‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ Star Robert Englund to Host New Travel Channel Series

In the A Nightmare on Elm Street films, Robert Englund‘s Freddy Krueger wandered around the dreams teenagers living on Elm Street, killing them in that uniquely vulnerable landscape. Now, Englund is going to be doing a different kind of travelling in the real, waking world — as the host of a new Travel Channel show.

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the Travel Channel has picked up six episodes of Shadows of History, a program in which Englund will investigate “frightening, odd and creepy” stories that first appeared as newspaper stories printed in America’s past. Each episode will see the Nightmare on Elm Street star examine the story based on those newspaper accounts, enlisting various historians and scholars to get to the real truth behind the headlines.

“How can you make fascinating and petrifying stories even more scary? Add the genius of Robert England,” Travel Channel GM Jane Latman said. “As if tales of flying monsters, zombie cannibals and ghost ships were not enough, we are cranking up the volume for maximum impact. And our fans are going to go nuts for this legendary actor.”

Shadows of History fits right into the Travel Channel’s network focus on shows that center around myths and legends, a trend begun with the success of the network’s long-running Ghost Adventures. For Englund, the role as host will be a new experience getting to tell the stories behind some of the creepier stories from the past. He most recently “reprised” his role as Freddy Krueger for an episode of ABC’s The Goldbergs last fall, a turn he said he took in order to make his legions of fans happy and give them another encounter with the iconic horror villain.

“I’ve been very protective of the character for years … I said no to [series creator] Adam [Goldberg],” Englund admitted to the New York Post. “And then he sent me probably the most beautiful fan letter I ever received, telling me how much A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors meant to him. And then I started thinking about my fans, how it dovetails with the ’80s experience and this sort of retro memory play that The Goldbergs is about.”

“Freddy’s been absorbed by popular culture. There’s Hello Kitty decals now,” the actor detailed. “He’s been on The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, Rick and Morty. He’s in comic books. He’s everywhere with action figures and dolls and stuff, late-night talk show punch lines. It’s like Frankenstein now: he’s just a by-word, a logo for the memory of an experience. So I was able to kind of make peace.”

Are you excited to see England host Shadows of History? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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