Sleepaway Camp: Making the Movie and Reigniting the Campfire

As featured in Fangoria, Movieweb, ComingSoon, Queerty, Rue Morgue, Yahoo News, Bloody Disgusting, and more!

In 1983, Robert Hiltzik’s Sleepaway Camp was quickly disregarded by film reviewers. Variety called it a “tired version of teen oriented horror film formulas,“ The Philadelphia Enquirer “had more thrills untangling paper clips,“ and The Cincinnati Post branded it “more horrible than horrifying.“

But fans saw something different. Very different. 40 years since its release, the film’s unique blend of horror, tongue-in-cheek comedy, sexuality, and gender roles—along with an ending to end all endings, was seemingly ahead of its time. Sleepaway Camp is now discussed and debated more than when it was initially released.

Longtime official Sleepaway Camp webmaster, writer, and filmmaker Jeff Hayes goes behind the scenes like never before, revealing the development and making of the film, its immediate aftermath, and the more than four decades of fandom since its release. This definitive Sleepaway Camp compendium includes interviews with much of the cast and crew (with many new exclusives), more than 125 production and memorabilia images (including previously unreleased on-set stills), and takes you backstage to the reunions, retro screenings, and convention events that have united fans and reignited interest in this beloved horror tale.

Two sequels later, plus Hiltzik's retcon film Return to Sleepaway Camp, Sleepaway Camp continues to resonate in a big way with ’80s film buffs, global horror fans, and the LGBT community, all of whom enjoy their horror films…with a twist.

Welcome to Sleepaway Camp. Meet you at the waterfront, after the social.