1988-1990 Freddy's Nightmares - Halloween Episodes

Freddy's Nightmares - A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Series is an American horror anthology series, which aired in syndication from October 1988 until March 1990. A spin-off from the A Nightmare on Elm Street films, Freddy Krueger was played, as in the movies, by Robert Englund who was the only actor from the film series who appeared in the TV series. Due to budget restraints, the producers of the series were forced to use unknown actors, rather than some of the stars associated with the theatrical franchise. Some of the featured actors went on to later become notable. Most of the episodes featured two different stories that each take up the first and second halves. Every second story, however, usually built on a character who played a minor (or supporting) role in the first.

Each week Freddy's Nightmares told a different story of a dark rooted and/or grim nature that took place in the fictitious town of Springwood, Ohio, and in particular, on Elm Street; the same setting as the A Nightmare on Elm Street films. Krueger's primary function was to host the series. He was featured in regular bumper segments, where he would offer an ominous or slapstick reaction to the happenings of the episode—culminating in him giving a quick, and usually eerie, epilogue at the end. Though Freddy would occasionally play a part in the plot, most of the stories did not involve him (it was, however, often hinted that Krueger indirectly influenced the desolate nature of the plotlines).

I loved this show, I recorded the two Halloween episodes on VHS along with the 1989 Elm Street: The Making of a Nightmare 4 documentary and used to watch it all the time when I was a kid. I think I still have the tape in my attic. Though a few episodes were released on VHS and DVD, the full series has never received an Official DVD or Blu-ray release containing all episodes. All episodes of Season 1 and Season 2 of the series has been uploaded to Archive.org.

In the first season's episode 4 called Freddy's Tricks And Treats, a college student (Mariska Hargitay) is tormented by Freddy on Halloween after he hears that she does not believe in him.


In Photo Finish, the 4th episode of season 2, a photographer (Patty McCormack) who is anxious to get her career back on track gets some unexpected help on her latest photo shoots from Freddy, who is terrorizing her models. Meanwhile, three FBI agents come to Springwood to investigate a family homicide that happened on Halloween, but Freddy has some surprises in store for them.