Jason Voorhees

**Jason Voorhees** is a character that has appeared at numerous instances of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Florida. He is the primary antagonist of the *Friday the 13th* film franchise, though his mother Pamela was the original antagonist in the first film. Jason is considered one of the most iconic horror villains of all-time, which has prompted Universal to request a license to the character from Viacom and New Line Cinema numerous times for Halloween Horror Nights.

## Background

#### Origins

Jason Voorhees was born to Pamela Voorhees in 1946. Jason had a terribly troubled childhood. His deformed appearance is a side effect of the disease hydrocephalus, which is caused by a heavy build-up of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. This causes an enlarged skull in infants and young children.

Jason's mother Pamela worked as a cook at Camp Crystal Lake, and frequently brought Jason to the camp, having been unable to find a babysitter for him. Jason's deformed appearance made him an easy victim for bullying, and he was thought to have died when several of the children at the camp tossed him into the lake in 1957. Unable to swim, it was believed that Jason drowned. Most of the counselors were supposed to be watching the children, but were in the woods, making love.

An enraged Pamela killed the counselors she deemed responsible, and managed to evade being suspected of the murders. Every subsequent attempt to reopen Camp Crystal Lake resulted in one gruesome death or another, all of which were caused by Pamela, evading capture each time.

#### Friday the 13th

The June 13th of 1979, when another attempt was made to reopen Camp Crystal Lake, Pamela managed to kill all but one of the new counselors. Alice Hardy, who was the last surviving counselor, discovered Pamela Voorhees was behind the horrors of Camp Crystal Lake. Pamela had initially appeared to have wanted to help Alice, but while telling Alice about Jason and his supposed death, her mental state began to deteriorate as she began to scold Alice for causing Jason's death.

Alice decapitated Pamela, and for a moment, the terror was finally over. However, Jason mysteriously returned following his mother's death. Now a grown man, he continues his mother's killing spree, avenging both of their untimely demises. To protect his identity, he has concealed his appearance, usually with a hockey mask, as he brutally murders anyone foolish enough to enter the grounds of Camp Crystal Lake. He has even traveled all the way to New York City in an attempt to kill a cruise ship that had passed near Camp Crystal Lake.

#### Carnival of Carnage

When the undead clown John "Jack the Clown" Schmidt escaped from the Shadybrook Asylum around 2006, he travelled to *Camp Crystal Lake* to send photographs of it back to his psychiatrist in Shadybrook, teasing his plans at recruiting Jason. In 2007, Jack murdered occult circus-owner Doctor Oddfellow and claimed his "Cane of Souls" to create the "Carnival of Carnage". Jason was officially recruited into the sideshow of Jack's circus along with several other monstrous murderers.

Jack's carnival would occupy the backlot of Universal Studios due to their association with the history of horror films.

## Park Appearances

Jason has been licensed by New Line Cinema and Viacom to Universal numerous times for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Florida, where he has appeared in several mazes during various years of the event. Some of these mazes feature him as a guest character, while others are based on his own film franchise.

He would later return alongside Freddy Krueger in 2015's *Halloween Horror Nights 25*, sharing the spotlight with Freddy in the *Freddy vs. Jason* maze, based on the 2003 film of the same name. However, references from other films in both franchises were featured in the maze, such as Freddy's television kill and snake form from *A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors*.

#### Halloween Horror Nights: Carnival of Carnage

He was featured most prominently as a sub-icon for 2007's *Halloween Horror Nights: Carnival of Carnage*, alongside Freddy Krueger, Leatherface, and HHN veteran icon Jack the Clown.

##### A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dreamwalkers

On the website's backstory page, there was a newspaper article covering the childhood death of Jason Voorhees.

##### Friday the 13th: Camp Blood

During this year of the event, he had his own maze called *Friday the 13th: Camp Blood*, located in the queue of the now-defunct *Jaws* ride.

## Trivia

*For additional and more detailed information about the character of Jason from the Friday the 13th franchise, please refer to the Friday the 13th Wiki Article.*

* The 2009 reboot version of Jason has never been featured at Halloween Horror Nights.
* Due to his status as a major icon of horror, Jason has also been featured at Halloween Horror Nights attractions at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Japan.
* Jason shares several character traits with Michael Myers of the *Halloween* franchise, particularly several unexplained inhuman abilities, and never speaking. This is heavily due to the *Friday the 13th* films originally being made to reflect on the success of *Halloween*.