Jason Lives – essays on the Friday the 13th franchise

In 1980, inspired by the success of John Carpenter’s Halloween two years prior, Sean S. Cunningham wanted to create a horror film that would serve as a ‘roller coaster ride’ – that film, Friday the 13th, would launch one of the key horror franchises of the 20th century, comprising twelve films, a TV series, a selection of books, games and merchandise, and the establishment of hockey mask-wearing killer Jason Voorhees as a cultural phenomenon.

The original four films saw significant financial success on their releases, although this was often balanced with critical derision. As the series continued, it was broadly the case that the box office declined and the critical reception remained hostile – only Freddy vs. Jason and the 2009 Friday the 13th performed well, becoming the highest-grossing films in the franchise. At the time of writing, the production studio A24 is working on a prequel series, further expanding the lore of the world of Camp Crystal Lake as the first film approaches its 50th anniversary.

The writing on the franchise has predominantly focused on the original Friday the 13th, especially as a key slasher released at the height of the golden age of the subgenre, further fuelling debate about violence and gore on screen. Other analyses of the film include its choice of victims, its Final Girl and gender politics, its musical score, and its success as an independent production. Although there has been some writing on the other films (most notably Wickham Clayton’s excellent 2020 work See! Hear! Cut! Kill!: Experiencing Friday the 13th), sustained scholarly attention on the Friday the 13th films is still limited.

Thus, there is space for a collection that offers a sustained and serious consideration of the individual films both in their own right and as part of the entire Friday the 13th franchise. Chapters are sought that offer a close reading of one of the following films (I will update this list when chapters have been selected):

-          Friday the 13th (1980)

-          Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

-          Friday the 13th Part III (1982)

-          Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

-          Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

-          Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)

-          Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)

-          Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

-          Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

-          Jason X (2002)

-          Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

-          Friday the 13th (2009)

Potential themes for essays include (but are certainly not limited to):

-          Analyses of key characters (Jason Voorhees, Pamela Voorhees, Tommy Jarvis)

-          Analyses of the roles of key cast or crew

-          The politics of the Friday the 13th films

-          The space of Camp Crystal Lake

-          Friday the 13th and violence

-          Hybridity with other horror modes (possession horror, a Carrie-esque protagonist) and genres (sci-fi, crossover movies)

-          Cycles of renewal – Jason reanimated and rebooted

-          The music of Friday the 13th

-          Critical and audience responses to the Friday the 13th films

Abstracts of around 300 words and bios of around 100 words are requested by 30 May 2026, to be sent to friday13that50@gmail.com (although this deadline will close earlier if all the films are covered). The chapters will be of approximately 6,000 words in length, with first drafts due 18 December 2026. Several publishers have expressed interest in the book, with a view to releasing it to mark the original film’s 50-year anniversary.