LEWISTON – Nathan White goes to bed every night with costumes of two masked murderers hanging overhead.

One peek inside his bedroom and “a lot of people say, You sleep in there?'”

He does, surrounded by the stuff of nightmares.

Freddy Krueger from “A Nightmare on Elm Street.” Jason Voorhees from “Friday the 13th.” Michael Myers from “Halloween.”

Around his small room he has hung up movie posters and decorated shelves with action figures small and large – maniacal men in all sorts of blood-stained states.

“Some people find it disturbing. I find it comical and entertaining, I guess,” White, 18, said. “Good popcorn movies.”

He saw his first “Nightmare” movie around age 4 and says it terrified him at the time. A little later, he got into the television series “Tales from the Crypt,” that led to the comic book of the same title.

From that point, he was hooked on horror.

White graduated from Lewiston High School in June. He works at Flagship Cinemas, a bonus for his hobby: He snagged a wall-sized movie poster for $1 and 35mm trailers from “Freddy vs. Jason” that were destined for the trash.

An actor, he has been in productions at Lewiston High School, playing Scrooge last winter, and at Community Little Theatre.

Next month at the Waterville Opera House he plays Bobby Reyborn, a prisoner on death row in “Coyote on a Fence.”

White said he’s taking time off from school now, but would like to go back to pursue acting. He’d love to meet Robert Englund – the man who plays Freddy Krueger, his all-time favorite character.

Asked if the films start to seem rote after a while – he has all 10 “Fridays,” all seven “Nightmares” and nearly all eight “Halloweens” – White laughed.

The premise of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” is that Freddy can come through your dreams and live out your worst fears, he said, so there’s “more variety to the death scenes.”

Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers are the two masked murderers peering down on him at night. He created the life-sized costume of Michael by tacking the creepy white mask above a pair of gray full-body work Dickies. The Freddy costume is made from old black work pants, the official Freddy Krueger red-and-green sweater – tattered at the sleeves – mask and glove.

On Halloween night for the last two years he has roamed the streets around Rita Avenue dressed as Michael, silent and creepy.

Last year, for an impromptu show, he dressed as Freddy, his friend dressed as Michael and they duked it out.

“They acted out a scene on the front lawn – everyone was watching,” said mom, Michelle.

This year he’ll be Michael again. Then maybe Leatherface, too, for something different.

Halloween’s his favorite holiday. And the best time of year to add to his collection, which has already taken over every surface in his bedroom.

White has little cousins that won’t go in there. His mom says she’s gotten used to it.

“One of my grandmothers is disgusted by it,” he said. “And the other thinks it’s awesome.”