Another Visit to Camp Crystal Lake

"It's got a death curse!"

This isn’t the one I visited in Alabama, nor is it the one in New Jersey, where the original FRIDAY THE 13th was filmed. This is the *other* one, the one in Georgia, the one I was only vaguely aware existed.

Ki…ki…ki…ma…ma…ma…!

That is to say, I recall seeing it in the closing credits to FRIDAY THE 13th VI: JASON LIVES one time that the movie was filmed somewhere in Georgia, and I think I read it once in an issue of FANGORIA. When I learned the exact filming location a few weeks back, though, and I knew that I would be travelling through Georgia this past week, I knew that I would have to seek this place out.

It looks so serene, doesn’t it? But what lurks beneath the surface?
The cabins are still ready for campers.
It’s a long walk down that pier.
I’m sure the presence of the two huge vultures up in that tree was just a coincidence.

Camp Crystal Lake in Georgia is portrayed by Camp Danial Morgan in the Hard Labor State Park near Rutledge. Three movies have actually been filmed there: the Kristy McNichol film from 1980 LITTLE DARLINGS, the 1985 made-for-television film POISON IVY starring Michael J. Fox (right before he became a bona fide movie star with BACK TO THE FUTURE) and Nancy McKeon (riding high in those days on the success of THE FACTS OF LIFE), and of course the sixth FRIDAY film. The filming location in Alabama is more primeval, but this one looks almost exactly the same as it did back in the 80s when the movie(s) was filmed there.

My official pass to the Camp.
Then and now. It looks exactly the same.
The big cabin, then and now.
The nearby “Karloff’s General Store”, now derelict. Whoever owns that property is missing a hell of an opportunity to do a yearly haunted house.
My lovely wifey took this photo. And the other ones. She’s a much better photographer than I am.
Your intrepid reporter, collecting some of the “cursed” lake water.
He’s still out there…

And it’s still an active summer camp! (The lovely thing about visiting in February, on a day when the temperature was just perfect, is that the wifey and I had the entire place to ourselves! It was just us and Jason!)

By TheCheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS, specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced, and directed (and occasionally acted in) over two dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and True Crime genres. He obtained a doctorate in Occult Studies from Miskatonic University and is an active paranormal investigator. Is frequently told he resembles Anton Lavey. And Ming the Merciless. Denn die totden reiten schnell!

1 comment

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: