January 18, 2016

Back in the late 80’s, Jason Voorhees may have been terrorizing teenagers on the big screen and dominating the box office theatrically, but for a small group of devoted fans, FRIDAY THE 13TH was synonymous with the TV series that ran for 3 seasons from the years of 1987 through 1990. Despite sharing the same name as the infamous franchise, the TV show had nothing in common with it’s cinematic counterpart, and for a lot of people, that was the draw.

In FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES, cousins Micki Foster (Louis Robey) and Ryan Dallion (John LeMay) have inherited an old antique shop from their uncle Lewis Vendredi (R.G. Armstrong). He once made a pact with the Devil and now his artifacts are cursed and out there in the world. Together, they’re on the hunt to track down and retrieve the haunted goods. For years, information about the show was minimal. But thankfully, author (and Blumhouse.com contributor!) Alyse Wax took it upon herself to craft an epic tome dedicated solely to the TV series.

CURIOUS GOODS: BEHIND THE SCENES OF FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES delves into the show episode-by-episode, with more than sixty exclusive interviews with the cast, writers, directors, and producers, as well as nearly 50 never published behind-the-scenes photos from the cast and crew’s own personal collections. This past weekend, Wax celebrated the release of the book with a special signing event at Dark Delicacies in Burbank, CA. She was joined by series alumni Bill Taub, Steven Monarque, Armand Mastroianni and director Tom McLoughlin.

Blumhouse.com: Why do you think FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES resonated with you so much?

Alyse Wax: At first, it was purely the gore.

Blumhouse.com: Was it gory for TV?!

Alyse Wax: Yeah! That was the first thing I saw. When I turned it on, I was about 9 years old, and it was the episode “Stick It In Your Eye.” And I tuned in on puss and blood and boils, and it was gross and fascinating! I’d never seen anything like that before. Then after that, when I started watching regularly, I just really identified with the character of Micki (Louise Robey). There were not a lot of red heads anywhere on TV or in movies, and so that was big for me. She was this great, strong character and I really responded to that.

Blumhouse.com: When you set upon a task like this, writing about the entire series and tracking down talent and directors responsible with the creation of the show, how difficult was it to find a lot of these people? And were they both receptive and surprised to hear you approach them specifically about FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES?

Alyse Wax: A lot of people were surprised. The common response was, “oh my gosh, that was 30 years ago!” It was surprisingly not too difficult to track most people down. I was able to reach out to a lot of their publicity agents or contact them via IMDBpro. Some people I just started hunting for through the Internet. One of the actors, Angelo Rizacos was no longer acting. But I saw his name on a Church website, so I emailed the Church and asked if they’d pass my message along, and he emailed me back! So it was sometimes doing a little research and finding people that way.

Blumhouse.com: As a fan, I’m sure over the years, you’ve read whatever articles had been written about FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES…

Alyse Wax: Whatever I could find!

Blumhouse.com: What surprised you when putting the book together? Were there a lot of stories you uncovered during the writing process?

Alyse Wax: I definitely learned a lot, because there wasn’t a whole lot out there to begin with. There was not a lot of press, so I remember when I was younger I’d go to the library and search for any articles cataloged in old magazines. Doing this book, there was a lot to discover. I didn’t really know why John LeMay left the show. I didn’t really know why the show had ended. There were rumors over the years, but this was a chance to uncover all that.

Blumhouse.com: Obviously you loved the show when it aired, and now the book is a great reference guide for those that have always been fans. But with the book’s release, do you hope more people will go back and give it another chance? Because I was one of those 16 year old idiots that said, “what?! Jason’s not in this? I’m not watching that show!” And now it’s on Amazon Prime and I’ve been revisiting it!

Alyse Wax: I hope people rediscover it! When I first started writing this book, I was worried that revisiting the show wouldn’t live up to my expectations I had from when I was young, but I was really pleased that it really did all hold up. A lot of the episodes are strongly written, strongly directed, strongly acted. It hasn’t dated much. Part of that is that there isn’t a lot of technology in it. I definitely hope a new audience can discover it! I like to think that the book is segmented in a way that if you’re a casual viewer, you can pick it up and read about one specific episode. And go back to it after you watch them again.

Blumhouse.com: Horror television is so popular right now, I feel like today’s audience might appreciate revisiting FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES now. That said, since you’re the TV guru for this site, as well as many others, are there any modern shows that are the equivalent of, or that remind you of your love of FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES?

Alyse Wax: I definitely had that same obsession with THE X-FILES. There’s that great episode of RICK & MORTY where they make a direct FRIDAY THE 13TH reference, where the devil is essentially selling items with strange curses. Rick literally says, “I don’t know what this FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES crap is you’re trying to pull!” Everyone says that WAREHOUSE 13 was very similar, but I never got into that show. Looking back on FRIDAY, it’s just good TV. It was good TV in the 80’s back when there wasn’t a lot of good horror TV. I mean, FREDDY’S NIGHTMARES does not hold up!

Blumhouse.com: It absolutely does not hold up, but I’m so, so glad it exists.

Alyse Wax: Yes, yes. But FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES still stands up. And a lot of the horror shows these days have that timeless quality where they’re not just for genre people, but for people that are interested in good stories.

CURIOUS GOODS: BEHIND THE SCENES OF FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES is available in both hardcover and paperback editions at Dark Delicacies, on Amazon, or wherever books are sold!