By MICHAEL GINGOLD

The sounds and secrets of sequel summer-camp slaughter are coming in November.

1984 Publishing has announced that it will release a five-track soundtrack EP for SLEEPAWAY CAMP II: UNHAPPY CAMPERS and SLEEPAWAY CAMP III: TEENAGE WASTELAND on vinyl and CD, featuring music by John Altyn, on November 19. The same day, 1984 will also issue an expanded paperback edition of Jeff Hayes’ SLEEPAWAY CAMP: MAKING THE MOVIE AND REIGNITING THE CAMPFIRE, with all the original content plus over 100 pages of new material and behind-the-scenes photos from the two sequels (including the pair you can see exclusively above and below). Among the fresh stuff is an interview with makeup effects creator Bill “Splat” Johnson, and an exclusive portion of that chat can be seen below. The updated book will also include a new interview with Loris Diran, who played Billy in the first SLEEPAWAY CAMP and is a member of the LGBT community, offering his thoughts on the movie and its legacy.

“After the release of the hardbound edition,” Hayes says, “fans worldwide contacted me who loved the info about the original film but were asking additional questions about the sequels. So, 1984 Publishing and I thought fans would appreciate a deep dive into the sequels as bonus content for the second edition. I started with screenwriter Michael Hitchcock [of Christopher Guest, GLEE, and BRIDESMAIDS fame], who created Angela’s path forward in parts two and three. Michael and I completed a series of extensive interviews that included character motivations, deleted scenes, creative kills, budgetary adjustments, inside jokes, and more! I also interviewed (and included personal behind-the-scenes photos) from fan favorite Brian Patrick Clarke [‘T.C.’], Mark Oliver [‘Tony’], Daryl Wilcher [‘Riff’], Carol Chambers and Amy Fields [‘The Shit Sisters’], Kim Wall [‘Cindy’], Kendall Bean [‘Demi’], effects creator Bill ‘Splat’ Johnson, and more. It’s the most extensive look at the sequels to date.”

The EP contains fan-favorite “Outta Control” from SLEEPAWAY CAMP II (originally intended for A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3), three mixes of the song “Sleepaway” (from SLEEPAWAY CAMP III) and the classic “Happy Camper Song” featured in both sequels. The vinyl editions will also come with a bonus flexi postcard with an audio trailer for SLEEPAWAY CAMP III. The 12-inch gatefold vinyl edition (sporting artwork by Robert Sammelin) will be available in the following variants; you can see them all below the book excerpt:

•  “Blood Red” (limited to 300)
•  “Camp Rolling Hills” split-colored vinyl (dark blue & light blue–limited to 150)
•  “Shit Sisters’” pot haze-colored vinyl (includes a print autographed by Carol Chambers & Amy Fields–limited to 100)
•  “Riff’s Switchblade” silver-colored vinyl (includes a print autographed by Daryl Wilcher–limited to 100)
•  “Coke” white-colored vinyl (includes “Sleepaway” sheet music autographed by John Altyn–limited to 100)

Pre-orders for the book and both versions of the soundtrack are now open at 1984’s website.

Interview with Bill “Splat” Johnson (excerpt)

Bill Johnson, who has created outstanding FX work on popular shows like Netflix’s STRANGER THINGS and OZARK as well as for movie series like THE HUNGER GAMES, got his start at a little place called Sleepaway Camp! During an interview I conducted with Bill in the spring 2024, he shared many additional details on the FX work he did for SLEEPAWAY CAMP II and III:

JEFF: What was your favorite effect in part two and how was it achieved?

BILL: My favorite effect in part two was Phoebe at the beginning with the prop branch, which had a blood bag attached to it. Then there was also a blood bag in Angela’s hand, with a prop tongue and knife, during the aftermath cut. I thought both were pretty successful.

JEFF: One of my all-time favorite murder sequences (in any slasher movie) is Ally’s outhouse drowning in part two. It’s just so nasty and wild. Can you talk about what went into making that scene from an FX point of view, and was Valerie easy or hard to work with, having to go through so much?

BILL: The outhouse sequence was a fairly easy scene to do. I had made some flexible acrylic leeches to glue on Valerie’s face, and we added some dead makeup later on for the cabin interior. Frank Galline (the art director) made some outhouse juicy bits for some dressing in the scene and Christina made the fake branch which is used on Valerie. The outhouse was made in a way that Valerie could stick her head up through the fake seat and do her drowning stuff. She was a real trooper, and we were delighted to get to know her a lot better on part three when she stayed around to assist with the film.

JEFF: What was the hardest effect to pull off?

BILL: Sean’s decapitation was the hardest effect to do in part two, and Bobby’s arm rips was the hardest for me on part three. We had such a short schedule and prep that it was hard for us to keep up with the pace. (We only had a single weekend between films and three weeks shooting on each sequel.). Shad Leach took some of the load off of me and created some of the effects. Shad was a good guy. We all liked him. He was good friends with Jerry Pece (First AD). Unfortunately, he passed away in 2010.

The blood rigging for Sean’s decapitation scene was mostly done by Shad. I had some rigs to try to make blood pulsate out, but with rubber tubes, which were not great for that effect because their stretchiness reduced the pressure exerted. Shad had a large vinyl tube in the neck of the dummy and that ran out of the cabin to an air compressor with 100 PSI (plus a quick release attached). He filled the tube with fake blood and when they called “action,” he hit the trigger and a huge fountain of blood sprayed out, ran across the cabin set and out one of the windows, hitting Jerry Pece our First AD. I remember that he came walking over with blood covering his new pith helmet that he always wore. (He told me that he went on to keep it that way as a sort of trophy.) So overall, most of the blood in that scene was thanks to Shad; otherwise it could have been pretty bloodless. Shad was a very inventive and an integral part of the crew.

JEFF: Which effect from part two stayed with you the longest after the shoot?

BILL: We shot the scene where Angela kills Mare with the drill in the back of my car. Nobody wanted to volunteer their car for that scene, so I let them use mine. I was in the backseat with the syringe. I’m spraying blood up in the air and it went all over Pam’s face, but it also got all over my seat belts. It became known as “the car that dripped blood!” That blood got all up in my seatbelt, and it was cold when we were filming. But when it got hot it would melt again. So sometimes blood would start coming out of my seatbelts on summer days. It’s a good thing I didn’t get pulled over by the cops.