Welcome to Elm Street

Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the most inventive American films of the 1980s. Its sleeper success bred a series of film sequels and a syndicated television program while its villain, Freddy Krueger, became a Hollywood horror icon for the ages. In the four decades since its release, Craven’s creation and subsequent franchise has become firmly established as a pop culture institution and a celebrated symbol of American cinema.

This book takes readers on an engrossing journey through the history, production and themes of the Nightmare on Elm Street film series and its spin-off TV show, Freddy’s Nightmares. It reveals new stories about the franchise’s history and dives into some of the themes and ideas that tend to be overlooked. The book has a foreword by production designer Mick Strawn and exclusive interviews with cast and crew, including legendary Freddy Krueger actor Robert Englund; directors Jack Sholder, Chuck Russell, Mick Garris, Tom McLoughlin, Lisa Gottlieb, and William Malone; cinematographers Jacques Haitkin, Roy H. Wagner, and Steven Fierberg; and many more.

Wayne Byrne is an Irish author and film historian. He has written on film and music culture for a variety of notable publications and on subjects such as Tom DiCillo, Burt Reynolds, Nick McLean, Elm Street, and Walter Hill.

Wayne Byrne
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 225
Bibliographic Info: 91 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2022
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8452-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4479-0
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vi
Foreword by Mick Strawn 1
Introduction 3
1. Wes Craven and the Nightmare of America 7
2. The Monster Goes Mainstream 44
3. Welcome to Primetime, Freddy! 115
4. The Birth, the Death, and the Resurrection 152
5. The Main Event and the Remake 183
6. The Legacy of A Nightmare on Elm Street 194
Chapter Notes 209
Bibliography 215
Index 217

• “Wow! This is one of the best pieces of writing on filmmaking that I’ve ever read. Wayne really got the essence of being on that set during that time. I am astonished at his accuracy. It was a very complicated shoot with a great deal of emotion. Wayne presents an honest representation of what occurred. Very impressive.”—Roy H. Wagner, ASC, Cinematographer for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, Another Stakeout, Beauty and the Beast, Party of Five, House M.D. and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation