Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Freddy’s Nightmares, a horror anthology show which ran in syndication from 1988 to 1990. The entire series can be found on Tubi!

This week, more and more people are coming to Springwood.

Episode 2.3 “Welcome to Springwood”

(Dir by Ken Wiederhorn, originally aired on October 22nd, 1989)

Roxanne (Leah Ayres) and her husband, Doug (Michael Horton). have just moved to a new house in Springwood, Ohio.  Doug, a lawyer, has to go to his office and he leaves Roxanne, who is recovering from a mental breakdown, alone with the boxes that the moves have already brought into the house.  He tells her not to worry about opening them and promises her that they’ll unpack when he gets home.

Roxanne, however, opens the boxes.  And she finds things that clearly don’t belong to her.  She calls Doug at work.  Doug says that there must have been a mix-up with the moving company and that he’ll call and make sure that their stuff gets delivered as soon as  possible.

Meanwhile, at the house, Roxanne starts to see people who may or may not be there….

As surprised as I am to say this, the first segment of this episode of Freddy’s Nightmares was an enjoyably macabre story.  Yes, the final twist is one that you’ll see coming but director Ken Wiederhorn does a great job creating and maintaining atmosphere and Ayres, Horton, and Todd Allen all give strong performances.

The second story isn’t close to be anywhere as interesting.  Emily Jamison (Dey Young) has moved into a new home and she finds a hidden stack of letters that were written years before.  The letters detail a doomed romance and Emily soon starts to see ghosts.  The story isn’t terrible but it’s a bit bland.

Still, this was another good episode of Freddy’s Nightmares.  So far, at least, the show appears to have found its footing during its second season.  It’ll be interesting to see if that continues next week.