13 Days Of Jason: Friday The 13th (2009 Remake)
When routine replaces purpose
Located in Cunningham County, New Jersey is Camp Crystal Lake. Although once a popular summer camp for children, the camp was soon abandoned due to a string of murders in 1980.
On Friday, June 13th, Pamela Voorhees killed a group of teenage counselors to avenge her son. The boy, named Jason, drowned years prior from the counselors neglecting their duties. The sole survivor of Pamela’s massacre beheaded the woman in self-defense.
The camp shut down indefinitely after that.
Since then, reports of strange happenings have surrounded the camp for years. In the Archive’s findings, an infamous urban legend haunts the memory of the camp, with local townsfolk quick to warn newcomers of the supposed danger hidden in the woods.
According to legend, the camp is haunted.
There are no ghosts to be found there, however. No victims roam the woods. Nor will you find a beheaded woman beckoning for you to join her.
Urban myth tells tales of Jason himself stalking the grounds. Locals say he came back to avenge his mother’s death.
His mystery is almost cryptid-like. One trip to the nearby town will show posters for visitors to be careful of Camp Crystal Lake.
Yet The Archive must dig deeper.
If legend is true, and Jason Voorhees truly roams the remnants of Camp Crystal Lake, is he really doing it solely out of revenge?
Part I. Patterns of Behavior
In 2009, Jason Voorhees’ legend spiked in popularity after a newspaper reported on an incident that took place at Crystal Lake that same year.
According to reports, several people who went camping at the lake went missing.
It wasn’t until the local newspaper ran the story that the truth of what happened to these individuals finally came out. They interviewed two eyewitnesses: Clay and Whitney Miller.
The brother and sister duo were the only two to ever come back from the lake, and thus, were the only two to ever see Jason Voorhees and tell the tale.
What was most interesting about their accounts wasn’t the violence—although the murders were described as almost predator-like—but the behaviors they observed from Jason.
Neither Clay nor Whitney ever described him as anything similar to what the myth said. He was not brutish, emotionally charged, or even ghastly. Jason was much more sophisticated in his design.
The Millers both explained that Jason had a system in place for his hunting.
Under the camp was a tunnel system that Jason seemingly created himself. It was used as a way for him to get around the area without being detected. Around the camp’s perimeter were a multitude of traps, both to catch people and to sound alarms for Jason below. And, outside of strategy, both parties described him as being a rather fast runner despite his size.
He was not described as just a killer, but rather a seasoned hunter.
The patterns observed indicate that Jason acted similar to an apex predator, carefully and strategically planning out his kills like that of an orca whale.
More peculiar, police reports indicated that Jason had a routine around the camp. He regularly kept up maintenance; he would keep the electricity running, secure the cabins, and even do typical checks around the area. It was almost as if he was a camp counselor himself, doing daily chores as if expecting to reopen.
Yet this doesn’t really make sense with the current narrative being focused on revenge. If Jason is truly killing these trespassers simply because of his mother, why is he doing it so meticulously? Wouldn’t it be easier for him to simply stab and go?
On top of everything, Whitney also told police that Jason had kidnapped her because she bore a striking resemblance to his late mother. But again, what was Jason going to do with Whitney?
Was Whitney the means of an end… or was she just going to be an addition to his monotony?
Part II. Ritual or Routine?
According to Whitney Miller, Jason’s entire identity seemed connected to the camp.
From The Archive’s research, Pamela Voorhees worked at Camp Crystal Lake decades ago. Perhaps then, Jason’s routine comes from honoring his mother’s work.
But is this really done just for his mother?
If Jason Voorhees is to be seen as his own entity, then why does it feel as if he is simply carrying on the memory of his mother’s echo? Who, exactly, is Jason Voorhees?
Because the core of all of this begins to feel more like routine maintenance and chore rather than revenge. It begins to feel more like a cycle to keep repeating rather than one that will ever be resolved.
Naturally, police investigated the area. Jason was not found, but evidence suggested that someone was living in the tunnels under the camp. Police had found a multitude of things, but most interesting of them all was a teddy bear.
Miraculously, it was almost in mint condition. Despite the obvious signs of aging, the bear was… perfect.
