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Friday the 13th: Church of the Divine Psychopath
The first in a brand new series of Friday the 13th shockers! Jason Voorhees is reanimated and worshipped by a bizarre religious cult. When a SWAT team is called in, it's time for Jason to go about his bloody work and wages a one-man war against both sides.
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 9, 2005
2 people are currently reading
269 people want to read
About the author
Scott S. Phillips
36 books36 followersScott S. Phillips has written all kinds of stuff: films, TV, books, comics and even dialogue for talking dolls. He's the author of the PETE, DRINKER OF BLOOD series, as well as MAN WITH CHIHUAHUA and several other books. Under the pen name Stevie Jordan Pawminter, Scott cowrites (with Sarah Bartsch) the Danger Potato cozy mystery series (book one, WICKED SNARL, is out now, book two coming soon) and the Sniff and Nibble cozy mystery series (book one coming soon). Scott wrote the screenplay for the cult action flick DRIVE (1997), and twelve episodes of the CW Network's KAMEN RIDER DRAGON KNIGHT.
Perhaps most importantly, he once performed as stand-in for the legendary Lemmy in the video for Motorhead's "Sacrifice."
Please visit Scott's Patreon page, where you can get cool exclusives like sneak peeks at chapters of upcoming books, a Patrons-only blog, read Scott's monthly terrible poems (and see videos of him doing dramatic readings of those very same terrible poems), get your name listed in the acknowledgments of his books, and even have a character named after you! Just copy and paste this link to check it out: https://www.patreon.com/scott_s_phillips
You can also find Scott at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scottphillipsnm
Perhaps most importantly, he once performed as stand-in for the legendary Lemmy in the video for Motorhead's "Sacrifice."
Please visit Scott's Patreon page, where you can get cool exclusives like sneak peeks at chapters of upcoming books, a Patrons-only blog, read Scott's monthly terrible poems (and see videos of him doing dramatic readings of those very same terrible poems), get your name listed in the acknowledgments of his books, and even have a character named after you! Just copy and paste this link to check it out: https://www.patreon.com/scott_s_phillips
You can also find Scott at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scottphillipsnm
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
February 23, 2016
This novel was probably better than any of the many Friday the 13th films. They should use this script for the next movie.
You have a cult who is worshiping Jason as "the Hand of God", because when you think about it, his victims do tend to run towards "sinners." But not always, so of course the logic is flawed. Anyway, this cult sets up a commune at the old Crystal Lake Camp. They crucify the corpse of Jason and then resurrect him. Do I need to say that's a bad move? The idea was Jason would clear out all of the sinners and leave the Earth to the pure and righteous. Things don't work out quite like that.
Now, one thing that was unclear. At the same time this cult business is going on, a black ops military strike force is also sent to take care of Jason. However, the military didn't know about the cult, so why they picked this exact time to take out Jason was never explained. Anyway, things end up with the cult and the military in a stand off, with Jason in the middle. Throw in some nubile young females and you have a pretty cool Friday the 13th story. It's loaded with the sex, nudity and violence that made the films famous.
If you are a fan of the movies, this one is definitely worth tracking down.
You have a cult who is worshiping Jason as "the Hand of God", because when you think about it, his victims do tend to run towards "sinners." But not always, so of course the logic is flawed. Anyway, this cult sets up a commune at the old Crystal Lake Camp. They crucify the corpse of Jason and then resurrect him. Do I need to say that's a bad move? The idea was Jason would clear out all of the sinners and leave the Earth to the pure and righteous. Things don't work out quite like that.
Now, one thing that was unclear. At the same time this cult business is going on, a black ops military strike force is also sent to take care of Jason. However, the military didn't know about the cult, so why they picked this exact time to take out Jason was never explained. Anyway, things end up with the cult and the military in a stand off, with Jason in the middle. Throw in some nubile young females and you have a pretty cool Friday the 13th story. It's loaded with the sex, nudity and violence that made the films famous.
If you are a fan of the movies, this one is definitely worth tracking down.
May 13, 2022
Welcome to Camp Crystal Lake: Blasphemy Edition
Father Eric Long has had a revelation. The time has come for sinners to be judged by the Heavenly Vessel, A.K.A., Jason Voorhees.
The Ministry of the Heavenly Vessel are going on a road trip because it turns out that Father Long isn’t alone in his delusion. Like all good cult leaders, Long has managed to convince his entire flock to sell all of their worldly possessions and hand the proceeds to him. They’ve secured the lease to Camp Crystal Lake and the entire congregation are moving in.
It’s not like the Father’s going to let a little thing like the fact that Jason is currently fish food prevent him from carrying out his mission. After retrieving a soggy Jason from the depths of Crystal Lake and nailing him to a cross (twice), freaky Father sets out to resurrect him. Jason’s going to church! What could go wrong?!
Meanwhile, a strike team from the Agency, a covert branch of the government, are also making their way to Crystal Lake. Because what this situation desperately needs is more firepower. Besides the arsenal that the churchies apparently brought with them, that is.
So, who are the victims this time around? This “salad bar of murderous possibilities” consists mostly of the strike team and church members.
The people start dying in the prologue but these kills happen before the events of this book so I’m not counting those.
There’s a strike team mission prior to Mission Hockey Mask where
The strike team members, some of who appear to be most content when they’re busy fighting amongst themselves, are lining up to die.
* Jeff Townsend - the six foot six leader of this suicide mission. He’s probably going to go down with the metaphorical ship.
* Walter Hobb - he’s five foot six, has soap opera looks and he’s recently suffered a serious case of demotion. He can’t see so well out of one of his eyes as a result of the mission that put him in the bad books but he’s a main character so he might just get to go home to his wife, Lauren. Lauren is pretty peeved that Hobb signed up for Operation Suicide By Jason. She runs a used bookstore, though, so she’s definitely going to survive. Not even Jason is going to lay a machete on someone who takes such good care of books.
* Samantha Noon - she’s 20 and a total badass. But... she has sex during the book and anyone who ever took Horror 101 knows that’s a death sentence.
* Chris Seaver - Townsend’s second in command for this mission. He also has sex, with Noon. Nice knowing you, Chris.
* Benjamin Hurley - he’s given a first name but I don’t remember hearing anything that could be accused of being a backstory. That doesn’t bode well for him.
* Bruno Ortega - he’s a pervert. Enough said.
* Acheson - he’s relaxed enough to leave his gun outside of reaching distance while he wanders around in the lake. Seriously, Acheson?
* Moseley - he’s a medic so he’s got to survive long enough to try to put intestines back inside bodies, right?
* Lovinger - this guy loves Burt Reynolds movies. Make of that what you will.
* Stilton, Blair, Leonard, Sisson, Garb, Connolly, Howard, Chaffin, Marr - the author didn’t care enough about these dead men walking to give them first names.
