When Friday the 13th premiered in 1980, the film introduced moviegoers to a new kind of cinematic terror - shocking, visceral, graphic and relentless. Spawning ten popular sequels to date, the series has become the most successful horror franchise of all time, and the character of "Jason" an icon known around the world as the first name in evil. Now, uncensored and in their own words, over two hundred alumni of the series recall a quarter-century's worth of behind-the-scenes stories - the struggles, feuds, foibles, controversies and calamities. Fully illustrated with over five hundred never-before-seen photos, rare archival documents and production materials, this is the ultimate oral and visual memoir of the most successful horror franchise in the history of motion pictures.

Peter M. Bracke is the world’s foremost authority on the Friday the 13th film franchise. His writings on the series have appeared in The Official Freddy vs. Jason Movie Magazine, Fangoria Magazine, and Alternative Cinema. Peter has also appeared on the DCD collections for Warner International’s release of Friday the 13th and Paramount Home Entertainment’s From Crystal Lake to Manhattan. A graduate of the USC School of Cinema-Television, Peter is the author of the book Ultimate DVD. He currently lives in Los Angeles.