Dream Walking

Lore & Background

The source describes the film's premise revolving around Krueger, an undead child killer who murders teenagers through their dreams. It mentions that Nancy Thompson falls asleep in class and dreams of being chased in a boiler room, and later falls asleep in a bathtub where she is nearly drowned by the man. Nancy relies on caffeine to stay awake and invites Glen to watch her as she sleeps. In her nightmare, she sees Krueger preparing to kill Rod Lane before he turns his attention to her. The source highlights that Krueger was burned alive by parents seeking vigilante justice after being released on a technicality for killing 20 children. It states Nancy realizes Krueger targeted her and her friends because their parents were accomplices.

In Their Own Story

Teenager Tina Gray awakens from a nightmare where a disfigured man with a bladed glove attacks her in a boiler room; her mother notes mysterious slashes on her nightgown. Nancy Thompson and Glen Lantz reveal they had similar nightmares. During a sleepover, Tina's boyfriend Rod Lane arrives, and they have sex. When Tina sleeps, she dreams of the attack while Rod sees her fatally slashed by an unseen force. Nancy and Glen find Tina's bloodied corpse. Later, Nancy falls asleep in class, burns her arm on a pipe to wake up, and leaves a burn mark. She visits Rod at the police station, where he describes his own nightmares. At home, Nancy is nearly drowned in the bathtub while sleeping. She relies on caffeine and invites Glen to watch over her. In her dream, she watches Krueger kill Rod, who is staged as a suicide. Nancy rigs booby traps, lures Krueger from the nightmare into reality, lights him on fire, and locks him in the basement. The source ends with Nancy turning her back on Krueger to make him evaporate, followed by a surreal ending where her friends appear alive until Krueger grabs Marge.

Reader's Guide

She relies on caffeine to stay awake and invites Glen to watch over her as she sleeps. In one instance, Nancy grabs the man's fedora with the name "Fred Krueger" written in it and pulls it into the real world. Later, she rigs booby traps in her house to lure Krueger out of her nightmare and into the real world. The text notes that Krueger is fueled by his victims' fear, leading Nancy to calmly turn her back on him, causing him to evaporate. No instructions on maintaining lucidity or training for dream manipulation are present.

Did You Know?

• Make-up artist David B. Miller designed Krueger's disfigured face based on photographs of burn victims obtained from the UCLA Medical Center.
• Robert Shaye has two uncredited roles as broadcasters for local television news and KRGR Radio station.
• Wes Craven chose to make Krueger's sweater red and green after reading a 1982 Scientific American article stating these colors are the most clashing to the human retina.