Halloween by John Passarella

 

(pb; 2018: movie tie-in)

From the back cover

“In 1978, Laurie Strode survived an encounter with Michael Myers, a masked figure who killed her friends and terrorized the town of Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween night. Myers was later gunned down, apprehended and committed to Smith’s Grove State Hospital.

“For forty years, memories of that nightmarish ordeal have haunted Laurie and now Myers is back once again on Halloween, having escaped a routine transfer, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. This time, Laurie is prepared with years of survival training to protect himself, her daughter Karn and her granddaughter Allyson, a teenager separated from her family and enjoying Halloween festivities.”

 

Review

Halloween is a good and often suspenseful book-from-film adaptation of David Gordon Green’s 2018 movie─it’s fast-paced, descriptive (without being overly so) and, aside from an overuse of ellipses (“. . .”) at the ending of certain chapters, a thoroughly enjoyable, film-faithful read that gives some of the characters a bit more background. If you’re looking for a book that expands a lot on the film, this isn’t that book. It is, however, an entertaining, brutal-kill-scene-punctuated horror entry in the multiauthor Halloween movie tie-in series. Followed by Tim Waggoner’s movie tie-in novel Halloween Kills.

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The source film was released stateside on October 19, 2018. David Gordon Green directed it, from Jeff Fradley’s screenplay.

Jamie Lee Curtis reprised, for the fourth time, her role of Laurie Strode. Judy Greer played Karen, Laurie’s bitter daughter. Andi Matichak played Allyson, Karen’s daughter. Toby Huss played Ray, Karen’s husband and Allyson’s father. Will Patton played Officer Hawkins.

Nick Castle reprised his role of The Shape (he was The Shape, a.k.a. Mike Myers, in the original Halloween, 1978). James Jude Courtney also played The Shape. Haluk Bilginer played Dr.Sartain (“the new Dr. Loomis," as Laurie calls him).