Friday the 13th & Jason Voorhees Merchandise

Welcome to our collection of Friday the 13th merchandise, celebrating one of the biggest names in slasher horror and the unstoppable Jason Voorhees. What began at Camp Crystal Lake in 1980 grew into a huge horror franchise spanning sequels, television, a crossover with Freddy Krueger and a 2009 remake. Along the way, Jason’s hockey mask became one of the most recognisable images in horror. At TheMovieMerch.com, we search the UK and USA for unusual Jason Voorhees merchandise and Friday the 13th collectibles, including action figures, animatronics, home décor, replica-style props and cosplay pieces.

Welcome to Camp Crystal Lake

The nightmare began with Friday the 13th in 1980.

Set around the reopening of the notorious Camp Crystal Lake, the original film follows a group of young counsellors preparing the camp for its new arrivals. Unfortunately, someone else has returned to Crystal Lake too.

However, the first film contains a twist that would become particularly interesting as the franchise developed: Jason isn’t its main killer.

Instead, the murders are committed by his mother, Pamela Voorhees, seeking revenge for the drowning of her son years earlier. Jason’s appearance near the end of the film nevertheless provided an image that would help launch an entire series.

It was only with the sequels that Jason himself stepped out of the shadows.

Jason Voorhees Becomes a Horror Icon

Friday the 13th Part 2 arrived in 1981 and put Jason firmly at the centre of the killing spree.

Initially, however, there was still something missing.

The hockey mask.

That arrived in Friday the 13th Part III in 1982. From that point onwards, the mask became increasingly inseparable from Jason Voorhees.

The combination was brilliantly simple: hockey mask, machete and an enormous silent killer who seemingly refused to stay dead.

Jason returned repeatedly as the series became increasingly ambitious and sometimes wonderfully outrageous. The original run included The Final Chapter, A New Beginning, Jason Lives, The New Blood and Jason Takes Manhattan. Later came Jason Goes to Hell and the futuristic Jason X.

Crystal Lake was no longer capable of containing him.

Jason Voorhees Meets Freddy Krueger

Eventually, another horror heavyweight came calling.

Freddy vs. Jason arrived in 2003, bringing together Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street. The crossover transformed years of fan speculation into a full-scale battle between two of the biggest slasher characters in cinema.

It also demonstrated just how far Jason had travelled from his origins at Camp Crystal Lake.

By this point, the hockey mask alone was enough to identify him. Jason had become much more than the villain of a single horror series. He was one of the defining monsters of the genre.

Friday the 13th: The Series

The franchise also lent its name to television, although not in quite the way viewers might expect.

Friday the 13th: The Series ran from 1987 until 1990, but Jason Voorhees and Camp Crystal Lake were not part of its storyline. Instead, the series followed Micki Foster, Ryan Dallion and Jack Marshak as they attempted to recover dangerous cursed antiques sold from a mysterious shop.

Despite sharing the Friday the 13th name, the television series was therefore essentially its own supernatural horror story rather than a continuation of Jason’s adventures.

The programme lasted three seasons and 72 episodes before ending in 1990.

Today, it remains a fascinating curiosity in the wider history of Friday the 13th.

Friday the 13th Returns in 2009

Jason returned to cinemas in 2009 with a new Friday the 13th.

Rather than simply recreating the original film scene for scene, the movie rebooted the franchise and drew on familiar elements from the early films. Once again, audiences returned to Crystal Lake and encountered Jason as the hockey-masked killer they knew. The 2009 production is generally classified as a reboot of the franchise.

The film also introduced Jason Voorhees to another generation of horror fans.

Despite the many different interpretations of the character over the decades, the essential image remained intact.

A hockey mask.

A machete.

And the realisation that running probably isn’t going to help.