Halloween (1978 Movie) Book Review
1979 Novelization Expands Story by John Carpenter and Debra Hill
Aug 28, 2009
When six-year-old Michael Myers of Haddonfield, Illinois, murders his older sister Judith on Halloween night of 1963, the authorities are at first puzzled as what to do with this charming, sweet-faced child who insisted that he swung the knife. A sympathetic Judge Christopher reluctantly commits him to Smith's Grove Sanitarium in Warren County, Illinois, and orders him to stand trial after he reaches the age of twenty-one. By far the youngest patient in the juvenile ward, Michael Myers quickly has the other patients and the staff in a silent grip of terror. Soon everyone who so much looks at Michael Myers the wrong way has an "accident" or a misfortune.
Michael Myers Emerges as Evil Incarnate
Those who cross him suffer food poisoning, scalding, falls, and rashes. But Michael never seems to be near the scene of the crime, and his psychiatrist, Dr. Sam Loomis, isn't fooled by Michael's innocent affect. Six months after the hearing at a meeting with Judge Christopher, Loomis struggles to convince him that minimum security is no place for what he considers to be a very dangerous child, and that Michael's attitude hasn't changed since the murder. But with no tangible evidence of any wrongdoing by Michael, Judge Christopher refuses to increase Michael's security level and strongly expresses he would like to see Michael treated and released, unless Loomis can offer evidence to the contrary.
A frustrated Loomis dreads the next six-month review with Judge Christopher, who just might order Michael's release. But Judge Christopher has a massive coronary the night before the hearing, and Loomis presents his successor, who is far less sympathetic to the young murderer, with Michael's case file who accepts that the homicidal Michael Myers should not be released. The years begin to pass with Loomis fruitlessly trying to reach Michael, who over time gradually stops speaking.
Death Returns to Haddonfield on Halloween
Fifteen years later, as Loomis prepares to assist in transferring Michael shortly before his trial, the now twenty-one year old murders a guard, commandeers a government vehicle, and escapes on the night of October 30th, 1978. Loomis, livid as ever now, trails Michael one hundred and fifty miles back to Haddonfield. While Michael breaks into and relieves a hardware store of a Halloween mask, rope, and a few knives, Loomis discovers the headstone of Judith Myers has been stolen and evidence that Michael had broken into the Myers house. Loomis tries to convince a skeptical Sheriff Brackett about the danger in their midst, and Brackett reluctantly agrees to moblize his men to be on the lookout for Myers.
Michael by this time has set his sights on teenage Laurie Strode and her friends Annie and Lynda, who trigger memories of murder. Laurie spends much of the day reflecting on the famous local murder of Judith Myers, as her father is a real estate agent trying to sell the old Myers house. She has a sixth sense that she is being stalked, but reassures the young boy she babysits that night that there is no "Boogeyman". But then she ventures across the street to where Annie is babysitting and finds the bodies of her friends -- and the man dogging her steps that day as well...
What's New in the Curtis Richards Novelization
Though the novel went out of print after a reissue in 1982, it can be purchased online though the price often ranges from around $50 to $100. Fans of the movie have been delighted by the book; it's well written and doesn't adversely tamper with the movie, with many new scenes and a backstory on Michael Myers as well as having the literary advantage of being able to get inside the minds of the characters. The prologue states that the horror began at the dawn of the Celtic race in northern Ireland, with a double murder that would reverberate many years later.
In the late 1890s, the maternal great-grandfather of Michael Myers drew a gun on Halloween night and murdered a dancing couple at a harvest dance. He claimed he heard voices commanding him to do it, and was later hanged. In 1963, shortly before Michael murdered his sister, Michael's mother Edith would nervously recount to her mother how Michael hears voices and has violent dreams that seem to be reminiscent of her grandfather. This earlier family murder was not revealed at Michael's hearing, and after Judith's murder Edith was convinced that the madness had returned, and the surviving Myers family left Haddonfield in shame still making mortgage payments on a "haunted house" no one was interested in buying.
Michael does speak as a child and his thoughts as an adult are revealed, mostly regarding stalking his prey, and he does seem to feel sexual pressure and tension. He doesn't appear to be legally insane as his thinking is very concrete. The other characters are true to their movie counterparts and have lots of extra dialogue. Author Curtis Richards does cut loose with graphic violence and sex however, greatly expounding on what John Carpenter did not.
- MassMarket Paperback: 166 pages
- Publisher: Bantam (September 1, 1982)
- Language: English
- ISBN -10: 0553262963
- ISBN -13: 978-0553262964
 |
 |