* Hurley, Miller, Hall - these men don’t get names until their death scenes. This may be a clue.
Then there are the true believers who, after the initial slaughter, get together for a cuppa. As you do.
* Kelly Mills - although she’s only 26, Kelly has a backstory. She doesn’t believe in God but she does believe in Long. Well, she wants to get in his pants, anyway.
* Curtis Rickles - this former marine is the most detestable waste of oxygen you’ll find in this book. When he’s not shooting people, he’s busy sexually assaulting a minor. He needs to die a really drawn out, creative death.
* Don James - one of the Father’s inner circle, Don’s a biker with tattoos he probably got in jail.
* Meredith Host - 17 year old Meredith is at Crystal Lake with her parents, who are in their 60’s. Kelly is her best (only?) friend. That’s not to say this virgin doesn’t have lust in her heart.
* Roger (or Robert) - okay, so we don’t even know for sure what this man’s name is. That’s not a good sign.
* Denice Keenan, Jennifer Crenshaw, Lorelei Picardi, Charlotte Rutherford - these women share a cabin with Kelly, one of our main characters. These women may need to be sacrificed for the greater good if Jason wanders in. Especially Denice. She chose the bottom bunk so she’s more accessible.
* Travis Hornby, John Sullivan, Mark Brody, Susan Perkins, Susanna Brookwalter - yeah, I don’t know enough about these people to ensure their survival.
* Patricia Krenkle and Manny Krenkle, Mr and Mrs Host - do we know what Jason’s views are on marriage?
* Stan - I feel like there was a Stan but now I’m not so sure.
* Ronald Shearing, Joseph Bookwalter - we know they existed only because we know they died.
Eleanor, Steve and Frenchie never leave Lefty’s so unless Jason’s feeling a bit parched, they’re probably okay. Sonia, the waitress, will probably make it as well.
There’s an unnamed farmer driving a chicken truck in the general vicinity but he’s smart enough to keep driving so I’m fairly certain he’s going to keep breathing until at least the next time Friday the 13th rolls around.
This book reconfirms why this place is known as Camp Blood. The insides are now your outsides action is fairly consistent, once you get through the extensive backstories of a couple of contenders.
After the prologue, Jason doesn’t even get to kill anyone until page 172. His first kill is probably his best, although the next three are pretty decent as well. I came for machete slicing and dicing and Jason squishing heads like watermelons. Jason got a bit lazy in this book, primarily introducing people to his machete. Some kills only warranted a sentence and others happened off the page.
Rivalling Jason’s machete in the body count are guns. There are also five funerals we need to attend for people whose COD will need to be determined by a coroner because, while I’m guessing they were shot or met explodey ends as a result of a grenade, I don’t know for sure.
The rules that govern who should die in Jason’s world were pretty much thrown out the window in this book. The pure and hell bound were both fair game.
The person I most wanted to die did but their manner of death didn’t live up to my hopes. It needed to be less generic and much more painful and dramatic.
I wondered how much gunfire Jason could take. Hundreds of bullets didn’t slow him down at all. Speaking of not slowing down, honouring his ability to walk faster than his victims can run, Jason somehow managed to make a return trip to somewhere that takes half an hour to drive to in record time.
Handy hint: When the leader of your church starts citing Waco to guide you through current events, you may be in a cult.
Best description:
I’m rounding up from 3.5 stars.
Next Friday the 13th read: Hell Lake, where an executed serial killer meets Jason in hell.
Blog - https://schizanthusnerd.com
Father Eric Long has had a revelation. The time has come for sinners to be judged by the Heavenly Vessel, A.K.A., Jason Voorhees.
“Big guy. Hockey mask. Has issues?”The one and the same.
The Ministry of the Heavenly Vessel are going on a road trip because it turns out that Father Long isn’t alone in his delusion. Like all good cult leaders, Long has managed to convince his entire flock to sell all of their worldly possessions and hand the proceeds to him. They’ve secured the lease to Camp Crystal Lake and the entire congregation are moving in.
It’s not like the Father’s going to let a little thing like the fact that Jason is currently fish food prevent him from carrying out his mission. After retrieving a soggy Jason from the depths of Crystal Lake and nailing him to a cross (twice), freaky Father sets out to resurrect him. Jason’s going to church! What could go wrong?!
Meanwhile, a strike team from the Agency, a covert branch of the government, are also making their way to Crystal Lake. Because what this situation desperately needs is more firepower. Besides the arsenal that the churchies apparently brought with them, that is.
“I saw this in a horror movie once”A church, a strike team and Jason Voorhees converging on Camp Crystal Lake may sound like the beginning of a really bad joke but what it actually is is a recipe for a really big body count. I’m guessing that this “God-sanctioned Jason Voorhees bloodbath” takes place on Friday the 13th but no one ever showed me a calendar.
So, who are the victims this time around? This “salad bar of murderous possibilities” consists mostly of the strike team and church members.
“Straight to hell for you.”It’s hard to figure out the exact body count but we’re talking more than fifty.
The people start dying in the prologue but these kills happen before the events of this book so I’m not counting those.
There’s a strike team mission prior to Mission Hockey Mask where
The strike team members, some of who appear to be most content when they’re busy fighting amongst themselves, are lining up to die.
* Jeff Townsend - the six foot six leader of this suicide mission. He’s probably going to go down with the metaphorical ship.
* Walter Hobb - he’s five foot six, has soap opera looks and he’s recently suffered a serious case of demotion. He can’t see so well out of one of his eyes as a result of the mission that put him in the bad books but he’s a main character so he might just get to go home to his wife, Lauren. Lauren is pretty peeved that Hobb signed up for Operation Suicide By Jason. She runs a used bookstore, though, so she’s definitely going to survive. Not even Jason is going to lay a machete on someone who takes such good care of books.
* Samantha Noon - she’s 20 and a total badass. But... she has sex during the book and anyone who ever took Horror 101 knows that’s a death sentence.
* Chris Seaver - Townsend’s second in command for this mission. He also has sex, with Noon. Nice knowing you, Chris.
* Benjamin Hurley - he’s given a first name but I don’t remember hearing anything that could be accused of being a backstory. That doesn’t bode well for him.
* Bruno Ortega - he’s a pervert. Enough said.
* Acheson - he’s relaxed enough to leave his gun outside of reaching distance while he wanders around in the lake. Seriously, Acheson?
* Moseley - he’s a medic so he’s got to survive long enough to try to put intestines back inside bodies, right?
* Lovinger - this guy loves Burt Reynolds movies. Make of that what you will.
* Stilton, Blair, Leonard, Sisson, Garb, Connolly, Howard, Chaffin, Marr - the author didn’t care enough about these dead men walking to give them first names.
