Happy 20th Anniversary Crystal Lake Memories!

Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th is a comprehensive documentary-style book chronicling the entire Friday the 13th horror film franchise, from its 1980 origins to the 2000s sequels (covering 11 films and the syndicated TV series briefly). Written by Peter M. Bracke (with contributions from Sean S. Cunningham, the original film's producer), it's celebrated as one of the definitive behind-the-scenes accounts of low-budget horror filmmaking. The book blends oral histories, interviews with cast, crew, and creators, and rare archival material to explore the series' cultural impact, production challenges, and evolution of Jason Voorhees as an icon.

The first edition of the book was published by Sparkplug Press and officially released on November 21, 2005. This edition sold out quickly and would not be available again until October 2006. This book changed everything for fans of the Friday The 13th franchise as, for the first time, we got official accounts of the film productions that were just rumors on message boards from second and third hand accounts. Writer Peter Bracke devoted his entire life to tracking down and asking the interesting and hard questions of actors and crew to get as true of an account of the behind the scenes of the productions of each film as possible.

Crystal Lake Memories paints as clear of a picture as can possibly be put together of what it was like to produce these enduring films of the Friday The 13th franchise. The book inspired an entire generation of fans and was the number one reason I created this website. It inspired me to dig more and find out even more about the films. Peter's obsession with his book pushed my obsession with the franchise and I give him and Dan Farrands all the credit in the world for giving us the peak behind the curtain and allowing all of us to go even further.

Congrats Crystal Lake Memories on your 20th Anniversary!