Forty years ago, Freddy Krueger became the definition of nightmares in films.
Freddy (played by Robert Englund) first came to the big screen in 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street. Wes Craven wrote and directed the first film, and the seventh. The film pits Freddy against Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) and her friends Tina (Amanda Wyss), Rod (Jsu Garcia) and Nancy’s boyfriend, Glen (Johnny Depp). While Nancy’s friends fell victim to Freddy, Nancy was able to fight him on her own terms, proving herself to be a consummate final girl.
The first film spawned a series of six sequels (including the first true meta horror film: Wes Craven’s New Nightmare in 1994), a television series and a crossover film with the Friday the 13th films. A remake released in 2010, marking the last time viewers saw Freddy on the big screen.
To date, A Nightmare on Elm Street is a rarity from that era of iconic film franchises in that it has not had a legacy sequel in the last few years. However, for NaNoWriMo 2024, I will be writing a legacy sequel that I am calling Nightmares on Elm Street.
Requel Story
Like Halloween (2018) and Scream (2022), Nightmares on Elm Street will serve as a direct sequel to the original A Nightmare on Elm Street. In that vein, my story will be a Requel.
As described by Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy) in Scream (2022): “You can’t just reboot a franchise from scratch anymore…. but you can’t just do a straight sequel, either. You need to build something new…
“It has to be part of an ongoing storyline, even if that story should never have been going on in the first place. New main characters, yes, but supported by, and related to, legacy characters. Not quite a reboot, not quite a sequel.”
Legacy
Nightmares on Elm Street will take place forty years after the original film. It will introduce two new characters, who are children of the main characters from the first film. Heather Thompson is the daughter of Nancy and Glen, while Wes Lane is the son of Tina and Rod. When I first conceptualized this story, I pictured Maya Hawke playing Heather, while Noah Schnapp would play Wes.
The story begins in the wake of the death of Nancy’s father Donald Thompson (played by the late John Saxon). Nancy and Heather return to 1428 Elm Street for the funeral, and Heather begins having nightmares. Her nightmares feature a man in a dirty red and green sweater, with finger knives.
Similarly, Wes will have Freddy nightmares, and he and Heather learn the identity of the man in their dreams. This prompts Wes to learn as much as he can about Freddy Krueger to learn how to fight him.
Without giving too much away, I can certainly reveal there will be a climactic battle near the end of the story. Legacy characters, alongside Heather and Wes, will fight Freddy in the ultimate showdown.
NaNoWriMo 2024 beings November 1. I will spend the weeks leading up to it outlining and planning this story. I am so excited to write it and can’t wait to share it.
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