* Hurley, Miller, Hall - these men don’t get names until their death scenes. This may be a clue.
Then there are the true believers who, after the initial slaughter, get together for a cuppa. As you do.
“Trouble has found its way to our little ministry.”* Father Eric Long - he’s the reason we’re in this mess to begin with. The way he spiritually guides three widows is beyond creepy.
* Kelly Mills - although she’s only 26, Kelly has a backstory. She doesn’t believe in God but she does believe in Long. Well, she wants to get in his pants, anyway.
* Curtis Rickles - this former marine is the most detestable waste of oxygen you’ll find in this book. When he’s not shooting people, he’s busy sexually assaulting a minor. He needs to die a really drawn out, creative death.
* Don James - one of the Father’s inner circle, Don’s a biker with tattoos he probably got in jail.
* Meredith Host - 17 year old Meredith is at Crystal Lake with her parents, who are in their 60’s. Kelly is her best (only?) friend. That’s not to say this virgin doesn’t have lust in her heart.
* Roger (or Robert) - okay, so we don’t even know for sure what this man’s name is. That’s not a good sign.
* Denice Keenan, Jennifer Crenshaw, Lorelei Picardi, Charlotte Rutherford - these women share a cabin with Kelly, one of our main characters. These women may need to be sacrificed for the greater good if Jason wanders in. Especially Denice. She chose the bottom bunk so she’s more accessible.
* Travis Hornby, John Sullivan, Mark Brody, Susan Perkins, Susanna Brookwalter - yeah, I don’t know enough about these people to ensure their survival.
* Patricia Krenkle and Manny Krenkle, Mr and Mrs Host - do we know what Jason’s views are on marriage?
* Stan - I feel like there was a Stan but now I’m not so sure.
* Ronald Shearing, Joseph Bookwalter - we know they existed only because we know they died.
Eleanor, Steve and Frenchie never leave Lefty’s so unless Jason’s feeling a bit parched, they’re probably okay. Sonia, the waitress, will probably make it as well.
There’s an unnamed farmer driving a chicken truck in the general vicinity but he’s smart enough to keep driving so I’m fairly certain he’s going to keep breathing until at least the next time Friday the 13th rolls around.
This book reconfirms why this place is known as Camp Blood. The insides are now your outsides action is fairly consistent, once you get through the extensive backstories of a couple of contenders.
After the prologue, Jason doesn’t even get to kill anyone until page 172. His first kill is probably his best, although the next three are pretty decent as well. I came for machete slicing and dicing and Jason squishing heads like watermelons. Jason got a bit lazy in this book, primarily introducing people to his machete. Some kills only warranted a sentence and others happened off the page.
Rivalling Jason’s machete in the body count are guns. There are also five funerals we need to attend for people whose COD will need to be determined by a coroner because, while I’m guessing they were shot or met explodey ends as a result of a grenade, I don’t know for sure.
The rules that govern who should die in Jason’s world were pretty much thrown out the window in this book. The pure and hell bound were both fair game.
The person I most wanted to die did but their manner of death didn’t live up to my hopes. It needed to be less generic and much more painful and dramatic.
I wondered how much gunfire Jason could take. Hundreds of bullets didn’t slow him down at all. Speaking of not slowing down, honouring his ability to walk faster than his victims can run, Jason somehow managed to make a return trip to somewhere that takes half an hour to drive to in record time.
Handy hint: When the leader of your church starts citing Waco to guide you through current events, you may be in a cult.
Best description:
Blood shot skywards like a gory lawn sprinkler.Content warnings include
I’m rounding up from 3.5 stars.
Next Friday the 13th read: Hell Lake, where an executed serial killer meets Jason in hell.
Blog - https://schizanthusnerd.com
November 1, 2019
The Friday the 13th movies are not high art by any means – in fact, I'd say they're quite trashy – but I love them. I love the excessive blood, gore, and creative kills; the senseless slaughtering of the innocent and the guilty alike; the gratuitous sex and nudity; the dopey, crass, clueless cast of victims; and, more than anything else, I love Jason Voorhees. If it weren't for Jason being the main antagonist in these films, I would never have given any of them a second glance, such is my admiration for the zombified mass murderer. As an avid reader, I was eager to find books that featured Jason Voorhees in a primary role, but such books were few and far between, and those that did exist were exorbitantly priced – nearly unaffordable. I was lucky enough to amass the entire collection of Friday the 13th novels published by Black Flame (the only ones featuring Jason as the antagonist – others feature merely his “possessed” mask) and managed only to go into minor bankruptcy in the process.
The first novel in the series was Church of the Divine Psychopath, easily the most popular and highly sought after of all the novels, and I have to say that I was thoroughly impressed. The story revolves around a religious congregation (i.e. cult) whose primary belief is that Jason Voorhees is a divine Vessel of God, striking down the sinners in his midst. As they seek to resurrect him, an elite strike team is tasked with finding the elusive killer and destroying him once and for all. Caught in-between this chaotic mess of factions are two girls who face affronts from more than just the legendary serial killer, realizing the face of horror wears more than a creepy hockey mask.
Due to the admittedly trashy nature of the Friday the 13th franchise, I did not honestly expect to get more than 400+ pages of Jason simply slashing his way through the novel's entirety. Much to my delighted surprise, the novel proved to be far more engaging and complex than I initially thought it would be. In particular, the focus on characters other than Jason was quite robust and well-developed. We get an in-depth look into the backstories of each of the main players of the story as well as some deep-reaching insight into their motivations. By taking this approach, rather than making the entire cast just a bunch of faceless victims, the readers get to develop an attachment to these characters (or an intense detestation) so as to feel more involved in their death or survival. While the movies make you eager to see Jason appear to do what he does best, Church of the Divine Psychopath makes you care just as much for some of the potential victims as you do for our favorite masked murderer.
Though I have lauded the novel thus far for its careful attention to character development, I believe it came at a slight detriment to the focus on Jason. Don't get me wrong, I respected that author Scott Phillips took the time to make me care so much for the other characters in the novel, but I think Jason could have been featured more prominently in the story all the same. In all, Jason appears for about half of the novel, if not less, taking a backseat to other protagonists and antagonists like Father Long, Kelly, Meredith, Rickles, Hobb, and Townsend. I want to reiterate, Phillips did a great job on all the aforementioned human characters, which makes me all the more disappointed that his writing talents did not extend just as far for my favorite character of the bunch and the face of the franchise – Jason Voorhees.
