Ep. 5 Extras - A Nightmare on Elm Street 17: Dreamboat
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“If Nancy doesn’t wake up screaming… she won’t wake up at all!”
In episode 5 of Springfield Googolplex, Adam introduces Nate to A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), a supernatural slasher film by Wes Craven, director of one of their shared favorites Scream (1996).
Read on to see every reference to A Nightmare on Elm Street on The Simpsons, plus some movies to check out if you liked this one, and links to further reading and viewing.
Every ‘Simpsons’ Reference to ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’
By our count, A Nightmare on Elm Street has been referenced in 4 episodes of the first 13 seasons of The Simpsons. The first reference appears in “Cape Feare” (S5E2) in 1993, nine years after the release of the movie, but it gets a full front-to-back parody treatment in “Treehouse of Horror VI” (S7E6).
Plot Parody: “Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace” in “Treehouse of Horror VI”
The parody opens with a Tex Avery-like dream where Bart encounters the villain of the story, while playing fetch with a talking Santa’s Little Helper.
“Nice to rake your acquaintance.“ Groundskeeper Willie aptly takes on the role of Freddy Krueger, complete with his trademark hat and striped shirt (although in a different color palette). Instead of a bladed glove, though, Willie has a very sharp-looking rake.
“Bart! Is that you?” “Yes?” “Take out the garbage.” Just like Nancy in Nightmare, Bart wakes up from his dream, with real scratches across his pajamas.
“He ran his floor buffer over me.” When Bart and Nancy go to school, they both discover that the other kids also had similar nightmares of a surreal serial killer.
“Kids, it’s time we told you the true story and put your fears to rest. It’s a story of murder and revenge from beyond the grave.” Eventually the parents in both Nightmares have a heart to heart with the kids and reveal a terrible secret that may explain why the kids are being hunted in their dreams…
“You’ll pay for this with your children’s blood!” “Oh, right. How you going to get them? ‘Skeleton power’?” While the parents in A Nightmare on Elm Street took vengeance on Freddy Krueger for killing local kids by burning down his shack with him inside, Willie just died as a result of how cheap and self-involved the Springfield parents are.
“When I’m done with you, they’ll have to do a compost-mortem!” In the climax of the Simpsons segment, Willie turns into a riding lawnmower, mimicking the final shot of the movie, when the kids car transforms into a Krueger car and drives away.
“Something tells me Willie’s still out there and that he could come back at any time in any form and kill us in ways we can’t even imagine.” The movie ends with a gauzy, pastel colored segment that seems too good to be true—which is interrupted by the final Freddy car twist (see above). Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace ends with a similar segment, but in this case, Willie just took the bus to their house and says, “boo.”
Other References to the ‘Nightmare’ Series in “Treehouse of Horror VI”
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987): The shot where the camera pulls back from Bart sitting on the couch to reveal Springfield Elementary in the background is identical to a shot in Dream Warriors where Kirsten stands up in bed to reveal 1428 Elm Street behind her.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988): Much like Sheila’s death in Dream Master, Willie kills Martin Prince (wondrous wizard of Latin) during a test at school.
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994): In Martin’s lethal nightmare, Groundskeeper Willie extends his tongue to wrap around Martin, just as Freddy does to Heather Langenkamp (as herself; it’s a meta thing).
Small References
Cape Feare (S5E2): When Sideshow Bob has Bart feeling paranoid, he meets Ned Flanders on the sidewalk with a Kruegeresque razor glove. But Flanders just wants to trim his topiary. (Is this also a nod to Edward Scissorhands?)
Treehouse of Horror V (S6E6): When food distracts Homer from his murderous rampage in “The Shinning” (not The Shining, you want to get sued?), Moe rallies a gang of Freddy, Jason, Pinhead, and theUniversal Classic Monsters to get him back on track.
Treehouse of Horror IX (S10E4): During the couch gag, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees wait impatiently for the Simpson family to arrive, not knowing that Bart, Lisa, Homer, and maybe Marge and Maggie all died on the way home already.
Did we miss something? Let us know!
Extra Credit
Enjoyed this movie? Here are a few others we would recommend:
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987): While the sequels to Nightmare vary widely in tone and quality, Adam enjoys Dream Warriors. This entry sees the return of Wes Craven as writer and producer, alongside writer Frank Darabont of Shawshank Redemption (1994) and The Mist (2007) fame. You may also spot a young Patricia Arquette in one of her earliest roles.
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994): The seventh entry in the series also offers a fun take on the formula with Wes Craven returning as director. In this metafictional take on the franchise, Freddy Krueger is a movie monster come to life, with some of the actors from the original returning to play themselves and Craven even appearing on film. The Scream franchise not only doubled down on the meta, but Craven even recycles this exact setup in Scream 3, which takes primarily on the set of Stab 3, the movie within the movie.
Stranger Things (2016–): This popular Netflix series can be too nostalgia-heavy for some, but Nate enjoys it as an easy watch. The series takes heavy inspiration from horror movies of the 1980s, and the fourth season draws particularly very heavily from Nightmare. Of course, the villainous Vecna strongly resembles Freddy Krueger, as a supernatural psychopath that attacks his victims in their dreams. But a more subtle parallel can also be drawn between the falsely accused bad boys Rod and Eddie.
Plus, here’s some further reading, viewing, and listening we came across in our research:
Video: “A Word Of Warning,” Frankenstein, 1931. The first few “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween specials on The Simpsons include a warning modeled on this one from Frankenstein. The creators and writers genuinely worried that their spooky stories would shock their audience, and they would receive angry letters next day. Not only did the letters never come, but their Halloween shenanigans have only gotten more extreme since.
Video: Promo for “Freddy’s Nightmare - A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Series,” 1988. This promotional booklet offered up our summary of the movie for the podcast.
Video: “The Freddy Krueger Hour,” MTV, 1988. The fact that this slasher villain wound up hosting a compilation series on MTV says a lot about both his popularity and his surprisingly magnetic personality.
Video: “The Tearing,“ ReBoot (S1E1), 1994. The Simpsons may have helped popularized the idea of 3D animation with Treehouse of Horror VI, but before there was “Homer³,” there was ReBoot. Adam and Nate both fondly remember this kids show airing on Canadian public television growing up.
Article: Stephen Twining, “Tales From The Crypt Inspired The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horrors,“ Screen Rant, July 26, 2020. This article provides some (light) background on the connection between Treehouse of Horror and EC Comics. As we mention on the episode, it’s surprisingly hard to find much more than this level of detail out there.
Video: ”A Nightmare on Elm Street: Alternate Endings,” YouTube, 2021. Craven famously shot multiple endings to Nightmare on set, since he wanted the ending to be more conclusive, while the studio wanted to keep it open for sequels. Would one of these have worked better for you?
