Comics Creepshow 4: Halloween

In terms of the quantity of horror comics that came out, it was a fairly light week. In terms of quality, well, that is another story. I am only going to discuss one book this week, as opposed to my top three picks, because I feel that this particular book is a real gem for horror fans, and also, because like I said before, there wasn’t much to choose from.

In an ironic twist, one of the best ways to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of a horror film masterpiece is by picking up a comic. Right now, the comic that is worth your full attention (and your $5.50) is HALLOWEEN: 30 YEARS OF TERROR.

From the title, you can already guess what you can find inside-a celebration of three decades worth of Michael Myers inspired carnage. Unlike some of the more disappointing attempts to revitalize interest in the ‘Halloween’ franchise ( A reality show inspired film with Busta Ryhmes comes to mind), this single issue comic book really captures the essence of the original movies.

This makes a lot of sense, when you consider the fact that each of the five short stories found in the comic were written by Stefan Hutchinson, who was the writer/producer/director of the documentary ‘Halloween: 25 Years Of Terror’. Stefan is joined by a slew of different artists, who each have a unique take on drawing the world of Michael Myers.

The first story in the collection takes place during the end of the first ‘Halloween’, as Tommy Doyle and Lindsey Wallace are running to the Makenzie’s house. It has a similar effect to an episode of ‘Lost’ or even parts of ‘Pulp Fiction’, where the viewer gets to see what was going on in the background, while the main story was taking place. We get just enough of an introduction to Ms. Makenzie to feel bad for her, when the story jumps a few years ahead and you find out that Michael hasn’t written her off his hit list.

The next story is what people in the comics industry would call an ‘ELSEWORLDS tale’ or a ‘WHAT IF?’ This is when you are given a classic tale ( in this case the plot of the original ‘Halloween’), and you tweak a single part of the chain of events. The change up here is -What if Lorie Strode never dropped of the key at the Myer’s house?’ Because she forgets to stop at the house, she doesn’t become a target for Michael. I am not going to ruin what happens in this alternate reality, but lets just say Lorie doesn’t need to meet Michael to have a horrible life.

‘P.O.V.’ is by far the best story in the entire collection, and that is based on the pure simplicity of it. There are no word bubbles or captions, just gruesome art for you to add your own sound effects and theme music to. ‘P.O.V.’ uses John Carpenter’s trademark point-of-view shot, with the page on the left being what Michael Myers is seeing and the page on the right being what his victim is seeing. I guarantee you will get chills when the two pages match up, and both the killer and the victim are looking at each other in the mirror.

There are two other stories in this collection, including one featuring Doctor Loomis from the original films. I wont go into detail about those, since I want to save a few of the surprises for you. It is definitely worth it for you to pick up this book, if you are a huge ‘Halloween’ fan. This is Michael Myers at his best (or is it worst?): The Bogeyman out to terrify the citizens of Haddonfield, and this time Rob Zombie or an aged Jamie Lee Curtis are not around to mess things up.

Also, go to Halloweencomics.com, I have never seen a better constructed comic book website than this one.