Tourists were split into two groups, about a dozen people each. I nabbed a spot on a three-hour, daytime tour in mid-September-a bucket-list experience for me. Voorhees, a former camp employee and the mother of Jason, the boy who drowned, seeking revenge. In a big shocker-spoiler alert for those who haven’t seen the movie-the killer is a woman named Mrs. A vengeful slasher, who viewers don’t see until the last 20 minutes of the movie, lurks in the woods and kills the teens one by one. Camp Crystal Lake is preparing to reopen, despite the death curse rumored to haunt it still more than two decades after the murders, and several teens report to work as counselors. After this flashback opening scene, the film jumps ahead to Friday, June 13, 1980. The plot goes like this: A young boy drowns at Camp Crystal Lake during the 1950s, and the camp is now cursed a year later, two camp counselors are brutally murdered. I remember the first time I saw Friday the 13th, and later the rest of the franchise, with nostalgia. Tiny Sand Pond is off a woodsy dirt road in Hardwick, New Jersey.Ī hardcore child of the ‘80s and fan of Generation X campy horror flicks, I never outgrew my teenage tastes. The outfit has been leading tours since 2011. But every spring, early and late summer, and fall, a company run by Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco alumni called Crystal Lake Adventures brings in Friday the 13th props, signs and memorabilia-sometimes even the stars themselves, like King.

The camp is off limits to the public during this time, of course. For about two months every summer, campers take part in weeklong sessions, involving activities like swimming, canoeing and crafts.

The nearly century-old, 380-acre Boy Scout camp in Hardwick is run by the Boy Scouts of America Northern New Jersey Council. In real life, the campground is called Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, which stands for North Bergen Boy Scouts. Here, my tour guide tells our group, producers of Friday the 13th found the perfect backdrop, with its aging camp and swampy body of water, for their creepy story. Cunningham’s Friday the 13th-is a real-life place you can tour, along with several other filming spots in the surrounding area of Warren County, New Jersey, not far from the Pennsylvania border. Yes, Camp Crystal Lake-chillingly and informally referred to as “Camp Blood” in director Sean S.

Friday the 13th film location