What was a nightmare on elm street inspired by?

Answer 1

if you mean the film, I can't really remember as it's been so long since I saw it but I remember the story (sort of)
The Janitor of a school was sealed in his house and burned to death after having been found to be messing with some of the kids. The residents of Elm street were responsible for the Janitors death and so he vowed to come back and get the rest of the kids where the parents couldn't protect them- in their sleep.
Sorry it's a bit vague but IMDB.com will have a better synopsis. I quite enjoyed the movie and the rhyme was really creepy.
'one, two, Freddie's coming for you.
'three, four, better lock the door.
'five, six, grab a crucifix.
'seven, eight, better stay up late.

'nine, ten, never sleep again.

Answer 2

Well, the first reason is probably that "Elm Street" is one of the most common street names in the United States. Calling it Nightmare on Elm Street ensured that kids in the majority of towns across the U.S. would forevermore have at least one spooky street to be afraid of. And Nightmare on Oak Street or Nightmare on Walnut Street just don't have the same ring to them.

According to Wikipedia, another possible reason is that, when Wes Craven was a film professor, some of his students created a Horror movie parody called Madstop, which they filmed on a street called Elm Street in Potsdam, New York ("Madstop" is "Potsdam" spelled backwards).

See the Related Link below.

Answer 3

Wes Craven read an article in a newspaper About a Boy that was too afraid to sleep. When the boy finally did fall asleep he died. Wes Craven based the Nightmare movie on this article. The Freddy Krueger character was named after a bully Wes knew from school and was based on a homeless man that terrified Wes when he was child. The homeless man wore a dark fedora style hat.