I still remember the sting from two years ago like it was yesterday. October 2024 was supposed to be the month when Friday the 13th finally collided with Fortnite. The hype was real — my squad couldn’t stop talking about dropping into Pleasant Park as Jason Voorhees, machete pickaxe in hand, chasing down anyone who dared to reboot their teammate. And then the wheels fell off. A hard leak from ShiinaBR basically broke our hearts: Jason wasn’t coming to Fortnitemares 2024. No hockey mask. No Camp Crystal Lake POI. Just a void filled with disappointment and a lot of angry tweets. Fast forward to 2026, and here we are again, a week out from Fortnitemares, with the rumor mill churning at full tilt. But before I dive into what might show up this year, let’s take a trip down memory lane, because that 2024 near-miss still teaches us a thing or two about how these Halloween collabs roll out.

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The whole thing began when the official Jason Universe Twitter account replied to a fan begging for a Fortnite collab. They used the 👀 emoji — rookie mistake if you ask me — and the community lost its collective marbles. Everyone suddenly became a map analyst.

“The top-left corner of the island is literally crystal-clear water and cabins, bro, it’s meant for Jason!” one comment read on Reddit, and honestly, I was nodding along. We were all ready to crank some 80s horror vibes. But then ShiinaBR, a leaker with a track record so clean you could eat off it, dropped the bomb: the deal fell through. No Jason. No machete. Just more Marvel characters, because Season 4 was already knee-deep in Disney’s pool.

Now, being a Fortnite vet since Chapter 1, I’ve learned to take every leak with a grain of salt the size of a boulder. Yet this one stung extra hard. The setup felt so perfect. Fortnitemares always hits its stride when it pulls from iconic slasher flicks, and Jason is the poster boy of the genre. But Epic’s negotiations must have hit a snag. Rights issues? Money? Who knows. The result was that the big bad of the 2024 event turned out to be Billy the Puppet from Saw. Don’t get me wrong, the creepy TV set in Doom Castle that flickered to life with Billy’s face was a masterstroke of atmosphere, but he ain’t no Jason. The Saw collaboration came as a pleasant surprise, but it felt more like a consolation prize than the main event. Some hopeful souls even thought Ghostface from Scream might slide in as a last-minute replacement, but that never materialized either.

The whole situation left the fanbase split down the middle. Half were

gutted and went on social media rants about “missed opportunities.” The other half shrugged their shoulders and embraced the puppet, creating some genuinely hilarious clips with the Billy skin doing TikTok dances. I’ll admit, I landed somewhere in the middle. I like Saw, but deep down I was still yearning for the silhouette of a certain masked figure popping out of the storm. That desire never really went away, and now that we’re staring down Fortnitemares 2026, the ghost of that failed collab is looming larger than ever.

This year, the whispers are starting up again, and my spidey senses are tingling. Reliable insiders are keeping their cards close to their chest, but some vague hints suggest Epic might finally be circling back to the slasher icons they couldn’t secure last time. Word on the street — and by street I mean a few cryptic Discord posts by known leakers — is that either Michael Myers or the aforementioned Ghostface could be this year’s headliner. Imagine the Shape’s theme playing as you creep through a foggy Corn Fields POI. Goosebumps, right? Of course, there’s also the wildcard possibility of another game-original monster like The Ink Demon from Bendy, which would fit the chaotic energy of Chapter 6’s map perfectly. But let’s be real for a sec: after the 2024 letdown, I’m keeping my expectations in check. The moment I see a 👀 emoji from an official account, I’ll probably pass out, but until there’s an official Fortnite teaser, it’s all just hot air.

What makes this year different is that Fortnitemares 2026 is shaping up to be bigger than ever. The new creative tools allow map makers to craft full-blown horror experiences, and Epic seems to be leaning into community-driven scares rather than just relying on collab skins. Still, a marquee IP would be the cherry on top. If I could place a bet, I’d say we’ll get something no one predicted — maybe a crossover with a modern horror game like The Closing Hour or a nostalgic but obscure property that hits the sweet spot for us 90s kids. Whatever lands, I’ll be in the Squad Fill queue opening night, flashlight item in hand, ready to scream when a random kid builds a five-star hotel in the middle of a haunted forest.

So here’s my hot take: the 2024 Jason disappointment actually taught us that Fortnitemares is at its best when it balances a big-name collab with original spooky vibes. The Saw integration worked because it didn’t oversell itself; the mystery TV was a puzzle the community decoded together. Maybe Epic will take that lesson to heart and craft an event around the theme of “the one that got away.” Fingers crossed that in 2026, the stars align and we finally get the Friday the 13th partnership that almost was. Until then, I’ll be sharpening my virtual machete and keeping an eye on every emoji from every social media manager. Stay frosty, loopers.