“Crystal Lake” creator sets the stage for “Friday the 13th” prequel series: 'There are rivers of blood' (exclusive)
- - “Crystal Lake” creator sets the stage for “Friday the 13th” prequel series: 'There are rivers of blood' (exclusive)
Nick RomanoDecember 9, 2025 at 11:09 PM
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Chris Haston/WBTV via Getty; everett
Linda Cardellini will star as Pamela Voorhees on 'Friday the 13th' TV prequel 'Crystal Lake'
As a co-showrunner on HBO's It: Welcome to Derry, Brad Caleb Kane already went through the trials of crafting a prequel horror series to a beloved classic — in this case, Stephen King's It. The TV creator is now actively doing the same for Friday the 13th.
While speaking with Entertainment Weekly for the Derry drama's final episodes, Kane provides an update on what he's working on at present, Crystal Lake, the upcoming Peacock series starring three-time Emmy nominee Linda Cardellini (Dead to Me).
"In many ways, it's a psychological thriller. It's a paranoid '70s thriller," he tells EW. "It has all of the DNA of a slasher without quite being a slasher. There are rivers of blood in the show. There are very, I think, ingenious kill sequences and deaths and murders, but it's all done in service of character and theme and place and time."
Cardellini will star on Crystal Lake as Pamela Voorhees, mother to a young Jason Voorhees (Callum Vinson). In the first Friday the 13th movie, released in 1980 from director Sean S. Cunningham, Pamela was the killer terrorizing teen camp counselors when they attempt to reopen Camp Crystal Lake. Jason drowned at this camp years prior, and his mother sought revenge on the counselors who weren't paying attention to him.
Courtesy Everett Collection
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The second Friday the 13th retconned the story to present a reality in which Jason never actually drowned. The character then went on to become the face of the horror franchise as its de facto masked killer.
"I tried to think about Crystal Lake and a Friday the 13th prequel as, 'What era did the first movie come out of?'" Kane explains. "It came out of the paranoid '70s thriller era. It came out of the mistrust-of-institutions era. It came out of the women's lib era, the National Organization for Women era, this consciousness-raising awakening era in America. I wanted to go and play with all of those themes."
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Story details are largely unknown. However, the cast of Crystal Lake will also include William Catlett (Abigail) as Levon Brooks, Devin Kessler (Godfather of Harlem) as Briana Brooks, Cameron Scoggins (Shades of Blue) as Dorf, and Gwendolyn Sundstrom (newcomer) as Grace.
However, when it comes to Cardellini's performance, Kane says, "She's gonna shock and surprise a lot of people. I think she's gonna get a lot of attention for this role. She's inconceivably brilliant in it. I can't really say any more."
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
