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| Nobebosco Rd, NJ 07825, USA (Blairstown, New Jersey)
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Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco
This private camp borders Sand Pond near Hardwick Township, New Jersey and has provided entertainment to countless Boy Scouts over its history, but is best known to horror fans as the setting of the infamous Camp Crystal Lake in the 1980 film, Friday the 13th. It was established in 1927 and is privately owned by the NNJC Boy Scouts of America and has undergone countless renovations over the years. Although it may be known to the outside world as the original home to the fictional murders of Friday the 13th, the camp witnessed a very real-life tragedy in the midst of World War II.
The B-17 Plane Crash
On the afternoon of February 22, 1944, the camp witnessed a real-life tragedy when a four-motored Army bomber got lost in dense fog and crashed head-on with the nearby Kittatinny Ridge. The plane had been en route from Bangor, Maine to Fort Dix, New Jersey when it crashed shortly after 2:00 P.M. in the afternoon, after shearing the treetops along a quarter mile path. The plane was a five-ton B-17 Flying Fortress and it broke up upon impact, immediately killing the 11 Army officers on board and one Royal Air Force navigator who was along for the ride. According to one report, the words "Up Der Feuhrer!" were painted on the nose cone of the plane - a pointed reference to Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany whom America was at war with. The bodies of the airmen were quickly recovered and transported to nearby Camp Kilmer.
One month after the crash, the scouts of Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco held a memorial for the lost servicemen. Like most of the country, World War II directly affected many of the boys and several had family members fighting in battles overseas. They reportedly met near the remains of the plane's tail-gunner's section and held a council fire in memory of the lost airmen.
The crash of the B-17 was eerily reminiscent of an earlier accident involving a monoplane that had also struck Kittatinny Ridge in October 1932 that took the lives of the pilot and passenger. In that case, it was again foggy but nearby residents reported seeing the plane circling, looking for a place to land, before striking a treetop and crashing to the earth. While these accidents left their scars on the land and the nearby residents, the area is better known today for the fictional horrors that would come years later.
Friday the 13th (1980)
Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco was thrust into the worldwide spotlight under the name of Camp Crystal Lake in the 1980 horror film, Friday the 13th. Now considered a horror classic and one of the main driving forces behind the prominence of the slasher sub-genre over the last couple of decades, the film was a low budget affair that hit box-office gold. It involves the re-opening of a summer camp where years earlier a boy named Jason Vorhees tragically drowned. As the counselors return and begin bringing the camp back to life, someone starts hunting them down and killing them.
The relationship between Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco and the film began during the summer of 1976 when a Hollywood film crew had become lost while scouting locations in Warren County and stopped at the camp for directions. It just so happened that the crew was scouting locations to shoot a film under the working title of A Long Night at Camp Blood. The film's producer/director, Sean Cunningham, had reportedly raised around $500,000 at that point (the film reportedly cost $700,000 to film), which meant the filmmakers were looking for both a place to shoot the film, as well as somewhere where at least some of the cast and crew (mostly non-union) could also sleep for the night. Needless to say, they found what they were looking for.
Production would begin on the film that would become known as Friday the 13th in autumn of 1979 when the camp was unoccupied, save for the cast and crew - giving them complete access of Sand Pond and Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco. Given the subject matter of the film, they were asked by the Bergen Council, who owned the camp, to have the camp's name excluded from the credits. Such was the case when the film finally debuted on May 9, 1980. Despite Friday the 13th raking in millions of dollars during its theatrical run and subsequent rental returns, Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco receives no royalties for its involvement. Later sequels of the series and the recent remake were shot in a variety of different locations and never returned to Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco.
Fear (2000-2002)
Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco's run in the horror genre was not over yet. It would again surface, this time as Camp Spirit Lake, in a 2001 episode of the MTV reality series, Fear. The series sent five or six contestants (depending on the episode) to a reportedly haunted location, where they would spend two nights participating in a series of dares to determine if the place is haunted. Those that made it to the end walked away with $5,000 (after having only received $3,000 in the initial pilot).
For the episode, the name of the camp was changed to Camp Panther Lake, though known by locals as Camp Spirit Lake for its infamous past. Sand Pond was also renamed as Ghost Lake. The story told began in 1971 with the discovery of three camp counselors brutally murdered and buried in shallow graves. According to the episode of Fear, at least two cults in the area use the campgrounds as the site of their satanic rituals and five people have since been murdered, while nine more remain missing. The contestants were informed of this past via tape with the cryptic conclusion: "The camp is real, as are the reports of supernatural manifestations you will read about. We have not added to or altered the history of the camp in any way. All of the people you will learn about during your stay are or were real people. Their stories are all true, as are their sufferings."
Despite the disclaimer, the history and stories presented in the episode of Fear were completely fabricated by the show's producers, combining various stories from the state of New Jersey. A lake known as Ghost Lake does exist in the very-real Panther Valley, New Jersey and does have some very creepy tales associated with it, as well as the road that leads up to it that is quite literally named Shades of Death Road. As for Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, there have been no reports of ghosts or any other paranormal activity there and the only murders that took place there were the very fictional murders depicted in Friday the 13th.
The Camp Today
The camp still thrives today and continues to serve Boy Scouts from the area. However, the land and Sand Pond are privately owned by the organization and are not open to the general public. It has been reported that the owners of the camp are not thrilled with its Friday the 13th-past and frown upon tourists seeking the infamous Camp Crystal Lake. A 2005 article in the Washington Post put it more plainly: "It's for Boy Scout campers only; visits by freaky 'Friday' fans are strongly discouraged." |
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| Related Sites |
Friday the 13th Films: F13 Locations
This entry at Friday the 13th Films.com takes you on a tour of the sites used in the filming of the first movie in the Friday the 13th series. |
Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco
Website for the boyscout camp used as a film site in Friday the 13th. |
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| See Also on TheCabinet.com |
| Blog: Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco (05/09/08) |
| Blog: Accident at the Original Camp Crystal Lake (02/22/09) |
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Making Friday The 13th: The Legend Of Camp Blood |
Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday The 13th |
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MTV's Inside Fear |
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Friday the 13th Jason Vorhees Shot Glass |
Jason Voorhees Holiday Light Strand from Friday the 13th by NECA |
Friday the 13th - From Crystal Lake to Manhattan (8 Movies) |
WWJD? What Would Jason Do HOCKEY MASK Logo Men's tee Shirt in 12 colors Small thru 6XL |
Friday the 13th Jason Hockey Mask Costume |
Jason Voorhees Hockey Mask Adult |
Friday the 13th 25th Anniversary Boxed Set |
A63 Friday The 13th Jason Vorhees Hockey Mask Belt Buckle |
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Camp Crystal Lake Sign |
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Movie Maniacs Original Friday the 13th |
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