Chapter 15: Epilogue and Prologue

The Vampire and the Bogeyman continued their vicious fight in Hell, savaging each other with single-minded fury infused with pure hate.

On Earth, each had defeated the other by inadvertently taking advantage of their opponent's limitations. But neither could boast about it, much less claim victory. No, those damned kids had played an important part in each other's current exile to the Infernal Regions, where a host of lesser demons had gathered to watch the fight, cheering and jeering as the battling Apex Monsters pounded each other.

And battle Dracula and Freddy did, otherwise ignoring the shout-outs and heckling of their unwanted audience, only taking notice when the raucous noise was suddenly replaced by an eerie silence that was disturbing enough for the battlers to stop their fight to take note of their newly quiet surroundings.

The audience of demons that had gathered to enjoy the impromptu spectacle had vanished just as abruptly as it had formed. Where hundreds, or maybe thousands, had stood moments before to watch, the Vampire and the Bogeyman now stood in the presence of only one other entity; an entity that was at once baleful as it was beautiful; albeit beautiful in a purely evil way.

Vlad III Drăculea, also known in life as Vlad Țepeș, Voivode of Wallachia, and Frederick Charles Krueger, also known in life as The Bastard Son of a Hundred Maniacs, and The Springwood Slasher, stood nervously as they found themselves in the presence of a tall, swarthy man, who styled his appearance after that of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh. No, this entity was not Satan, but that didn't make it any less dangerous, much less formidable.

Dracula's mannerisms were uncharacteristically respectful in the presence of this being. Even Freddy Krueger, who was never at a loss for a snarky wisecrack, wisely kept his silence.

Although neither fiend had ever met the being now standing before them, its reputation was too well known to all the denizens of Hell. It had many names, including The Black Pharaoh, The Crawling Chaos, The Stalker Among the Stars, and a host of others nearly as legion as the Lord of Hell Itself.

After an agonizingly interminable period of silence, the one known more commonly as Nyarlathotep smiled, and said, "Gentlemen . . . . What seems to be the problem, here . . . ?"

In the physical world, a telephone rang, and was answered with the salutation, "Talbot Antiques. Sandor Farkas speaking. How may I help you? I understand . . . .

"Just a moment please, and I'll see if he's still available.

"No, it's just that Mr. Talbot was expecting your callback to come earlier. No, he appreciates you're getting back to him today. Though at this late hour, I don't know if he's still on the premises. Please give me a moment to check."

Putting the caller on hold, Sandor took the phone into the basement of his employer's business that also served as his employer's (and friend's) 'sanctuary' for exactly three nights out of each month, during the time of the Full Moon.

When Sandor knocked on the heavy door, his boss opened a small slit, and said, "What is it, Sandor? It's almost My Time."

"It's the man from the realty company, Mr. Talbot. I told him you may have left for the evening. Shall I request that he call you back, tomorrow?"

Lawrence Talbot considered this for a moment. He checked the clock mounted high on the wall of the small, padded room, which showed he had less than twenty minutes to Moonrise. Hopefully, that would be more than enough time. Saying that he would, Lawrence took the phone from Sandor through the narrow slit.

"Hello, this is Larry Talbot. No, that's not a problem. Yes, I'm very interested in purchasing the property I enquired about in my email. Yes, I'm aware it's a very large tract of land.

"No, I have no plans to re-open the old Summer Camp, or turn it into a resort. In fact, I want to use it as a personal retreat. My life and job can get a bit . . . stressful at times, and I've always wanted somewhere I'd be able to go to safely "blow off steam" a few days each month.

"Well, my current plans are to fence in the property with a double-row topped with razor wire.

"No, I don't think of that as 'overkill.' I just don't want any trespassers; especially when I'm there. I have a great need for privacy and solitude, you see . . . .

"Well, tomorrow won't be . . . convenient, for me. I've got a lot going on over the next few days . . . and nights. Next week? Perfect! My assistant and I will meet you then, and we'll discuss all of the arrangements.

"Thank you. I think the old Camp Crystal Lake property will suite my needs very well . . . ."

The End

And possibly, a new beginning . . . .

Author's Afterthoughts

I think the main inspiration for this fanfic was a video I saw about ten years ago on YouTube (that was first posted fifteen years ago) on the "Simon and Schuster Books" site that was titled:

"Actor Robert Englund: Question I Get Most."

In the interview, Robert Englund said that:

"I've encountered fans over the years since day one "A Nightmare On Elm Street" (first came out and the fans were) the sort of 14-year-old, male adolescent boys, (who) want to know which other horror characters (Freddy could defeat with his powers or if Freddy is,) more evil than they - there's always that curiosity. So, I'm always asked whether I can beat up Michael Myers, or . . . what would it happen if (Freddy fought) Dracula or a vampire character . . . ."

Answering his question in the First Person, Mr. Englund said, in mental character as Freddy Krueger, "I get them when they fall asleep. I have the upper hand when they fall asleep. Freddy would win."

And that's just what I would expect the arrogant, overconfident and hubristic Freddy Krueger to say. Moreover, it's firmly stated in ANOES canon that in the dreamworld, Freddy Krueger is nearly invincible, and his victims' only hope is to "wake up" before the Bastard Son of a Hundred Maniacs may deliver the death blow.

But . . . .

