Aside from the obvious similarities between Vecna and A nightmare on Elm Street‘s Freddy Kruegerlike the burnt and dilapidated face, the razor-sharp claws, and the fact that both sneak up on their victims in their dreams, Weird stuff took more inspiration from Krueger than what is immediately apparent on the surface.
From a gruesome backstory to how they stalk their prey and the victims they target, these are all shining examples of how the showrunners of Weird stuff took inspiration from the dream intruder of Elm Street to create Vecna/Henry/One. For the sake of this article, we’ll stick with Vecna. Here are all the similarities and parallels you may have missed between Vecna and Freddy Krueger.
Evil in life, evil in death
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Although Vecna and Freddy Krueger are both supernatural undead creatures, they didn’t start out that way. Both men have a past. Both men were born with evil in their hearts. Vecna started out as a young boy named Henry (played by Jamie Campbell Bower). Henry was a “misunderstood boy,” his parents thought, but they could never have imagined the truly gruesome nature of their offspring. In season four of Weird stuff, we learn that it was Henry who haunted his family using his psychic powers (similar to the power Elf possesses). Using his powers, he kills his mother and sister, leading his father to be charged with the murder. He tortured them with visions of their past, he took great pleasure in torturing animals, and one night he decided his family had to go.
Eventually, Henry ends up with Dr. Brenner at the Hawkins Lab. Brenner realized he couldn’t control Henry, so he tried to impersonate him. Calling him “One”, he kept Henry in the lab all his life. With the unwitting help of Eleven, Henry regains his full power and uses it to kill every patient in the Hawkins Lab. He tries to kill Elf, but Elf overpowers him and sends him to the Upside Down. It is there that Henry/One undergoes its transformation and becomes, as outlined by screen frenzythe undead dark wizard known to D&D fans as Vecna.
Let’s take a look at Freddy Krueger’s backstory. First, he was a child killer. He would take the children of Elm Street to his boiler room and then sexually assault, torture and murder them. Krueger was eventually arrested for his crimes, but was released due to a legal loophole. The victims’ parents decide to take the law into their own hands by finding Krueger in his lair and burning him alive. Krueger is then visited by dream demons who offer him the ability to invade and kill people in their dreams, provided his victims are afraid of him. So both Vecna and Freddy were rotten from the inside out before being given supernatural abilities.
stalk their prey
Both Vecna and Krueger seem to take great pleasure in tormenting their victims with visions and other forms of supernatural oppression when in a dreamlike state. They both also invade the minds of their victims. However, this is where we start to see some differences between the two. Vecna can essentially invade anyone’s mind at will. He just has to suppress them to the point that they’re just terrified, and then he ends up killing them in the most gruesome ways: the victim soars into the air and their bones begin to fall into place – arms, legs, and jaws. The victim’s eyes appear to drop inward and collapse.
On the other hand, Freddy Krueger has to wait for his victims to sleep to torment them. He stalks his victims and usually leads them on a chase that inevitably ends them where he wants them (usually in his boiler room). He then uses his infamous razor claws to inflict a painful death on the victim. Both monsters like to ‘play with their food before eating it’. As disgusting as the metaphor is, it rings true for both undead psychotic serial killers.
A particularly gruesome death in season four of Weird stuff might remind the public of a similar gruesome murder in, you guessed it, A nightmare on Elm Street. In A nightmare on Elm StreetFreddy Krueger kills a girl in her sleep, while her boyfriend sees her floating and thrown across the room. When Vecna takes his first victim, cheerleader Chrissy, she floats in mid-air as her bones break and her eyes and jaw are essentially crushed. Eddie Munson, a new addition to the team in season four, sees this happening and is then blamed for her murder. The two scenes mirror each other in different ways and are a shining example of the parallels between Weird stuff and A nightmare on Elm Street.
Dead…or not
It’s a common horror trope to leave the movie “with an open ending” about whether the killer is really dead. From Michael Myers to Jason Vorhees and Freddy Krueger, they’ve all been “killed” in several movies, but manage to come back for the next one. This is a trope die Weird stuff also used in season four, leaving us with the question: is Vecna really dead? After being blown up and shot at with a shotgun, Vecna’s body was not on the ground when they looked out the window causing Nancy to shoot him. This has been done so many times in horror movies, whether for a sequel or to keep the audience guessing. It is a great tool for writers in the horror genre. Nevertheless, per looperthe first Nightmare in Elm Street movie ended with the main character thinking she killed Krueger, only to see him again in the last scene.
Although we won’t see Vecna return at the end of season four of Weird stuff, it’s safe to assume he’s out there somewhere and regaining his strength to fulfill his mission (Will essentially confirms that in a conversation with Mike). Season four ended with what appeared to be the Upside Down “bleeding” in Hawkins, with the gray rain and ominous red sky approaching Hopper’s cabin as the group stares out in agony. With the supernatural power to be in Upside Down for that long, it’s highly likely that Vecna is alive and recovering and will be the villain who will star in the fifth and final season of Stranger things. Only time will tell, but Vecna is the most fascinating villain Weird stuff presented to the public, and we want to see more of him.
While this isn’t necessarily a parallel, more of an Easter egg, it’s worth noting that Robert Englund, aka the original Freddy Krueger, played a small but pivotal role in season four of Stranger things. He played the part of Victor Creel, the father of Henry Creel, who was committed to a mental institution for his son’s heinous crime. The scene is incredibly tense when Nancy and Robin visit Creel. It gives off Silence of the lambs vibrates as Victor tells his story (from his perspective) as Nancy and Robin desperately try to find something in Victor’s past that can help them stop Vecna. It’s one of the most powerful scenes of the entire season, and Robert Englund hasn’t lost a step, he’s as creepy as ever and fits the role perfectly.