Friday the 13th: Church of the Divine Psychopath

Black Flame

Industry	Publishing
Headquarters	United Kingdom
Products	Books, Novels

Friday the 13th: Church of the Divine Psychopath is a 2005 horror novel from the United Kingdom, authored by Scott S. Phillips and released by Black Flame. Serving as a tie-in to the American horror film franchise Friday the 13th, it stands as the inaugural entry in a series of five novels published by Black Flame. The narrative follows government agents confronting a cult devoted to the undead slasher Jason Voorhees.

Plot

Camp Crystal Lake, infamous as the hunting ground of the undead murderer Jason Voorhees, has been leased to the Ministry of the Heavenly Vessel, a fringe Christian sect led by Father Eric Long. Long perceives Jason as a divine avenger punishing sinners and intends to resurrect him after discovering Jason dormant beneath the lake’s surface. The Ministry’s members include Kelly Mills, a 26-year-old survivor of abuse struggling with her past, and her close friend Meredith Host, who harbors secret romantic feelings for Kelly. In proximity, a government Delta Force team is deployed to locate and eliminate Jason. Walter Hobb, disgraced following a botched methamphetamine lab raid, remains skeptical about the mission’s legitimacy.

Using electrical means, Long revives Jason, who proceeds to kill several cult followers deemed sinners by Long. Kelly manages to flee and seeks assistance from the Operators. Jason systematically eliminates the Operators, aided by Long’s disciples who have orders to kill them as well. Among those killed is Jeff Townsend, leader of the Operators and Hobb’s closest friend. Meredith becomes unsettled by Long’s conduct and her own internal conflict regarding her sexuality and its perceived link to her parents’ deaths; she pursues Jason but is found and pacified by Hobb and Kelly.

When Long refuses to surrender, the Operators lay siege to Camp Crystal Lake. Jason kills combatants on both factions; during the confrontation, Rickles assaults Meredith but is shot by Hobb, who fails to protect Meredith from Jason’s attack. The survivors are Hobb, Kelly, Jason, and Long. After passing out from self-flagellation and abandoning his wives, Long condemns his cultists before submitting himself to Jason’s judgment; he is slain while proclaiming "Praise God in all His wisdom."

Hobb arms himself with grenade launchers while Kelly entices Jason out by stripping down to her underwear. Jason chases her into the cafeteria where Hobb ambushes him. During their struggle, Hobb forces Jason into a pit filled with dead cult members including Townsend. Hobb detonates explosives, retrieves Jason’s dismembered body parts along with his hockey mask for government custody, and escapes with Kelly.

Publication

Scott S. Phillips expressed enjoyment in writing this novel and reported minimal interference from Black Flame, which only mandated an R-rating for content. Nonetheless, Phillips later voiced dissatisfaction with an unpleasant editorial experience during this project and subsequently transitioned toward self-publishing. Additionally, Black Flame neglected to include his middle initial "S," which he used professionally to differentiate himself from another writer named Scott Phillips.

To commemorate the book’s release, Phillips held a signing event at Dark Delicacies bookstore in Burbank, California on August 20, 2005.

Reception

Nat Brehmer of Wicked Horror regarded the novel as "pretty decent," commending its compelling premise and describing Father Eric Long as an excellent villain. Joel Harley writing for Rue Morgue praised it for introducing "a new dimension to the franchise in a way that the movies could never have," calling it "one of the franchise's most vibrant and exciting entries to date." In a more comprehensive review on Medium, Brehmer labeled Church of the Divine Psychopath as "a crude, hyper-violent, exceptional splatterpunk horror novel" that skillfully balances gleeful cruelty with serious themes of trauma—considering it the strongest among Black Flame’s five Friday the 13th novels.