In an interview with Flanagan on the Haunting of Hill House creator pitches what his version of A Nightmare on Elm Street could look like.

Source: https://screenrant.com/nightmare-elm-street-movie-pitch-mike-flanagan-comments/

The best slasher villains have several elements that make them hard to forget, whether Ghostface's black and white mask in or Freddy Krueger's claws in A Nightmare On Elm Street.

Source: https://gamerant.com/forgettable-killers-slasher-horror-movies/

While A Nightmare on Elm Street does make use of those tropes, it uses the slasher subgenre as a jumping-off point.

Source: https://collider.com/nightmare-on-elm-street-slasher-movie/