The Nightmares on Elm Street: Parts 4 & 5

by Joseph Locke

Relates the further blood-spattered adventures of the joke-cracking, flesh-cutting fiend as he slashes his way through young, Middle-America's dreams

Genres: Horror, Media Tie In, Collections, Film

188 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1989

About the author

Pseudonym of Ray Garton.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read, but for most of the book the author literally rewrote the screenplays in prose form. This does make it interesting in some cases where the final scenes ended up different than what was in the screenplay. For instance, in Part 4, we see Rick's original planned death scene involving an elevator instead of the pretty lame karate scene that ended up in the movie.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uhhh so this was a book...that I read....that had a lot of imagery in the novelization of 5 that wasn't in the movie....made it more questionable instead of less hahahaha.

The novelization of The Dream Master slaps though and I really enjoyed it!

[Carly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nightmare on Elm street 4: This film/story and part 5 are my least favourite and they are the least memorable in terms of plot. The way the main characters in the story are killed are memorable, but the plot of this story and part 5 is really bland. I really hate insects so the character that is turned into an insect is really gross, I feel sory for the asthmatic girl, since I briefly sufered from mild asthma when I was younger so I can relate. I wish Freddie used illusions to trick people more often, because it is a creative way to lure someone into thinking they are safe even when they aren't safe.

A nightmare on Elm Street 5: Alice from part 4 returns in this story, with the help of her friends she defeats Freddie again. Freddie Krueger is eternal and will always remain or exist in some form, i'm not sure if he is immortal however, since he does die and return. So long as there are hateful or fearful people in the world, Freddie will be a necessary evil. There cannot be any good without evil, there also cannot be any form of evil in the world without good, it is the balance of the universe in the cosmos, the laws of nature, or karma. The plot for this story is okay, but I personally prefer the first three stories over part 4 and 5. If Freddie was a creative killer and killed the victims in unique or interesting ways not previously mentioned before, then it would be refreshing to read, but it is a bit of a tired concept, that a group of teenagers are plaguedby a menacing and evil killer that unscrupulously murders whoever he wants to kill.

[Ethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author clearly has a lot more fun with it than the writer of parts 1, 2 & 3 did, even with the convoluted plot he has to work with.

[Mikepottz · Rating 5 out of 5]

4. 1,2 Freddy coming for you, 3,4 better lock your door, 5,6 grab a crucifix, 7,8, gonna stay awake, 9,10, never sleep again. A once burnt and dead Freddy has a dog taking a piss and fire comes out. The flames rising from Hell. Piles of bodies scattered now sliding together, joints rejoining, vertebrae snapping in a column, veins, arteries appearing, skin spreading. Freddy is back! Dusting off his hat, his breath decayed meat he plunges his razor sharp blades on his fingers into his first victims gut. Freddy's next victim has a great wet dream. He is pulled into a water bed, the lungs filling with water. A shark fin cutting through water, now cutting through land. The shark fin changes to four razor sharp blades. The boiler room with the steam hissing, Freddy's workplace and pleasure place. "You wanna suck face" as Freddy sucks into his victim. The skull and face deflating and the imploding ribs. A kill in the book only of sitting on a toilet then down an elevator shaft into an abyss. Another under the bench press as Freddy pushes down snapping the elbows as the victim turns into a cockroach. Alice the final girl in the dream world sending blue bolts of electricity into Freddy's chest, maggots are seen inside. A child's song brings out child victims arms from Freddy's chest, ripping his jaw apart, his horrible pizza face peeling like rind, then he disappears. One of my favorite in the franchise.5. Filthy men with yellow stained pajamas, eyes rolling in their sockets, 100 men from a mental asylum rape Freddy's mother over and over. Clawing to get in first. Freddy gets his victims. A spoonful of food being forced into a mouth. The food miniature sized versions of herself. Stuck in her throat. Choking. Crushed by a bed. Alice has a bun in the oven, Freddy invading baby dreams to get victims. Dark. Third worst in the franchise but still a goodie. Great to have in the collection. A reread.

