the Mentally Ill. The comic reveals that the attack transpired when the sister was assigned for the holidays at a time that’s usually designated for the older, more experienced workers. An emergency in the west wing sent the sole security guard on duty away, advising the sister to not go into the cage until he returned.
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Amanda waited long enough to assume that the guard either forgot about her or was merely taking longer than expected. At that time, the cries of a disturbed inmate concerned Amanda enough to compel her to enter the cell.The kindness of her heart proved to be her downfall, as once locked inside, she was assaulted by countless inmates for three days until she was discovered on December 26th. She was beaten, broken, and pregnant. The unlikelihood of determining the father deemed Freddy the Bastard Son of 100 Maniacs.
Marvel Reveals the Secret Details of Freddy Krueger’s Childhood
Freddy Learned How to Control His Dreams in Childhood
After finishing her letter, Juliann proceeds to read the psychiatric evaluation of Freddy Krueger’s upbringing,which offers the most profound new details about his origins. Readers learn that after Amanda gave birth to Freddy, he was sent to St. Dominic’s Home for Orphans. At nine weeks old, he was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Strunk, a loving couple. However, that same night, the Strunk household was robbed. Although they likely didn’t come looking for the child, the muggers kidnapped young Freddy after killing his parents and taking their loot.
This secret origin story adds a lot of new context to what audiences already learn in the movies.
The burglars opted to sell the baby to a pimp named Walter “Stork” Fingle and his sex worker. The dossier is unsure why they wanted the child, only that Freddy would learn “their trade” by age six. The dossier also mentions thathis stepfather, Mr. Fingle, regularly beat the boy, filling the same role thatAlice Cooper’s Mr. Underwood characterplayed as Freddy’s abusive stepfather, revealed inFreddy’s Dead: The Final Friday. It’s unclear if Mr. Fingle is meant to be a stand-in for Mr. Underwood, or an expnasion to the lore of Mr. Underwood’s real name and background.
Why This Forgotten Marvel Comic Is Important toA Nightmare on Elm StreetLore
Expanding the Lore of Freddy Krueger
Despite the abuse leaving scars throughout his body, Freddy remained with his pimp stepfather until his early teens, when he used Mr. Fingle’s signature switchblade to slit his throat in his sleep. On his own, his old man’s weapon became Freddy’s, who used it to claim his first victims. Spending years homeless on the street, surviving off thievery,“it was during this period, he asserts … that he learned to control his dreams,“reads the dossier. The rest of Freddy’s origin is as expected, becoming a child killer until the parents murdered him.
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This secret origin story adds a lot of new context to what audiences already learn in the movies, including that Freddy Krueger learned to control his dreams and when he decided to start hunting children. It also explores the gap between his birth and when he was abused by his stepfather, doing more toexplain where Freddy’s killer instinct and sexual perversions stem from. It’s practically an origin story forFreddy Krueger’sorigin story, adding something to the movies for their replay value, thus deepening everything audiences thought they knew aboutA Nightmare on Elm Street.
Freddy Krueger’s A Nightmare on Elm Street#1is available now from Marvel Comics.
Freddy Krueger
Freddy Krueger, created by Wes Craven and portrayed primarily by Robert Englund, is the central villain of theA Nightmare on Elm Streetfranchise. A former child killer burned alive by vengeful parents, Freddy returns as a dream demon who terrorizes and kills his victims in their sleep. His grotesque appearance and darkly comedic persona have cemented him as one of the most iconic figures in horror cinema.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The Nightmare on Elm Streetis a horror franchise that began with the 1984 film directed by Wes Craven. The series centers on Freddy Krueger, a former child killer who, after being burned alive by the parents of his victims, returns as a vengeful spirit who kills teenagers in their dreams. The franchise became a cornerstone of the horror genre, spawning nine films, a television series, novels, comics, video games, and more. Freddy Krueger, portrayed by Robert Englund in most of the films, is one of the most iconic characters in horror history. The series is known for its imaginative and terrifying dream sequences, blending slasher elements with supernatural horror.
