I love people who have a sense of occasion. I know three people who excel at this (two of them created my partner, and one I whimsically refer to as “fish”), and it’s something I strive to achieve. I love when people find various ways to do this.

One of the things I find myself involuntarily doing is marathoning various horror movies based on the occasion. If it is the fourth of July, it’s going to be Jaws and the I Know What You Did Last Summer movies. If it is Halloween, there are the obvious Halloween movies, as well as Trick ‘r Treat and countless others.

Today, I forgot it was Friday the 13th until I plopped down at my computer. Immediately I thought: Well, I must create a Friday the 13th marathon today.

But I’m also super into playing Rise of the Tomb Raider, so I am at conflicting interests. Certain games lend themselves to putting something on in the background to listen to while I play (especially if the game involves grinding for gear or XP), but I can’t do that with a new game that I’m intent on paying attention to everything going on.

So I must choose.

Super first world problems.

One thing I love about horror movies is the atmosphere. I love Camp Crystal Lake. I love the era (and that there are no cell phones!). I love the clothes and hair. I love the idea of camp (I always wanted to go to a summer camp).

But oddly, I don’t love the Friday the 13th moves. I like them just fine (and own most of them), but I don’t love them. I find them to be needlessly gory (something I find a bit cheap and I’m not terribly into), and that has always felt like a cop out from being creative. I watch them for the atmosphere and for some of the more ridiculous premises later in the series (Jason on a boat; Jason in space).

Also, they don’t make a heck of a lot of sense, honestly. I mean why is Jason so mad? If it was all about revenge, he pretty much finished that up in the second film. Perhaps he just needed a hug or a surrogate mother or something. Who knows?

Then again, maybe he was a murderous and unreasonable jerk who only wanted to eliminate everything living in his path.

Also, how did he get so tactical? There are so many holes in this. But I digress.

As of this writing, the in-development Friday the 13th: The Game will be funded in less than 12 hours via Kickstarter. I’m interested to see where Gun Media takes the game (beyond the base of it being an asymmetrical survival horror experience) within the environs of Camp Crystal Lake. As you can see from the pre-alpha screenshot above, they are nailing the tone of the atmosphere, and that sells me on the experience. I understand why they chose to work via Kickstarter as opposed to a more traditional publishing situation (they didn’t want to be restricted by fitting into a certain rating and compromising the horror experience), and I’m glad to see this was funded with days to spare.

If it was already released into the wild, I’d definitely play it today. A sense of occasion and all that.

Are there any films or games you watch or play at various times of year? Which ones?

With that, I wish you a happy (and safe) Friday the 13th. I would insert those weird Jason noises here, but I have no idea how to spell them.

Cheers!