The Legacy of Jason Voorhees: Essays on the Friday the 13th Franchise
Editors Introduction:
While John Carpenter’s Halloween catapulted the slasher subgenre to the front of popular culture, Sean S. Cunningham’s Friday the 13th (1980) cemented the formula with a higher body count and an increased focus on sex, violence, and gore. Alongside Black Christmas, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Halloween, the Friday the 13th series helped establish many of the conventions that fans are now accustomed to, and its first sequel introduced an iconic killer with Jason Voorhees. The success of the original film led to a franchise comprised of twelve theatrical films as of 2026, in addition to a short film released in 2025 and a 2026 television series.
