A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child by Joseph Locke (a.k.a. Ray Garton)

 

(pb; 1989: movie tie-in novel. Sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.)

Review

Freddy Krueger has found a clever loophole through which to return to torment Alice Johnson (from Elm Street 4) and her friends, one that’s initially a mystery before it becomes horrifying reality.

As with the fourth Nightmare script-based book (which Locke/Garton also wrote), he mostly follows the screenplay but expands on the characters’ backstories and actions, resets some of the action (e.g., one of the early sequences in the book involves Alice taking a bath instead of the movie version’s shower), gets grislier with some of the nightmares (especially Dan Jordan’s), etc.

Locke/Garton’s writing is again lean, immediately involving, fast-moving, and entertaining within its surreal swirl structure of dream logic, returning characters and all-around solid writing. If the means of Krueger’s defeat seem paper-thin and almost laughable, it’s not Locke/Garton’s fault (blame the screenwriters and the producers who pushed them), an okay whatever (anti-)climax that is almost remedied by the emotional efficacy of Locke/Garton’s final, character-centric scene in the book.

Garton, whether he’s writing under his real name or Joseph Locke, is a consistently excellent and entertaining horror writer.

If you’re curious what was changed between this solid, mostly dreamtime sequel’s book and film versions, check the reviews on Amazon (there’s a nice person who thoroughly listed the differences).

Nightmare 5 was published later in 1989 with its prequel, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master in one volume, titled The Nightmares on Elm Street: Parts 4 & 5. It’s out of print, so if you can get it for a reasonable price (the current price hovers between $50 and $80 online), you might want to consider picking it up if you’re even slightly interested in it.

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The counterpart film was released stateside on August 11, 1989. Stephen Hopkins directed the film, from a screenplay by Leslie Bohem, based on a story by her, Craig Spector, and John Skipp.

Robert Englund played Freddy Krueger. Lisa Wilcox reprised her role of Alice Johnson. Nicholas Mele, billed as Nick Mele, also returned as Dennis Johnson (“Johnson” in the last film), Alice’s father. Danny Hassel reprised his role of Dan Jordan, Alice’s boyfriend. Whit Hertford, billed as Whitby Hertford, played Jacob.

Kelly Jo Minter played Yvonne. Joe Seely played Mark. Erika Anderson played Greta Gibson. Beatrice Boepple played Amanda Krueger.

Valorie Armstrong played Mrs. Jordan, Dan’s mother. Burr DeBenning played Mr. Jordan.