This article is about the novelization of the original film. For other meanings, see Halloween.
| Halloween (1978 novelization) | |
 | |
| Author | Curtis Richards (a pseudonym used by author Richard Curtis) |
| Publication date | 1979 |
| Published by | Bantam Books |
| ISBN | 0-553-26296-3 |
| Publication Order | |
| Preceded by |
Followed by Halloween II |
Halloween is a 1979 novelization by Curtis Richards (a pseudonym that was used by author Richard Curtis)[1] of the 1978 horror film Halloween, which has been out of print since the late 1980s. The novel elaborates on aspects not featured in the film, such as the origins of the curse of Samhain and Michael Myers' life in Smith's Grove Sanitarium. For example, the opening reads:
"The horror started on the eve of Samhain, in a foggy vale in northern Ireland, at the dawn of the Celtic race. And once started, it trod the earth forevermore, wreaking its savagery suddenly, swiftly, and with incredible ferocity".
The prologue of the novel takes place at the dawn of the Celtic race in Ireland and tells the story of a young 15-year-old disfigured boy named Enda who is passionately in love with the King Gwynwyll's daughter, Deirdre. After being severely humiliated for attempting to win her love Enda attacks and brutally slays Deirdre and her fiancé at a community ritual event on Halloween. Enda is immediately killed by the other members of the village and his soul cursed to wander the Earth forever, re-creating the events of that night.[2]
In Chapter 1, we flash forward to 1963 and witness several eerie interactions between little Michael Myers and his grandmother. The grandmother is concerned as Michael has been admitting to hearing voices and having visions and nightmares (which are about the events that happened in the prologue with Enda and Deirdre). The voices "tell me to say I hate people", says Michael according to what his mother tells the grandmother. There is also a discussion between the grandmother and Michael's mother about Michael's great-grandfather who apparently committed some sort of undescribed violent act. "I think there are enough similarities," says the concerned grandmother.[3] Chapter 10 reveals that he shot a couple to death at a harvest dance on Halloween 1898 or 1899, and before he was hanged for the murders identified his victims by names he had heard in his dreams.
Chapter 2 details Michael's experiences further. When he, along with some other children and dressed in the infamous clown disguise complete with mask, later knocks on the Myers home door for trick-or-treats, his sister Judy asks, "What are you going to do if I don't give you anything?" to which Michael replies, "We're going to kill you". Shocked, Judy responds, "Who said that? Michael Myers--was that you?". Michael replies, "I'm not Michael Myers. I'm a clown", already hinting at the transformation that has taken place.[4]
In Chapter 3, we get a look inside Michael's head.
"It was the voice. The voice stirred up the hatred. It had done so in his dreams and now it was doing it in real life. It had begun with the strange pictures in his head at night, pictures of people he had never seen--oh, maybe in comic books or on television, but never in real life. People in strange costumes, animal skins, armor, leather, drinking and dancing wildly around a fire. One couple in particular. They looked like Judy and Danny, madly in love with each other, dancing in a circle around a huge bonfire while he, Michael, stood in the crowd hating them, burning up with jealousy".[5]
Chapter 4 details Michael's trial and sentencing. Most interestingly, the details of Michael's experiences at the Smith's Grove "Sanitarium" are given. A conversation between Michael and Dr. Loomis gives further insight into Michael's personality. Additionally, strange "occurrences" take place, which intrigue Loomis, who gradually becomes aware of what he is dealing with:
"Every time Michael was slighted, or fancied he was, by a staff member or other inmate, some awful vengeance was visited upon the offending person. It might be a day, a week, a month later, but Michael got even. The problem for Loomis was that no one ever observed the boy doing it directly...a nurse who quarreled with Michael fell down the stairs two days later, fracturing her pelvis. A boy who borrowed a game from Michael and forgot to return it suffered a vicious rash that hospitalized him for a month"".
Michael eventually commands the ward as neither the staff nor the other inmates dare to challenge or defy Michael for fear of retribution.[6]
Chapters 5-15 details the events of the film as Michael escapes, returns to Haddonfield, stalks Laurie Strode and her friends and eventually the final moment when Loomis saves Laurie from the boogeyman.
Notes and trivia[]
- Judith Myers' boyfriend's name is revealed here to be Daniel "Danny "Hodges. He is never mentioned by name in the script or the film itself, only credited as "Boyfriend".
- This is one of the few times that Michael Myers from the original film is actually shown speaking. His adolescent version is shown conversing with his mother, grandmother and Sam Loomis and then narrating the events of the fateful day to a criminal court later on, in the first four chapters. Other tie-in stories for the franchise have notably uniformly depicted Michael as staying completely silent during his adolescent phase.
- The contents of chapter 4 which relate to Michael Myers' trial in the immediate aftermath of his murder would seem to later inspire or be used as a template for one of the additional scenes Carpenter filmed for the 1981 TV version of the film. This might indicate that the novel based those elements on unused concepts or written scenes from the original scripts. In any case, the similarities are in how both the chapter and the deleted scene involve the final legal decision to place Michael in Smith's Grove Sanitarium as opposed to somewhere more secure or giving Michael a more severe sentence. Both the additional scene and chapter also establish Michael and Judith's middle names of Audrey and Margaret, and have Loomis stressing how he spent two hours every day for six months with Michael and how in his conclusion, Michael is the most dangerous patient/individual that Loomis has come in contact with. In both cases, Loomis' concerns are dismissed and Loomis then proceeds into Michael's room where he calls out Michael on his unfolding scheme.
- Donald and Edith Myers moved away to Indiana a few months after Judith's death and were unable to sell the house, and by the year 1978, they were still making payments on it.
- Another victim is added, in that Michael Myers is revealed to have twisted the gate guard's head around when escaping from Smith's Grove.
- When Dr. Samuel Loomis goes to the cemetery to look for any signs that Michael Myers had been to Judith's grave, it is mentioned that he is in Haddonfield Town Cemetery.
- Judith's headstone lists her middle name as being "Margaret". This factoid is established early on in the book, during the scene where Michael is put to trial.
- Loomis is said to have a wife and a teenage son (who believes Loomis's generation is hypocritical in approving of alcohol but not of drugs).
References[]
- ↑ Writing John Carpenter’s “Halloween” Novelization
- ↑ Curtis Richards, Halloween (Bantam Books, 1979), ISBN 0-553-13226-1; 5th printing, pp 1-6.
- ↑ Curtis Richards, Halloween (Bantam Books, 1979), ISBN 0-553-13226-1; 5th printing, pp 7-12.
- ↑ Curtis Richards, Halloween (Bantam Books, 1979), ISBN 0-553-13226-1; 5th printing, pp 13-20.
- ↑ Curtis Richards, Halloween (Bantam Books, 1979), ISBN 0-553-13226-1; 5th printing, pp 21-35.
- ↑ Curtis Richards, Halloween (Bantam Books, 1979), ISBN 0-553-13226-1; 5th printing, pp 26-36.