Adding to my enjoyment of the novel was its strong focus on thrill and horror. Later entries in the Friday the 13th franchise have suffered from a lack of horror in favor of gimmicks like sending Jason into the future on a spaceship and having him face off against the arrogant dream-killer Freddy Kruger. As these novels were written around the same time as the release of those lesser film entries, I feared that their stories would be just as hokey and far-fetched. Thankfully, Church of the Divine Psychopath excelled in the horror category, feeling more akin to the earlier, more frightening films of the series' past, but with a more unique premise than the simple killer-stalking-the-woods approach. If you like your Jason stories to have a fun-factor to them (like being set in New York City or featuring a telekinetic Carrie-ripoff for a protagonist), then this particular novel may not be up your alley. However, if you like your Jason tales to be bloody, terrifying, and and suspenseful, Church of the Divine Psychopath is the book for you.
Surprisingly (this book is full of them so far), this novel is also fairly action-packed and can even double as an action novel. The aspects of the story revolving around the Special Operatives involves a heavy amount of gun-play, explosions, and Schwarzenegger-like heroics. Needless to say, whether Jason was busy hacking away at his victims or the soldiers were engaged in an intense shootout, there was never a dull moment to speak of. Not since Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday has Jason faced off against a team of gun-clad badasses – and that only lasted a few minutes in the movie – so it was cool to see that angle play out and have some longevity here. To some fans, the action may feel out of place for a Friday the 13th story, but I feel like it really complemented the novel's bloody, gory nature very well and should be given a fair chance.
As a pure horror novel, Church of the Divine Psychopath does an amazing job; there's plenty of blood, guts, scares, and evil to satisfy any fanatic of horror fiction. Yet, specifically as a Friday the 13th novel, I believe it falters ever so slightly. The main problem is that Jason is simply not featured enough in the novel to propel it above and beyond as a perfect Friday the 13th book, though it came damn close. Though the moments in the story where Jason did show up resulted in great scenes of torturous slaughtering, I felt that there weren't enough of those to make this a truly amazing book about Jason. With all that said, I still found Church of the Divine Psychopath to be a highly enjoyable and memorable read. Even with Jason not showing up for a good chuck of the novel, I found it all to be far better than at least half of the Friday the 13th movies that have been released. While we find ourselves in the midst of an unprecedented drought of Friday the 13th film releases, I would highly recommend forking out the insane amount of money it costs to get a copy of Church of the Divine Psychopath to hold you over in the mean time; any true fan of the series will want to dive right into this engaging novel no matter what the book costs.
The first novel in the series was Church of the Divine Psychopath, easily the most popular and highly sought after of all the novels, and I have to say that I was thoroughly impressed. The story revolves around a religious congregation (i.e. cult) whose primary belief is that Jason Voorhees is a divine Vessel of God, striking down the sinners in his midst. As they seek to resurrect him, an elite strike team is tasked with finding the elusive killer and destroying him once and for all. Caught in-between this chaotic mess of factions are two girls who face affronts from more than just the legendary serial killer, realizing the face of horror wears more than a creepy hockey mask.
Due to the admittedly trashy nature of the Friday the 13th franchise, I did not honestly expect to get more than 400+ pages of Jason simply slashing his way through the novel's entirety. Much to my delighted surprise, the novel proved to be far more engaging and complex than I initially thought it would be. In particular, the focus on characters other than Jason was quite robust and well-developed. We get an in-depth look into the backstories of each of the main players of the story as well as some deep-reaching insight into their motivations. By taking this approach, rather than making the entire cast just a bunch of faceless victims, the readers get to develop an attachment to these characters (or an intense detestation) so as to feel more involved in their death or survival. While the movies make you eager to see Jason appear to do what he does best, Church of the Divine Psychopath makes you care just as much for some of the potential victims as you do for our favorite masked murderer.
Though I have lauded the novel thus far for its careful attention to character development, I believe it came at a slight detriment to the focus on Jason. Don't get me wrong, I respected that author Scott Phillips took the time to make me care so much for the other characters in the novel, but I think Jason could have been featured more prominently in the story all the same. In all, Jason appears for about half of the novel, if not less, taking a backseat to other protagonists and antagonists like Father Long, Kelly, Meredith, Rickles, Hobb, and Townsend. I want to reiterate, Phillips did a great job on all the aforementioned human characters, which makes me all the more disappointed that his writing talents did not extend just as far for my favorite character of the bunch and the face of the franchise – Jason Voorhees.
Adding to my enjoyment of the novel was its strong focus on thrill and horror. Later entries in the Friday the 13th franchise have suffered from a lack of horror in favor of gimmicks like sending Jason into the future on a spaceship and having him face off against the arrogant dream-killer Freddy Kruger. As these novels were written around the same time as the release of those lesser film entries, I feared that their stories would be just as hokey and far-fetched. Thankfully, Church of the Divine Psychopath excelled in the horror category, feeling more akin to the earlier, more frightening films of the series' past, but with a more unique premise than the simple killer-stalking-the-woods approach. If you like your Jason stories to have a fun-factor to them (like being set in New York City or featuring a telekinetic Carrie-ripoff for a protagonist), then this particular novel may not be up your alley. However, if you like your Jason tales to be bloody, terrifying, and and suspenseful, Church of the Divine Psychopath is the book for you.
Surprisingly (this book is full of them so far), this novel is also fairly action-packed and can even double as an action novel. The aspects of the story revolving around the Special Operatives involves a heavy amount of gun-play, explosions, and Schwarzenegger-like heroics. Needless to say, whether Jason was busy hacking away at his victims or the soldiers were engaged in an intense shootout, there was never a dull moment to speak of. Not since Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday has Jason faced off against a team of gun-clad badasses – and that only lasted a few minutes in the movie – so it was cool to see that angle play out and have some longevity here. To some fans, the action may feel out of place for a Friday the 13th story, but I feel like it really complemented the novel's bloody, gory nature very well and should be given a fair chance.
As a pure horror novel, Church of the Divine Psychopath does an amazing job; there's plenty of blood, guts, scares, and evil to satisfy any fanatic of horror fiction. Yet, specifically as a Friday the 13th novel, I believe it falters ever so slightly. The main problem is that Jason is simply not featured enough in the novel to propel it above and beyond as a perfect Friday the 13th book, though it came damn close. Though the moments in the story where Jason did show up resulted in great scenes of torturous slaughtering, I felt that there weren't enough of those to make this a truly amazing book about Jason. With all that said, I still found Church of the Divine Psychopath to be a highly enjoyable and memorable read. Even with Jason not showing up for a good chuck of the novel, I found it all to be far better than at least half of the Friday the 13th movies that have been released. While we find ourselves in the midst of an unprecedented drought of Friday the 13th film releases, I would highly recommend forking out the insane amount of money it costs to get a copy of Church of the Divine Psychopath to hold you over in the mean time; any true fan of the series will want to dive right into this engaging novel no matter what the book costs.
