A Means to An Ends: 15 Fascinating Things We Learned From The ‘Halloween Ends’ Novelization
Official novelizations rarely go beyond colorful retelling of the script and being anything more than nice little collector’s item for the hardcore fans. But Paul Brad Logan’s Halloween Ends offers so much more meat (both literally and metaphorically) to the familiar story, that it’s an absolute must-read for both the lovers and the haters of the controversial finale of David Gordon Green’s ‘requel’ trilogy.
If you belong to the former camp, you’ll enjoy all the extra bits. If you couldn’t get behind the risky new direction, you may finally reconsider signing any petitions upon reading the book.
There are many more death scenes, deeper insights into characters’ motivations, tweaked storylines, and a more shocking finale. And the good news is that all of this may very well be considered canon (apart from alternative versions of the scenes, probably) since Paul Brad Logan is also one of the four writers of the movie itself.
The article obviously includes massive spoilers for both the movie and the novelization.
Michael kills way more people.
One of the main issues Halloween Ends naysayers had with the new movie is the number of murders committed by Michael Myers. The other problematic aspect was the lack of explanation on how the killer actually escaped the house once he killed Karen (Judy Greer) in the end of Halloween Kills.
The novelization at least tries to fix some of that. While we still don’t know how Michael sneaked past everyone unnoticed, we learn that his spree spilled into the next day when he killed two garbage collectors and left Haddonfield in their truck.
Sometime later Michael stumbles upon a hunter’s shack which served as a refuge for a deadbeat father and the young daughter he kidnapped after losing visitation rights (the book enjoys stories about bad parenting a bit too much). The girl eagerly takes a knife from Michael to kill off her dad (more on that later), but from the hints the writer gives us, ultimately dies from the same blade.
The highlight here is the double murder of Kim (Angelina Ricker) and her boyfriend Ryan. Kim was the cheerleader in a tiger costume who tried getting in the way of Allyson and Cameron at a high school dance in Halloween (2018). Here she doesn’t just get her comeuppance, but also receives what could have easily been the best chase scene of the whole David Gordon Green’s trilogy. Using her cheerleading skills and strength, Kim runs from Michael through various locations (defunct meatpacking plant, forest, and eventually the sewer tunnel). The brilliantly written sequence takes up 10 pages and—if filmed—could rival Sarah Michelle Gellar’s epic (if unsuccessful) fight for survival in I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Corey’s mom had a very dark past.
The movie left the murder of Corey’s mother Joan (Joanne Baron) off-screen. But turns out it’s not even the most fascinating part of her biography that Halloween Ends didn’t explore.
As we learn from the book, as a child she was responsible for a grisly accident that took the life of her toddler brother. (Joan moved his chair and the poor child fell to death.) All because young Joan was feeling left out and unseen by her big family.
That revelation definitely changes the way we see Corey’s own descent into the darkness. Although we don’t support the idea of a “killer gene” (the notion that you can “inherit” a tendency to murder people which was proven to be scientifically incorrect), we still think Joan’s psychotic behavior very much influenced Corey as he was growing up, as the woman probably had more freaky tricks up her sleeve.
As for her demise, the stills from the unreleased scene show Joan’s killer wearing Michael’s mask. Which, given the timeline of the murder, would mean it was Corey wearing it. But the book specifically states that Joan was killed by unmasked Michael, meaning that he was actually on the hunt for his self-proclaimed pupil that night. And that’s how he ended up in Laurie’s house. While the movie leaves the killer’s motives ambiguous: was he after Corey or Laurie?
Michael’s evil turns more people into killers.
It’s not just Corey. The book gives us way more examples of Michael’s presence pushing people to the limit.
An excerpt from Laurie’s book reveals that soon after his arrest in 1978 Michael “infected” his cellmate who ended up killing two orderlies and then took his own life.
As previously noted, we also learn that Michael’s knife and silent approval made a little girl brutally dispatch her abusive father in the hunter’s shack (she stabs AND burns him) in 2019.
Then we get an extensive foray into the wild and sad life story of the vagabond who was living next to Michael’s tunnel in the movie. Turns out his name was Nelson Christopher (that’s a nod to Halloween (2018, 2022) VFX artist Christopher Nelson), he used to be another patient at Smith’s Grove and he escaped the same night in 2018. Nelson eventually found his way back to Michael (whom he simply calls a “God”) and has been helping the infected and weak serial killer commit more murders before Corey took over.
There are a LOT of suicide attempts.
That’s one thing the movie version was probably smart to exclude. The novelization makes it seem that almost every character at some point (or even more than once) contemplated dying by suicide.
Corey even tries to die by suicide by jumping from the same spot poor Jeremy (the boy he babysat) fell from. But somehow he survives a fall without any injuries and continues his murder spree.
We get a new theory on why Michael kills on Halloween.
The book offers a fresh yet obvious reason for Michael’s favorite slay day. And it has no relation to Celts or cults.
It’s simply because it’s easy to go unnoticed and kill people while wearing a mask on Halloween. How come we never thought about that?!
The more Julian, the merrier.
Far from being just a much-needed comic relief in an overall gloomy Halloween (2018), Julian (Jibrail Nantambu) was one of the most inspired characters in the requel. And unlike his babysitter Vicky (Virginia Gardner), he did survive his encounter with Michael Myers by doing something most people never do in slashers: he did leave the house.
