Did This Upstate New York Town Inspire The Movie ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’?

The 1984 horror film ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street‘, written and directed by Wes Craven, created one of the most iconic movie villains of all time in Freddy Kruger. What inspired Craven to dream up the story of a burn victim terrorizing teens in their sleep? Some say Upstate New York inspired him.

Here are 2 scenarios that suggest ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’ was inspired by the people and places around Potsdam, New York.

Wes Craven largely denies that his time spent as Humanities Professor at Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY inspired the movie. Here are 2 clues that indicate that maybe, just maybe, this small college town crept into his dreams.

1. While teaching at Clarkson in the 1960’s, Wes Craven helped shoot a low budget student film titled ‘The Searchers’. The focal point of the film was a frat house on, you guessed it, Elm Street. The frat house (pictured below) is now gone, replaced by the town hall.

2. The film ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’ takes place in the fictional town of Springwood, Ohio. In the original script the name of the fictitious town was Madstop, which is Potsdam spelled backwards. Although Wes Craven never confirmed the Upstate New York connections to this film the coincidences are tough to ignore.

Craven’s film career includes ‘Last House On the Left’, ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ and the ‘Scream’ movie franchise. Craven passed away of a brain tumor in 2015 at the age of 76.

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