It was because of these burns that he was initially selected to portray Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street, a role that would eventually go to Robert Englund with whom he formed a lifelong friendship.

The switch created controversy among fans of the series and has been credited to several rumors, including Kirzinger's location in Canada and his height compared to Robert Englund, the actor who portrayed Freddy Krueger, while Yu himself stated that it was New Line Cinema's idea to do so.

[4] In 2011 Hodder wrote, along with author Michael Aloisi, his autobiography Unmasked: The True Story of the World's Most Prolific Cinematic Killer.

[6] Hodder starred in the slasher film Hatchet as main character Victor Crowley, a physically deformed young boy who comes back from the dead to kill the people who invade the swamp where he lives—[7] a similar story in relation to that of Jason Voorhees.

[9] He co-starred with Doug Jones and Michael McShane in the horror comedy film Love in the Time of Monsters.

[12] He spends time working with children in burn centers,[13] and despite the roles he often plays, Hodder has often been described as a very friendly man who loves to meet his fans.

To reflect this, he has a custom charm of the group's "hatchetman" logo holding a machete instead of a hatchet, a reference to his role as Jason.

Kane only escaped his tormentors when he moved to a tiny island in the South Pacific where he lived for all of his teen years.

The entire story of his recovery, the emotional and physical damage it caused, his fight to break back into the industry that almost killed him, and his rise to become a film actor are told in Kane's own voice.