Peacock has released the first teaser for ‘Crystal Lake’, the upcoming Friday the 13th prequel series starring Linda Cardellini (Dead to Me, Freaks and Geeks) as Pamela Voorhees.
The eight-episode horror drama launches this October in the USA, before crossing the Atlantic later in the autumn on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW.
Set before Jason Voorhees began carving his way through generations of unfortunate camp counsellors, the series explores the grief and rage that transformed his mother, Pamela, into one of horror cinema’s most memorable killers.
The teaser opens with a group of camp counsellors sharing a frightening story around a campfire. “It all started when that kid drowned last summer,” one of them explains, referring to a young Jason Voorhees.
The footage then cuts to Pamela desperately searching the lake and screaming her son’s name, interspersed with flashes of Cardellini covered in blood and the appearance of a rather familiar machete. So, probably not the ideal summer camp for anyone hoping to relax, make friends and avoid being brutally murdered.
The official synopsis reads:
“The series follows single mother Pam Voorhees who has been unable to shake her grief after her young, sickly son Jason tragically drowned in the town lake almost a year before. When two strangers arrive at Pam’s door digging into her past, a disturbing chain of events are set into motion, leaving the townspeople of Crystal Lake wondering: Just who is Pam Voorhees?”
Alongside Linda Cardellini, the cast includes William Catlett (Black Lightning), Devin Kessler (Godfather of Harlem), Cameron Scoggins (Nashville) and Gwendolyn Sundstrom.
‘Crystal Lake’ has taken a somewhat winding journey to the screen. The project was originally ordered back in 2022, with Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) initially attached as showrunner. Fuller departed the series in 2024, with Brad Caleb Kane (IT: Welcome to Derry) subsequently taking over.
Kane serves as showrunner on the series, which expands the mythology surrounding Camp Crystal Lake and the Voorhees family while shifting the focus away from the hockey-masked killer audiences know from the films.
The original Friday the 13th movie was released in 1980 and spawned one of horror’s biggest franchises, with Jason Voorhees appearing across numerous sequels, crossovers, games and other adaptations. However, Pamela was actually the killer in the original film, making her tragic descent a suitably bloody foundation for the new series.
‘Crystal Lake’ premieres Thursday, 15th October 2026 on Peacock in the USA. The series premieres in Autumn 2026 on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK. If I want to keep track of this or any other shows, I can add them via our Never Miss system, and I’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date. Visit Never Miss.
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