February 21, 2023
Once again, a huge thanks to the 80s Slasher Librarian on YouTube for doing his fan audiobooks of these OOP slasher books, because listening to it on his YouTube channel is how I got to read it. Check out his channel, he does all this important archival work to share as free audiobooks with fellow fans.
Unfortunately I'm not a huge fan of this one. Jason himself is an afterthought in the plot, there's a lot of slut-shaming here, the cult aspect will probably make several people uncountable, there's uncomfortable grooming and SA, and It wasn't awful but there just wasn't anything to really interest me in this book. I'm sure there are plenty of Friday the 13th fans this would click with, but I'm not one of them. Glad I gave it a shot all the same.
Unfortunately I'm not a huge fan of this one. Jason himself is an afterthought in the plot, there's a lot of slut-shaming here, the cult aspect will probably make several people uncountable, there's uncomfortable grooming and SA, and It wasn't awful but there just wasn't anything to really interest me in this book. I'm sure there are plenty of Friday the 13th fans this would click with, but I'm not one of them. Glad I gave it a shot all the same.
June 12, 2023
The Jason kills and carnage in this one is truly next level BUT I have major issues/conflicting feelings on its treatment of the 17 year old female lead. It went a bit too far and there were times I was struggling to get a grasp on where the author stood on certain topics.
Still this was a great sendup of the church through the lens of Jason Voorhees.
Still this was a great sendup of the church through the lens of Jason Voorhees.
September 7, 2023
Friday the 13th: Church of the Divine Psychopath by Scott S. Phillips is a rare book now, but was a series of books that publisher Black Frame did, along with their A Nightmare on Elm Street series they published. In Church, there is a cult that worships Jason Voorhees as the vessel of God, punishing sex & drug crazed teens for their sins. The cult, The Ministry of the Heavenly Vessel, moves into the "hallowed grounds" of Camp Crystal Lake and awakens Jason. Meanwhile, a strike team, put together by "The Agency" is on it's way to Camp Crystal Lake to hunt and take out Jason once and for all.
So I'll start with the positives first in that I think the concept is a brilliant idea, because it fits like a glove. Jason *does* exactly what the cult says that he does, he punishes sinners. Having a church then worship Jason as a vessel of God, I was just completely on board with the idea. I think this book has everything you could want from a story in the Friday the 13th franchise, maybe with a X rating versus R, because it does tend to get a little more graphic in the sexual descriptions and includes some sexual assault, something I can't think of offhand being in the movie franchise. But if what you're looking for is Jason running around Camp Crystal Lake with his machete killing people, you'll be satisfied.
I think me, if this was a movie in the series, I think it's like sort of middling entry. I think the idea is great and it never really lives up to the concept. I wanted more from it. I kept waiting for the cult leader, Father Eric Long, to be super charismatic or something, ala Michael Parks from the movie Red State and he's just sort of a typical cult leader who wants to bed the women of his congregation at the first available opportunity.
One thing I love about the Friday franchise is how creative with the kills Jason will get, one of my favorites being Jason X, where he really gets creative (and that movie is a clever commentary on the franchise I think in a way this book fails at) and Jason here is just kinda, blah. Like he runs and kills people with his machete after the initial kill and doesn't do much beyond that.
So I don't think there was anything bad here, the writing was solid, but there just wasn't anything to really make me love the book. The characters are fine I suppose, but save for two specific people in the cult, you're not really rooting for Jason to get any of them, which is some of the fun of the movies. Yes, you should have *some* sympathy for the various teens, but the movies know why we're watching and it's for Jason. So yeah, if you want to read this one, then there's a YouTube group who is putting audiobook versions of Black Frame's books, just search for this book and you'll find it on there. I'm not in any way affiliated with them, but that's how I listened to this and I think it's cool that they're preserving a harder to find book series for a wider audience.
So I'll start with the positives first in that I think the concept is a brilliant idea, because it fits like a glove. Jason *does* exactly what the cult says that he does, he punishes sinners. Having a church then worship Jason as a vessel of God, I was just completely on board with the idea. I think this book has everything you could want from a story in the Friday the 13th franchise, maybe with a X rating versus R, because it does tend to get a little more graphic in the sexual descriptions and includes some sexual assault, something I can't think of offhand being in the movie franchise. But if what you're looking for is Jason running around Camp Crystal Lake with his machete killing people, you'll be satisfied.
I think me, if this was a movie in the series, I think it's like sort of middling entry. I think the idea is great and it never really lives up to the concept. I wanted more from it. I kept waiting for the cult leader, Father Eric Long, to be super charismatic or something, ala Michael Parks from the movie Red State and he's just sort of a typical cult leader who wants to bed the women of his congregation at the first available opportunity.
One thing I love about the Friday franchise is how creative with the kills Jason will get, one of my favorites being Jason X, where he really gets creative (and that movie is a clever commentary on the franchise I think in a way this book fails at) and Jason here is just kinda, blah. Like he runs and kills people with his machete after the initial kill and doesn't do much beyond that.
So I don't think there was anything bad here, the writing was solid, but there just wasn't anything to really make me love the book. The characters are fine I suppose, but save for two specific people in the cult, you're not really rooting for Jason to get any of them, which is some of the fun of the movies. Yes, you should have *some* sympathy for the various teens, but the movies know why we're watching and it's for Jason. So yeah, if you want to read this one, then there's a YouTube group who is putting audiobook versions of Black Frame's books, just search for this book and you'll find it on there. I'm not in any way affiliated with them, but that's how I listened to this and I think it's cool that they're preserving a harder to find book series for a wider audience.
April 15, 2023
**1/2
"Church of the Divine Psychopath" includes a couple solid characters, decent atmosphere, and one genuinely startling moment. On the other hand, it also gives readers a psychopathic Christian cult whose leader has his followers believing that the resurrected body of Jason Voorhees is God's messenger, on account of Jason typically (so they say) preferring his victims to be sinners steeped in drugs and premarital sex.
A team of government agents is sent to Crystal Lake on a nonsense mission to find and kill the legendary Jason Voorhees. There's some mention here of authorities' inability to locate and extract the dead killer's body from the lake. Scott Phillips deserves some praise for directly addressing one of the film series' more curious elements; it still doesn't really make sense that his body just sits down there, and no one can find it to bring it up, but I appreciate the acknowledgement of this strange scenario.
Anyway, the government agents don't realize that the kooky religious cult has just leased the abandoned campgrounds, and they are ready to defend their new homebase with automatic weapons. So the government men and women fight the cult men and women, and Jason, whom the cult leader did indeed resurrect, fights everybody.
It’s like someone was inspired enough by the first five minutes of “Jason Goes to Hell” that he wrote an entire book about it. Tactical government agents firing machine guns and hurling grenades at Jason Voorhees. Frightening stuff, indeed.
