Promos:
Freddy’s Nightmares (also known as A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Series) is an American horror anthology television series, which aired in syndication from October 1988 until March 1990. A spin-off from the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series, each episode is introduced by Freddy Krueger (played, as in the films, by Robert Englund), and features two different stories of a dark rooted and/or grim nature that takes place in the fictitious town of Springwood, Ohio on Elm Street. Krueger’s primary function is to host the series. Eight episodes throughout the series have Freddy Krueger as the main antagonist. The pilot episode was directed by Tobe Hooper, and begins with Krueger’s prosecution on child-murdering charges.
El Rey Network has been airing the series since November 3, 2015. As of February 15, 2022, the series is available on Screambox, a streaming service dedicated to horror content. As of May 1, 2022, the series is now streaming on Tubi, an ad-supported free content platform owned by Fox Corporation. Watch season 1 and 2 at Tubi here.
I remember being really excited to watch this series when I found out about it in TV Guide in the late 80’s. I had a blank VHS ready to record every episode. The pilot episode called “No More Mr. Nice Guy” was so great, the capture, trial and murder of Freddy Kruger I loved it. Hugely disappointed by the 2nd week and weeks after when I found out that most of the stories weren’t about Freddy he just hosted them like the Crypt Keeper from Tales from the Crypt. The two Halloween episodes are part of the 8 that feature Freddy in the story. I would rewatch these episodes constantly on the old VHS that I still have.
Spend Halloween with Freddy! Watch two promos above or both Halloween episodes of Freddy’s Nightmares ripped from a 1980’s vhs in the video below from archive.org. First episode is 1989’s Photo Finish followed by 1988’s Freddy’s Tricks and Treats which the beginning of was cut off, or watch high quality versions at tubitv.com here and here. My fan made VHS cover at the top and I remember cutting out that exact TV Guide ad and taping it on the box of the VHS cassette I used to record the series.
VHS/DVD/BLU-RAY RELEASE: The full complete series was never released to DVD or Blu-ray in the US but 5 episodes were released on VHS in 1991. 16 episodes were released on 8 VHS’s in the UK and Germany in 1989. In 2003, Volume 1 (the first 3 episodes) was released on Region 2 DVD in Ireland and the UK. Volume 2 and Volume 3 was also planned but the release was canceled due to poor sales. The 2011 US release Blu-ray box set of the original seven A Nightmare on Elm Street films had a special features DVD that included two episodes (“It’s a Miserable Life” and “Killer Instinct“). In 2022, all episodes translated into German were published in Germany by Pidax.
Below are the five VHS front covers (animated GIF) which contains the episode titles that were released in the US:
Here is a custom fan made DVD cover of all the above VHS releases:
More custom DVD, Blu-ray and disc labels of The Complete Series:
