Crystal Lake: Everything You Need To Know About The Friday The 13th Prequel Series

From Brad Caleb Kane and A24 comes the "Friday the 13th" prequel series "Crystal Lake," which premieres on Peacock on October 15. The slasher series seems like an interesting take on the Jason Voorhees mythos, which of course means that you'll need to remember the gist of the full story if you want to make the most of the show. Looper's got you: Watch the video above to find out everything you need before diving in "Crystal Lake."

Every "Friday the 13th" movie has brought its own spin to the franchise. The stranger installments have reinvented Jason as everything from a disembodied demonic spirit to a space cyborg, making him a de facto swiss army knife for whatever killer the movie in question wants to depict. For the majority of the franchise, the only real constants have been his size, silence, hockey mask, and penchant for creative murder. 

Yet, the character's origins in the very first "Friday the 13th," one of the best slasher movies of all time, were very different. Based on its trailer, it certainly seems that "Crystal Lake" intends to focus on that aspect of Jason Voorhees' backstory.

Horror fans may remember that within the history of Jason Voorhees, the hockey mask-donning slasher didn't actually become the series' main antagonist until "Friday the 13th Part 2." He was dead all along in the original movie, having drowned in Crystal Lake while he was still young. Instead, it was his mother, Pamela Voorhees (Betsy Palmer), who wreaked havoc at the camp to avenge her son's untimely death.

Pamela has been played by a number of actresses since the 1980 movie. On "Crystal Lake," Linda Cardellini takes over the role, while Callum Vinson plays young Jason. The trailer shows that the events will take place in the 1970s and cover Pamela's descent into delusion and murderous madness. This means that the series will explicitly serve as a prequel to the original film, which should be an interesting way to bring terrors both old and new to the titular camp. Be sure to watch Looper's video above to learn all the necessary "Friday the 13th" lore before watching "Crystal Lake."