It's goofy, OK? And for me, doesn't work either as a "Friday the 13th" story, with its oddball plot, or as a suspense thriller, with some extremely awkward descriptions and dialogue. The author in particular has a tendency to frequently update the reader on the conditions of each characters' hindquarters. Here's a sample, with page numbers indicated, to give an idea of how often these sorts of descriptions occur:
Pg 269 “. . . packed uncomfortably in the crew compartment, his ass wedged into a narrow strip of bench . . .”
Pg 270 “Dark as a nun’s ass-crack out there, he thought.”
Pg 272 “. . . when he settled his ass down on that seat . . .”
Pg 273 “Acheson hopped the rest of the way to the water and plopped down on his ass at its edge.”
Pg 274 “He plunged his foot into the water, his butt cheeks clenching at the sudden chill.”
I especially like that last one!
"Church of the Divine Psychopath" has been on my to-find-and-read list for years, and after reading the first of the Black Flame "Nightmare on Elm St" books--a novel which almost perfectly captured the essence of the film series that inspired it--I had some hopes that maybe this book would be better than its plot suggested. Ah well.
"Church of the Divine Psychopath" includes a couple solid characters, decent atmosphere, and one genuinely startling moment. On the other hand, it also gives readers a psychopathic Christian cult whose leader has his followers believing that the resurrected body of Jason Voorhees is God's messenger, on account of Jason typically (so they say) preferring his victims to be sinners steeped in drugs and premarital sex.
A team of government agents is sent to Crystal Lake on a nonsense mission to find and kill the legendary Jason Voorhees. There's some mention here of authorities' inability to locate and extract the dead killer's body from the lake. Scott Phillips deserves some praise for directly addressing one of the film series' more curious elements; it still doesn't really make sense that his body just sits down there, and no one can find it to bring it up, but I appreciate the acknowledgement of this strange scenario.
Anyway, the government agents don't realize that the kooky religious cult has just leased the abandoned campgrounds, and they are ready to defend their new homebase with automatic weapons. So the government men and women fight the cult men and women, and Jason, whom the cult leader did indeed resurrect, fights everybody.
It’s like someone was inspired enough by the first five minutes of “Jason Goes to Hell” that he wrote an entire book about it. Tactical government agents firing machine guns and hurling grenades at Jason Voorhees. Frightening stuff, indeed.
It's goofy, OK? And for me, doesn't work either as a "Friday the 13th" story, with its oddball plot, or as a suspense thriller, with some extremely awkward descriptions and dialogue. The author in particular has a tendency to frequently update the reader on the conditions of each characters' hindquarters. Here's a sample, with page numbers indicated, to give an idea of how often these sorts of descriptions occur:
Pg 269 “. . . packed uncomfortably in the crew compartment, his ass wedged into a narrow strip of bench . . .”
Pg 270 “Dark as a nun’s ass-crack out there, he thought.”
Pg 272 “. . . when he settled his ass down on that seat . . .”
Pg 273 “Acheson hopped the rest of the way to the water and plopped down on his ass at its edge.”
Pg 274 “He plunged his foot into the water, his butt cheeks clenching at the sudden chill.”
I especially like that last one!
"Church of the Divine Psychopath" has been on my to-find-and-read list for years, and after reading the first of the Black Flame "Nightmare on Elm St" books--a novel which almost perfectly captured the essence of the film series that inspired it--I had some hopes that maybe this book would be better than its plot suggested. Ah well.
February 24, 2024
This was somewhat entertaining but probably needed some more thought and work to do what it was trying to do. The book has fun with a lot of Slasher/Friday The 13th tropes and is self-aware but that doesn't stop it from falling into a lot of the same traps as the films it's poking fun at. The characters themselves seem so aware of these tropes that they should know better, and in many cases the do know better, but still do all the stupid things they shouldn't do anyway. I can tell the author wanted to make his characters more developed than the stock characters in slasher movies but all he does is give us a lot of useless trivia and stock backgrounds to the characters so that in the end they still felt two dimensional. One character (the biker guy named Don) got a useless backstory and what appeared to be a developing subplot only for him to die without it ever going anywhere. I can't tell if the author was trying to fake me out and surprise me with the guy's death or if it's a subplot he forgot to develop or cut out part of it's development.
It just feels like there's a lot of filler in the book even though I'm sure the author was just trying to make something better than a typical tie-in novel. It's breaks up a lot of the action and suspense in what is a pretty good action/suspense plot. It should be a roller coaster ride but it keeps slowing itself down just when it starts rolling. It might sound like I'm against character development and just want a book as trashy as a Friday The 13th movie but it's more like I'm against being given a lot of information that goes nowhere in developing plot or character.
Also, I'm not really sure where this book is supposed to fit into the continuity. Not a huge problem but it was something I kept getting distracted by when I was reading it and you'd think the author could give a note at the beginning saying it's between these two movies or we're creating a new continuity or whatever. Jason's body is pulled out of Crystal Lake so it could take place between 6 and 7 or 7 and 8 but then it has a contemporary setting so I'm not really sure. As a fan of the franchise I'd at least like to know how it ties into it, you don't have to stick to the continuity of the movies, if you're doing something different I'll play along just clue me in.
It just feels like there's a lot of filler in the book even though I'm sure the author was just trying to make something better than a typical tie-in novel. It's breaks up a lot of the action and suspense in what is a pretty good action/suspense plot. It should be a roller coaster ride but it keeps slowing itself down just when it starts rolling. It might sound like I'm against character development and just want a book as trashy as a Friday The 13th movie but it's more like I'm against being given a lot of information that goes nowhere in developing plot or character.
Also, I'm not really sure where this book is supposed to fit into the continuity. Not a huge problem but it was something I kept getting distracted by when I was reading it and you'd think the author could give a note at the beginning saying it's between these two movies or we're creating a new continuity or whatever. Jason's body is pulled out of Crystal Lake so it could take place between 6 and 7 or 7 and 8 but then it has a contemporary setting so I'm not really sure. As a fan of the franchise I'd at least like to know how it ties into it, you don't have to stick to the continuity of the movies, if you're doing something different I'll play along just clue me in.
October 19, 2021
A religious congregation will lease camp crystal lake because Jason has killed hundreds of sinners here. They believe this place is a gathering of sin and debauchery and feel that they want to cleanse the earth of these wrenched sinners. They find Jason and resurrect his body via car jumper leads with the hope he will deal out the lords judgement of sinners. As Jason comes alive for the first time he will rip a head clean off a body with blood spurting over the makeshift church. He will slash guts opening intestines that will wrap around legs as the bodies kick and twitch. His yellow eyes will penetrate his victims. Jason will pull apart ribs like getting meat from a lobster and blood will spurt like a lawn sprinkler. A swat team will simultaneously try to wipe Jason out who with be shot hundreds of times. This is Uber Jason/zombie Jason who will not be killed. As always from this series it is bloody bonkers and utter candy garbage.
