David Grove Updates us on His New Friday The 13th Book
Making Friday the 13th: The Legend of Camp Blood by David Grove is an underrated item. Panned by some as inferior to Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th by Peter Bracke, I might have thought the same after my initial read. Upon a second, though, all the negatives turned into positives as I realized the multiple directions it goes in – or doesn’t go in – and the clear biases of the author – make this book a personal odyssey of one fan examining his interest in the films, and of what he learns along the way. Come to think of it, that’s the exact m.o. I have here at The Friday the 13th Blog.
David has been dutifully working on a new Friday the 13th book for a while now. It’s part 1 centric, so promises to dig deep into Sean Cunningham’s original.
The author contacted me over the weekend to offer an update. Read on for the skinny in his own words…and some prospective titles for the book.
“I’ve started writing the book and I can say that even the most diehard “Friday the 13th” fans, fans of the first film, will be impressed by the book, which will surpass all previous retros, books, DVDs, in terms of telling the story, the real story, behind the planning and making of Friday the 13th. (In fact, as I’ve been writing, I’ve barely even looked at my previous book, since I’ve done so much new reporting, research and rare interviews).
I’m thinking of calling the book something like “On Location at Camp Crystal Lake: The Making of Friday the 13th” or “On location in Blairstown: The Making of Friday the 13th” – something that indicates a book that covers the making of a single film, this being Friday the 13th, in as detailed a way as the books on Last House on the Left, Jaws, Psycho.”
So readers, what do you think? Which title is best, and do you have your own suggestions?
|
||||||||
I bought his original book hoping it would be something along the lines of Crystal Lake Memories. His original contained good information, but the bias was very difficult for me to read through and annoyed me. In fact, it basically ruined the book for me and I have yet to get very far with it.
It’s enigmatic of fans that love two, or three, films in a franchise that is much bigger than their specific passion. The love they have for their favorites clouds their judgment when it comes to understanding the franchise is more than two or three films. I can hardly stand Star War fans that hate the three new films or Elm Street fans that only love one, three, and seven. (As if Wes Craven is God’s gift to horror and everything Freddy that he doesn’t touch is trash.)
This is far worse in Friday the 13Th because Jason (the guy most fans love the franchise for) is so clearly a product of the overall franchise and no single film or group of films. Thus, the idea of part 1 being everything and the franchise fallowing apart after part 4 shows no real love for the franchise but only for a limited fragment of it. The love of a film, not of a legend. And to pretend that the legends come from one to three films instead of all of them is simply incorrect.
Let’s take Friday the 13Th. Jason doesn’t even become iconic until Part 3. And he doesn’t become the zombie most people remember him as being until Part 6. That zombie colors Jason from Parts 7 to 11. So loving Part 1 only is only loving 0.083333333% of the films. Even loving 1 through 4 is only 0.333333333%. Is loving one third of something really loving it?
I admire that for his new book he is aiming for one film. Reason being, that’s really all it seems he loves of the franchise and if he can write about what he loves; that’s great. I think his first book was a mistake.
If he doesn’t love the entire franchise; why write a book that spends two thirds of its content b***hing about how much better he feels one third or so of the franchise is over the clear mass majority of the franchise. It is a slap in the face to those that love all of the franchise and does the franchise and himself a disservice.
He should really focus on writing about what he loves; because a book wherein about two thirds of its content is complaining about something a lot of people love the majority if not the entirety of is probably not a very marketable idea. If I had gotten deeper into the book sooner (it was a gift from my Dad) and if I had been easily able to return it I would have. (I used to be shy about returning things until I started working more at places where people do.)
I liked David Grove’s Making Friday the 13th. I read it before Crystal Lake Memories, and found it fascinating. I’ll pick up the new book for sure.
As far as a title: why not “Long Shoot At Camp Blood: The Making of Friday the 13th”? Die-hard fans, the folks most likely to buy the new book, would recognize the twist on the film’s original working title, “Long Night at Camp Blood” (a title I still love, by the way).
-j.
POOR BASTARDS! Don’t you realize that the reason they’re not releasing the uncut versions… IS BECAUSE NOBODY IS WRITING THESE COOPERATION’S THAT OWN THE RIGHT TO THESE FILMS AN DEMANDING FOR THE UNCUT VERSIONS OR BLU-RAY EDITIONS!!! SO, STOP YOU’RE DAMN BITCHING AND COMPLAINING – JUST HAVE A COKE AND A SMILE!!
Have YOU written to the “cooperation’s”, brother? And if so did you at least use a spellcheck (unlike here) so as not to make Friday fans look stupid? Enjoy your Coke. I’m a Pepsi man myself.
Yeah, I’m a Pepsi guy too. I know logic & trolls rarely ever go together & the only time they’ll even appear in the same sentence is when pointing out said troll’s lacking of logic, intelligence, and common sense, but I’m truly mystified as to how an article about a book garnered a comment about uncut DVD’s. And the only real bitching here is emanating from the troll, which makes it worse than the average, in fact, calling it such makes the rest of them look bad, so my apologies to any trolls reading this for lumping that intellectually derelict sub-troll in with you run of the mill pains in the ass
Jason is riddle wrapped inside an enigma.The series will live on forever.Gore book is ok.Just needs to flesh out his chapter outlines.