In every ANOES movie, Freddy Krueger – despite all his dreamworld powers – is consistently defeated in the end – at the height of his powers, no less - by the severely traumatized and severely sleep-deprived "Final Girl;" who learns how to "Lucidly Dream," and manages to stop the slaughter – at least until the next sequel comes out . . . .

Here, I have what I call my, "Freddy's Limitation Theory."

This posits that while Freddy has the ability to grow more powerful with each child he kills as he absorbs their souls; I think that there is a 'upper-limit' to the number of victims Freddy is actually able to 'harvest' before he may no longer contain, much less control, all the power he has taken. I suspect the power of so many innocent souls also makes Freddy "intoxicated" on this power, and causes him to make more and more stupid mistakes as the movie progresses that the observant, "Final Girl" spots, and is able to use to her advantage to defeat Freddy.

I think this is why Freddy Krueger – even though he is undeniably the King of the Slashers – has such a relatively low "body count," compared to Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees.

Also, in the ANOES movies, Krueger's victims are generally teenagers; though when he began his career as a living, Child Molester / Murderer – his victims were all around ten-years-old.

Why Krueger made this change from preying on preteens when he was alive to teenagers after he was killed is something of a mystery to me, and something I attempt to explore in my earlier ANOES fanfic, "Freddy in Christmasland," that is a crossover with the novel "NOS4A2" - written by Stephen King's son Joe Hill - where Freddy Krueger has a fateful encounter that ends badly for him with Mr. Hill's own unique vampire-like child predator, Charles Talent Manx, III.

Another shameless plug for my earlier fanfic, I know . . . .

But in "Freddy vs. Dracula," The Springwood Slasher will find himself up against an extremely formidable opponent, who is anything but a vulnerable teenager.

Vlad III Drăculea, Voivode of Wallachia, also known in life variously as Vlad Țepeș, Kaziklu Bey, and Son of the Dragon, may best be described as a Renaissance Era Warrior Prince, who viciously and effectively protected his homeland of Wallachia (and yes, also Transylvania) from the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary using both strength and strategy. That much is history.

In fantasy, Vlad III became the "Count Dracula, Lord of the Undead," of legend thanks to Bram Stoker. And in addition to having a warrior's background, Dracula has supernatural powers that include the strength of twenty men, the ability to shapeshift into a bat, a wolf, mist, and other things, as well as the power to control weather, animals, and even people though force of will.

And Dracula has had over half a millennium to practice and hone these vampire skills, while Freddy Krueger has only been a bogeyman for about half a century.

In the novel, Dracula was also implied to have dream powers of his own, (though Lucy might alternately have been suffering from a form of PTSD, but the other possibility is still valid.)

Now, while any dream powers that Dracula might possess would not be as 'comprehensive' as those in Freddy Krueger's arsenal; they are still enough to rob the bogeyman of his main advantage – Freddy cannot kill Dracula in his dreamworld. But neither can Dracula kill Freddy.

Here's where the 'proxies' in the form of this story's four teenagers and one ten-year-old come in. In the story, both monsters will forego killing these kids as each one hopes to use them as potential pawns in their battle with the other.

But as the monsters' main focus is on each other, the kids are able to make plans of their own.

Another 'touchy-point' in ANOES canon is the idea that when Freddy Krueger was caught and put on trial; he had to be released on a 'technicality' because the Search Warrant the police were issued had been, ". . . signed in the wrong place."

If you've ever had the privilege to watch the first ANOES movie with a lawyer; you'll see them yelling at the screen in the manner of a sports fan when the referee or umpire makes what they think is a bad call.

According to a lawyer of my acquaintance, there is no way that anyone accused of abducting, molesting and murdering twenty(!) children under ten would "get-off" on something like that; especially during an election year, (unless the judge wanted to commit career suicide.)

I was advised that the judge would likely put on a "dog-and-pony show" by solemnly calling for a recess, going back to their chambers to 'research' the issue, and then reconvene the trial with the determination that the 'mistake' on the Search Warrant is a "harmless error" – summarily dismissing the defense's motion, and allowing the trial to resume. At most, the judge might ask the police and prosecutor to apply for an "Amended Warrant" to address the 'administrative issues.' But Krueger would still have his day in court.

So, what "really" happened? Based on what we saw in the first four movies, my own theory is that the parents of Springwood wanted to take the law into their own hands and kill the monster who killed their children.

To do this, the 'contrivance' of a "bad search warrant" and Krueger's abrupt release as part of some "high-minded" concern for his 'civil rights' was used to put him on the street so the vigilante mob of parents (which included the lead detective in the case) would then be able to administer their own rough-justice on the Springwood Slasher.

This almost makes me wonder what might have happened if Krueger was put on what would undoubtedly have been, "The Trial of the Century," and the entire world found out about him; especially if his official execution was delayed for years or even decades due to endless appeals wrangling over the initial admissibility of the evidence obtained through the, "invalid search warrant."

In that world, as Krueger died from lethal injection and was approached by the Dream Demons; would EVERY child have then been a potential victim of the undead Springwood Slasher . . . ?

I would like for another hobbyist author on this site to consider writing a story that explores this ANOES A/U. I'd attempt it myself, but I only write crossovers . . . .

In any event, I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed, (positively or negatively,) this story that was almost a decade in the making!