Fog drifted through the trees and over the water at the New Jersey campground that served as Camp Crystal Lake earlier this month, on a Friday the 16th. It was not the 13th, but in northwestern New Jersey, visitors to the filming locations of the 1980 horror film "Friday the 13th" say every Friday can feel like it.
The towns of Blairstown and Hardwick are seeing renewed attention thanks to "Crystal Lake," Peacock's prequel series about the origins of Pamela and Jason Voorhees. The series, which premiered the day before that foggy Friday, recreates the film's famous scene in which Jason emerges from the lake and pulls a victim from a canoe, though in a different body of water and with a different character. Linda Cardellini, who plays Pamela, told NBC Local the scene was "a little brutal" to film but part of the fun of trying to please fans.
Showrunner Brad Caleb Kane, a lifelong horror fan who also helped create the "It" prequel "Welcome to Derry," said the series explores the idea that "monsters are made, not born." Filming at the camp, he said, was "a dream come true." The franchise has produced 12 movies.
In Blairstown, the Blairstown Diner, which appeared in the original film, hosted an all-night watch party for the series. All 75 tickets sold out within 48 hours. Events coordinator Brian Emenheiser said he proposed the idea after learning Peacock would release every episode on the same night. The party ended at 3:30 a.m. after all eight episodes were shown, though only six people lasted to the end. The diner reopened at 6 a.m. for a busy tour day, and the following weekend it held sold-out hay rides retracing the film's Main Street walk by the character Annie, joined by Robbi Morgan, the actor who played her.
The town has long embraced its place in horror history. Matthew Keller, a near lifelong resident who was 8 when the film came out, began dressing as Jason and greeting people outside Roy's Hall, a Main Street theater seen in the film, after he was disappointed that the movie was not being shown on Friday the 13th. It became a tradition, and Friday the 13th grew into something of a town holiday, with a pepperoni hockey mask pizza, $13 haircuts and visitors from different states and countries. Roy's Hall now screens the film every Friday the 13th, including a double feature next month.
Many sites still look much as they did in 1979, which meant the production needed few drastic changes. Production designer Lester Cohen said his team swapped some doors, added an awning and designed period-appropriate signs. Trudy's luncheonette, which appears on Main Street in the film, is actually in Hope, New Jersey, and is now an antiques store, so the team rebuilt it elsewhere. Pamela's house, new to the franchise, was also built for the series. Cohen praised residents, saying they "have embraced their place in history."
The camp itself is Camp NoBeBoSco, a 380-acre private property in Hardwick whose name stands for North Bergen Boy Scouts. It heads into its 100th year of operation in 2027, and more than 80% of the original film was shot there. The camp's own materials make no mention of Jason.
That changed for fans in 2011, when camp alumni began organizing guided tours of the filming locations. Crystal Lake Tours runs only when camp is not in session, with a portion of proceeds supporting restoration and maintenance. Some tours have sold out in as little as eight seconds. Joey Sclafani, who stayed in a lakefront cabin with his Scout troop three years ago, said it felt special, and a little creepy, to be where the film's gruesome scenes were shot.