[S. Policar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll begin with this: these Nightmare on Elm Street books are almost impossible to find at an affable price. Keep them if you have them.
Dream Warriors, Dream Master, and Dream Child are my favorite movies of the entire franchise. I unfortunately couldn't find a copy of Dream Warriors that wasn't a small fortune. But I did find this duology of 4 and 5. Make no mistake, this is written as a descriptive version of both movies.
Dream Master follows a group of friends starting with Kristen as the main character, then switching to Alice, as they deal with the ultimate evil that is Freddy Krueger. I will note, there is an error in chapter 8 where the narration says Kristen instead of Alice.
Dream Child follows Dream Master, with maybe a year of time separating them. Graduation is a thing in the recent past and Alice is dreaming of Freddy Krueger again. I found an error in chapter three of this one, grow should be glow. Another error I found is in ten where Jason is witten instead of Jacob.
The writing is what you'd expect from a book of this sort. It's detailed in the gore scenes to the point there's no mistaking what's happening. Honestly, it's great in my opinion lol
There ARE differences between the novel and the movie for Dream Child. They don't change much but there are a couple of scenes that aren't in the movie; which just made it better in my opinion.
The only thing that would have made this book better, would have been if it covered Dream Warriors as well, since those three movies were their own storyline really and should have definitely been written into a trilogy instead of just the last two.
I give this book 5 of 5 Paws.

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know the drill by now with these old, out-of-print slasher books: I wouldn't have been able to go through this if it weren't for the 80s Slasher Librarian on YouTube making a fan audiobook of this novelization. Please, please go check out his channel and support him if you have an interest in these books; he uploads all these for free for other fans to enjoy and it's important archive work.

I will say this took me slightly by surprise. While there are some differences in the part of the book dedicated to the fourth movie, the majority of differences were in "The Dream Child", and I honestly like this novel version of "The Dream Child" better than the actual movie. This was well worth going through and it was a treat in general. Highly recommended if you're an NoES fan.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

After having met up with Jason recently, I wanted to read more about Freddy... in Part 4 (The Dream Master) we see Kirsten at Freddy's house in her dream. Is Freddy back? Enjoy his different incarnations (I especially liked the nurse) and a great final. Part 5 (The Dream Child) you'll come to know how Freddy was conceived and learn more about his mother. Freddy's coming for the kids again. Who will survive? This book was written by no one else than Ray Garton and this makes it a very good one. Freddy Kruger, one of the strongest horror characters of the 1980s (maybe ever) is coming to you... three, four, better lock the door. Highly recommended stuff not only for Freddy fans!

[Matthew Fleming · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oddly, novelisation 5 is better than novelisation 4 - despite being based on a weaker film. Maybe I was used to the narrative style by that point - the paragraphs constantly ending with dashes... the annoyingly common ellipses... it's like reading this review!

Part 5 really allows the story to shine, though. Plus, there are far fewer unnecessary descriptions of breasts when describing how a female character is feeling.

[Rose 'I Have Too Many Books To Read And No More Room' Barrientos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like all the differences between the movie and the book.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good adaption of screen plays and these 2 books are better than the films imho!!

[Lariste · Rating 2 out of 5]

Better than Joyce's modernist classic Ulysses.

At least, that's what Robert Englund would say, as few (b-list) actors in the actorverse are as fond of purple prose and pontificating about the relevance of their own craft and abilities as he is - displayed in full spotlight in the lengthy: Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy docuseries.

While that was entertaining, it also shows New Line as an outfit committed to cheap directors, competent, imitative scripts and disposable cast members. OH YEAH, and visual effects.

Due to lack of visual effects contained in this actual printed book, there are attractive film stills instead - the text focuses on Part 4's very dreamy and distant entry (which made quite a lot of money) and the slightly more gothic and incomprehensible Part 5, which more-or-less bombed, as the public was maxed out on Freddy Kreuger crossover marketing and TV material at this point.

Part five signposted the series unending spiral into commercial failure, followed by a higher earning "monster mash" years later where Freddy infact vs'ed Jason.

IS THIS BOOK GOOD? NO. But it's got some nice photos, and it details the plots and characterization in the movies nicely. Basically a sales point, but also written in a type of story format.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have seen neither A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 4: The Dream Master nor A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 5: The Dream Child. They're the only films in the series I haven't seen. This was the first time I've read novelizations of movies I haven't seen, and, while occasionally sketchy to the point of being confusing, I enjoyed them. Part 5: The Dream Child was much more memorable than Part 4: The Dream Master, about which I can remember almost nothing.

[Carly · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are my least favourite stories in the (film franchise/novelizations) it was a chore to read this and I am glad I have finally finished it because I will never read it again. I look forward to reading Freddy vs. Jason and Wes Craven's New Nightmare.