PROJECT: A Nightmare on Elm Street Fan Fiction Story
TITLE SUGGESTIONS:
~ The Pact
~ The Ashes of Springwood
FORMAT: 2-Part Serial (Approx. 2,000 words per chapter)
PLACEMENT: Fan Fiction Fulfilment Issues #09 & #10
Author: Open to all
Genre: Revenge / Psychological Horror /
THE CONCEPT:
The fire is out but the nightmare is just beginning. This story focuses purely on the psychological horror of the cover-up after the parents of Elm Street have murdered Fred Krueger.
The story explores the corrosive nature of shared guilt, the paranoia of being discovered and the deadly consequences when a stranger comes looking for the dead man.
The parents thought they were protecting their children but they end up destroying themselves.
TONE & STYLE:
Think suburban noir, Shallow Grave
• Claustrophobic and tense. The horror is in the mundane details: a lingering glance over a white picket fence, a nervous twitch or the clinking of ice in a heavy glass of whiskey.
• The parents must be shown as flawed, terrified and increasingly dangerous to one another.
CHAPTER ONE: THE ASHES (ISSUE #09)
Word Count Target: 2,000 words
Core Focus: The fraying nerves of the parents and the arrival of the catalyst.
SUGGESTED SCENES / BEATS:
1. The Unspoken Secret:
Open a few weeks after the murder. The street looks perfect in the autumn sun but behind closed doors the parents are falling apart. Marge Thompson is drinking heavily to numb the memory. Don Thompson is using his position in the police department to actively bury the missing person reports.
2. The Weak Link:
A clandestine neighbourhood watch meeting is held in the Lantz basement. The atmosphere is toxic. Mr. Lantz is losing his nerve and wants to go to the police to confess. He argues that the guilt is eating him alive. Don Thompson has to use physical intimidation to keep him quiet, proving that the parents are now acting like gangsters.
3. The Stranger:
A woman arrives on Elm Street. She is Krueger’s estranged sister. She is sharp, relentless and handing out flyers. She knocks on doors and asks incredibly uncomfortable questions about her brother’s last known whereabouts.
4. The Slip-Up (The Cliffhanger):
The sister knocks on the Thompson door. Marge answers while heavily intoxicated. During the interrogation Marge slips up. She accidentally reveals a specific detail about the boiler room fire that was never released to the public. The sister’s expression changes. She realises the people on this street are the killers.
CHAPTER TWO: THE CONSEQUENCE (ISSUE #10)
Word Count Target: 2,000 words
Core Focus: The sister’s revenge and the violent collapse of the conspiracy.
SUGGESTED SCENES / BEATS:
1. The Evidence:
The sister breaks into the Lantz house while the family is out. She finds a twisted piece of evidence that Mr. Lantz kept out of morbid guilt (perhaps Krueger’s scorched metal glove or a melted set of keys). She now has undeniable proof.
2. The Ultimatum:
She corners Don Thompson in a secluded spot. She tells him she isn’t going to the police. She wants them to suffer. She gives Don an ultimatum: the parents must sacrifice the weakest member of their group (Mr. Lantz) to her or she will burn the entire street down with the evidence. She is turning them against each other.
3. The Betrayal:
Don calls an emergency meeting in the basement. The paranoia reaches boiling point. To the horror of some the parents actually debate turning Mr. Lantz over to save their own families. The tension snaps. A brutal, desperate fight breaks out among the adults as they turn on each other to survive.
4. The Fire Returns (The Ending):
• The sister doesn’t wait for their decision. While they are fighting below she chains the basement doors from the outside and pours gasoline through the window grates. She drops a match.
• The parents are trapped by their own conspiracy. They burn in the same way they burned Krueger. The chapter ends with the smoke rising into the night sky while the children of Elm Street sleep soundly in the houses next door, entirely unaware of the horrific sins of their parents.