Odds are, you have watched the first half of “Stranger Things” season 4. Many fans have now picked up on the similarities between this season and the Nightmare on Elm franchise. Should we call it “Stranger Things On Elm Street?” Let’s break it down.
First, all of the kids targeted by Vecna (this season’s big bad) are plagued by terrifying dreams. Sound familiar?
Next, and the most obvious connection, is that Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund, makes several appearances this season.
Englund plays Victor Creel in the series, a man accused of murdering his family and children. Of course, we all know that Krueger was a child killer, but there’s more. Freddy is scarred when he was lit on fire, and Creel’s face is heavily scarred in the act of self-mutilation.
In Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy started as a man and was sent into the dream world when he died. In “Stranger Things,” Vecna started as a man raised in the same facility as Eleven, and we all know how that ends, with him ruling the Upside Down.
In both the movie and the show, kids/teens are seen running to escape the villain during a dream-like sequence. This time it’s in the Upside Down and not Freddy’s dream world.
In both, the kids float before being killed. In “Stranger Things,” they float before their bones are broken and the life squeezed out of them, but Tina also floated to the ceiling in Nightmare on Elm Street, which is witnessed by her boyfriend, Ron.
Nightmare on Elm Street was released on November 16, 1984. “Stranger Things” is set in the 80s.
Is this the Duffer Brothers’ ultimate love letter to the decade and one of the most loved horror films ever made? We want to think it is. Season four returns on July 1, 2022; we wouldn’t be surprised if there are even more connections. What do you think? Let us know on social media.
