“The official novelization of the highly anticipated revamp of the classic horror film Halloween.

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 herself, her daughter Karen and her granddaughter Allyson, a teenager separated from her family and enjoying Halloween festivities.”

Woohooo! I love a horror novel. Particularly when I’m in a bit of a reading slump which I have been of late. The folk at Titan Books contacted me about reading a copy of Halloween: The Official Movie Novelization by John Passarella and I jumped at the chance. This is the movie novelisation of the most recent Halloween film released last year and it was a joy to read (a scary nail-biting, nerve-shredding joy!)! I received a free copy of this book but that has in no way influenced my review.

So I have a confession to make. This is bound to lose me a few followers but hey, honesty is the best policy….right? I have never seen any of the Halloween films. I’m going to take this a step further now and make matters even worse. I don’t actually watch horror films because I’m a wimp. I get my horror kicks from the brilliant horror novels I read. Shall I get my coat? 😂 What I do know however is that the Halloween franchise is incredibly popular and Michael Myers is as scary AF! I also have a bit of a thing for ‘final girls’ and Laurie Strode is the ultimate final girl. Am I right? And that’s what I loved about this book, the focus on Laurie and the long-term effects of that terrifying first meeting with Myers back in 1978.

Forty years have passed since that fateful first meeting and Laurie Strode is now a grandmother. Not your average, warm and squishy, ‘run-of-the-mill’ grandmother though. She has lived her life preparing for the day Myers will return. Her family think she’s crazy as the knife-wielding maniac who attacked her all those years ago is safely locked away in a high-security establishment. But Laurie knows it’s not over…

It was fascinating to read about Laurie’s life (or rather, the lack of it). How she has built her own high-security fortress, in particular how affected her daughter Karen was by her strange upbringing and how, as a result, Karen is determined to raise her own daughter, Allyson, differently. But Laurie knows not to let her guard down. It’s only a matter of time before Myers strikes again and this time she has a family to protect as well.

Halloween is full-on, incredibly tense and there is always something happening. I loved how the author was able to to make me feel on edge and nervous about what Myers was up to even when he didn’t feature in the scene. I had a constant sense of impending doom, just waiting for something bad (really BAD!) to happen and I loved it!

Would I recommend this book? I would! It’s gory and gruesome but that should come as no surprise. I have read other horror movie novelisations (without seeing the movie, obviously!) and this is one of my favourites. I was on edge throughout and was disappointed that the book had to end. Terrifying, intense and oh so good.

I chose to read and review a copy of Halloween: The Official Movie Novelization. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Halloween: The Official Movie Novelization by John Passarella was published in the UK by Titan Books on 23rd October 2018 and is available in paperback, ebook and audio formats (please note, some of the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | amazon.com | Waterstones | Goodreads |

I am a married father of three, and reside in Logan Township, New Jersey. Currently, I write full-time (that is, when I’m not working on business, my website design and author promotion business, AuthorPromo.com). While I enjoy writing in the genres of dark fantasy, supernatural thrillers, horror, science fiction, fantasy and mystery, I have been concentrating on horror and supernatural stories in recent years.

The co-authored Wither was my first published novel. Columbia Pictures purchased the film rights to Wither in a preemptive, pre-publication bid. Wither won the Bram Stoker Award in 2000 for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. I followed Wither with the media tie-ins Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Ghoul Trouble (2000) and Angel: Avatar (2001).

Next came my stand-alone sequel to Wither, Wither’s Rain (2003). In 2004, I had two novels published, Angel: Monolith and Wither’s Legacy and two standalone novels, Kindred Spirit (2006) and Shimmer(2009), available from Amazon.com and the Passarella Author Store.

I’ve written three original Supernatural (CW) tie-in novels for Titan Books, Night Terror (2011), Rite of Passage (2012), and—my most recent novel—Supernatural: Cold Fire (2016), which was preceded by a Grimm tie-in: Grimm: The Chopping Block (2014), based on the hit NBC TV series.

Author Links: | Website | Twitter |

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