Crystal Lake may be fictional, but Jason Voorhees has some very real New England roots.

If you’re settling in for a Friday the 13th marathon this Halloween season, here’s a fun bit of New England movie trivia: much of Friday the 13th Part 2 was filmed in Connecticut. Released in 1981, the sequel moved production away from the New Jersey locations used for the original film and brought Camp Crystal Lake’s blood-soaked woods to western Connecticut.

And more than four decades later, fans still seek out some of those locations.

🔪 Welcome to Crystal Lake… Connecticut

Much of the movie was filmed around New Preston and Kent, with the rural roads, forests and lakes of the Litchfield Hills providing a remarkably convincing home for Jason’s hunting grounds. One of the most recognizable locations is the former Camp Kenmont area near Kent, used for the movie’s counselor-training center. Nearby North Spectacle Pond helped provide the secluded lake-and-woods atmosphere that has become inseparable from the franchise. If you’ve spent time in this corner of Connecticut, it’s easy to understand why filmmakers chose it. Dense woods, winding roads, old buildings and quiet lakes already possess the kind of atmosphere horror movies spend considerable money trying to manufacture.

New England just provides it naturally. How thoughtful of us.

🍺 Even the Bar Was Real

Remember the bar where several of the counselors escape camp for an evening? That sequence also used a real Connecticut location. The production filmed scenes at a local establishment in New Preston, adding another genuine piece of small-town Connecticut to the fictional world surrounding Crystal Lake. It’s one of those details that makes rewatching the movie more fun once you know what you’re looking for.

🎬 Connecticut Became Crystal Lake

Other scenes were filmed around western Connecticut, with locations associated with the production extending into communities including Kent, New Preston, Torrington and Waterbury. The result is something distinctly New England. Watch Friday the 13th Part 2 again and ignore Jason for a moment, admittedly difficult when he’s running around with murderous intent. Look at the landscape. The stone walls. The narrow roads. The old buildings. The heavily wooded hillsides. The water.

That’s New England.

🚗 Could This Become a Horror Road Trip?

Now you’ve given us ideas.

A future All of New England road trip through the Connecticut filming locations of Friday the 13th Part 2 sounds suspiciously like something we need to do. Find the surviving locations. Compare them with scenes from the movie. Explore Kent and New Preston. Take our own photos. Maybe even spend the night nearby. Although if someone whispers “ki ki ki, ma ma ma” from the woods, we’re getting back in the car. Immediately.

🍁 New England Is Full of Stories

That’s part of what makes exploring this region so much fun. Sometimes the story is a centuries-old inn. Sometimes it’s a covered bridge. And sometimes it’s discovering that Jason Voorhees once stalked the woods of Connecticut.

🔪 Have you ever visited a famous New England movie location?

All of New England. There’s always more to explore.