FREDDY'S FIRST FRIGHT

Robert Englund, whose Freddy Krueger character has inspired many a nightmare, recalls being on the opposite side of the screams. ''When I was about 9, I went to a birthday party. We were supposed to see a cowboy movie, but the programming got screwed up and we saw The Bad Seed. Patty McCormack plays the bad little girl who's up for the penmanship award at school. A little boy wins instead and she follows him out onto a pier and shoves him into the water. When he crawls up, she takes off her perfect little tap shoes and beats his hand until he drops off and drowns. Horrifying. For years I was frightened of girls with pigtails.''

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