This was Jason’s source of comfort. The one thing he clung to in his bouts of isolation. Perhaps it was what he held onto to keep the nightmares away, claws and all.
And if that is the case, was Jason Voorhees doing any of this for himself? Or was this all just for his mother?
If we were to take away the urban myth of it all and strip away his paranormal status… what exactly does Jason’s discipline mean?
Jason’s routine doesn’t come from his own ability to be present. It stems from his inability to let go of the past.
From everything The Archive has learned, Jason’s motives have nothing to do with making real change. It is simply about continuing what his mother went through.
Part III. Purgatory by Design
What is the future of Camp Crystal Lake?
Nothing, most likely. It will stay abandoned as long as tragedy sticks to it. The legends and rumors will keep its memory alive, but there is nothing else that will ever bring it out of its hiatus.
And Jason knew that. If Jason was anything like the Millers described, there was one thing he didn’t lack: intelligence.
In such a case, The Archive can only assume that Jason’s willingness to maintain the campgrounds wasn’t out of love. Nor was it in hopes that one day the camp would reopen just for another massacre.
No, this was all for another reason entirely.
Jason Voorhees died when he was a child.
The current Jason that looms over Camp Crystal Lake is not that same little boy who drowned. This Jason is the manifestation of what could have been. He is the representation of what was taken from the world far too early, reminding anybody who dares to come there about its history of neglect.
He is the personification of “what if?”
From The Archive’s understanding, Jason does all of this because it is all that he knows.
There is nothing outside of Camp Crystal Lake for him. To maintain means to exist, and to exist means to maintain the only life he fully understood.
He is the embodiment of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. There is no reason to create routine in order to grow because there is no reason to grow. Jason must only maintain, because there is no need to see a future.
Unlike you or I, Jason lives in a purgatory. He does not live in the past or present. However, he does not see the future either. Jason simply is.
There is no yearning. There is no pondering.
There simply is.
And what was at that lake? Pain, suffering, anger, and mistreatment.
Camp Crystal Lake is the epicenter of it all. Jason is the groundskeeper.
The rest of us may see the end to our goals. We may see our dreams play out. Our wishes may be granted. Our prayers may be answered.
We see the end.
Jason never will, because there is no reason for him to ever look forward.
Conclusion
Friday the 13th is often marked as a day of superstition. It is seen as a day of bad luck and fear.
But really, a boy was simply born that day.
A mother lost her life that day, killing out of grieving madness.
Then, as the years followed, more and more people shared the same fate that day.
Friday the 13th marked the return of the cycle. It did not mark a bad omen.
2009 was the year the cycle fractured.
A brother and sister finally escaped what others couldn’t. Yet, what still remains unresolved will only return.
Now, the question remains… where is Jason Voorhees?
That is where this file becomes cold. If Jason isn’t at the camp, then what is he planning?
If you believe in The Archive’s work, you can support further investigations here.
This essay is part of The Scarestack Society’s 13 Days of Jason. You can see the rest of the writers below:
13 Days of Jason:
3/1 Friday The 13th (2009 Remake)- Skyla
3/2 Freddy vs Jason- Kristen Blood, Blush, and Guts)
3/3 Jason X- Molly O’Blivion
3/4 Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday- George R. Galuschak (Abandoned Places)
3/5 Friday The 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan- Sean Mo (Mo’s Movie Malpractice)
3/6 Friday The 13th: The New Blood- Kyle (Horrorble Writer)
3/7 Friday The 13th: Jason Lives- Jamie B. (Reel Focus)
3/8 Friday The 13th: The New Beginning- Brandon Rae (Tales From The Tape)
3/9 Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter- Horror Hangouts
3/10 Friday The 13th Part 3- B-Movie Tea
3/11 Friday The 13th Part 2- Hellish Views - Harry Evans
3/12 Friday The 13th Full Series Home Video Overview- Jean-Pierre Diez (Habitual Cinema)
3/13 Friday The 13th (1980)- Kimberly Ramsawak (Horror Concierge)
Brilliant. Love the final sentence!
Fantastic! What an awesome way to start 13 Days of Jason!