Robert Englund to Host New Travel Channel Series, Shadows of History

Horror icon/immortal dream demon Robert Englund has found himself a new gig with the Travel Channel of all places. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the beloved portrayer of Freddy Krueger will be hosting a new series called Shadows of History, wherein he’ll be investigating “frightening, odd and creepy” stories from bygone ages of American history, as culled from small-town newspapers. I guess you could say the show focuses on unsolved mysteries of the “Elm Streets” of the world.

Shadows of History has been picked up for six initial episodes, each of which will involve Englund enlisting a team of “historians and scholars” in order to investigate the strange articles printed in America’s forgotten newspapers. Presumably, the series will tackle accounts that are both realistically macabre and potentially supernatural.

“How can you make fascinating and petrifying stories even more scary? Add the genius of Robert Englund,” said Jane Latman, Travel Channel GM . “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.”

It’s hard not to be swayed by the presence of Englund, who in all reality seems like a really nice, intelligent guy. Although the 71-year-old actor spends most of his time these days appearing in low-budget horror films and other works that not-so-slyly reference his Nightmare on Elm Street fame, he’s compiled quite a career outside his most famous series as well. He’s great in a variety of other horror films, from the self-referential role in 2006’s Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon to appearances in pre-Nightmare films such as Dead & Buried or the exceedingly goofy Galaxy of Terror.

We’ll be keeping an eye on Shadows of History as it approaches its Travel Channel premiere. Hopefully it’s worthy of our man Robert.