31 Days of Halloween - Day 12 - Spooky Bonus

In the fall of 1985 I attended an advanced screening of "A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge" with Horror Mike Gingold , now of "Fangoria" magazine, then of "Scareaphenalia" fanzine. I don't recall if director Jack Sholder was present but New Line Cinema president, Robert Shaye was there, as Robert Englund, the actor who plays Freddy Krueger in the movie. We chatted with both, briefly and they were friendly.

A day, or two, later I walked into Forbidden Planet, at the time a huge science fiction bookstore which also sold comic books, models, and other related material. This is when it was on the corner of 10th Street and Broadway, not the current, scaled down version. By coincidence, Robert Englund, in full Freddy costume and make-up was in the store promoting the movie and handing out printed signed copies of lobby cards for the new movie. The signature is also printed on the cards, and was not done individually by Englund, as it wouldn't be possible while wearing the knife-fingered glove. (The printed card is shown above).

Somehow he spotted and recognized me from the screening and called me over. I instinctively reached out to shake his hand, and he did the same, realizing and warning me at the last second to "watch out for the claws. They're really sharp." But it was too late, before he finished his warning, our hands met and one of the blades on the glove sliced across the main joint of my middle finger, cutting it. He was very apologetic. It didn't seem too bad a wound to me, but I was astonished that the blades were really sharp on that glove. I thought that was somewhat hazardous for filming, one misstep by one of the actors playing his victims and they could have had a snuff film.

I've never seen Robert Englund in person, and I never watched another one of the "A Nightmare On Elm Street" movies. This is purely coincidental. I was in now way traumatized by the encounter, though I was scarred for life. There, on the joint of my middle finger, visible only when I make a fist is the tiny crescent scar made by one of the blades of Freddy Krueger's glove as it sliced across my finger while I shook hands with a monster.

NEXT TIME on my life with monsters: Having drinks with Hellraiser's Pinhead.