February 9, 2023
My first audio book (ain't no way I'm spending $112 on a used paperback copy). I much prefer the feel of a book in my hands, but I'm extremely curious about these out-of-print Black Flame novels penned by different authors.
This book was horrendous, but any scene involving Jason was good at least. Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting peak literature, going into a novel about a hockey-mask-wearing, machete wielding psycho, but I was expecting to feel something more for the characters in novel-form.
Someone said this book was surprisingly well-written, but the oversexualization of both the men and women were a bit much. I can deal with scenes of sexuality. That kind of sums up every Friday the 13th film, but reading the minds of some of these characters were a strange feeling.
Anyway, would I recommend this? I wanna say yes, to any fans of Jason or horror, but for this particular novel, I'd say skip. I feel like it didn't really capture the essence of the films.
This book was horrendous, but any scene involving Jason was good at least. Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting peak literature, going into a novel about a hockey-mask-wearing, machete wielding psycho, but I was expecting to feel something more for the characters in novel-form.
Someone said this book was surprisingly well-written, but the oversexualization of both the men and women were a bit much. I can deal with scenes of sexuality. That kind of sums up every Friday the 13th film, but reading the minds of some of these characters were a strange feeling.
Anyway, would I recommend this? I wanna say yes, to any fans of Jason or horror, but for this particular novel, I'd say skip. I feel like it didn't really capture the essence of the films.
July 17, 2018
There's not a lot of "official" books with Jason Vorhees in it (even the Eric Morse series only features his mask) so it was great to read a book featuring him. Also having it set at Camp Crystal Lake was a big tick in the FOR column.
The cult arising around him was also a good concept which, whilst it felt kind of an alien theme from the film series, did interest me and the cult characters were also pretty decent.
The aspect of the book which left me completely cold, and which just felt totally out of place in a F13th story, was the whole marines strike team subplot. I had no interest in the weapons fetishising and the characters weren't of interest either it just didn't seem to fit in this book.
The cult arising around him was also a good concept which, whilst it felt kind of an alien theme from the film series, did interest me and the cult characters were also pretty decent.
The aspect of the book which left me completely cold, and which just felt totally out of place in a F13th story, was the whole marines strike team subplot. I had no interest in the weapons fetishising and the characters weren't of interest either it just didn't seem to fit in this book.
August 22, 2017
This novel would have made a great addition to the Friday the 13th movies.
The first half of the book had only hints of Jason here and there, but after a group of religious extremists set up shop at camp crystal lake and a group of military tough guys show up to kill Jason, the book really kicked into high gear with Jason right in the middle of it all doing what he does best.
This book is out of print, not available in e-reader format, and hard to find. However, it is a great start to the five book 2005 - 2006 series put out by Black Flame Publishing.
The first half of the book had only hints of Jason here and there, but after a group of religious extremists set up shop at camp crystal lake and a group of military tough guys show up to kill Jason, the book really kicked into high gear with Jason right in the middle of it all doing what he does best.
This book is out of print, not available in e-reader format, and hard to find. However, it is a great start to the five book 2005 - 2006 series put out by Black Flame Publishing.
February 29, 2024
A David Koresh style leader takes his followers to Camp Crystal Lake and unveils Jason as a Heavenly Vessel meant to act as the Hand Of God to punish sinners. Surely nothing can go wrong with that plan!
Fun, with some likeable characters and some seriously fucked up villains beyond Jason that you just can't wait to get killed.
Fun, with some likeable characters and some seriously fucked up villains beyond Jason that you just can't wait to get killed.
May 21, 2023
An insane Jason-worshipping cult? Yes, please! This story is bonkers from the get-go. Although parts of it involving the cult members were difficult and upsetting, it was fun overall. Watch out for the weird church in the strip mall!
July 5, 2021
Wonderful, some monsterism no spacecraft.
August 28, 2021
It's an entertaining and goofy romp, somewhat marred by the overly realistic child grooming. Which felt gross and awful on a whole different level than the gory Jason bits.
August 13, 2024
I wouldn't call this good in the sense that it is well written and most of it hasn't aged well. But it was so bad it was funny.
November 20, 2024
3.5 rounded up for GR. Fun and ridiculous but not perfect! I still enjoyed my time reading this!
December 14, 2024
Better than expected.
November 18, 2014
Okay, like, what's with all these guns? Let's be perfectly clear. When I pick up a book with a cover photograph of Jason Voorhees looking large and affectless, I do not care to read mainly about army dudes and cult dudes shooting one another. I REALLY DON'T. Your first hint, book dudes, that your readers might have desired to read about hapless teens being dismembered by an unfathomable zombie ghost with an intellectual disability and a great sense for accessories is that this is a book about that very zombie ghost. So there's that. I want more machetes, more eyes getting snipped out with garden tools and more people randomly hurled through the nearest window. I can't think of even one head crushed in this book with the aid of only zombie hands/a basic brown belt. Tragic.
And there are other issues with the book, tbh. The character development is basically nuts. Characters either got zero development or a massive (massive) random infodump telling us their entire life story, and the decision about how to dole out infodump vs blank slate appears to have nothing to do with their relevance to the story or likelihood of resonating emotionally with the reader (readers of this book have the emotional resonance of a large frog anyway so nice try, Phillips). And I'm not kidding about the more machetes, because all these infodumps appear to exist at the expense of Jason time (hint he is meant to be the main antagonist of your novel) and also at the expense of any kind of atmosphere or sensation of fear or foreboding. I appreciate that the showdown -at-the-actually-not-ok-at-all-corral was an attempt to inject some plot into an IP that is basically just about watching people get sequentially murdered, but the author didn't hit the balance between furthering his action plot and maintaining a horror feel, which is an absolute necessity if you want it to be in any way effective or scary. Also not gonna lie I was pretty bummed about the ending one of my two favourites got. You expect them to die but gosh wow.
I always find the insistence that Jason preferentially murders sexy young ladies slightly annoying, as it's not supported statistically on-screen and even when the films play with the trope (e.g. the VR girls in X) it's still not really overtly stating he isn't just killing whoever's there and easy to supermurder, rather than because he has some kind of inappropriate boob response. So it's kind of weird that this book does overtly state Kelly and Meredith are better victims because they're cute and stacked. It probably wouldn't bother me if it weren't repeated a bunch of times and if there weren't other problems like the fact that Jason is a walking exit wound for much of the book. Overall I could have forgiven basically anything if they'd given me more of Jason using his ample skill points in improvised weapons/hand-to-hand skull crushing*. Which is probably why I bought all the other books in this set. Yesss.
