Self-Preservation at Its Finest

Day two of my horror movie week and I have to talk about A Nightmare on Elm Street. It came out in 1984 and I really shouldn’t have seen it. I was only eight at the time and though I’d almost put all nightmares about Michael Myers behind me, I still sometimes cowered under the covers.

However, I did see A Nightmare on Elm Street and it was then that I realized…I have no qualms about sacrificing others to save myself. *cough*

I’m sure by now, everyone knows the premise of this movie series. Freddy Krueger stalked the children of the people who killed him…in their sleep! Yeah, cause what better place to get someone? Meh. How could anyone sleep if they knew 1, 2, Freddy’s coming for you, 3, 4, better lock your door, 5, 6, grab your crucifix, 7, 8, gonna stay up late, 9, 10 never sleep again.

Yeah, I was scared…and again, it was Dad’s fault. By this time, Dad had remarried and I had a new stepsister and a brand new little brother. He was around two when I saw this movie. I remember very clearly that around the same time A Nightmare on Elm Street came out, someone had taken a picture for one of the tabloids that showed a demon. I saw the picture and combined it with Freddy Krueger in my head.

I went to Dad’s house the weekend after the tabloid came out. My stepsister was gone to sleep at her dad’s house and I had her bed all to myself (she hated sharing the bed with me because she said I snored…whatever). Anyway I had one room, my dad and stepmom were across the hall, and next door was my 2-year-old brother’s room. He had one of those twin beds with a child rail attached so he wouldn’t roll out of bed.

Picture it. I’m 8…it’s dark in the house and I’ve been watching Freddy Krueger slash through innocent teenagers all night and on top of that, there was the picture of the demon in the National Enquirer running around my head. I was in a room all alone…but not for long. Oh no. I slipped out of bed and crept to my brother’s room. He was sleeping. Cool. I hopped in bed with him and wedged myself between him and the wall.

If Freddy came for me, I’d have a 50-50 chance of making it out. He’d grab my brother and I could run for help, or just run. If he came out of the wall…well, I was done for, but at least I’d given it a shot. I slept and felt silly the next morning when my stepmom wanted to know what I was doing in bed with my brother. I think I made up something about him being scared…yeah, they didn’t believe me.

Do all kids go through this thought process? I realize now that I didn’t have much confidence that my dad could save me from the monsters because he just wasn’t as scary as my mom. No one is. But I wonder if all kids think ‘Okay, if I sleep with them, then I might have a chance of survival…’

Did you see A Nightmare on Elm Street? What did you think about it?