I Am Dying To See Crystal Lake But Have Questions About The Friday The 13th Prequel Series

Lately, we have seen popular horror franchises continue in the form of a TV show. One of the most anticipated instances is a Friday the 13th spinoff series called Crystal Lake.

The upcoming horror TV show has actually been in development since 2022 and, at one time, was thought to be cancelled, but is now moving toward its long-awaited premiere faster than Jason Voorhees stalks his victims. Learn all that we know about Crystal Lake with the following guide to the upcoming A24 TV show.

Quick Facts About Crystal Lake

Before I discuss some of the things that Crystal Lake has me racking my brain over, let’s unmask some some of the confirmed facts that we know about the series so far.

• Crystal Lake Has No Set Premiere Date
• The Series Is Said To Take Place Before 1980's Friday The 13th
• Linda Cardellini Stars As Pamela Voorhees (via Deadline) And William Catlett Plays Levon Brooks (via Variety)
• Brad Caleb Kane Is The Showrunner
• Crystal Lake Is Produced Under A24

What Is The Crystal Lake Premiere Date?

There is no telling when you should prepare to return to camp at the moment, because Crystal Lake has no set premiere date, as of August 2025. It is unlikely we will find it showing up on the 2025 TV premiere schedule, but we can tell you that the series will be available to stream with a Peacock subscription upon release.

What Is Crystal Lake About?

Anyone familiar with the Friday the 13th movies knows the legend of Jason Voorhees – a young boy who drowned in the waters at Camp Crystal Lake while two counselors who should have been keeping watch were engaging in lewd activity. This would send the boy’s mother, Pamela, down a dark and murderous path, seeking to avenge her son by ridding the world of as many debaucherous youths as possible, as seen in the 1980 slasher movie favorite that started it all.

Not much else is known about Jason, who would rise from the dead to finish what his mother started, and Pamela Voorhees from before that tragic incident, and that is where Crystal Lake comes in. Plot details are still scarce for now, but we do know that the series will serve as a prequel to the beloved horror movie franchise, taking place during the early years of the eponymous place that made Friday the 13th a summer horror movie classic.

The Crystal Lake Cast

The Friday the 13th franchise has made horror movie icons out of a few different actors, such as Kane Hodder, who is one of the most famous people to wear the hockey mask as Jason Voorhees. Maybe the same will happen for the members of the Crystal Lake cast, which includes a couple of genre veterans already. Take a look at who plays who in the upcoming series, as confirmed by NBC, below.

Linda Cardellini (Pamela Voorhees)

Leading the Crystal Lake cast as a younger version of the mother of all female horror movie villains, Pamela Voorhees – originated in Friday the 13th by Betsy Palmer – is Linda Cardellini. The actor has starred in several family-friendly horror titles (her acting debut in the short-lived series Bone Chillers, her portrayal of Velma in the live-action Scooby-Doo movies, and her role as Wendy on Gravity Falls), which, not counting Strangeland and The Curse of La Llorona, would make this series her darkest contribution to the genre yet. The three-time Emmy nominee is also known for beloved TV shows like Freaks and Geeks and Netflix’s Dead to Me, hit movies like Legally Blonde and Brokeback Mountain, and for playing two different characters in the MCU (Laura Barton and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s Lylla).

William Catlett (Levon Brooks)

Playing a character named Levon Brooks is William Catlett, who just broke into the horror genre in 2024 with Radio Silence’s fun vampire movie Abigail and the apocalyptic Never Let Go. The actor is also known for his recurring role on Black Lightning, the acclaimed 2023 drama A Thousand and One, and the sci-fi Apple TV+ original series, Constellation.

Devin Kessler (Briana Brooks)

As Briana Brooks, we have Devin Kessler, who is best known for Godfather of Harlem, which serves as a prequel to 2007’s American Gangster. The period crime series is only her third acting credit, following the 2019 drama Yes and a 2024 short film called Juicy.

Cameron Scoggins (Dorf)

Cameron Scoggins, who plays Dorf on Crystal Lake, does not have much horror on his acting resume, which includes CMT’s Nashville, a recurring stint on Shades of Blue, and a voice role from the hit video game, Red Dead Redemption II. However, he did work behind the scenes on 2023’s The Exorcist: Believer, and is credited as providing additional voices for the 2024 thriller, Caddo Lake.

Gwendolyn Sundstrom (Grace)

Gwendolyn Sundstrom is a young, up-and-coming actor appearing on Crystal Lake as Grace, who might be an attendee at the titular camp. She made her acting debut in the 2025 drama, I’m Beginning to See the Light.

