Never Hike Alone: Ghosts in the Fog Gives Jason an Animated Debut

Jason Voorhees is taking an animated detour through Camp Crystal Lake in Never Hike Alone: Ghosts in the Fog, a 10-minute short from independent fan-film maker Womp Stomp Films. It is the fourth entry in the group’s Never Hike Alone continuity, as well as its first move into animation.

The short is scheduled to premiere Friday, November 13 at 5 p.m. PT and will be available free through the Womp Stomp Films YouTube channel. Its setup stays close to the campfire-story fundamentals that make Jason such a durable horror figure: three friends set out for a pleasant camping weekend, become lost in the fog around Camp Crystal Lake, and find that the setting is no place for a relaxing getaway.

For the long-running Never Hike Alone project, the format change is notable. The series has previously been built through live-action productions that reconnect Jason with the locations, characters and survival-horror grammar associated with Friday the 13th. Animation gives the team a different toolset, while a 10-minute running time makes this a focused side trip rather than a replacement for the live-action saga.

A new format for an established fan-film series

Womp Stomp Films was founded in 2016 by filmmaker Vincente DiSanti. The company began its Jason-focused run with the 2017 short Never Hike Alone, followed by the winter-set prequel Never Hike in the Snow in 2020. In 2023, it released Never Hike Alone 2, a feature-length sequel.

That sequel also demonstrated the project’s interest in connecting with the official series’ past without presenting itself as an official studio production. Thom Mathews and Vincent Guastaferro returned as Tommy Jarvis and Sheriff Rick Cologne, respectively, reprising the roles they played in Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives.

Ghosts in the Fog continues that broader fan-made universe, but its immediate story is built around new campers rather than the returning legacy characters named in earlier installments. The fog-shrouded Crystal Lake premise is an efficient fit for a short: it establishes isolation, obscures threats, and directs attention toward the looming presence associated with the location. The supplied details do not identify the three campers or reveal how closely the new short ties into prior plotlines, so viewers should not assume a particular returning-character connection before watching.

Its animation was made with Mako Animation Studio, a Mexico-based studio that specializes in 2D animation. Juan Rivera, who founded Mako in 2015, co-directed the short with DiSanti. Mako’s prior work includes the animated YouTube series John Death.

What 2D animation changes—and what it does not

2D animation generally means imagery created as flat, two-dimensional drawings or designs rather than rendered as volumetric 3D models. That definition does not prescribe one visual style: 2D work can range from highly graphic and stylized to detailed and atmospheric. Here, the important confirmed point is simply that Ghosts in the Fog is the series’ first animated installment and that Mako is a studio focused on this discipline.

For a masked horror character, the medium change has a clear creative implication. Jason’s visual identity depends heavily on silhouette and iconography: the hockey mask, large frame, weapon, and sudden appearance in an isolated setting. Those components can remain recognizable in animation even as motion, backgrounds and atmosphere are constructed differently from live action. Fog is especially relevant because it can function as both setting and visual device, reducing visibility for the characters while allowing a threat to emerge from negative space.

That is analysis of the setup, not a claim about scenes in the finished short. No shot-by-shot details, voice cast, rating information or production technique beyond its 2D collaboration have been provided. Still, the shift is meaningful because it puts a fan-film series previously known for live-action ambition into a medium with its own horror vocabulary.

It also makes the project distinct from a conventional trailer or promotional animation. Womp Stomp describes it as a 10-minute film and counts it as the fourth installment in the series. For viewers, the practical takeaway is straightforward: this is a new, self-contained piece in the ongoing Never Hike Alone line, not merely an animated advertisement for older entries.

How the project is funded and distributed

The Never Hike Alone films are fan films: independently made works using characters, locations and story material associated with an existing franchise. Womp Stomp does not operate as the studio owner of the Jason Voorhees property. That distinction matters because the films use copyrighted elements from Friday the 13th while being developed outside the rights holders’ official production pipeline.

The company’s approach has been to make the finished movies free to view online and to use crowdfunding for production expenses, rather than to turn the films into a profit-making commercial product. Crowdfunding, in this case, means financial support gathered from fans to help pay for making the work. It has enabled the team to pursue increasingly elaborate productions while preserving free online access to the finished films.

Womp Stomp also uses on-screen disclaimers acknowledging that the relevant rights holders can challenge a production. Those measures are intended to reduce the risk of disputes, but they are not the same thing as an official franchise license or a guarantee that a challenge cannot happen. To date, the franchise owners have not acted to stop these films.

That balance explains why the free YouTube release is more than a convenience for viewers. It is part of the production model that has allowed the project to continue. Fans interested in Ghosts in the Fog can expect it to follow the same accessible distribution approach as the earlier work, rather than arriving as a theatrical or paid digital release.

Jason’s wider return is taking several forms

The animated short arrives during a period of renewed movement around the wider Friday the 13th property. Peacock debuted the A24-produced prequel series Crystal Lake in October, with Linda Cardellini playing Pamela Voorhees. Separately, Steve Miner is set to direct the franchise’s 13th feature film for a planned 2027 theatrical release.

Miner directed 1981’s Friday the 13th Part 2 and 1982’s Friday the 13th Part III. The forthcoming feature is positioned as Jason’s first big-screen appearance since the 2009 reboot. These projects are separate from Womp Stomp’s independent fan-film work, but together they show the character and his setting appearing across television, planned theatrical filmmaking, online fan productions and now animation.

The contrast is useful for audiences. Crystal Lake and the planned 13th movie are official productions tied to the franchise’s professional rights structure. Ghosts in the Fog, by contrast, remains a community-supported independent short released free online. They share familiar mythology, but their production circumstances and distribution models are fundamentally different.

For a broader look at why adaptations often try to preserve recognizable identity without simply repeating earlier material, see this discussion of how adaptations stay familiar without becoming repeats. Ghosts in the Fog offers a compact example of that tension: it retains Jason, Crystal Lake and a stranded-group premise, yet changes the series’ medium entirely.

What to know before watching

Title: Never Hike Alone: Ghosts in the Fog.
Length: 10 minutes.
Premiere time: Friday, November 13 at 5 p.m. PT.
Where to watch: Free on the Womp Stomp Films YouTube channel.
Story setup: Three friends become lost in the fog surrounding Camp Crystal Lake during a camping trip.
Creative team: Produced with Mako Animation Studio; co-directed by Vincente DiSanti and Mako founder Juan Rivera.
Series position: The fourth Never Hike Alone installment and the first animated one.

For longtime viewers of the Womp Stomp films, the draw is the chance to see an established fan-made continuity attempt a new visual form. For casual horror viewers, the short’s length and free release make it an easy entry point: a concise Jason story rooted in the most recognizable piece of the mythology, Camp Crystal Lake, with the fog doing its ominous best to ensure nobody gets a clear line of sight.