Julian did re-appear in Halloween Kills during a live interview broadcast. In Halloween Ends, he is seen during the final procession, but sadly doesn’t have any spoken lines. So if you do want more Julian, head to the book. In one of the early scenes Allyson (Andi Matichak), who became a nurse, is taking care of teenage Julian and takes a spider out of his ear. Poor guy really can’t catch a break.
There were more books written about Michael.
Given the scope of Michael’s 2018 carnage, it’s only natural that Laurie wasn’t the only local who wanted to make sense of the tragedy on paper.
As we learn from the novelization, Dr. Mathis (Michael O’Leary), who was briefly mentioned in Halloween Kills, wrote his own recollection of the fateful night. Even though he didn’t even meet Michael face-to-face back in 2018. The ego-centric doctor thought it was enough that a member of his staff, male nurse Marcus, was killed that night.
There’s a talk of the Cult.
The Thorn Trilogy fans, rejoice! There’s a big wink given to that often maligned part of the Halloween mythology. According to the book, local radio DJ Willy the Kid (Keraun Harris) was often blaming a secret cult for helping Michael escape in 2018. In his opinion, the cult has been the real force behind all the Haddonfield madness.
The whole idea of conspiracy theory seems even more relevant now than it was in the 90s (the cult was featured in 1995’s Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers). So it’s especially sad that the movie didn’t feature at least a brief mention of any of that.
Laurie didn’t change overnight.
Laurie’s decision to carve pumpkins and change her whole outlook on life (as well as her hairdo) may feel a bit far-fetched in the movie.
But in the book we learn that at first she was dead set on finding Michael after he killed her daughter (and half of Haddonfield) in 2018. She led a manhunt and later kept on patrolling the streets alone. Eventually, she resorted to self-harm, realized she needed professional help, and went to therapy.
Laurie befriended Loomis.
We get more flashbacks of younger Laurie in the late 70s and 80s. Perhaps one of the more satisfying discoveries is that Laurie did stay in touch with Dr. Loomis post-Halloween night of 1978 as he was the only person who brought her any comfort.
Unfortunately, that hardly meant any healthy friendship, as the two bonded over their mutual determination to find a way to kill Michael for good. As we know, that didn’t exactly happen.
We get more Lindsey.
Having survived Michael’s attack twice (in 1978 and in Halloween Kills), Lindsey surely earned herself a Final Girl badge. That’s why a lot of fans found her stint at Ends disappointing. At no point do we see her in any danger.
The book doesn’t exactly change that, but Lindsey at least gets more page time, as well as a nice little fake scare just before we get to all the Corey/Laurie/Michael action. She mistakes a peeing patron of her bar for the Shape. Lindsey’s also mentioned during the procession in the finale.
We learn about The Knife.
Halloween’s (2018) final shot focused on the bloody knife in Allyson’s hand. It was a hint of many (bad) things to come. But we never learned what happened to the actual knife.
The book tells us that for some reason Laurie kept the knife and started using it to “chop up fruit for her smoothies”. It comes in handy during her final encounter with Michael as that’s the blade she’s using to slash Michael’s throat and wrist.
Allyson’s into BDSM now.
The movie quickly dismisses the gnarly cut Corey received from the broken chocolate milk bottle. But in the book, it works as a metaphor for the darkness that overtakes Corey’s body and soul. As well as Allyson’s.
We get a graphic description of their pain-or-pleasure making out session. Corey is choking Allyson, the girl is pushing a thumb into his stitches while we’re left wondering how the hell did it all turn into 50 Shades of Strode.
The alternative finale is way more bleak.
While the basics of the novelization’s finale mirror the movie’s ending, the vibe is way different and leaves us with a sinister cliffhanger.
We still get the metal grinder, Allyson’s exit from Haddonfield, and Frank’s bringing a basket full of vegetables to Laurie’s doorstep.
But the book’s Laurie is too far gone by the end of that Halloween season. She may have put an end to Michael’s physical form. But now she also knows for sure that evil truly never dies and simply changes shape.
And the book more than hints that it’s Laurie’s turn to don the weather mask (she’s keeping it in her cabinet). We even get a description of Laurie’s breathing inside her house (similar to Michael’s at the end of 1978’s Halloween). No wonder Frank decided to secretly watch his old crush’s house to “never let it happen again”.
While all of it is way more heartbreaking than the cherry blossomy ending of the actual film, it does make more sense in terms of the franchise’s mythology and specifically Halloween Ends’ theme of the evolution of evil.
…and more
To try to mention all of the novelization’s additional details would pretty much mean writing a recap. So here’s a short list of other notable details:
We learn that Doug (Jesse C. Boyd) was actually a good boyfriend for distraught Allyson, who needed a break after the 2018 massacre. But he was also a total jerk to Corey, whom he arrested on the night of the babysitting accident.
Laurie and Allyson’s complicated relationships are explored much better. From more tender moments (Allyson’s watching a movie while placing her head on the grandmother’s shoulder) to ongoing mutual frustration.
We get nice flashbacks from Laurie’s high school years and Frank’s failed attempts at making her see him as more than just a friend.
There are more memories of Dr. Sartain’s wicked tricks of trying to get inside Michael’s head and his wild experiments over at Smith’s Grove.
We already know that Halloween Ends physical release in December will include deleted and extended scenes. So it’s very exciting to see if any of the book’s extra plotlines were actually captured on film.
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