Callum Vinson (Jason Voorhees)

The latest of many actors to play Jason Voorhees, and easily the youngest so far, is Callum Vinson in the recurring role of the legendary horror movie villain’s younger self. The child actor is already a Scream King in the making, having starred in another horror TV show called Chucky, which continues the Child’s Play franchise. Vinson is also known from voicing Piglet on two recent iterations of the Winnie the Pooh franchise, the Peacock original crime miniseries Long Bright River, and one of the best episodes of Poker Face Season 2.

Adrienne King

The first actor confirmed to appear in the Crystal Lake cast was the Friday the 13th franchise’s original iconic Final Girl, Adrienne King, who confirmed the news on her official website. Who the actor is playing remains a mystery for now. However, I think it would have been cool to see her play the new Pamela (whose head was chopped off in the original by King’s character, Alice Hardy) in what would have been the ultimate example of someone becoming their own worst enemy.

Brad Caleb Kane Is The Showrunner

Running things as the “head counselor” at Crystal Lake is Brad Caleb Kane, who, according to Deadline, was announced as the showrunner in 2024 after production was put on hold following Hannibal developer Bryan Fuller’s exit from the position. He is also the co-showrunner for another TV series spun off from an acclaimed horror movie, It: Welcome to Derry, which will be available to stream with an HBO Max subscription in October 2025.

Alongside celebrated production company A24 helping back the project, Kane is joined by original Friday the 13th scribe Victor Miller helping bring the story to life as a co-writer. The filmmakers commissioned to helm the first eight episodes of Crystal Lake include Oscar nominee Michael Lennox, Celine Held and Logan George (the writing and directing duo behind the trippy thriller, Caddo Lake), and Quyen Tran, who has directed episodes of hit series like Sirens and Ahsoka.

There Is A New Friday The 13th Movie In The Works

Counting 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason, there are 12 Friday the 13th movies, which makes Crystal Lake the lucky 13th installment of the franchise. However, fans can also expect to see a 13th official feature on its way.

As reported by Bloody-Disgusting, Horror Inc. Vice President Robbie Barsamian confirmed at 2025’s San Diego Comic Con that a long-awaited new Friday the 13th movie is in development, and that’s not at all. He also adds that a follow-up to the 2017 video game inspired by the franchise is in the works, too.

Questions I Have About Crystal Lake

Because we still know so little about Crystal Lake, I have a few questions about that have been cutting away at me lately.

Will Any Of The Orignal Scripts Be Used?

Back when Bryan Fuller was still the showrunner of Crystal Lake, Bloody-Disgusting reported that he hired Kevin Williamson as a writer. The Scream movies creator (who is helming Scream 7) later shared in a tweet that he penned an episode that was essentially an hour-long chase sequence, which is something I would love to see. So, I am hoping that, if anything, this is one aspect from the Fuller-headed production that is not completely scrapped and is a part of the final product.

Will Other Franchise Veterans Appear?

The casting of Adrienne King has me wondering (or, more accurately, hoping), if she will be the first of several actors added to the Crystal Lake cast whose previous involvement in Friday the 13th movies made them into horror movie icons. For instance, it would be fun to at least see a cameo by Corey Feldman (the first actor to play Tommy Jarvis in 1984’s Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter) or Kane Hodder, a veteran stuntman who became one of the most beloved actors to portray Jason Voorhees after joining the franchise in 1988 with Friday the 13th: The New Blood, or Kevin Bacon, who was relatively unknown when his character suffered one of the original slasher movie classic‘s most unique kills. An especially epic idea might be to involve Ari Lehman – the very first actor to play Jason in that shocking jump scare from the end of the first film.

Will The Series Explore The Lake's Origin?

One of the most perplexing mysteries surrounding the Friday the 13th movies is just how Jason Voorhees manages to return from the dead over and over again, and whether or not the source of his immortality is some supernatural force existing in Crystal Lake itself. I would be interested in seeing that explained in this new series, unless it decides to double down on the concept of Jason being a Deadite from the Evil Dead movies, which was implied in 1993’s Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday.

Will Crystal Lake Pay Any Homage To Friday The 13th: The Series?

Crystal Lake is actually not the first TV show inspired by the Friday the 13th franchise. That would be the Emmy-nominated Friday the 13th: The Series, which aired on CBS from 1987 to 1990 and followed a group of people seeking to retrieve cursed artifacts. While it really has no other connection to Jason Voorhees outside of its namesake, I think it would be fun to see the widely forgotten show pay homage to the new series in some way, shape, or form.

I am happy to see more TV shows based on horror movies being made and, speaking as someone who does not even have the strongest affinity for the Friday the 13th series, Crystal Lake is one I am very much looking forward to.