Also this answers the question of "do I really have bad taste" (as posed in previous review obviously get with the programme) by already existing on Goodreads and therefore being a Good Read. So I am officially Classy again. Because this book is Classy. Okay.
*Yes, I would have given this 5 stars if the method of defeating Jason had been his own crit fail on a skull crush roll.
And there are other issues with the book, tbh. The character development is basically nuts. Characters either got zero development or a massive (massive) random infodump telling us their entire life story, and the decision about how to dole out infodump vs blank slate appears to have nothing to do with their relevance to the story or likelihood of resonating emotionally with the reader (readers of this book have the emotional resonance of a large frog anyway so nice try, Phillips). And I'm not kidding about the more machetes, because all these infodumps appear to exist at the expense of Jason time (hint he is meant to be the main antagonist of your novel) and also at the expense of any kind of atmosphere or sensation of fear or foreboding. I appreciate that the showdown -at-the-actually-not-ok-at-all-corral was an attempt to inject some plot into an IP that is basically just about watching people get sequentially murdered, but the author didn't hit the balance between furthering his action plot and maintaining a horror feel, which is an absolute necessity if you want it to be in any way effective or scary. Also not gonna lie I was pretty bummed about the ending one of my two favourites got. You expect them to die but gosh wow.
I always find the insistence that Jason preferentially murders sexy young ladies slightly annoying, as it's not supported statistically on-screen and even when the films play with the trope (e.g. the VR girls in X) it's still not really overtly stating he isn't just killing whoever's there and easy to supermurder, rather than because he has some kind of inappropriate boob response. So it's kind of weird that this book does overtly state Kelly and Meredith are better victims because they're cute and stacked. It probably wouldn't bother me if it weren't repeated a bunch of times and if there weren't other problems like the fact that Jason is a walking exit wound for much of the book. Overall I could have forgiven basically anything if they'd given me more of Jason using his ample skill points in improvised weapons/hand-to-hand skull crushing*. Which is probably why I bought all the other books in this set. Yesss.
Also this answers the question of "do I really have bad taste" (as posed in previous review obviously get with the programme) by already existing on Goodreads and therefore being a Good Read. So I am officially Classy again. Because this book is Classy. Okay.
*Yes, I would have given this 5 stars if the method of defeating Jason had been his own crit fail on a skull crush roll.
June 29, 2011
2 AND 1/2 STARS
There are not too many people more knowledgable than I am regarding the Jason mythology. I can rattle off every director of the franchise, every actor that played Jason (even the stunt doubles of the early films), own every film in both VHS and DVD - even one on laserdisc, and now collecting the Blu-Ray versions. I have the action figures, the autographed photos, the novel adaptations, the behind-the-scenes books, even the Friday the 13th lunch box. So here's my take on this book:
While I enjoy backstory for characters, Mr. Phillips didn't seem to balance that with spending time with Jason and building suspense. If you add up the pages Jason is actually doing something or killing someone, you'll end up with less than 20 pages out of over 400. Seriously. Besides the prologue, he doesn't even show up until around page 170. And where are the creative ways he kills people? In this story, Jason only uses his machete. Also I didn't buy the "highly trained" tactical team with night-vision goggles and laser sights having a very rough time with a bunch of hillbilly churchgoers.
For the most part, Mr. Phillips got Jason's body language down, but Jason seemed to pop up all over the place, even after describing how the two areas of the story were on opposite sides of the lake - a full half hour drive away from each other! Did Jason sprint back and forth for each killing? Minor stuff, but still.
There was simply way too much gunfire on Jason. Literally thousands of bullets were tearing through his body over and over again, and although I realize he has unatural powers, when a body part disentegrates, there has to be an acknowledgement of injury -- slower movement, losing the use of a hand or leg, etc. Jason stalks his victims carefully, not running out in the middle of a platoon of armed men and swinging wildly like some coked up Tony Montana in Scarface. Jason waits for just the right moment when characters are vulnerable.
But don't get me wrong, this was a fast and relatively fun read, and the R rated feel was a good decision. However, this could have greatly benefited from a lot more atmosphere instead of one action after another. You have to establish tone and a real sense of dread if you want to scare an audience. The prologue set up some decent atmosphere and location description, but then that style seemed to disappear. I would only recommend this book to die hard fans of the series, because as a standalone horror novel competing against solid genre authors, it is simply average at best.
There are not too many people more knowledgable than I am regarding the Jason mythology. I can rattle off every director of the franchise, every actor that played Jason (even the stunt doubles of the early films), own every film in both VHS and DVD - even one on laserdisc, and now collecting the Blu-Ray versions. I have the action figures, the autographed photos, the novel adaptations, the behind-the-scenes books, even the Friday the 13th lunch box. So here's my take on this book:
While I enjoy backstory for characters, Mr. Phillips didn't seem to balance that with spending time with Jason and building suspense. If you add up the pages Jason is actually doing something or killing someone, you'll end up with less than 20 pages out of over 400. Seriously. Besides the prologue, he doesn't even show up until around page 170. And where are the creative ways he kills people? In this story, Jason only uses his machete. Also I didn't buy the "highly trained" tactical team with night-vision goggles and laser sights having a very rough time with a bunch of hillbilly churchgoers.
For the most part, Mr. Phillips got Jason's body language down, but Jason seemed to pop up all over the place, even after describing how the two areas of the story were on opposite sides of the lake - a full half hour drive away from each other! Did Jason sprint back and forth for each killing? Minor stuff, but still.
There was simply way too much gunfire on Jason. Literally thousands of bullets were tearing through his body over and over again, and although I realize he has unatural powers, when a body part disentegrates, there has to be an acknowledgement of injury -- slower movement, losing the use of a hand or leg, etc. Jason stalks his victims carefully, not running out in the middle of a platoon of armed men and swinging wildly like some coked up Tony Montana in Scarface. Jason waits for just the right moment when characters are vulnerable.
But don't get me wrong, this was a fast and relatively fun read, and the R rated feel was a good decision. However, this could have greatly benefited from a lot more atmosphere instead of one action after another. You have to establish tone and a real sense of dread if you want to scare an audience. The prologue set up some decent atmosphere and location description, but then that style seemed to disappear. I would only recommend this book to die hard fans of the series, because as a standalone horror novel competing against solid genre authors, it is simply average at best.
February 16, 2011
I didn't expect much from a Friday the 13th book but this one surprised me. Fun characters, true to the spirit of the movies but much faster paced and a more thrilling ending. I think it's out of print now but if you see a copy make sure you grab it, it's a lot of fun.
March 4, 2013
Just plain fun
June 16, 2014
Was a great book would read it agin
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