The Rhode Island Urban Legend that Inspired Freddy Kruger
One urban legend will have you questioning if director Wes Craven visited Rhode Island before making the iconic '80s horror movie "A Nightmare on Elm Street."
This campfire story shared a very similar character to "A Nightmare on Elm Street", Freddy Kruger. Granted this legend does not necessarily share the same name, it is about a man named Freddie.
According to Dyer County High School, this old urban legend originates at Camp Ker-Ana in Cumberland, Rhode Island, and it dates back to the mid-twentieth century.
Instead of haunting your dreams, Freddie is said to cause harm to those in the woods. Freddie soon became "Finger Nails Freddie."
The legend goes that Finger Nails Freddie used to be a normal man that lived with his wife and children. However, one day, neighborhood children changed Freddie's life and burned down his home, killing Freddie's family and burning his face.
Angry and sad, Freddie flocked to the woods near Camp Ker-Ana, determined to take revenge on the community.
It is said that while living in the woods, Freddie's fingernails kept growing. I mean, I honestly feel that's to be expected as there are no nail files or nail clippers hiding in the woods.
One version of the legend claims that Finger Nails Freddie hated the noise that the campers made, so campers would well each other "don't make any noise at night, or else Finger Nails Freddie is going to come and claw you."
Another version claims that if anyone wandered into his former property in the woods, they would be murdered by Finger Nails Freddie.
Granted, Freddy Kruger did not live in the woods and attack, his character does have some of the same characteristics as Finger Nails Freddie.
Both were burned and used sharp points on their hands to attack others as a form of revenge.
It seems very likely that Finger Nails Freddie inspired the horror icon, Freddy Kruger.