Keep an Eye Out In Your Nightmares

Since my earliest childhood, I loved monsters.  Whether horror or sci-fi or fantasy…stories with monsters were exciting to me.  This resulted in my not finding horror movies so much as scary…but exciting.  My parents did not let me watch horror movies in general, mainly to avoid me having nightmares I suppose.

In high school, I started to get more access to horror movies I saw a Nightmare on Elm Street.  I did not find it super scary, but I loved the imagination behind it.  Teacher turned filmmaker Wes Craven made a real impression on me.

Not every film he made was a classic, but he gave some truly visionary offerings.  He started the Elm Street Franchise and then, with New Nightmare, turned it on it’s head, before “challenging the rules of the genre” was the thing to do.

Honestly, there is an extra cruel irony when a storyteller faces something like brain cancer.  It is like a monster directly attacking the heart of a storyteller.  My condolences to his friends and family in their loss.

Craven understood the power of story, and I am glad he shared his experience with us.

Thanks for the Nightmares, Wes Craven.  You’re gonna be missed.