Friday the 13th is an American horror franchise that comprises twelve slasher films, a television show, novels, comic books, video games, and tie???in merchandise. The franchise mainly focuses on the fictional character Jason Voorhees, who drowned as a boy at Camp Crystal Lake due to the negligence of the camp staff. Decades later, the lake is rumored to be "cursed" and is the setting for a series of mass murders. Jason is featured in all of the films, as either the killer or the motivation for the killings. The original film, created to cash in on the success of Halloween (1978),[1] was written by Victor Miller and was produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham. The films have grossed over $529 million at the box-office worldwide. It was the highest-grossing horror franchise in the world until the release of Halloween (2018), putting that franchise in the top spot.