Dreaming About Freddy Krueger? This Forgotten '80s Horror Show Is for You

Freddy Krueger was everywhere in the '80s. From the time he first appeared in Wes Craven's original A Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984 to 2003's Freddy vs. Jason, the final time Robert Englund played the iconic slasher on the big screen, Freddy became an unlikely staple in pop culture. He was on kids' lunchboxes, inspired a whole assortment of action figures, appeared in a music video with rap trio The Fat Boys and even graced my bedroom door in the form of a life-sized poster. 

A total of eight movies were made in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise (not counting the 2010 remake), and right smack-dab in the middle of Freddy mania, a peculiar TV show hit the airwaves banking on the dream invader's popularity. It was 1988, the same year that Renny Harlin's A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master hit theaters, and mere months after its release, Freddy's Nightmares premiered.

Freddy's Nightmares was an anthology horror series hosted by the wise-cracking boogeyman himself. The show lasted 44 episodes, enough time to expand on Krueger's backstory, send him on various violent adventures and build out the fictional town of Springwood, Ohio.

Tobe Hooper, the director responsible for 1974's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, helmed the show's pilot episode, "No More Mr. Nice Guy," which gave Freddy an hour-long origin story. This episode put Freddy on trial for the murders he committed. He was ultimately set free, setting the stage for the town's grieving parents to corner him in a boiler room and set him on fire. 

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"No More Mr. Nice Guy" set the standard for Freddy's Nightmares. Each episode that followed featured two horror stories, sometimes involving Krueger. In contrast, others left him completely out of the narrative equation -- aside from his Rod Serling-style role as series host.

Freddy Krueger, horror host? At the time, the thought felt delightfully dangerous. Tales from the Crypt had yet to introduce the Crypt Keeper to HBO audiences (that would happen a year later in 1989), but it's easy to see the influence Freddy had on the popular genre anthology. 

I remember watching the series feeling like I was getting away with something. This was a horror program made specifically for midnight audiences. Because of that, the cast and crew could experiment with the genre and create something mostly unlike anything network TV viewers had seen before. 

A collection of recognizable stars found their footing here, as well.

Brad Pitt is easily the most famous actor in Freddy's Nightmares. He stars in the silly and gruesome season one episode, Black Tickets. Friday Night Lights alum Kyle Chandler and Law & Order: SVU's Mariska Hargitay star in different episodes. Hargitay headlines the Halloween episode, Tricks and Treats -- along with noteworthy cast members including Morris Chestnut, John Cameron Mitchell, Dick Miller, Jeffrey Combs, Bill Moseley, Lori Petty, Glynn Turman and George Lazenby, the second actor to ever play James Bond in the movies.

Aside from Hooper, genre directors such as William Malone (The House on Haunted Hill), Mick Garris (The Stand) and Tom McLoughlin (Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives) were able to play in this crazy sandbox and hone their craft. Robert Englund stepped behind the camera for three episodes, as well, revealing on The Boo Crew Podcast that "he was lured in because of the promise of directing." 

Robert Englund's Freddy Krueger sports some sunglasses in Renny Harlin's A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.

Screenshot by Aaron Pruner/CNET

Just to set the record straight, though: Freddy's Nightmares is not a program I would describe as "good." The lighting, sets and practical makeup effects that appealed to '80s audiences don't hold up in any HD video format today. The production quality is rickety, some of the storylines are hackneyed and the scenery-chewing by much of the talent can be distracting. 

But that is all a part of the fun. And rest assured, there is some scary goodness in this bizarre horror show. It's also bleaker in tone than the cartoonish back half of the Nightmare on Elm Street film franchise. (Wes Craven's New Nightmare is the exception; don't come at me!) 

All this is to say, if you're looking for some lesser-known A Nightmare on Elm Street-inspired tales to dig into, now's the perfect time to press play on Freddy's Nightmares. It's available to stream in its entirety on Plex. You can thank me later.